Submarines of Stockholm

Vancouver band New Pornographers was in Stockholm at about this time last year to play at Debaser (great show, by the way!). I guess lead singer A.C. Newman must have had his creative juices flowing on his visit, because now his second solo album came out containing this track (mp3 file, courtesy of his record label).

Stockholm 2010

We’re still getting used to 2009, and it already seems that 2010 is shaping to be a significant year for Stockholm, especially in light of two unrelated announcements today.

First, the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria, planned for summer of 2010, and second, the selection of Stockholm as Europe’s very first “Green Capital” for the year 2010 (followed by Hamburg, Germany, in 2011). The Green Capital designation is especially interesting in light of a planned large-scale exhibition (in Swedish) on sustainable cities by Färgfabriken, a center for arts, culture, and pressing social questions.

(Note: the figure at right shows Stockholm’s “Green Wedges”, areas of greenspace that reach very close to the inner city from several directions. I am lucky to both live and work right next to a couple of these wedges, but in reality, you’re never far from them, wherever you are.)

Now We’re In Business.

If you’ve ever flown in a Boeing 777, which is Boeing’s most recent commercial jet airplane in production, you probably remember walking through a section of the plane where instead  of proper rows of seats, there is what looks like an array of empty cubicles for elves. Every other seat faces opposite each other, some toward fore and some toward aft, and there are plastic dividers that wave their way between them. In the eyes of a conventional coach traveler, it just looks bizarre.

Phone Number in the U.S.

Speaking of travel: as long as things go according to plan, I can be reached in North America at the following temporary mobile number:

(206) 384-3640

2008: The Year of Travel

Happy New Year! On the global stage, 2008-2009 already feels like it will be a period of change, much like the period 2000-2001 was, owing not only to changes in the U.S. presidency but also to events outside of the direct control of the U.S. president.

Aside from those world-changing events, if there is any one thing that most characterized 2008 for me it’s the many short trips I’ve taken to other cities around Europe. Of course, this was one of the draws of moving to Stockholm — I’d be a lot closer to a whole range of places on a continent less familiar than my own. So, inspired by Matthew Yglesias (who was, in turn, inspired by Jason Kottke), here’s a quick run-down of my trips in 2008, with asterisks for places I hadn’t been before (at least, as an adult). It all started, of course, with New Year’s Eve visiting friends in Seattle:

• Seattle, USA — New Year’s Eve with friends
• London, UK — Christina’s PhD defense party
• Munich*, Germany — conference
• Berlin*, Germany — meeting up with Joshua and visiting Anton
• Copenhagen, Denmark — meeting up with Max & Kari
• Florence*, Italy — meeting up witih Christina
• Birmingham, UK — meeting up with Mom
• Vienna*, Austria — conference
• Padjelanta National Park*, Northern Sweden — backpacking
• Geneva* & Lausanne*, Switzerland — meeting up with Sonja and visiting Frank
• Amsterdam*, Netherlands — conference and visiting Debbie
• Rome*, Italy — meeting up with Diana & Fred
• Umeå*, Northern Sweden — Christmas with Daniel’s family

So, that’s 13 distinct trips (I returned to Stockholm between each of those)! I’m not quite sure how that all happened — it’s not as if I set out to pack in more than one weekender per month. But I will say I took just about every little excuse that came up, to go exploring.

But not to be outdone, 2009 is starting off with a bang: a 3-week trip around two coasts of North America for a variety of reasons, including conference, family, friends, and the Presidential Inauguration. I’ll save writing it all and just copy and paste the list below, where you can see where I’ll be and when — and if you see I’ll be near you, then pop me an email! After this trip, though, I’m hoping things calm down a bit for 2009.

• Washington from January 11th to 14th.
• Philadelphia on January 15th.
• Montréal from January 16th to 18th.
• New York on January 19th.
• Washington on January 20th.
• Morgan Hill from January 21st to 24th.
• Las Vegas from January 25th to 27th.
• Seattle from January 28th to February 1st.