VIKTOR DONOVAN: July 2011

Saturday, July 30, 2011

REFURBISHED SEAHORSES

These flag posts from 1932 celebrate the history of Gothenburg. They are situated at the Gutavus Adolphus Square in Gothenburg.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Swedish sing-song intonation seems to amuse non-Swedes. The Muppet show created "The Swedish Chef" and there are many amusing episodes available for watching.
The maybe not so well known American Harry Stewart (1908-1956), created a comically exaggerated Swedish character "Yogi Yorgesson".

Yogi Yorgesson (Harry Stewart)

Here are some samples of Yogi Yorgesson songs:

Who Hid The Halibut on the Poopdeck?

Real Gone Galloot

Here are more songs. Click on the column marked "VBR MP3"

Sunday, July 10, 2011

REPLICA "1745" SAILING SHIP IN GOTHENBURG

Want a poster of this?
Have a look here

On a sunny July Sunday afternoon i visited this remarkable vessel:

"The Largest sailing fullrigged wooden sailing ship
The Swedish Ship “Götheborg" - a reconstruction of a ship from the mid-18th century is now one of the largest fullrigged wooden sailing ships in the world, and meets international safety requirements for ocean going vessels. The project is based on modern research combined with the revival of traditional methods of craftsmanship dating from the 18th century. Anyone meeting The Swedish Ship “Götheborg" under full sail out at sea would ?nd it impossible to distinguish her from the original ship. Above the waterline, the “Götheborg" is a historical sailing ship. The modern machinery and the majority of the advanced technical equipment have been concealed deep down in the hull. A feat that many considered impossible has now been achieved. The magnificent 18th century ship is sailing again!" Read more
Want to see more pictures?

You can get this mug here

And here are more mugs from Gothenburg

Want a poster of this?
Have a look here

More pictures here.

NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)

VIKTOR DONOVAN