Book reports

This is s mostly fun first novel in a series of three novels about what happens when genetically modified tape worms that humans get injected with decide to take over their hosts.  The worms are genetically modified to help humans fight off disease and heal faster but when things start to go wrong shit really hits the fan.  It's full of interesting characters and  exciting situations but it suffers from being about 75 pages too long.  The author, Mira Grant is a pseudonym, needed her editor to cut out the silly fake quotes and the scenes where the main character, a woman who is miraculously healed from a serious accident but can't remember her past once she wakes up from a coma, sits around and ponders her life all the time.  Just get on with the story and stop the extraneous padding.  But having said that, I'll probably read the others when they come out, even if they're a bit too long like this one was.

I've tried other Scandinavian mysteries and mostly they're good reads, albeit very different in style from American mysteries, so I thought I'd give this series by Norwegian writer Karin Fossum a try.  By far it's the best of the lot of current moody northern European outings.  Her Inspector Sejer isn't some kind of melancholy alcoholic with one foot in the mental hospital, he's actually a believable older cop with flaws but his flaws don't overtake his personality, they're a part of him but they are not the whole of him.  In this book he solves the mystery of a well loved local girl's murder.  It's very good and it's very evocative of small towns everywhere, not just the town in Norway where it took place.  I really like Ms. Fossum's work so far, it's not a self consciously brooding and dependent on coincidence like the Wallander books are.  I've started the second one and so far I like it even more than I liked this one.

Lightening fast TV reviews

 Lil' Steven plays a mobster once again.  This time he's a mobster who rats out his buddies to the FBI and he gets put into the witness protection program.  He chooses to go to Lillehammer, Norway.  Once there he gets involved with shady deals, Norwegian babes, and he runs afoul of a couple of Norwegian cops.

The best thing I can say about this fish out of water show is that the Norwegians who are in it are very good.  The Americans, not so much.  I recommend it only for the Norwegians and their beautiful country.

A well known Shakespeare festival goes through ups and downs and it's casts and crews go through many interpersonal dramas.  It's funny at times, poignant at others.  I liked the first series very much, the second was okay, and the third looks promising.

My favorite characters are Geoffrey, Richard, the ball busting American female exec in the first series, Anna, Oliver, Kate from the first series, Nahum, Sophie, Cyril, Frank, and Darren.  My least favorite character is Ellen, in fact I detest her.  I make it a point to root for older characters, especially older female characters, but I really can't stand Ellen.

I recommend this series highly for the story, the acting, the gentle comedy, the takes on Shakespeare, and the Canadian-ness of it all.  It's very well done and if you're a recovering theatre nerd like I am, then you'll like it even more.

So, Swedes, what've you up to lately?

"I've been trying to kill this existential dread by marrying horses and playing chess with death. What? You didn't think you'd get through a post about Sweden without an Ingmar Bergman film reference did you?"

"I'm working as a life coach but as you can tell by the gun pointed to my head, it's not going too well."

"Mmmpphh..."

"We've taken to reenacting ABBA videos and scenes from The Matrix during the long dark months of winter."

"I'm the happiest woman in all of Sweden. I just got my immigration papers and I'm headed to the tropical paradise we know as Norway. I hope to meet a lonely disaffected loner with lots of rage who might go postal at any time. You know, to balance me and my happiness."

Olympic profiles (Norwegians with huge balls edition)

Last week the Olympic torch was lit and it's making it's way to Vancouver for the 2010 winter games. The custom for many years has been to light the torch on Mount Olympus in Greece, the home of the Olympic games, and then do a relay for months on end until it reaches it's the home country of where ever the games are being held. However in 1952 the Norwegians in Oslo wanted no truck with tradition and they boldly flouted it. According to the Olympic website, "A symbolic flame was lit in the hearth of the Morgedal House in Norway, birthplace of Sondre Norheim, the great pioneer of modern skiing, and then relayed solely by skiers to Oslo."

Jeebus love 'em, those Norwegians stuck a log in the fireplace of the father of modern skiing and off they went. Ya gotta love some rule breakin' Scandinavian folks.

On a personal note, the poster for these games is one of my favorite Olympic posters ever. Compared to this one, the one for the Lillehammer games of 1994 looks wimpy.

The first Sec. General of the United Nations was from Norway

And that's no joke. Yay Norway!

Norway's air force is...

...among the most modern of all the Scandinavian countries.

The biggest hobby is Norway is...

...amateur dentistry.

Marriage customs in Norway

Many people freeze to death in Norway before reaching marriageable age, therefore it's not uncommon for parents to insist that their children marry at a young age. When young girls find an unfrozen young boy they want to marry they then give their would be groom a pine cone. If the young lad accepts the girl he then paints the pine cone and they are considered married. However the legal system prohibits them from consummating their marriage until both bride and groom reach the age of 16. But all bets are off if Sasquatch shows up deflowers either partner.

June is 'Celebrate Norway!' month here on Monkey Muck

Instead of doing a short 'Let's Learn About..." post about everyone's favorite northern European country, I'm going to devote a whole month to posts about Norway. You'll learn about Norway's history, meet it's people, learn about their customs, and so much more. So let's kick things off with two bits of Norway's history!

Norway was founded in 917 by these three Swedes of Viking origin. They had been kicked out of Sweden for not being blond enough and for being naughty. Their names were Skvrskynn the Mighty, Hrdyrickvens the Bold, and Lefty. They set sail from an unnamed Swedish port and they made their way to the hunk of land that would one day be called Norway. When their ship ran aground in a lightly wooded shallow bay, they were said to have muttered, "Oh fjord it, we've run aground." And that is where we get the word fjord from.

Henrik Ibsen, Norway's greatest ever playwright, not only wrote great plays, he was an inventor as well. He invented the heaving sigh, angst, the whoopie cushion, the hairstyle known as the mullet, and herring flavored Tang.

More fun facts about Norway to come, so stay tuned!