james o'brien

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Last Thursday night I saw something that I will never forget. Stand-up comedy in Gamla Stan, Stockholm. In English. By Swedes. It’s not that the comedians were snort-inducing (they weren’t), or that the crowd was lively (we weren’t), or that the beer was cheap (it never is), it’s that all but one of these men performed stand-up comedy in a second language. I […]

The Grand Hotel in Saltsjöbaden. I had a little city break yesterday and took the Saltsjöbanan (train) to Saltsjöbaden. As this seaside town has a large boat harbor, it is a popular spot to hang out in the summer. But in the winter months, restaurants shut down and the place takes on a quieter air. The old-style train to Saltsjöbaden has been running since 1 […]

Yup, that's life here!

Why thanks for the plug. I will let Robert know you liked the photo. And I am sorry to say that it is now back to grey here....

Of course not :) Nothing that a year or two of therapy won't help overcome :)

Something I shouldn’t have done on the weekend was step onto one of those machines that tell you your height and weight. I knew the answer was going to be unpleasant but was rather shocked when it came up as 90 kilos! I almost keeled over. I almost ate the piece of paper that came [...]

I’m back from spending the weekend in Adelaide. it was my Dad’s birthday and I wanted to go out with him and my brother. Unbeknowns to me, my niece and her partner were also in town and staying at Dad’s place. So it was a great family lunch at a nearby pub with a couple [...]

And what a way to begin. “Holding Out For a Hero” by Nanne, Charlotte Perrelli and Sonja Aldén! James has tickets to the dress rehearsal of the Melodifestivalen final in Stockholm in a few weeks. Lucky bastard! There is apparently a studio recorded version of this song – but it isn’t known if it will be [...]