I indulged in a bit of “Stockholm Porn” tonight.

I spent the day catching up with my friend Lucinda who I haven’t seen in a number of years. We first met (and shared a house) in the late 1980s when we lived and worked in Bourke. In the time since, we have kept in semi-regular email contact, as she has travelled the world, lived in different parts of Australia, and had a child who is now almost fourteen. The last time we saw each other, she was living in the Gold Coast. But now she’s living in Perth, and it was terrific to catch-up with her.

After chatting, eating, and having a glass or two of vino, we settled down on the couch and watched “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” or as I told her, it’s really called “Men Who Hate Women”. As you watch the opening credits to the film you’ll see the phrase “Män som hatar kvinnor” and the subtitles will tell you that translates as “The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo”. Well, no it doesn’t. The direct translation is “Men Who Hate Women” which is actually a phrase used later in the film towards the end. You can understand why a book and film “Men Who Hate Women” would have struggled to find a market in English-speaking countries, so I’ve remained curious about how the film’s title was regarded in Swedes? Was it provocative or merely descriptive of the subject matter? Swedish readers, perhaps you can offer an insight?

I digress. It was great to watch the film and to point out to an old friend various parts of the Stockholm landscape that I now know very well. “That’s the Town Hall. That’s Sodermalm. That’s the view from Katarinahissen” and so on. Oh…. and “That alley-way smells like piss.” (A reference to Slussen and Kolinsberg).