Bad taste… for blood

I’m all about vampires at the moment having read the Twilight books and chewing away at the series True Blood. Two very different things – the former I’m a bit cringy to admit having completely swallowed up to a point where addiction might be the appropriate word and hey these books are so terribly adolescent [...]

Read Full Post »

Lingonberries and Siegfried-motives in Astrid Lindgren’s Emil from Lönneberga. Photo of the Week #53

In the marketplace of Lund, Sweden you can buy all sorts of wonderful local produce. At the moment the chanterelles and lingonberries would be my primary choice. Look at those masses of lingonberries:

This seems to be one of the essentially Swedish foods. They cook them to marmalade and eat it with meatballs and mashed potatoes [...]

Read Full Post »

Portrait of Shakespeare

Seems the first portrait of Shakespeare has been discovered. Well not the first – but the first that was painted during the lifetime of the master opening the possibility of actually resembling him. The painting belongs to a family Cobbe of Ireland in whose possession it has been since it was painted around 1610.

 
Wouldn’t it [...]

Read Full Post »

The Groke. Moomin Winter Horror

Winter is clearly leaving so it’s a last chance for winterly topics. Such as the midwinter horrors of the Moomin stories by Finnish author Tove Jansson. I think many children feel that the Moomin books can be quite discomforting. I’ve heard my friends tell how scared they were and I understand why when you consider [...]

Read Full Post »

Moomin-must-have

The first three Moomin novels by Tove Jansson have been republished in Danish in this de luxe edition.
 

 
MUST.HAVE.DE.LUXE.EDITION. 
And I will have it! As soon as next month’s salary enters my bank account…
Here is a review (in Danish), and I have written about the moomin books here.
 
/anna

Read Full Post »

The Secret Hallways

I’ve had the privilege of being surrounded by books for most of my life. And for the last six-seven years I’ve been paid to enjoy that privilege. One of the places I’ve worked was the National Gallery of Denmark which as a research institution of course has a library. It’s an old library and it [...]

Read Full Post »

Pancake Club Revisited

I have written about The Pancake Club earlier and today I got a wonderful comment from Ken Albala who directs my attention to his book Pancake: A Global History.

It seems to be a total must for any pancake lover (such as myself). As soon as I have it in my greasy (from the pancakes) [...]

Read Full Post »

Bomarzo

Last week I went to Rome to see my great friends Giulio and Francisco. On Saturday we ventured outside the city on a trip to Bomarzo near Viterbo and about 70 km North of Rome.
Francisco had read a marvellous novel about Bomarzo and its prince Vicino Orsini (1513-1584, there seems to be some confusion [...]

Read Full Post »

Thomas Winding

I just learned that Thomas Winding, and thus the voice of my childhood, is dead.
Thomas Winding lent his voice to some of the best children’s television programmes ever made when Danish dubbing was needed. His soothing presence is so familiar to me that I can recall his voice instantly and recognise it among thousands. I [...]

Read Full Post »

Otto Steen Due 1939-2008

The philologist Otto Steen Due (or Eight Two as his friends dubbed him: Otto= 8, Due= 2 in Italian) died three days ago at the age of 68. Otto Steen Due was the translator of Homer, Vergil and Ovid into Danish. And what a magnificent translator he was!
I know he has tortured a lot of [...]

Read Full Post »