Olympic                                                                          
     Coverage  

When we were in the States, John and I enjoyed watching the Olympics, and also (enjoyed ?) grumbling that Olympic coverage had too many 'up-close and personals' (which was much truer years ago than it is now), that it focused too much on a few highlighted sports, and that the coverage jumped around from one event to the next.

We, like most people, enjoy watching figure skating, speed skating, short track skating, ice hockey, ski jumping, and snow boarding competitions.  But we like other sports too.  Like curling.  We think it's cool (no pun intended) and in the States, if you one doesn't have cable TV, there is little coverage.

Well...It's both the same here and different.

Up close and personals:  I don't think there is so much of the "Here is athlete Per, at home in the small town of...", but of course there is some of it.  But there are long, very very long, interviews.  Relaxed persons sitting around a fire in a studio talking for (OK we are not sure because we typically do not keep it on, but ) up to 45 minutes?

Focus on highlighted sports?  Yup.  The coverage corresponds somewhat to the medal summary.  That makes sense.  The athletes excel in those sports in which people are interested.  And of course, viewers are interested in watching their countrymen do well.

1. Sweden

   The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

                                      Gold                   Silver                  Bronze                Total

   Cross-Country	2	5	4	11
   Curling	0	1	1	2
   Ice Hockey	0	1	0	1
   Freestyle Skiing	0	0	1	1

2. 
   

And so we watched a lot of cross country skiing, biathlons, a lot of curling, ice hockey, freestyle snowboarding and skiing events.  There was coverage of skating, but one had to look for it.

And does the coverage jump from one sport to the next?  Not at all.  Which is nice. But, lest I be satisfied and not have anything to whine about, the downside  is that when it is between periods of the ice hockey game, if the cameras do not go to the studio for conversation, one might be viewing the Zamboni (yes really).

And so it goes.  It is the same and different all at once.  Not better or worse (except that this time I had to pay to watch).

As I type this I am smiling because we are watching the closing ceremonies and John is grumbling because he is being subjected to ballet.  Poor soul...  ; )

Stuga i Skogen.

Or, Cottage in the Woods.

Several Saturdays ago, some friends invited a group of us to spend the afternoon at their cottage.  The cottage, or "stuga" is approximately 40 miles inland.  That is significant as Malmö is on the coast, and tends to be fairly temperate.  A typical winter's day here hovers around 32 F, (0 C), with little snow.  But only a short one hour drive away, we found ourselves near Söderåsen National Park.  It was beautiful, and we enjoyed a lovely day, walking, and talking, and having a meal together.

Tusen tack till Arne och Elisabet.

Dry Erase Board

Can I vent?  I wanted to purchase a dry erase board.  Nothing special. 

Just something simple around 8 x 10 inches.  - Or should I say, around 20,32 x 25,4 cm.  Either way, no big deal right?  OK, so it might be more expensive here, but that is just the way it is.

We had to go to a few stores before finding one at a book store. There was a small ~ 4x6 inches (oops, 10,16 x 15.24 cm) board that was packaged with a pen and a wiping cloth.  It was not as nice as the one pictured above.  It was just a piece of hard cardboard covered on one side with a white, easy-wipe surface.  It was 149 SEK.  Not impressed?  149 SEK equates to $25.  $25!!! (We bought a pen and went to the second hand store and bought a framed glass pane.)

I mean, come on: $25!!

Thanks for listening.

The!  Sun!   Is!   Out!  In!   Malmö!

That might not seem like a big deal to you,   but that is a big deal to us!!!  Malmö has almost constantly gray skies in the winter and a sunny day is life giving!  I need to get out there and take a walk!
I hope your day is equally sunny.

By the way, the weather forecast copied below is from The Weather Channel, thus the familiarity. 

3 pmTueFeb 4

34°F

Sunny

FEELS LIKE:

27°

 

HUMIDITY:

85%

 

PRECIP:

0%

 

WIND:

SSE at 9 mph

But I ALWAYS watch the Olympics!!!!!

I can hardly believe it, but I do not know if I will be able to view much of the Olypmic games this year!!!
From what I understand, a cable company has purchased the broadcasting rights, and unless I subscribe, I will not be viewing Olympic coverage.

Somehow, this just seems like it should be illegal...
The following is an article explaining it, from






Swedish state broadcaster Sveriges Television and TV4 will not be able to broadcast events from the Sochi Winter Olympics in February after failing to reach an agreement with rights holder MTG.
"It's true, we have no agreement with MTG. MTG has decided to broadcasteverything themselves," said Per Yng at Sveriges Television (SVT).
The decision means that viewers will only be able to follow the Olympics via MTG's Viasat cable channels. The firm has also secured the rights for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
TV4 has confirmed that they offered a "seven figure sum" in line with what they usually pay SVT for Olympic broadcasting rights but were given short shrift from the Stenbeck family-controlled MTG.
SVT, often together with TV4, has broadcast the Olympic Games for the past 60 years and the change seems to have passed many Swedes by. A recent opinion survey by Sifo indicated that 8/10 Swedes expect to be able to tune in to SVT and/or TV4.
Only 5 percent chose Viasat's sports channels.
This is a situation which MTG is planning to address and the broadcaster has launched a massive advertising campaign to tempt viewers to sign up for its package of channels.
But for those disinclined to pay for a slew of extra premium channels, SVT has assured that it will be able to report from in and around the games, promising clips of events, news and goings on from the Black Sea resort city Sochi.
However neither SVT nor TV4 will be accredited for the games, meaning that they will not be able to book interviews or be given access to press areas in Sochi.