A recent afternoon shot of Hamngatan in front of NK department store. Is this scene in the movie you might logically ask? No. But like the movie, it captures the look of Stockholm in the winter! Photo by Robert Corkery.

I woke up with “I come from the land of the ice and snow” – lyrics from Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song – blasting through my head. Last night, we saw the new Hollywood movie version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and a hard-rocking cover version of the song launches the movie. And it got stuck in my head.

Don’t worry – ı won’t give away specific plot or movie details here to spoil it for you if you haven’t seen the film yet. Read on for my more general overviews instead.

Having read all three books and seen all three Swedish movie versions of the books, I guess I could have been a harsh critic of the new version. But I liked it and was pulled in and kept entertained during the whole long movie for the most part – things only got just a bit slow in the middle. As the Swedish movies really were good, I would have liked to see the Hollywood version push the suspense just a little more. The trailer that was released a few months back was nerve wracking and did a wonderful job of making your palms feels sweaty. It compelled me to see the movie. But the movie itself didn’t quite live up to my expectations of total terror. So maybe I am judging the new version by what came earlier! All that said, the plot is mostly true to the book and I actually liked Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara was excellent as Lisbeth Salander.

I loved seeing parts of Stockholm that I know so well in the movie and felt that the cinematography did a great job of capturing the gray/dark that characterizes Sweden in the winter. Nici, Robert and I rated the movie as 3.5 stars out of 5 and Roger gave it a 4.  Check out a few more details on the books at fun facts and the Swedish movie version.

Bjorn and Peter doing a guitar jam.

Last night I went to see one of my favorite bands – Peter, Bjorn and John – play at Hornstull Strand. When I see a band I really love play live, I worry if they will suck and then I will never quite like them as much anymore. (After seeing Manu Chau live, I didn’t like his albums in the same way as before.) But seeing PB&J was a happy surprise.

In concert, this band is lively and kind of punky, with Peter pogoing around the stage on lead vocals and guitar and Bjorn working the bass and John content to jam in the background on drums. I loved it. After the show, the husband accused me of having a crush on Peter. And he’s kind of right. But only in that “isn’t he a talented singer/songwriter kind of way.”

The show was a sell-out, but the Strand is a small venue so it was easy to make our way toward the front and by the end, we were directly next to the stage. Also toward the end, a mosh pit formed and there was some body passing going on. I felt like I was back in college! And during Young Folks – the band’s huge single from 2006 –  Peter came down into the crowd to sing and I got to dance with him. At some point during the song, about 20 concert goers got on stage to dance, even sharing the mike with Bjorn. In a classic Swedish kind of way, security was casual about this and rather gently led the group off the stage at the end of the song.

Peter at Hornstull Strand.

By the way, PB&J’s new album Gimme Some will be officially released Saturday here in Sweden, but I got my copy last night. I’m loving it already. I recently mentioned how much I liked Second Chance. And Dig a Little Deeper is a happy, catchy sing-along song while I Know You Don’t Love Me is a jamming guitar song. The album has more of what the band did so well on Writer’s Block in 2006, mainly to play infectious, catchy tunes with an indie flavor.

The Gimme Some thumb – the album's cover art – as modeled by a fellow concert goer.

Sweden is a huge exporter of music. Unless you’re from here, you probably didn’t know that, did you? Sure, you either loved or hated Sweden for ABBA. But otherwise, you probably had no clue of what other music was made here, did you?  Until I moved to Stockholm, I had no idea that so many bands I liked were actually from Sweden.

While I’m not a big fan of Swedish schlager (bubble gum pop), I am loving a lot of other stuff. Just now, I’ve been listening to Lykke Li’s new album Wounded Rhymes. In particular, I like I Follow Rivers and Get Some.

After the huge success of Peter, Bjorn and John’s Writer’s Block – which I’ve loved ever since it came out in 2006 – I’ve been wanting to hear more. (Since the band had a lot of Södermalm connections, I always felt a special kinship with them.) While PB&J released a Swedish CD and various members have done solo work – Bjorn worked with Lykke on her album, for instance – this is really their follow-up. Gimme Some will be out next month and they have already released the single Second Chance, which I like. So I am curious to hear more.

While out with some friends on Saturday night, we stopped in at the Saddle and Sabre for a drink. In the basement, there was a group of musicians having a bluegrass jam session – definitely not what I would have expected there. While bluegrass is not a favorite genre for me, I am always a fan of live music. And these guys were good, playing guitars, banjo, violin. Apparently, this happens every Saturday night. Check out saddle and sabre.

The view from the cliff walk between Lisbeth and Mikael.

I have an embarrassing confession to make: I want to watch the filming of  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Maybe my zest for Hollywood came after that audition for the TV commerical (see Hollywood calling), but I’m not really sure. I’ve never been a celebrity stalker or even someone who buys the tabloids like People magazine. But I am curious about the filming here in Stockholm.

What I do know thus far  is that Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara or Blomqvist and Salander have been spotted around town. And apparently filming is supposed to start in October. The locations are being kept secret, but some of the stuff just has to be done in Södermalm, right? So I think I am going to need to do a little scouting around town. Let me know if you see anything, OK?

Outside the Drottningholms Slottsteater at intermission.

Last night, I went to the opera. Unlike the stuffy, la ti dah experience you might expect, it was bawdy and fun and full of humor. My friend Jodi had tickets and we went to the Drottningholms Slottsteater or the castle theater at Drottningholm, which is the home of the royal family.

It was a sunny evening and we had a picnic on the lawn before going in for the show. The performance was of La finta giardiniera or the pretend garden girl and it was a comedy of lies and mistaken identity set around a summer wedding. The music is by Mozart, the singing in Italian and the subtitles in Swedish, making for quite an international evening.

La finta giardiniera's conductor Mark Tatlow with Jodi after the performance.

The theater itself is gorgeous: it was built in 1766 and the original hand pulled wooden stage machinery is still used. Ushers and greeters are all dressed in period costume too, but the unfortunate side effect of keeping that authentic atmosphere is that you have to sit on some rather uncomfortable wooden seats – which is literally and figuratively hard when you are watching a 2 hour and 45 minute show! Luckily, the performers are fantastic and the show is funny and well worth the sore backside. Check out: La finta giardiniera.

Sunset outside the theater at 10.30.

Post performance, the Yale Alley Cats pose with Ambassador Matthew Barzun in Stockholm.

Living as an expat in Stockholm, I get the opportunity to do a lot of things that I probably would not get to do in my life in the US. Take today, for instance. I took the afternoon off and went to the US ambassador’s residence to watch a performance by the Yale Alley Cats.

The Alley Cats are an a cappella group of singers who have been performing around the world since 1943. These poor guys just finished exams, landed in Europe this morning and were performing in the afternoon. They had to have been tired, but they give a great show anyway.

I have to say that I am not a fan of the old “Has anybody seen my gal” singing standards, but the guys did a great version of the Beatles’ Norwegian Wood, as well as the Temptations’ Get Ready. And they were also fantastic in their singing of a Bulgarian folk song. It’s definitely not something I would have typically gone too, but I enjoyed myself. And the Cats seemed like a good group of guys.

The interior courtyard gardens at Tessin Palace.

Last night was one of those nights where when we walked into a bar, the band stopped playing. We seemed to be just missing all the fun.

With a group of eight friends, we went to Kulturnatt or culture night. All sorts of galleries, palaces, theaters and bars stayed open late and you could listen to live music, see art, dance and movies, hear poetry and much more. It was the first time Stockholm has done a night like this and I was keen to check out the ambitious lineup.

I should have known that it was all too much to cram into one night. Our first stop was Tessin Palace on Gamla Stan. The palace is rarely open to the public and we were excited to check it out. But you had to have separate tickets for the palace itself, which we just missed out on. So we got to look at the gardens instead. Which were gorgeous at least. When we went to the Mint next door to hear music, it was not open yet. And at Kungsträgården, there was no live music to be found. We spent our evening walking from venue to venue, but never quite getting to see what we wanted. It became comical after a while.

Robert and Tracy enjoying the sun on the way into Kulturhuset.

It was a good thing the evening was warmer and we were all in a fun mood. Because we did have a good time in spite of it all. And while we got to see an interesting photo exhibition, when we walked into a place where live music was being performed, the band stopped as we walked in, after having apparently played for 2.5 hours. At that point, we noticed everyone in the room was playing Monopoly and Scrabble. So it was obviously not the liveliest of spots anyway. Robert and I ended the night with Tracy at Fasching – a legendary jazz club – listening to classic soul music and dancing until 3 am. Now that was fun.

There were times today that I did not think the snow would ever stop. We have had a huge dumping of snow over the last several days that has been truly amazing to watch. Big, fat fluffy flakes left this beautiful layer of white over everything and thus our winter wonderland continues. My unofficial guess is that we now have more than 14 inches of snow on the ground. But this does not seem to have stopped anyone from enjoying life. Christmas tress were being brought home on top of bicycles. All the stores were packed with holiday shoppers. And yesterday as we were walking through our local park, a group of people were having a BBQ. Everyone was in snow gear and those not cooking and eating were sled riding. There were even lamb skins spread on the park benches for the kids and dog. I so wanted to crash the party and join in the fun.

Last night as I was leaving The Liffey pub, the band was playing “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” I don’t know how many years it has been since I have heard that song, but it instantly transported me back to the US. It reminded me of my friend Ted who loves John Denver, as well as my cousins Kara and Kristy who were born in West Virginia. And finally, it reminded me of my Dad who played John Denver on his turntable. I felt warm and fuzzy and left with a smile on my face.

Then as I walked into the Gamla Stan (Old Town) subway station to come home, a street musician was playing ABBA’s “Thank You for the Music.” Just as quickly, I was back in Stockholm.