Where do they come from?
Do you know where they come from, all our celebrities? Do you think they're all from Stockholm? Well, they're not. Pop singer Shirley Clamp, for example, comes from Borås, and singer/TV host Linda Bengtzing hails from Gullspång. Comedian Henrik Schyffert calls Ronneby home, and musician Dregen (of Backyard Babies fame) comes from Nässjö. TV-host Josefin Crafoord stems from Göteborg, singer-songwriter Lars Winnerbäck is from Linköping, and musician Jocke Berg's childhood was spent in Eskilstuna. Singer Kim Kärnfalk comes from Uddevalla, actress Helena Bergström from Göteborg and singer Markus Krunegård from Norrköping.

Herr Carlsson and Herr Svensson are getting married.
Well maybe they aren't, but they could if they wanted to. Three of the parties in the four-party governing coalition have tabled a motion that is expected to pave the way for gay marriage in Sweden, come May this year. And Swedish vicars are mostly positive toward gay marriage: Almost 7 out of 10 vicars agree to perform the marriage ceremony if the new law is passed by Parliament. According to Rapport (Swedish TV news), those reluctant to perform the ceremony claim that those who didn't answer (68% of the vicars replied in the positive, 21% said they opposed gay marriage, and the remaining 11% chose not to answer), were afraid of repercussions, or not being able to find a job in the future.

How do you get to work?
How did you get to work this morning? Dagens Nyheter polled its readers around Sweden and got the following result: 32% used public transportation, 29% biked, 22% drove, 16% walked, and 2% got to work by other means.

Places to take kids.
Do you have children? Then you’re probably always scouting for places where you can go and bring your kids without getting “the look” from people. “The look” meaning 'how dare you bring along a human under the age of 5.' If you’re in Sweden, you’re already lucky because Sweden is very child-centered. But you might not want to drag your offspring with you to a place like, say, Operakällaren. Here are some places where it’s more than OK to bring loud little ones with snotty fingers: 1. Brunogallerian, Götgatsbacken 36, t Slussen. They have yummy sandwiches, too – a big plus. 2. Kulturhuset, Sergels Torg, t T-centralen. Check out the huge panorama window in Teaterbaren and look out over the city. In summertime, the roof of Kulturhuset is a given – nobody will hear your little one scream here. 3. Kafé Blåbär, Fleminggatan 53, t Fridhemsplan. Here you can get delicious and big salads, but you best avoid the lunch hour chaos.

A day with Claire.
Don’t you just love actress Claire Wikholm! She’s wonderfully funny, she’s offbeat, and she’s a bit kooky. Wikholm, who was born in Stockholm in 1944, has performed in plays like “King Lear” and “Othello” and “Tartuffe” and in endless TV series. She’s also written a book with Lena Persson called “Med solkiga tassar,” about a dog and a cat. Now she performs at Stockholms Stadsteater. Wikholm writes in Dagens Nyheter, “If I’m feeling a bit blue, I usually begin my day by going on a gallery tour.” That made us want to know more about how Wikholm spends her days. In her own words: “If I need air and nature, I like to go to Waldermarsudde. Magasin 3 is also fun if the weather’s bad. It’s so pretty out there. In the afternoon I begin preparing for the night’s performance - I usually do that by cleaning out some cupboards at home. After that I eat, at a weird time like 4 pm. I either eat something quick at home, or I go and have sushi at Pong, which is near Stadsteatern and also quite good. At 6 I am at the theater – one hour before curtains go up – for make-up, and I usually gear up by gossiping about what’s going on at the theater and the world. That’s how I get my adrenaline kicking! After the show if I have friends around, we usually go to Matkultur; and if we all go out from the theater afterwards, we usually go to Barcelona at Kulturhuset for their delicious tapas. I fix my own nightclub at home: I have a little sign that says ‘Borgs Bar’, and then I put out strange but good cheeses, grapes, salami, ham, and olives. We play hip-hop, tango, jazz or Bob Dylan – whatever my husband and I are in the mood for. There’s even dancing at Borg’s Bar! What I miss in Stockholm is an enormous aquarium. I would like a few kilometers of Pacific Ocean with corals and fish here in Stockholm. I have seen something like it in Singapore. A place you can walk through with tunnels, or, if you’re a diver, swim in. I would like something like that to snorkel in.”
If you’re in Stockholm you can try Wikholm’s favorite hangouts as well as see her in “Nu mår jag mycket bättre” (I feel much better now) at Stockholms Stadsteater. (www.stadsteatern.stockholm.se)
Waldemarsudde: www.waldemarsudde.se
Magasin 3: www.magasin3.com
Pong: Pong Asian, Klara tvärgränd 3 (20 meters behind Drottninggatan 25), 111 52 Stockholm
Matkultur: www.matkultur.nu
Barcelona/Kulturhuset: www.kulturhuset.stockholm.se