Autumn Avenue

It was a cold night. The leafs changed their color overnight. This was the tree lined avenue Allévägen in Lida this afternoon.

Minimalistic Monday

Over at flickr I'm one of the moderators at a cool group called Blue Yonder. It's for photos with a clear blue sky with no more then one object in the photo. This is a detail of a big crane used at a building site that I keep track on.

Hassan

Relaxing on a bench in Västerhaninge, this is Hassan (It's not his real name, but it's what everyone calls him, he told me). I noticed him because of his military uniform and figured that he had to be my next stranger. Hassan is a member of the Swedish Home Guard. A volunteer organisation. His battalions job is to guard and protect Swedish infrastructure against sabotage. They operate on land and from boats and work mainly around the Muskö Base here in Haninge. Did those last sentences sound familiar? Well they should. I met Ante on this exact spot the day before I met Hassan, and they are both members of the same local organisation. There you go, another cool coincidence! Back to Hassan, he lives in Huddinge. He is married, and has four kids that do their best to keep him busy. He works at Karolinska Institutet, one of Europe's largest medical universities, at CeFAM, where he teaches graduate students everything they need to know about statistics. And as he must have a few degrees in mathematics, I'm sure Hassan can come up with an equation that will explain all these coincidences that seem to pop up everywhere I go these days!


This is my 87th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

How Many Dogs?

Last weekend at the art exhibition one of the artists, Annie Forsberg asked my flickr contact Kenny if he knew how many dogs you could find on the door to the medieval church in Österhaninge. The church is just down the road from the gallery. I had no idea about any dogs so yesterday when I was in the area I decided to have a look at the door in question.

Meet Ulla

Say hello to Ulla. I met her on last week in Handen. She was on her lunch break and looking forward to get a bite to eat, but still had time to talk with me for a few minutes. Ulla lives and works here in Handen. I'm employed by the council and work with kids she told me. What do you do for kicks I asked. I enjoy dancing she said. And recommended me to try one of her favorite dances the Lindy Hop. I'm sure seeing me dance would be very funny I replied. She's also tried skydiving. So you are like one of those adrenaline junkies then I asked, and laughingly she said I guess so. As my last question I asked her to recommend a cool place for a holiday and Ulla's suggestion was Brazil. She'd been to Natal once and had a great time.

This is my 86th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

FS-Transport

A truck with modules to the prefab houses arrives to Stora Arken in Handen.



And here is one of the buildings that are being constructed here:

A Reflection

Another reflection shot from Lake Rudan. A recreational area in Handen that I visit every week year round.

Meet Ante

As the sun was shining all the cool kids put on their shades (me included). This is Ante. He lives in Västerhaninge and that's where I met him. He is a carpenter. When he told me that I decided to check the coincidence factor by telling him that I met and photographed two carpenters for the strangers project a few months ago. As I started to describe how they looked Ante stopped me by saying that it sounded like his neighbour Lippen! Some more facts about Ante. His big hobby is sailing. He owns a wooden sail boat, a Neptunkryssare and spends much of his free time on the boat, that he has at a marina on the island of Yxlö in the Stockholm archipelago. Ante is a member of the Swedish Home Guard. A volunteer organisation. His battalions job is to guard and protect Swedish infrastructure against sabotage. They operate on land and from boats and work mainly around the Muskö Base here in Haninge. After this conversation I took a number of photos and then we said goodbye.

This is my 85th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

Fall Into Autumn

Today is Höstdagjämning. Autumn is officially here. So I took a walk and shot nothing but leafs. This is my new desktop photo.

Sky Window

A window at a construction site in Handen. When it's finished it will be a six storey building. Click here to see the how the building looked just a couple of weeks ago. This is not a reflexion.

Alexej Svetlov

At the Art Exhibition. This is Alexej Svetlov. He is originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia but lives in Sweden today. And from today, until the 5th of October you can see some of his artwork at the Kyrkskolan Gallery in Österhaninge. Alexej is into Visual arts and has also worked as an actor, and as a scenographer. I visited the exhibition this afternoon together with my flickr contact Kenny Lex who paid for the coffee, thanks for that Kenny!

Malin (coolest coincidence ever)

I'm on the bike at the automatic level crossing at Lida, waiting for the commuter train to pass. Malin who was out jogging in the sunshine, makes a comment about how typical it is to arrive just as a train is closing in, and we start talking. I notice that she is pregnant and Malin says that the baby is due in January. Boy or a girl, I ask. Don't know she says with a big smile. Malin who is a big animal lover opened a pet store with a couple of friends a few years back. It's still open but I now work for an insurance company she tells me. Once the baby is born I'm hoping that we can also add a dog to the family. Malin is a sporty girl, having played soccer for many years. As a kid she was into diving. Have you tried anything else I ask. Yes, para gliding she says. Cool, I reply, and start to tell her about one of my previous strangers, Johan Henschen who had an accident while para motoring abroad. She looks at me and laughs, that's my dad! How cool is that! Apparently Johan hasn't told his daughter about being photographed for the 100 Strangers Project, so I tell her the very interesting story that meeting generated. I've been reading a few articles in the media lately about the author Helena Henschen, who has written two very interesting books (one about a famous murder story in the family), and asks Malin if it is the same family. It is she says, Helena is my dads sister. That's enough coincidences for today and as the train has passed by a few minutes ago we say goodbye.
This is my 84th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set

A 360 Panorama

The old tree at Välsta and it's surroundings. Nearly saw the sun today. But there was of course some rain...

Wildlife Encounter

I met this Roe Deer the other day close to the Slätmossen nature park in Handen. There's a children's playground some fifty metres away, where a bunch of dogs were playing on the playground slide while barking like mad. That didn't seem to bother the deer, who had it's eyes fixed on me.

European Heritage Days

This is an old cottage called Janstorp located next to the homestead museum in Västerhaninge. The museum used to be known as Sotholms Härads Tingshus. Originally this little cottage was located in Handen along the Nynäs Road. Last Sunday the museum and the cottage, along with 200 other similar places around Sweden was open for the public during Kulturhusens dag, Savour the Buildings, part of the European Heritage Days. The theme of the 2008 European Heritage Days focuses on buildings which are devoted to producing, preparing or serving food and drink. I met a few of the members, including the photographer, historian and author Bo Stjernström. I have a copy of one of his books, Life and Death at Näringsberg, that he wrote together with his wife Anita who I also briefly met today . I wasnt really hungry, so I skipped the food and enjoyed some coffee and cake with Sune Nilsson another member of the homestead society. I also met the mother of one of my strangers, Agnes, that I met at the gallery in Österhaninge one week ago.

Armed Robbery

There was an armed robbery at Jordbro today. Two men held up a security guard vehicle from Loomis at Moränvägen at the Jordbro Galleria. The robbers disappeared on mopeds. I was in the area and decided to stay around. Took some photos of police cars, onlookers and a police helicopter that circled the area for half an hour before landing in a park. More police arrived and after 20 minutes the helicopter did another search of the area.

Jarmo

This is Jarmo Alanko. He is in charge of Security, Health and Environment at Drefvikens Värmeverk, part of Vattenfall, (the largest generator of heat in Europe). I met him yesterday during the open house day at the Thermal Power Plant in Jordbro. We sat down at a table and talked for about ten minutes. Jarmo is used to talking to the press and media, and handles some of the company's contacts with the authority's. He has appeared in court on a few occasions for the company, on environmental issues, always on the winning side. He told me a lot about his job and the new power plant that will be built here over the next two years. Jarmo has appeared in a few advertisements for Vattenfall. On a recent TV ad shoot, eight people worked hard for ten hours and I appeared in that ad for about two seconds he told me with a laugh! He is often out talking to students at the University's. Four times every year we rent the Marine World Kolmården and invites some 10 000 clients, so I'm very at ease interacting with a lot of people he said. He also told me this story. Jarmo who originally comes from Eskilstuna is married and has two kids. The family lives in Västerhaninge. On his free time he enjoys working out in the gym. I'm a health freak, and average eight sessions per week he said.
This is my 83th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set

Biofuel Power Plant

A panorama made from four photos, showing the Jordbro thermal power station. Owned by Vattenfall, the largest generator of heat in Europe. There was an open house here today. I took the guided tour. Very interesting. The source of energy comes from wooden pellets, regarded as one of the substitutes for fossil fuels like coal and oil for heating. If you want to know how it works there's more info from Vattenfall here.

Home-baked buns

I made buns today. They very tasty. Especially when you enjoy them in the afternoon sun with a good book and a cup of coffee.

Marine helicopter

A Vertol Helicopter from the Swedish Marine flying over Gålö . From a visit to the nature reserve last month. I was taking photos of some giants kettle at Noor when I heard the helicopter. I just had time to lift the camera for a quick shot.