Say hello to Pigge

I was just out on the veranda when I met this little fellow. He said he was here looking for those tasty bird seeds. I call him Pigge. He is a hedgehog or as we like to call them an Igelkott.

Ferry Pennants

I was at down at the Årsta pier recently. Didn't take the ferry to Utö on that occasion, but I will soon. Instead I took a bunch of photos while walking around the pier area. Zooming in on two ferry pennants on the Utö ferry. The white&yellow represents the ferry company Utö Rederi AB. The blue&yellow the Waxholmsbolaget.

Say hello to Johan

This is Johan. I met him at the barbershop. He knew me from my flickr photos and wanted to talk. Is there a better way to find a Stranger? Turns out I had a photo of him from when he was para motoring over Tungelsta! He was able to identify his wing and that's how he learned about flickr. Since then he has been keeping an eye on my and also Kenny Lex's photos. Johan is a good friend to Mikael (the barber), and last July they were on a para motor holiday in Latvia when there was an accident. Another pilot made a mistake and Johan crash landed. On the ground he thought his life was over. He was taken to a local hospital and after a few nervous days he was flown back to Sweden in an ambulance plane, to the University hospital at Huddinge. There, he had an operation on his vertebra. After a week he was able to go home and then spent the next six months recovering, starting with learning to walk again using crutches. He told me that he would make a decision next month whether to start flying again. He also told me that the accident had helped him in his professional life. He works as a motivational coach at a company called Teamkultur. We had time to talk about a few other things and Johan told me about a cool find he had made. I don't have a GPS, but Kenny does, so I gave the GPS info from Johan to Kenny. His mission should he choose to accept it, was to locate that find and take a photo of it! Which he did within 24 hours!This is my 52th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

Uppdatering: Om du vet någonting om den här historien så går det bra att kontakta Sune på Haninge.org HÄR kan du ladda ner en pdf-fil med lite fakta.

Summer Wallpaper

Just a guess, but I don't think this photo from a field in rural Österhaninge will get as many views as the Autumn Version did. As I'm typing this the autumn photo stands at 6,374 views. There's a few interesting places in this area. If you have the time I have a few shots from Österhaninge at flickr.

Juha

At the lakes I decide to rest on a bench and that's how I met Stranger # 51. This is Juha, born and raised in Haninge. He works at Hylast, a company that customizes trucks. This was his first vacation day and he was thinking about going back home to get his fishing gear. Because that's his hobby. Although it's probably more than just a hobby, it's a way of life. Juha knows everything there is to know about fishing. Which he proved by telling me all I ever needed to know about the best technique, places and times to catch fish at Lake Rudan. He told me about a few sport fishing trips to Strömhult in Småland where a group of people pay for a few days fly fishing at one of the streams. They start early, at around five in the morning, have a few hours of rest around lunch time and then continue to late in the evening. Do you have any good fishing stories I asked. Sure, we were in Norway, at a place called Smöla. After fishing from land we decided to take a boat out and try cod trolling. After finding a good spot we started fishing. It was amazing he said, we were out for a few hours, and got hundreds of fish, so much that the boat almost sank! Any plans for a holiday this year I asked? Yes, I'm thinking about a trip to Älvkarlebyn. It's a great place to fish for salmon. I'm not into fishing myself, but I have eaten a fantastic salmon lunch at a hotel at Älvkarlebyn so that sounds like a great place for Juha to visit. This is my 51th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

Two Giraffes

Out walking in the Österhaninge jungle I stumbled upon these two giraffes. They didn't move so I guess they are used to humans...

Tunnel Vision

This is the pedestrian tunnel at the commuter station in Handen. I arrived via the funky spiral.

Meet Sebbe

I see this cool looking guy on a walkway in Handen and figures he is 100 Strangers material. After telling him about the project he agrees to have his photo taken.This is Sebbe. He lives in Jordbro and works as a personal assistant. Do you have any fun hobbies I ask. Sure, I'm a musician. I play the double bass, also known as the contrabass. In two bands. One of them called Zombie Space Pirates! We play Psychobilly. Then, before he can mention the other band, I say, and the other group I guess is The Horror Nipples? Yes, he says. How did you know that? I know that because I met two of your other band members back in April, and took their photo for the same project! How cool is that! It's a small world after all. This is my 50th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

Picking a fight...

Two members of the dance group Haningarna performing what I think might be the Halling dance. The guy to the left is drunk and not welcome to dance, and he picks a fight. People really seemed to enjoy this number, probably because it reminds them of previous Midsummers...

Drunken disorder plagues Midsummer

I borrowed the headline from an article in The Local. So if you want to know how a traditional Swedish Midsummer is celebrated you should read this article. Today's photo is from the midsummer dance in Tungelsta yesterday where everything was a bit calmer...

Midsummer Celebrations

Every year a Maypole, or Midsommarstång is raised on the lawn behind the church in Tungelsta on Midsummer's Day. Then there's traditional dance and folk music performed by the dance group Haningarna. After that it's time to have a cup of coffee on the grass before the dance around the Maypole begins. More photos here.

Working in Underwear

A carpenter stripped down to his underwear fixing one of the piers at the beach at Årsta Havsbad. Surprisingly as the sun was shining and all schools have closed, only four people was sitting on the beach admiring his talents. This is my favorite beach, but so far this year I have only made a few brief visits.

Urban Poetry

"I had to wait two hours for the fucking bus to arrive. Luckily some loser had left this pen in the forest. I found it as I was taking a piss. I'm telling you that so you don't think I'm some nature lover".

Love and Kisses Sinater.

P.S

"I'm fucking mad at SL, assholes. I can't figure out if the pen writes in silver or in white".

D.S
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Translated and interpretated by Steffe (who normally doesn't like vandalism, but had to give this guy some credit!)

Motor Torpedo Boat

Wanna go for a ride in a torpedo boat? You can if you want to. This Motor Torpedo Boat can take up to twelve people. It was built at Stockholms Örlogsvarv (dockyard), back in 1957, and was used in the Swedish navy until 1973. More facts about the ship here. I spotted the boat as I was sitting at the kiosk down at the Årsta pier today enjoying a cheeseburger.

Roller Skating Duo

These two guys came flying past me on the road today on their inline skates. I decided to catch up with them. Luckily for me they had to stop and repair the brakes on one of the roller blades. This is Thomas and Mikael. They are members of Stockholm Speedskaters. They had just been down to Tungelsta (I met them in Handen), and funnily enough taken the same route as I did on my bike! During the winter time they are often out skating on the ice in the archipelago. Mikael had done the Viking Run. It's a 80 km ride on Lake Mälaren between Uppsala and Stockholm. Thomas told me about a run from Västerås to Stockholm (100 km), that took him and his friends around eight hours. Mikael lives in Tyresö and Thomas comes from Spånga/Tensta. They met while skating, and have been friends ever since. Another fun winter ride on the ice was when Mikael took a ferry from Stavsnäs out to Harö, and from there skated out to Svenska Högarna, far out in the Stockholm archipelago. You can see some winter photos here . This is my 49th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

Apartment Fire

There was a fire in an apartment at Ribby in Västerhaninge today. I was in the area when the fire and rescue services arrived. They had to knock down the door to the apartment on the third floor. A little later a fire fighter opened the balcony door and you could see a lot of smoke come out. I talked to some of the concerned neighbours. It looks like the owners were staying in a camper at a local beach. They have a daughter but I don't think anyone was home. Will try to find out more later.

Meet Björn Jansson

This is Björn Jansson. A retired police officer. He was in the force for 43 years. During his long career he had worked all over the police force. Everything from street work as a constable, and as a traffic police, to a job as an investigating detective.Towards the of his career, Björn worked at a police museum in Stockholm, and that's how he came to be at the car event at Torvalla today with the old Porsche police car . Now after retirement he spends as much as five months of the year up north, enjoying the nature while fishing for salmon and trout. He doesn't hunt but sometimes assists his hunting friends. This is my 47th photo for the 100 Strangers project. You can see the rest of my strangers in my Set.

Touched by an artist and a welder

Earlier in the year the bronze sculpture Touched by Flowers at the park in Tungelsta was vandalised. Now it was time for the artist Klara Kristalova and the bronze casting specialist Thomas Broman to repair the artwork. Janne Sandh from the group that sponsored the artwork asked me to come down and take some photos. Here you see Thomas and Klara, (with a print of one of my photos) discussing the repair work. Guess who forgot to bring his weld safety mask and had to drive away and buy a new one? Obviously Thomas the Welder! While he was gone Klara told us about the time she was arrested by the police in London. Late at night she took a flower from a flower bed in a park. The British police saw her, and a bobby chased her down, and put her in the back of a police truck. At the station she was booked, photographed and had her fingerprints taken. Then she spent the night locked up, only to be released the following morning without any charges. The stories you here when taking photos never seeses to amaze me. When Thomas came back everything went smooth and he finished the repair job by spraying copper nitrate on the artwork and using a burner to get the correct bronze tone.

Jalmar Jälte Jälper Järna

A bit of a word pun here. If you read this sentence to someone they will hear it as it is supposed to be spelled: Hjalmar Hjälte Hjälper Gärna. Translated to English it would mean something like Hjalmar the hero is happy to help. This very cool construction at the Art Promenade was made by Annie Forsberg.

Didgeridoo Player

There was music at the opening of the Art Promenade. As I walked around a DJ was playing and a group of people were dancing on the lawn in front of the gallery. Then when I sat down and talked to some of the artists this guy started to play on his didgeridoo.