Rainy Sunday

After Saturday's night of being a social butterfly, I spent Sunday morning first getting over the loss of an hour of sleep due to the Spring time change and then working on revisions to the playbook.

I am trying to streamline as much as I can in terms of terminology and have also asked the players to look at their positions and translate their part of each play into Swedish that makes sense to them.

Some said that it would sound really funny in Swedish. Again, I don't care so long as it makes sense to them and we become more efficient!

I was invited back to Christian Boesgaards home for dinner Sunday with his father, Jan, his sister, Camila and, of course the girls, Jasmine and Matilda.

ARCHITECTURE and ART

My stroll to Christian's flat took me by some interesting sights.

An Electrical Company of sorts

A Saab Company building

How old are these vines?

Blue Man Group?

After another nice meal prepared by Chef Christian and the usual use of me by the girls as a Human Jungle Gym, it was time to take the girls for a walk.

At this age, LIFE IS ALWAYS GOOD!

Jasmine explaining the rules

of our new game.

Very simple really, Jan, Christian and I would play the rolls of dragons while Jasmine and Matilda were princesses. Matilda stands atop their castle.

Type casting.

Joy in a father's eye

as he plays with his daughters!

Thanks again Christian for inviting me into your home and sharing your family with me.

It reminds me of how much I love and miss mine.

Antonio Banderas Film

Our son, Andrew got me hooked on this 1999 film, "The 13th Warrior".

The plot is simple, Antonio plays the part of Ibn Fahdlan, an Arab representative of the Caliph of Baghdad in 992 A.D. He meets up with a band of 12 Viking warriors on their way back up to somewhere in Scandanavia, probably Vinslöv, to fight monsters in the mist. Ibn Fahdlan is coerced into going with them even though he can not speak their language and is shocked by some of their customs.

I love the names of the 12 Viking warriors in the movie: Buliwyf, Herger the Joyous, Helfdane the Large, Roneth the Horseman, Rethel the Archer, Skeld the Superstitious, Weath the Muscician, Edgtho the Silent, Halga the Wise, Hyglak the Quarrelsome, Haltaf the Boy and Ragnar the Dour.

The reason I bring all this up is that for the first part of the movie the Banderas character is silent as he knows nothing of the language his new friends are speaking, he just sits in silence.

Then out of nowhere, he jumps into a conversation speaking fluent "Viking".

All are shocked and finally, Herger the Joyous asks "Where did you learn our language?"

Ibn Fahdlan replies, "I listened."

Oh if it were only that easy!!!

CATANIA UPDATE

I close with bad news from the IFL, final score Bergamo (2-1) 41 - Catania (1-1) 20.

Of interest to Tri-Counties football fans, the Bergamo QB was Bradlee Van Pelt who starred at San Marcos H.S. in Santa Barbara and then at Colorado State University.

No games are scheduled in Italy during the Easter weekend, so the Elephants will have to wait until Saturday, April 10th for their next contest in Bologna against the also 1-1 Warriors.