E-mail me at hjalte.stranden@educ.goteborg.se if you have any thoughts or reviews you want to share on the blog. When you come back to school the IHGR library will host another Värsta boken-event, much in line with the one´s that have been before. See you in August!
Swedenborg Forum inbjuder till fyra sommarmöten i Swedenborgs trädgård
Lördagen 19 juni kl. 17.00 traditionellt firande av Nya Kyrkans dag i Mullvaden Krukmakargatan 6, ingång genom grinden. Kortare tal, sång och musik. Svalkande dryck och lättare förtäring. Tips: ta med egen portion jordgubbar. Vi följer distansering enligt alla föreskrifter.
Söndagen 4 juli kl. 14.30 Krukmakargatan 6, Andrei Vashestov talar om Swedenborg och Amerika.
Söndagen 18 juli kl. 14.30, Krukmakargatan 6, Andrei Vashestov och Susanna Åkerman talar om Swedenborgs korrespondenslära.
Söndagen 8 augusti kl. 14.30, Krukmakargatan 6, Andrei Vashestov, Tanja Perskaja, och Susanna Åkerman talar om Swedenborg såsom siare.
Art by Roy Lichtenstein. Photo taken by me at the Gothenburg Museum of Art. May of 2021.
Hi! The summer break is here so the IHGR library blog is going on vacation now for a while.
If there´s any contributions to Dark Summer – The Dystopia Book Club I will post those on the blog during the summer. Otherwise I will be back in August 2021. Have a great summer!
Gothenburg, in it´s current incarnation as a city, turns 400 years now. Hooray! Read more about that here. I will, of course, celebrate this occasion in style myself.
Bust of king Gustaf III at Näckrosdammen, Gothenburg. Gustaf III is not particulary connected to Gothenburg, but I like him so that´s why there´s a photo of him on the blog! Photo taken by me in April of 2021.
If you have not returned all your text books, read more about how to do that here. Lastly, in a few days it´s also the 6th of June, Swedens National day. In celebration of that I´m re-posting the photo below. I wish you all a great summer, a nice 6th of June and I hope to see you in August.
The Three crowns of Sweden. Photo taken by me in 2020.
Nostalgia. A broken down old Forshaga Shopper. Photo taken by me in Färjenäs, Gothenburg. May of 2021.
Here are the correct answers for the staff quiz published on the 24th of May. The winner is Mister J. B.! A Honorable mention goes to Mister T. B.. Your prizes will be on your work desks shortly!
The painting depicts the sacking of Visby by the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag.
3. The four characters I wanted named are Mister Toad of Toad Hall, Badger, Rat and Mole.
4. Up until 1965 the Swedish police used sabers instead of truncheons.
5. The name of this particular subculture is Teddy Boys. There´s no real Swedish equivalent. The closest thing might be the contemporary Rockabilly subculture.
6. The two families of gods in Norse mythology are the Aesir (Asar) and the Vanir (Vaner).
7. Elisabeth Hesselblad, a Bridgettine nun, from Fåglavik in Västergötland was canonized in 2016.
8. The oldest example we have of the Three crowns as a symbol for Sweden is in a palace in France. The Three crowns are painted in the papal palace in Avignon. Sweden took part in the planning of a crusade in the 1330´s in the palace and the participants had their national heraldry painted in a fresco.
Bonus question. Earlier this year Elin Mellbergstedt, a Gothenburg local, was walking through Överåsparken in the dark. She was talking and livestreaming as she walked (she among other things hosts a pod about True crime). From behind a tree a strange ghostly/demonic looking face peeps out. She does not notice this at the time, but her audience points it to her in the comments to her stream. This event becomes a brief Online thing and is featured in media around the world.
Strange things on the 5th floor of IHGR. Photo taken by me. May of 2021.
Hi. I hope that you, staff & students of IHGR, would like to take part in a low-key summer reading project called Dystopia Book Club. Strange or scary books are not just for Halloween! So my idea is that you create an account on the site Manybooks and choose something from the Mystery & Thriller or Horror section/s.
When you have finished reading, or during reading, if you want to share thoughts, photos, ideas or a review of what you have read, E-mail me at hjalte.stranden@educ.goteborg.se. Then I can post your thoughts on the library blog. If you would like to start your own, more advanced book club, have a look at this older blogpost to get a few pointers.
If you want to borrow an actual book from the IHGR library over the summer, you can of course do so if you are not a graduating student. Maybe you can find something suitable on the Paranormal, Sci-fi or Crime shelves?
The 5th floor of IHGR has an endless supply of scary stuff. Photo taken by me. May of 2021.
Värsta boken. Sign and photo by me. IHGR library, May of 2021.
This week, week 21, I will host a small Värsta boken /Giving books away for free-event. So be on the look out, the event will probably take place on Friday the 28th of May.
It´s time for another IHGR staff quiz, the last one before the summer break! A lot of pictures/photos in the quiz this time. E-mail or PIM me your answers. Fine prizes to be won (books + candy)! Good luck!
In the painting below, from the national romantic period, we can see a dramatic episode from Nordic/Swedish history. The question is two-fold. What event is depicted and who´s the “evil” monarch on the right hand side? Half a point for one correct answer and a full point if you get them both right.
Scary looking guy on the right. Photo from Swedish version of Wikipedia. Painting by C. G. H.
2. If a country has a unique alphabet it´s usually a source of national pride. Pictured below is an alphabet typical for one European nation. Name the country or the alphabet.
Photo from English version of Wikipedia. Credits to rocketfall.
3. A beloved classic, for both children and adults, is Kenneth Grahame´s book The Wind in the Willows. Can you name the four main characters? 1 point for all four, half a point for 2 or 3.
4. In 1965 the Swedish police received new equipment, for example a truncheon. What did the police use instead of a truncheon up until 1965? 1965 is also the year when the Swedish police became a state police force. Up until then the police forces had all been local.
5. Classic subculture. Subcultures are not a new thing. In Sweden we had Swingpjattar (the American equivalent would be Zoots/Zoot suits) and Nalensnajdare in the 1940´s for example. Pictured below is a man belonging to a classic British subculture (still around today in one form or another). Name the subculture!
Photo from the English version of Wikipedia. Credits to Norn Of Iceland.
6. In Norse mythology there are two families/groups of gods. Odin, Thor and Tyr, for example, belongs to one of these families. Frey, Freya and Njord, for example, belongs to the other family. Name the two families. Half a point for one name and a full point for both names.
7. Local saints. Before the Lutheran reformation Sweden had quite a few local saints, Saint Eskil (the town of Eskilstuna is named after him), Saint Helena of Skövde, Saint Botvid (the Stockholm suburb of Botkyrka is named after him) and a few others. But after the reformation there has been very few new canonizations of Swedes within the Catholic church. But in 2016 a woman born here in Västergötland, in 1870, was declared a saint by the Catholic church. Name her!
8. The Three crowns is one of the national symbols of Sweden and it has been in use since at least the reign of king Magnus Eriksson. But the oldest depiction of the Three crowns, as a symbol for Sweden, is not found in the country of Sweden. It´s found in another European country. Name the country! A gold star if you can describe in what type of building it´s painted.
The Three crowns of Sweden. Photo taken by me a few years back.
Tricky local paranormal bonus question. A few months back a local woman, Elin Mellbergstedt, experienced something very strange in a park in Gothenburg. I visited the park, Överåsparken, a while back and photographed the exact tree where it all happened (see picture below). Try to find information about this event and give a short description of what happened!
The exact spot in Överåsparken where the chilling encounter took place. Photo taken by me. May of 2021.
