Celebrations

Jai Hind to all my Indian friends on the occasion of their independence day.

One Indian friend, Susheela, is having a potluck bash tomorrow, ladies only. My contribution will be Kulfi, a cardemom-flavoured ice cream with chopped pistachio nuts. I hope somebody will bring a chicken bryani ... yummy ... my favourite Indian dish.

We do not have an independence day in Sweden thanks to the fearsome vikings who kept would-be occupiers at bay. But we do celebrate national day on the 6th of June, perhaps not quite on the same scale as the French and Norwegians celebrate theirs. Swedes like to be lagom, an approximate translation of which is 'not too much, not too little'.

It's ABBA fever all over again in ABBA country with the Mamma Mia movie showing to full houses alongside a stage version by a visiting ensemble. I finally went to see the movie tonight after being asked for the 99th time 'have you seen it yet?'. And I must say I enjoyed it tremendously. Meryl Streep as mamma Donna was simply marvelous so all you 50+ ladies out there, take heart. And I'm sure Pierce Brosnan had worked hard at getting rid of his 007 pose -- he almost succeeded.

If it's showing in your hometown, go ahead and see it and if you are an ABBA fan you might want to be present at the gala opening of the ABBA Museum in Stockholm on June 3-7 2009.