@Sweden: An Unpredictable, Off The Cuff Twitter Experiment Worth Following

I’ll be honest: I know almost nothing about Sweden except their soccer team’s jerseys are blue and yellow, the insanely popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book originated there, and their citizens rule at crafting pop earworms (i.e., Robyn, Peter Bjorn & John, Icona Pop, etc.). Among the items I know nothing about, regrettably, is a binge-drinking Swede’s perspective. But I am learning from the comforts of my laptop/cell phone this week.

I first heard about @Sweden from my former roommate/unpaid social media adviser Scottie the Genius several weeks earlier. The Pride of Newberg, Ore., repeatedly informed me I needed to follow Sweden’s Twitter. “It’s amazing,” Scott said, unable to hide his mischievous glee.

Sweden’s Twitter account is a tourism bureau vehicle to promote the country to yokels like me who know next to zilch about it. A different Swede manages the account each week. This leads to ridiculous tweets like the one I posted from the current handler, as well as offensive ones like a string of anti-Semitic tweets from a previous user. You take the good with the bad and you get Sweden, according to the country’s tourism bureau.

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“Breaking Bad” Season 5, Episode 1

WARNING: Spoilers. Spoilers! SPOILERS!!!! Oh, and MAGNETS!!!!! How do they work???

I started having “Breaking Bad” withdrawals as the credits rolled after the Season 5 premiere Sunday night. If I ruled the world, Hollywood Theater in Portland would have aired all eight episodes of Season 5′s first half until the sun rose Monday morning. My eyes would have glued to the screen at some point. Eventually I would have fallen asleep for the rest of the day – no work, just sleep. If only I ruled the world. I am not Walter White though.

The Season 5 premiere finds Walt (Bryan Cranston) emboldened after claiming victory over nemesis Gus Fring in the Season 4 finale. He is Heisenberg minus the black Pork pie hat. I am sure he’ll don the hat soon enough. Or a full head of hair, as foreshadowed in the premiere’s opening scene.

This episode showed multiple characters covering their tracks – Walt, Jesse, and Mike using magnets to destroy Gus’s computer, Skyler visiting Ted in the hospital, and Hank seeking video surveillance info on Gus’s superlab. These chess moves don’t settle any scores. If anything they open up more cans of worms.

Here are my thoughts on “Breaking Bad” Season 5, Episode 1:

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