January 6th, 2006:
Watching films on commercial TV in Sweden
What I think:
Swedish terrestrial telly often shows a good selection of decent movies. Unlike in France, Germany, and many other European countries, the films are subtitled. You don't get silly dubbed soundtracks - except in children's films, which makes sense (Swedish kids start English lessons at around ten years of age).
This set-up is great for us English-speaking foreigners; we get to see some good British and American films, we can understand them, and we can, if we wish, start to pick up bits of Swedish by trying to follow the subtitles. It's also probably one of the reasons that so many Swedes speak English so well. It must at least be a contributing factor, anyway. It's a good thing.
However, the people who decide on when and how to break for adverts (US/CAN: commercials), especially on TV3, are either incompetent, or intentionally annoying. Adverts jump out at you without warning, and seem to be specifically intended to appear in the middle of an important moment, an exciting chase scene, or an epic bloody battle. These rude and abrupt interruptions often begin with the most obnoxious short ads, presumably from the sponsor of the particular film that happens to be playing. Pressbyrån (a national newsagents) is the worst offender.
It's cruel and distressing to viewers, it ruins a good film, and it's time that the Swedish government did something about it. That's what I think.
The news today (oh, boy)
From the world outside:
Israel: 'Significant Improvement': Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in a critical but stable condition after undergoing a five-hour operation on his brain. Hospital officials said a brain scan had shown "significant improvement" following the procedure. The 77-year-old had already had lengthy surgery on Thursday after suffering a major stroke.
From Sky News
US: Miner's final note: 'Tell all I'll see them on the other side' - "It wasn't bad just went to sleep."
Those were the words that 51-year-old Martin Toler Jr. scrawled on a piece of paper in a note to his family, as he was dying in the darkened Sago coal mine where he and 11 other miners perished after an explosion early Monday.
From CNN
Sweden: Migration board "blocking good asylum lawyers": The legal representation offered to asylum seekers by the Swedish Board of Migration is below acceptable standards. That's according to the chairman of the Swedish human rights organisation 'Advokater utan gränser' (Lawyers without Borders), Kenneth Lewis, who has demanded that the right to elect asylum seekers' legal assistance be taken away from the Board.
From The Local - Sweden's news in English
Swedish terrestrial telly often shows a good selection of decent movies. Unlike in France, Germany, and many other European countries, the films are subtitled. You don't get silly dubbed soundtracks - except in children's films, which makes sense (Swedish kids start English lessons at around ten years of age).
This set-up is great for us English-speaking foreigners; we get to see some good British and American films, we can understand them, and we can, if we wish, start to pick up bits of Swedish by trying to follow the subtitles. It's also probably one of the reasons that so many Swedes speak English so well. It must at least be a contributing factor, anyway. It's a good thing.
However, the people who decide on when and how to break for adverts (US/CAN: commercials), especially on TV3, are either incompetent, or intentionally annoying. Adverts jump out at you without warning, and seem to be specifically intended to appear in the middle of an important moment, an exciting chase scene, or an epic bloody battle. These rude and abrupt interruptions often begin with the most obnoxious short ads, presumably from the sponsor of the particular film that happens to be playing. Pressbyrån (a national newsagents) is the worst offender.
It's cruel and distressing to viewers, it ruins a good film, and it's time that the Swedish government did something about it. That's what I think.
The news today (oh, boy)
From the world outside:
Israel: 'Significant Improvement': Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in a critical but stable condition after undergoing a five-hour operation on his brain. Hospital officials said a brain scan had shown "significant improvement" following the procedure. The 77-year-old had already had lengthy surgery on Thursday after suffering a major stroke.
From Sky News
US: Miner's final note: 'Tell all I'll see them on the other side' - "It wasn't bad just went to sleep."
Those were the words that 51-year-old Martin Toler Jr. scrawled on a piece of paper in a note to his family, as he was dying in the darkened Sago coal mine where he and 11 other miners perished after an explosion early Monday.
From CNN
Sweden: Migration board "blocking good asylum lawyers": The legal representation offered to asylum seekers by the Swedish Board of Migration is below acceptable standards. That's according to the chairman of the Swedish human rights organisation 'Advokater utan gränser' (Lawyers without Borders), Kenneth Lewis, who has demanded that the right to elect asylum seekers' legal assistance be taken away from the Board.
From The Local - Sweden's news in English
posted by Mark Base at 5:59 pm
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