His Royal Orangeness Karl Willem, draped in the Swedish standard, happily celebrated his third birthday in his Svensk hometown of Stockholm. The past year has been kind to His Royal Orangeness who has travelled far and wide preaching the Orange gospel of "Live life to the orangest". His Royal Orangeness thanks everyone who has supported His Orange Reign and wishes everyone lots of Orange karma.
HRO Karl Willem waiting for the Orange Force One Ferry at Djurgården to take him to Gamla Stan. HRO Karl Willem had morning coffee on the island and opened the Vasa Museum.
Gamla Stan, one of HRO Karl Willem's favourite islands on Lake Mälaren.
HRO Karl Willem reviews the Naval Warfare Flotilla. They were stationed on the eastern shore of Gamla Stan for HRO Karl Willem's birthday. Although Sweden is a non-aligned country, it has one of the best equipped armed forces in the world and indigenous Svensk technology is used heavily. Saab makes fighter planes (such as the Gripen. And if one notices how well built the Svensk highway system is, it's because they can also be used as fighter plane runways), Scania and Volvo produce the powerplants, and Tretorn is a favourite off-duty shoe (Ok, Tretorn shoes used to be made in the Philippines, it was the official Boys' High shoe mainly because it's so cheap in Baguio. The Nashman happily tells HRO Karl Willem why his heart already had a soft heart for Sweden at a young age - Swedish porn and Tretorn)
HRO Karl Willem congratulates a young female navy sailor for her hard work and dedication. The ancestors of HRO Karl Willem recognized early on the equality of sexes. Svensk women are highly emancipated.
The Högvakten (Swedish Royal Guards) protects HRO Karl Willem as well as HRO's cousins led by the current King Carl XVI Gustaf. There is no need really for such protection, as Sweden is one of the safest places in the world and HRO Karl Willem and His Royal Svensk cousins are loved by the people. The Högvakten are not honorary guards just for pomp and pageantry but are a proper division in the Swedish Armed Forces and carry Kulspruta 90/Minimi rifles.
HRO Karl Willem enjoying the view from his royal residence.
One of HRO Karl Willem's favourite hangouts is the Restaurangen Moderna Museet on the island of Skeppsholmen because of the breathtaking view of Stockholm and the island of Djurgården.
As a Svensk royal, one of HRO Karl Willem's best loved edicts is that all baristas in the whole of Sverige must be beautiful. HRO Karl Willem and The Nashman have a saying "We like our coffee bitter, but the smile on the Barista must always be sweet."
HRO Karl Willem visited the permanent and temporary exhibits of the Moderna Museet which includes some of the best 20th century works ranging from surrealism, dadaism, to cubism and of course to the avant garde Scandanivian works. Of great interest to The Nashman were two albums of photography donated by Andy Warhol containing pictures of him and other members of The Factory including the yummy and pretty Edie Sedgwick.
HRO Karl Willem is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences which awards the Nobel prizes for Physics and Chemistry. This wall grafitti is part of a large work by the Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi whose minimalist but powerful drawings tackle many social issues. HRO Karl Willem pointed out to The Nashman that he should add this to his list of "Romanian Coincidences" as everywhere The Nashman goes, he seems to stumble into references to Romania.
HRO Karl Willem also took time to visit the Swedish Museum of Architecture, another favourite of both HRO Karl Willem and The Nashman. Sweden is a leading design nation and the Ikea for the masses is less than half the story. To understand Swedish design, one must refer to its history. Sweden was never part of the Roman empire (hence classicism came very late and only with Christianity) and when they finally embraced Christianity, they banned Catholicism (a good move!) and opted for their version of the Lutheran faith which is iconoclastic. Hence, Swedish design has evolved to be unconventional yet very functional. (And HRO Karl Willem will let you in on a little secret, the architecture museum coffe shop, Bloms Bar & Trädgård, is packed with beautiful Swedes, living testaments to good design. The Nashman does not want to admit it, but HRO Karl Willem can say that love at first sight does exist.)
HRO Karl Willem at Gustav Adolfs torg
HRO Karl Willem with the Sveriges Riksdag (Parliament) behind him. Sweden is a true socialist country. It has the best form of "communism" around (communism which is faithful to the latin root rather than in a Marxist sense) and Swedish society is very egalitarian. Taxes are high but no one complains because everything is taken care of from cradle to grave. The Nashman and HRO Karl Willem are hence "communists" and both wish that The Nashman's beloved Las Islas Filipinas would embrace the Swedish model of socialism instead of the unjust capitalist pseudo-democracy that currently exists.
HRO Karl Willem gloats "Would you believe it's already 9pm and there is still so much sunshine?!?"
More HRO Karl Willem pictures at the Royal Residence with the Royal Guards protecting HRO Karl Willem with dedication and professionalism.
HRO Karl Willem reflects for the future.
For dinner, HRO Karl Willem indulged in a proper Svensk smorgasbord of seafood delights from the Baltic and North seas (salmon, kipper, crayfish, caviar) and delicacies such as horse meat bacon. HRO Karl Willem also received a gift from Finland, a former Orange colony, of brown bear meat. HRO Karl Willem congratulates the Finnish hard rock band Lordi for winning the 2006 Eurovision concert with their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". Scandanivia has a great tradition of heavy metal and hard rock music. Just when everyone sent boybands and divas to Athens to sing sappy and corny pop love songs, Finland opened a can of whoop-ass and won the votes of 100 million viewers across Europe.