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 Swedish music party during SXSW in Austin
March 18 on Austin's coolest down town patio on 6th street.
Registration now open!
CLICK HERE
SACC Texas sponsors the 7th Annual Nordic
Film Fest
March 7, 2010. Text and Photo: Håkan Thyr, SACC Texas, Austin
 On Saturday, Febuary 27th the American-Scandinavia n Foundation in Austin arranged the 7th Annual Nordic Film Fest at the
Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in downtown Austin. SACC Texas Austin were
proud co-sponsors of the event together with many other organizations.
This year's main feature film was Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons
eviga ögonblick) by the famous Swedish Director Jan Troell. The
event turned out to be a great success for the American- Scandinavian Foundation
with a capacity crowd showing up to watch a hand-picked selection of films from
the Nordic countries.
Picture: John Olsson and Nikolas White from the Nordic Film
Fest Planning Committee
SAAB enters new eraThe Local, January 26
General Motors on Tuesday announced a "binding agreement" to sell its Saab division to Dutch luxury sports car maker Spyker, in an eleventh hour deal saving the storied Swedish brand.
As part of the agreement, Spyker will form a new company, Saab Spyker Automobiles, which will carry the Saab nameplate forward.
GM officials said the deal calls for Spyker to pay $74 million in cash and allow GM to retain redeemable preferred shares worth an estimated $326 million. Full Story>>
A toast for Swedish gin - the Right Gin
by Peter Holmertz, SACC Texas
Does the combination of gin and Sweden sound odd to you? Well, not to Swedish Master Blender and beverage creator Henrik Facile. Living in Austin since a few years back, Henrik is proud to see one of his creations hitting the shelves in liquor stores across the country.
It all started when the spirit company Altamar Brands in California went looking for a new premium product to invest in. They realized there was a market for a new Gin product and they went to Sweden to find one. Why Sweden when gin traditionally comes from England? Well, Sweden has a long history of making premium aquavit with countless combinations of herbs and spices. ”Making a gin is in many ways similar” explains Henrik.
Photo: Kevin Stein, Store Manager Twin Liquors at the Hill Country Galleria (left) and Henrik Facile (right)
Through the world network of professional booze makers, Altamar came in contact with Henrik who had a rich portfolio of products on his resume. When asked if he was able to create a premium gin produced in Sweden, he did not flinch at the challenge.
According to the creator himself, the result is “a very smooth and fresh gin with a dry slightly peppery aftertaste”. The recipe includes flavors like Austrian juniper, coriander leaf from Russia, cinnamon from India, fresh lemons and bergamots from Sicily, lime and bitter orange from the West Indies and black Sarawak pepper from Borneo to top it off. Henrik’s motto when making a product is that it should be just as good to drink straight as it is good to use in a cocktail. It only takes a few minutes reading online reviews to confirm that this is also a true quality of Right Gin.
Right Gin is produced in Malmö, Sweden. It was first launched in Las Vegas and is now available across the USA and UK. In Texas, Right Gin is generally available in stores carrying premium products, such as several Twin Liquor stores in the Austin area. And yes, as everything these days, also a bottle of gin has its own website - www.rightgin.com.
Henrik Facile continues to create new beverages for different clients and partners. Asked if there is something new coming he reveals his passion and dream to teach America to enjoy the traditional Swedish Punsch (a type of rum liqueur served hot or cold as every Swede knows very well). So after the first Swedish gin coming to the US, Punsch might be his second first. Stay tuned, and enjoy Right Gin responsibly!
Julotta
by Håkan Thyr, SACC Texas Austin
“Julotta” is a traditional Swedish church service held early in the morning on Christmas Day. "Jul" is the Swedish word for Christmas, and "otta" is the time just before dawn.
The tradition goes back to the Middle Ages, and everyone that could, attended the Julotta. In the Swedish Church Law dated 168 6, it is stated that the Julotta should start at 6 AM. Further ba
ck, the tradition was to start at 4 AM. Today, most Swedish churches start the service at 7 AM.
>> Full story
Little Sweden on the Prairie(The Local, October 12, 2009)
Välkommen till Lindsborg - Between barbecued ribs and meatballs, Robert La Bua finds Swedish culture alive and well in Little Sweden, USA. More>>
Beyond the insults: Swedish Model 2.0(The Local, September 16, 2009)
As Sweden takes a battering in the US health care debate, Swedish Institute chief Olle Wästberg examines two of the insults most frequently flung: that Sweden is rampantly socialist, and that it's the poster child for neo-liberal market excesses. >>Full Story
SACC Texas assists NASA with Space Station broadcastHow did a small Swedish owned consulting and translation firm get to work with NASA? You guessed it SACC Texas. We helped with connecting the parties for the live Swedish/English simultaneous translation that took place during the Discovery/ISS 128 flight in September 2009.
The Audio Control Room at The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. From left: Christopher Westerlund President Westerlund Consulting and Beth Weissinger NASA-JSC Audio Control Room
Swedish Astronaut Christer Fuglesang had two Discovery/ISS inflight events involving Swedish translation during his time in space and Westerlund Consulting was there to help both times. The first one took place Friday, September 4, 2009 and the second one took place Monday, September 7, 2009. >> Full story
The STS-128 Shuttle Crew
Swedes have the longest holidays in Europe(The Local, July 31)
With an average of 33 days annual leave, Swedes are streets ahead of their European counterparts when in comes to taking holidays, a new report from a European Union body shows. >> Full story
Sweden looks to boost healthcare exports(The Local, July 28)
Healthcare services are set to become Sweden's new major export industry, the Swedish Trade Council (Exportrådet) has announced.
Full story >>
Anders Borg: Sweden's long-haired maverick minister
(The Local, July 24)
With Anders Borg, Sweden’s pony-tailed Minister of Finance, now helping the EU navigate through the global economic slump, the AFP’s Marc Preel takes a look back at the rise of this self-described pragmatist. Full Story>>
Sweden to close New York and LA consulates
(July 23, The Local)
The Swedish foreign ministry announced on Thursday it was closing one embassy and four consulates general, including those in New York and Los Angeles due to budget constraints. Full story >>
Economic crisis and climate top Swedish EU priorities(June, 30, The Local)
The global economic crisis, soaring unemployment in Europe and climate change top Sweden's agenda as it takes over the European Union six-month presidency in difficult conditions on Wednesday. More >>
Stockholm selected European Green Capital 2010
The Swedish capital - which will be the first European Green Capital in 2010 - has the ambition target of saying goodbye to fossils by 2050
'The Venice of The North' is a term often used about the Swedish capital Stockholm, beautifully situated on the Baltic coast. Ten per cent of the city area is water, and the many lakes and water sheds are highly valued for recreational purposes. In fact, 95% of the population live only 300 m away from green areas, thus augmenting recreation, swimming, boating, better well being, water purification, noise reduction, enhancement of biodiversity and ecology. Full article>>
Soft landing for Sweden in financial crisis.
Investors looking for opportunities in Sweden should stay hopeful. It seems that Sweden will cope well with the economic downturn. According to several economists, the national currency and a sound financial system suggest a relatively short recession >> more
The Swedish Ambassador Mr. Jonas Hafström joined the SACC Texas 25th anniversary celebration in November 2008.
Guided tour of NASA hosted by Christer Fuglesang
With a packed 3 day program the 25th birthday celebration of SACC Texas was a memorable event. We thank all participants for sharing these special days. We are also very grateful for the sponsorships that made this event possible. >> more
Jonas Hafström - Swedish Ambassador to the United States. >> About the Ambassador
First Lady of Texas Music Shelley King put on a show at the Driskill Hotel
Why is Austin a booming IT cluster?
Read the recent report published by the Swedish Institute for Growth Policy Studies.
Report title: Information technology in the United States - Environments, initiatives and trends
Abstract: "This report has been written by ITPS for Vinnova. It describes industrial and academic innovation processes as well as federal and state agencies’ involvement in innovation and research initiatives in the information technology sector. Two American innovation clusters have been investigated in more depth – Austin (Texas) and the Research Triangle Park (North Carolina). In addition, the report discusses the progress made in certain key IT initiatives such as e-government and e-health, it highlights technology trends and also describes studies in which universities and states are ranked in different IT-related subjects."  >> read the full report
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18 Mar 2010 06:00 PM • Boundless Network office Patio at 200 E. 6th Street, Suite 300
20 Mar 2010 12:00 AM • Antone's, 213 W 5th St, Austin
6 Apr 2010 11:30 AM • Galaxy Cafe at the Triangle, 46th At Guadalupe, Austin
Click here for all planned events
Maximize your SACC network. Click to join the global SACC networking group on Linked-In.
Click to join the Swedes in Texas group on facebook
Check out the new SACC-TX Newsletter
The Local - Sweden's News in English
The Swedish Wire - Swedish business, politics and current affairs – in English.
 Technology and Business news from Sweden (In Swedish)
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