New All Time High

September 2011 was a new record breaking month for "Bock In SecondLife" with a total of 12 749 pageviews.

The previous records were set in July 2011 (12 477 pageviews) and January 2011 (10 041 pageviews).

Audience - Country count
during 09/2011

The trend towards a more International audience has been strengthened this month, although my fellow Swedes continue to be faithful readers.

Sweden is still in the lead as my all time largest reader country with close to 51 000 pageviews, while the U.S. come in at just over 22 000.

Audience - Language share
October 1st, 2011.

The three largest language groups among my readers now are English (61 %), Swedish (20 %) and Norwegian, including. Bokmål, (4 %).

Since the start on August 25th, 2009, this blog has had 995 posts that have received 2 110 comments.

Line Up

This is just a cool advertisement I saw at copyranter a while ago.

I find it very amusing, and cannot help thinking about the trials the poor photographer had to go through to get this great shot. (I don´t think it is done in Photoshop, but others may know better.)
-----

On another note I owe you all an update on how my mother is doing. She remains in the hospital and will most likely stay their at least another week.

Mother is still on antibiotics and oxygen, but last night she was also given two bags of blood because they found that her hemoglobin count was very low (85, normal is around 120). Apparently mother has been bleeding somewhere internally but they do not seem to know from where yet. Due to dehydration she will also be getting a drip overnight.

However mothers erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) which was at 285 when she was admitted to hospital is now down to 55 (normal value for women in mothers age group is <20), which means the antibiotics are helping.

The doctors are still hopeful and so are my family. I am getting a bit despondent as the additional troubles set in as I recognize the situation, but I am also trying to keep my hopes up, mainly for my parents sake.

I am too tired for SecondLife tonight so I am staying away.

Doc Spad: Be A Warrior

My friend Doc Spad, USMC, today calls upon us all to stand up against bullying on his blog Doc Spad...a few thoughts. Read the post "Be A Warrior"

We must never ever let the bullies succeed in their efforts, fight them at every instance. Don´t let them think they are getting away with what they are doing unnoticed, call them out for what they are.

Apart from being a friend of mine, Doc is also the Chairman of the board for Second Pride 2011.

When Strangers Click 2

On September 23rd I was very lucky! Although it had been widely publicized on some of the Swedish SecondLife blogs that the HBO documentary film "When Strangers Click" was going to be shown on the Swedish television channel SVT I had completely forgotten about it.

However, I must have remembered subconsciously or just had a bit of dumb luck because contrary to my usual habits the first thing I did when I came home from work was turn on the television set. And there it was, the film had just started running so I settled down in front of my set and watched it.

The film depicts five couples meeting and falling in love on the Internet, among them the SecondLife singer/songwriter Bara Jonson and his sweet wife Nickel Borrelly, who both are dear friends of mine.

Bock as Bara´s best man
Photography by Ika Cioc

It is in this film that The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm and prince of Cascade Falls, makes his international television debut in the cameo role as Bara´s best man in the pictures from the sweet couples SecondLife marriage.

I liked the documentary, but most of all I loved watching my friends and Bara´s mother Malla all being charming, intelligent, honest and so sweet. I actually fell completely in platonic love with both the primatars of Nickel and Malla.

Nickel very forthrightly tells us that we owe gratitude to Vodka for the existence of their beautiful son  Kris, who was born nine months after Bara and Nickels first life meeting.
----

An interesting fact that was presented in the program is the responses that women and men gave to the question "What are you most afraid of concerning Internet dating?"
Women: That they would meet a serial killer.
Men: That they would meet someone who is fat.

Cool People

(via copyranter)

I totally love this ad for Carlsberg. Brave and open minded people who do not judge books by their covers truly deserve Carlsberg´s, well cooled.

Intermission

I am too tired to blog so I give you a musical break instead.

This is Mauro Scocco, my favorite Swedish singer/songwriter, next to Bara Jonson (the Swedish SecondLife celebrity musician and my buddy).

Mauro has for a long time been the singer I always return to when I am happy or sad. Well, to be totally truthful, whatever mood I am in actually - except angry.

The title of the song means "I Miss Us". Please enjoy!

Pneumonia

I hate this awful sneaky disease thoroughly.

It sneaks up on people as a common cold and then when they least expect it slowly, slowly and step by step it makes them weaker by taking away their appetite and making them ever so tired.

Mostly no clear signs appear until the afflicted have it full blown inside their lungs. Then the fevers come, followed by the pains and the shallow breathing and an overwhelming fatigue.

My mother is 80 years old, but is still a strong willed lady with an extremely  clear mind. She will beat this. She has to, I refuse to lose another loved one to this killer!

Thank you science for antibiotics and painkillers and medical doctors who at least catch it in it´s later form.

When I left her this evening she was sitting up in her bed to have dinner. Her color had changed from that awful pale to a glow on her cheeks and she was more alert and awake although still very tired. I will keep my hopes up, mother is strong. Mother is strong willed.

UPDATE 9/26
My mother was today moved from the emergency care unit to a regular ward. She is of course still on intravenous antibiotics and oxygen and is very tired but has gotten some of her fighting spirit back.

After the move to the new ward my mother shares a room with a Bosnian woman who hardly speaks any Swedish, and my mothers Bosnian is absolutely non-existent. The woman is very friendly and chats away the whole time in Bosnian with some Swedish words thrown in. I had great difficulty in understanding anything she said but we nodded and smiled at one and other.

My mother whispered to me that she didn't understand why the woman continued talking to her when it must be obvious that she cannot understand her at all. She then silently confided to me that she actually turns her hearing aid off to get some peace and quiet.

The doctors say they are hopeful that this will go well, but I have heard that before and am not relying on it until she is back home with my father again.