Contest Closed

I arrived safely in the US and the Contest is now officially over. Thanks to all who entered! The winner, as well as the answers, will be posted soon. Keep checking in to see how you did!

Sincerely,
That American Guy

A Brief Farewell

Well, it's been one of(if not the) best summers of my life. I just wanted to write something quick before I head home. It is the night before I leave, but there will still be a couple Swedish Adventure posts upon my return.

1) The Announcement of the Quiz Answers, as well as the winner, will take place.
2) A Blog showcasing the night lights of Goteborg
3) A Special Edition Blog on my trip to Denmark

Thanks to everyone who has read the blog when they were able, this summer. I appreciated all the positive feedback. And the negative, even though there wasn't really any. You are all too nice probably. ;)

So yep, getting on 3 planes tomorrow. Wish me well. God bless everyone!

With Sincere Thanks,
That American GuyP.S.
Thanks to all my Swedish Family and Friends for showing me how beautiful, fun, caring, homey, generous, and loving, Sweden can be. I really appreciate it.

Your Contest Answers Not Posting?

It has come to my attention that some people are having trouble posting their answers to the blog. So if that is the case, all are welcome to send your answers to me via email.

My email address is: JackSparrow32486@yahoo.com

I hope you can all work it out. So far only two people have responded and the week is flying by. Good luck everyone.

The Giveaway!

Okay, so I'm lazy and I'm using the Announcement image for That American-Swedish Giveaway instead of making a new one to announce that the Giveaway is now. In other words, the time has come to put your Blog knowledge to the test and see if you have what it takes to win a special, Swedish prize. There will be one grand prize winner, as well as one second place winner.

The way it works is as follows:
- Only American Entries are eligible to win. (sorry again my Swedish friends and family)
- Only one entry per person is allowed, so make it count.
- To compete, you must reply to this blog post, indicating your name and answering questions 1-10 (+ bonus) by selecting one of the multiple choice possibilities for each.
- When answering numbers 1-7, select the answer you believe had the most votes at the close of the poll.
- The contest quiz will be open until That American Guy's return to the United States, on August 28th.
- In the event of a tie, a showdown between the tie entrants will commence.
- The answers to the Contest Quiz will be posted after the Quiz is officially closed.

*For my Swedish readers, you are welcome to enter for fun, but again, will be unable to win a prize*

Best of luck everyone!


THE QUIZ

1. Should That American Guy ride a horse?
(a) Yes, Carpe Diem!
(b) No, I'm probably his Mom and it could be dangerous!
(c) Maybe, I don't know.
(d) Who cares and who is That American Guy anyway?
(e) 2 Way Tie
(f) 3 Way Tie

2. Do ghosts exist?
(a) Of course! I used to play checkers with them when I was a kid.
(b) No way. Dead is dead.
(c) Maybe. Ask me again the next time I scream in the dark.
(d) 2 Way Tie
(e) 3 Way Tie

3. What is your favorite animal at Norden's Ark?
(a) The Cute Pudu
(b) The Legendary Squirrel
(c) The Commy Red Panda
(d) The Unique Horses
(e) 2 Way Tie
(f) 3 Way Tie

4. How does Smogen most make you feel?
(a) Impressed by earth's vast beauty.
(b) Uneasy, as if Smogen were a ghost town.
(c) Like you want to LARP(roleplay an epic medieval battle) like crazy.
(d) Adventurous, as if you want to put on some climbing boots of your own.
(e) Whimsical, as if you were a child all over again.
(f) 2 Way Tie
(g) 3 Way Tie

5. If Buzz Lightyear got you into Liseberg for free, but you were offered $1 Million to rat him out, would you?
(a) Yes. That Toy Astronaut would do the same to me.
(b) No. Buzz is a good guy and tattle-taling is wrong.
(c) Maybe. If it were Woody it would be a different story though.
(e) Uhh, Buzz isn't real. Pssh. Stupid.
(f) 2 Way Tie
(g) 3 Way Tie

6. Have you ever ridden under a bridge in a boat?
(a) Yes. I live on the edge.
(b) No. I prefer to keep my feet on land.
(c) There was that one time when I passed out. Or at least that's what my friends told me.
(d) No, but I would if I could.
(e) 2 Way Tie
(f) 3 Way Tie

7. Do you believe the orb of light was a ghost?
(a) Probably not. Light and cameras do weird things.
(b) Definitely seems like it to me!
(c) Probably. I don't know how else to explain that.
(d) No way. Ghosts don't exist and even if they do, they don't look like orbs.
(e) 2 Way Tie
(f) 3 Way Tie

8. How many images have been on the right of the blog, since the beginning?
(a) 4
(b) 5
(c) 6
(d) 7
(e) 8
(f) None of the above

9. According to That American Guy's bio, what kind of Film graduate is he?
(a) Curious
(b) Lowly
(c) Adventurous
(d) Humble
(e) Frisky
(f) Simple
(g) None of the above

10. How many official "followers" does That American Guy have?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4
(e) 5
(f) 6
(g) 7
(h) 8

And now for the BONUS: (worth 1 extra point)
What is wrong with the image/menu below?

Marstrand

Well, readers, if Smogen didn't get your LARP-ing juices flowing, I can say with a significant amount of confidence that if anywhere will, it is Marstrand. Which hey! Just happens to be where the latest adventure of That American Guy took place.

For those that forget and/or do not know, LARP stands for Live Action Role Play. Usually in the sense of a recreated battle from times when bombs could not bring the battling joy to an abrupt end. Stupid bombs.

In addition to potential LARP-tastic fun, Marstrand is filled with beautiful scenery, creepy hallways/prison cells, and cannons! Who doesn't like cannons? I would go so far as to say, only those who find themselves to be their target. The fortress at Marstrand doubled as a prison, as well as fort. Either way, it was a happenin' place for screams, pain and mayhem. Yay! Let's go inside!
Father and son hold down the fort with ironically the same expression on their face.
Just one of the many nice views from the fort. I kinda wonder why they bothered to put grass on there. Guess they wanted it to be a pretty dream shattering establishment.
Eat your heart out, David Blaine. Floating isn't so tough.
A little village-like section of the fort. My filmic imagination goes wild with this. This place seems almost made for people walking around in period piece clothing. That or to house ruthless killers.
Jasmine and Tim brave the tunnel. They're pretty much fearless.
Entryway to hell? Looks like it to me. Imagine my unexpected glee when I walked down there to find I was wrong. Yay for not hell!
Yeah, I stood here to make myself feel cool in the face of danger. Heights got nothin' on me! Unless, you know, I had to go to the railing.
This view particularly evokes memories of Smogen.
I don't know why Michael Jackson seems to find his way into my blog entries so often, but somehow I managed to look like him if he were either about to break out of the prison or urinate on this wall.
I love old school architecture. This makes me want to go to a Renaissance Festival. Who's with me?
Well, at least you know the prisoners weren't distracted by fancy stain-glass or sleeping from overly comfortable pews.
Pssh! That building's not so big. Those people are just small.
If this place would not be the perfect set for a horror film, I don't know what would.
Trying to manipulate the cameras inability to determine a specific direction, I jumped to make it appear as if I were hanging by this bridge. The result was kinda pathetic. Sorry.
I feel like Jigsaw's voice is only seconds away from emitting from an unseen speaker and telling me he wants to play a game.
Supposedly these were bronze working tools, but we know better. These tools compliment the works of Sayid Jarrah.
"Yeah, just stand there. No, no! Ignore the murderous ghosts behind you, I'm trying to take a picture!" Ah, love.
Gotta love dramatic poses. I'm sure the prisoners did. I mean, c'mon, what else did they have to do in their cells?
This tiny cell actually housed prisoners who no doubt at some point referred to this wall as Alice. Okay, that was pretty gross. Why did I touch it?
This looked like the perfect spot for a muppet pose. And so, muppet pose I did.
Jasmine and I can see the light!
Talk about taunting, that window would've pissed me off if I were a prisoner. "Look where you can't go!"
This is the view through a metal grate... straight down. This must be how Rita Hayworth posters got smuggled into the prison.
Dance a gallow's jig... just don't kick over the modern trash can or hit your head on the modern gutter, please.
Jasmine, Pauline and I all felt especially uneasy in here. Specifically in the spot at which I look in this photo. I feel pretty strongly that something was there because I felt a chill go up my spine once I took about one more step. Alas, we can never know for sure.
This lovely piece of art was constructed in everyone's favorite medium... blood! Yay! haha. No really, it was. This is the work of a prisoner stranded in solitary confinement as an experiment. He was there for years without being allowed contact with another person, aside from the priest that visited once a year. There were a few others that fell victim to this experiment, but this "artist" was the only one to survive, but as you can guess by the blood art, he wasn't entirely sane when all was said and done.
Landmasses are cool. And colorful.
Thaaaaaaats a pretty long way down. I seem to find myself in these high places more often than a person afraid of heights probably should. And yet, I enjoy it. There's probably something wrong with me.
A few seconds after flying away, Ola came back and told us how he prevented a comet from hitting earth. Thanks Ola!
Everyone's favorite garden Maiden.
Aaaaaarrrrrwen!
Oh and me. I'm not a maiden though. At least I don't think I am... ... ... ...Okay, I checked. I'm not. Let's move on!
Tim knows how to accidentally pose. Tim is the man! Or... Tim is the boy!
Okay, as if this room weren't creepy enough with that evil looking mannequin by the fire, our photo produces this inexplicable(at least to me) orb shooting through the image. This was one of the only rooms that we were not allowed to enter(I'm not sure why). The room was nearly pitch black and there was light behind us. When people say they saw an orb, I usually think it's ridiculous because it is usually simply camera movement capturing a bit of light and dragging it. I'm sure there could be another explanation for this, but I don't know it if there is. Definitely creepy. To contrast the last creepy pic, here is the lovely garden near the entrance to the fort. Kind of misleading, don't you think?
We had a good day, but to leave without taking the next photos would have been criminal enough to earn our own sentence at the Marstrand Prison.
Gleeful guard Ola proudly takes a snapshot with a mischievous prisoner, Jasmine, for his frontier family back home.
At the same time, elitest guard Pauline forcefully drags her less than eye pleasing prisoner, me, from one cell to another. You never know what prison life will turn up, do you?

And that does it. Not to take attention away from what was a great time, but are you ready for the contest?! It will be up as soon as I return from Denmark(in a few days). So get those memories ready! See you in the contest!

-That American Guy

The Caption-Less Wonder!

For you, my friends, I have compiled the best re-enactment of the Paddan sightseeing tour that I could, using both photos and video. So sit back, relax, put your feet up, wear clothes or don't because you are about to go on the free version of the tour in which pants are not required. Could it get better? Okay, I guess it could if I could figure out how to make your computer shoot refreshing air in your face, but alas, I haven't worked that part out yet.

Last time we surprisingly ran into Charlotte at Liseberg. This time, an old friend of Pauline's from gymnasium(high school). Turns out, she was our tour guide! Small world again, eh? Guess those creepy, animatronic, Disney people were right.

Today's blog is labeled "The Caption-Less Wonder" because, well, basically there are a lot of pictures, most of which consist of water, buildings, ships and/or the backs of people's heads and frankly... my writ wit isn't witty enough to keep that ship afloat. Get it? Afloat? ::sigh::

Enjoy the ride!
I preemtively apologize for the following video's crotchly ending. I swear I turned that camera off before it decided to actually go off.

The above photo depicts passenger anxiety at it's best. "Do we really have to get on the floor, Roger?" she seemed to say. And yes, we did. For we were about to ride under the "Cheese Grater" in Goteborg. AKA: The Lowest Bridge in the city.


Feel free to look around and at least hear the air in your face. Well, in my face.


And we're back! We survived! Wait... where's little Billy? Oh well. He'll turn up eventually.

Thanks for reading. There will be one more blog post before the Contest Quiz, so keep an eye out for both. See you soon!

-That American Guy