I just remembered a Norwegian dish, skjelte (or smalahove), that's eaten around Christmas. It's a cured, dried sheep head, that's cooked before serving. A true delicacy, but I can't stomach the brains.

Ever crush them and put them in vanilla ice cream? It's a summer favorite for me.

I always have a laugh when celebrity TV chefs come to Sweden and try it out. Some brave through it, but many can't stop gagging.

Never heard that salmiak can be a challenge, but I do know that what we see as ordinary liquorice is strange to Americans. (Finnish liquorice is far better than Swedish though.) I think I need to go on a Google expedition...

It's "memma" in Swedish and you can find it, but it's not that popular or well known. I know of it because I have friends from Finland.

Surströmming is not for the weak. The scent alone can knock you out if you're not used ot it.

I'd enjoy it more if we didn't have to pull the plug on all electric appliances.

*grins*

Though eating "surstömming" is a pretty cool Swedish tradition worth mentioning. (That's fermented herring for those who don't know.)

Anywhere there's Christianity.

There's a cannibalistic ritual of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of a slain god that happens weekly around here. Weird enough?

Sociapaths are not good or bad. They are like all humans, a mix of both. Good people are capable of evil and evil people of good. No matter if they are sociopaths/psychopaths or not.

Ironically, that list also fit many Hollywood "heroes", not only the movie bad guys.

They are intelligent. I've never seen a stupid movie hero. They are cold as ice. Shoot people without blinking. No remorse or very little of it. They do things their way, get things their way, and really don't care much about those who are affected of their actions. The sex? Well, it's Hollywood. There is never a dull moment and all lights are on them. They don't shy away from lies and deception to get what they want. They rule, everyone else has to follow, or are the enemy in one for or the other. A boss who disagrees becomes an enemy just as easily as a mad bomber. And the whole point of a leading role in a movie is to charm the audience in one way or the other. All this generally speaking of course. 

Sociopathy is entrainment, and it's not just the bad guys who are sociopaths.

I think a sociopath would fail this. They can be blind to their own characteristics. It's their family, friends or co-workers who would fill out this list correctly. I watched a TV program where a scientist studied sociopaths, from their genes to how their upbringing influenced them. He, the scientist, was quite surprised to find that he was a sociopath. His family wasn't. The difference between him and the (criminal) sociopaths he studied was the upbringing. A classic case showing that both nature and nurture shapes the person.  A sociopath that has the right upbringing blends in among "normal" people, and it's only those close to him or her that know that something is off.

As for the list:

• Intelligent - Looking at the people online, I'm dumb as a rock. Seriously. Most claim an IQ over 160 or so. Still I manage to put one fot in front of the other. That would put me at average intelligence I guess?
• Cold and calculating - No. I go with the flow. Planning is not my thing.
• Lacking empathy - Yes. I can logically understand how someone else might feel, but I do not "feel it".
• Sexual deviants - According to who? The pope or Madonna? It's all in the eye of the beholder.
• Low tolerance for boredom - I'm never bored. I can't remember being bored, ever.
• Narcissist - No. I don't like attention. I prefer being in the background over taking the center stage.
• Manipulative - No. I do get my will through quite often, but it's straight forward orders, not manipulation.
• Authoritarian - Absolutely not. Authority should be questioned rather than obeyed. We'd all be monkeys hunting with sticks if no one questioned authority.
• Charming - No. I'm a grumpy, ill tempered old dragon. Unless you think farts are charming, then I'm the shit.