The Midnight Sun

Yes, I know. I'm going to say something along the lines of 'This is good. This is why I like it. Maybe you should too...' It isn't a evil agenda of mine. This piece is more about the desire to be Scandanavian and the futility of trying to be Scandanavian. 'I don't care about your desire, some bastard you are!' you could say to that expensive screen that shields me from you. Don't then. Now for those who do, read on.

Unless you've been born in a Scandanavian country, have relatives from Sweden, live or work there, it's kind of hard to fake. A place doesn't define you much beyond it being the place where you were born and grew up. What a place or a nationality means to you is more or less redundant. You wouldn't think it though, when the grass seems much greener, when, through artifice, you feel drawn to a place which seems to perfectly encapsulate your personality. You can deck your flat out in all the Ikea goods you want, eat Dime bars for breakfast, watch Forbrydelsen, go skinny dipping in Winter,  have Hammershoi prints hanging on your wall, Ingmar Bergman boxsets on the shelf, swoon at A-ha pop videos, know your Johnny Ekstrom from your Johnny Hates Jazz, name your kids Morten, Jesper, Helga, Bengt and Bjorn. It doesn't work. Don't care if you drive a Saab or once drank Carlsberg in Copenhagen. Not arsed if you've seen 101 Reykjavik and it makes you feel smug and liberal in your scarf and pullover. It wouldn't even make a difference if you closed your curtains for six months of the year to feel the Nordic ambience, wear ice blue contact lenses, dye your hair blonde and be a big walking smorgasbord of cliches.

You could, however, do much, much worse than this...

Haven't read it. I believe it's good though.

I'm sorry I haven't included Ace of Base and Dr. Alban.

The Midnight Sun Playlist

Click the link for a special mini Scandanavian themed, night mix. Play this from about 10.30pm before you go to a nightclub, or perhaps when you come back from one.

I'd also recommend, Forbrydelsen (Danish orginal version of The Killing). Don't sell your intelligence short with the US version on Channel Four. Just. Don't. It's on BBC 4, and series two is due to start soon. You can get the first series from play.com or some other cheaper online place whose name escapes me. Get it now. Oh, while you're at it, go to Shop Icelandic to buy the items I've bookmarked for you. You shouldn't be staring at your hand held screen. You should be on your feet, reaching into your pocket, to find your wallet, or sinking your arms into your luxury handbag, taking out your massive Julien McDonald purse, and aiming the cursor to your bookmark tabs where it says 'shopping'. Yes?