Man's best friend? As if!

Unwilling schoolboy's partner in crime more like it. I asked our houseguest, Nikki the Dog, to help out and wake up the children. What did she do? Hop onto the bed and snuggle down with them for an extra 40 winks. I'm sure that this perfidious canine mutineer had been bribed. I suspect a few meatballs were slipped her way under the table. School starts this week and thousands of parents all over Sweden are doubtless heaving an enormous sigh of relief. I delivered Zoe and on arrival she was a bit shy. Then her old teachers came out and a big grin spread all over her face. Next her classmates Tilde and Oskar appeared. Big hugs all round and with a hop, skip and a leap she was gone.

I't 's 2012 and I'm feeling ratty!

Ratstock? Mousenbury? Yesterday I went down to our cellar to put some things away and to my horror discovered that it looked like Roskilde on the Monday morning after the festival.

The local vermin had been having the party to end all parties and our precious belongings were deep in ratshit. So I had a really pleasant afternoon emptying out everything and shovelling up vermin droppings. They'd been nibbling at volumes of Shakespeare, munching away at family photos. I will never be able to watch Flushed Away again: this time it's personal!

Roddy Rat and his wife Vermintrude will not be geting a Xmas card from me next year!

While shepherds moshed: A Musical Advent Calendar: Day 22 - On the road

Today we're on the road all day: from Stockholm to Grandma Stina's in Vedborm. 600 km - a fair drive. So there's only one song it could be: Chris Rea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcbQyFtCqg

I'm rather partial to Saint Etienne's version of this. Much more stripped down.Very English. Sarah Cracknell sounds as though she's driving on the M 25, not some Oklahoma freeway. I couldn't find it on Youtube, but here they are anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4--Lkb_Oldo

One of the great pop bands

While shepherds moshed: A Musical Advent Calendar: Day 21 - A very bleak Midwinter

So many fine musicians who have meant a lot to me have died in the past 12 months. Cesaria Evora is the most recent, but also Bert Jansch, Jackie Leven and Amy Winehouse.

Here's Bert back in 1974.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7jXiOa9U4

And Cesaria from a year ago. She looks very frail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w46ogcfnvjk

I started looking at obituaries (bad idea) and saw that drummer Keef Hartley and Kevin Ayres sideman David Bedford were also gone.

Big Jackie's passing was a dreadful loss. Only 62 and at the height of his powers. Such a warm, wonderful, hilarious man.I can still remember having a beer with him, Duncan and Harry (Byrne)at a long defunct venue in Kungsträdgården.

A bleak Midwinter indeed.

Cooper's List

Here it is! The list that everybody is talking about. My friend Duncan's 40 best album of the year. To be honest I've never heard of most of these artists but if Duncan likes them, I know they will be good. If you know any three of the names on the list you are seriously hip.

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/albums-2011-nowt-write-home-about#comment-512310

Lots of fine folk, Nordic jazz and ambient stuff. Explore! Enjoy!

While shepherds moshed: A Musical Advent Calendar: Day 20 - Snow!

One of the pleasures of Xmas is watching old movies on the box. Preferably a film you've seen many times before. In Britain it always used to be The Great Escape.

Here's one of the uncrowned Kings of Xmas, Mr Crosby, from the movie White Xmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm6rUykRVFY

Memories of happier, simpler times when a quartet of young people could just burst spontaneously into song on a train. Try this on one of SJ's trains and a jobsworth conductor would soon have you thrown off the train in the middle of nowhere.

Want some more songs about snow?

Of course you do!

Saint Etienne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQzlJRjXSGY

Frank Sinatra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3yi_DNiF0k&feature=related

Cocteau Twins, frosty the Snowman plus calvin and Hobbes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsUIDez0sZw

Incidentally, go onto Google, typed the words Let it snow and watch what happens.

What is the Swedish word for naff?

Kai says he wants turkey for Xmas. I'll show him the songs on this fine list.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2011/11/10-worst-christmas-songs-of-all-time/

The Xmas Shoes by NewSong is probably the sentimental C & W song I was looking for last week. Have a bucket ready if you are going to listen to it.

But when it comes to the bottom of Xmas barrels being scraped or indeed pinched I must reserve a special word of praise for Transylvanian twins the Cheeky Girls. You'll remember them of course for their fabulous smash hit Cheeky Song (Touch my bum).This Yuletide video however gives whole new nuances to the word naff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N06aTqbcf4Q

Naff. Now there is a uniquely British concept that it is quite impossible to translate into Swedish. Naff as in car-boot sales, Page 3 girls and Jimmy Saville.

Clearly in Romania it is a concept that they understand well and have taken to their Transylvanian hearts.

Dracula would be proud.