They do things differently there

[nineveh_uk]

Since I mourned the demise of Aftenposten’s news in English I have wanted a replacement without, as is so often the case, hunting very hard for it. I think now, though, I have found it. No one volume could replace the drunk elk AND the economics of oil rigs, but the combination of http://www.norwaypost.no/ and http://www.thelocal.se/ does its best, along with occasional input from the ineffably dull http://www.cphpost.dk/ The latter is the Copenhagen Post. I assume that the web address is an attempt to translate the Danish abbreviation KBH. I don’t think it works. I feel the headline ‘Doctor Penis’ guilty of tax fraud sums it up completely. Norway Post lacks the routine drunken elk, but otherwise has the politics, landslides and snow chaos we know and love. The real find, though, is definitely the Swedish The Local, which mixes Metro-level serious stories with glories such as Swedish hockey fans delay match with dildo downpour. Actually, I love this story. It is inconceivable in any other country, not least for the magnificently blasé response of the protagonist in this macho sport, and the venue’s management:

“We’d also heard mention of it, but we decided that it would only be worse if we went out and told the fans they were absolutely not allowed to throw dildos on the ice,” said AIK club head Mats Hedenström to the newspaper.

Comments

[caulkhead.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. Dull Thursday afternoons just haven't been the same without drunken elk to enliven them.

There's also the Finnish Helsingen Sanomat (http://www.hs.fi/english/archive/). Another mix of international and local politics, weather chaos, and the downright peculiar. The serious stories tend to predominate, but the past week has included gems such as 'Car hired by two Japanese men sinks through ice in Salo' and a national identity crisis 'Small, mad and creative? Or just dark and cold?'

[antisoppist.livejournal.com]

The Finns are always having a national identity crisis. They have a thing called "suomikuva" (Finland picture), which is the image that foreigners have of them and the press is constantly worried about it.

When I lived there, the German teacher and I had to take it in turns to write a fortnightly column in the local paper about what we thought of Finland. For three years. It was a dreadful responsibility.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Would the Finns be more or less worried if they knew that foreigners tended not to think about them much...?

[antisoppist.livejournal.com]

I think they would be sadly disappointed and it would be cruel to enlighten them.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I forgot about Finland - that looks an excellent source (it even has a wildlife story in the first few days!).

[tudorpot.livejournal.com]

different! What I want to know is how the hockey player managed to film himself during sex?

[tudorpot.livejournal.com]

oops- with a camera phone

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Still a certain amount of contortion involved, one imagines...

[lyras.livejournal.com]

I really have been failing at keeping up with Scandinavian news and culture lately, so thank you for the links.

I loved this article on favourite Swedish words (http://www.thelocal.se/18002/20090305/) - reminded me of all the fun I had in Sweden learning how Swedes actually use words, as supposed to learning in a classroom.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

That's a nice article - thanks. I liked långsint, which I can't think of as being distant from long memory, but is more euphonius. And I had exactly the same reaction about the swearwords, with the winner being the i fart in the lifts...

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

It is inconceivable in any other country, not least for the magnificently blasé response of the protagonist in this macho sport, and the venue’s management

BWAH!

I certainly cannot imagine that kind of response at a game here, where even kids hockey is considered srs bizness.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I just love the "What are you fussing about, it's my private life" from the bloke, and the idea that a giant inflatable penis is less problematic from the management. Class.