"As Planned"

After the first glass of vodka
you can accept just about anything
of life even your own mysteriousness
you think it is nice that a box
of matches is purple and brown and is called
La Petite and comes from Sweden
for they are words that you know and that
is all you know words not their feelings
or what they mean and you write because
you know them not because you understand them
because you don't you are stupid and lazy
and will never be great but you do
what you know because what else is there?

-Frank O'Hara

please take a moment to Chill the F out to - Lykke Li

I had a moderate obsession with Lykke Li last summer after a friend told me to check out "Little Bit" (which you may have heard in the background of the Victoria's Secret Holiday commercials.) After listening to that song on loop for almost an hour I checked out her other stuff, which was pretty fantastic as well, but decided to keep her to myself. I thought my minor infatuation was over and done with til Carson Daly devoted Wednesday night's entire show to this lovely songbird from Sweden. Now I her music is stuck in my head all over again and this time I had to share.

Little Bit


Breaking it Up


"Dance, Dance, Dance" with Bon Ivor Live in L.A

Lykke Li & Bon Iver doing 'Dance Dance Dance' in L.A from Lykke Li on Vimeo.

I'm Good I'm Gone with Robin


Tonight

Lykke Li - Tonight from Lykke Li on Vimeo.

Little Bit (Live & Acoustic on Jools Holland)

Please take a moment to Rock the F out to - The Hives

Another Swedish thing I'm fond of The Hives

Tick Tick Boom

B is for Brutus

Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones

Antidote

Main Offender

Walk Idiot Walk

Abra Cadaver

Hate to Say I told You So

"Hey shut the fuck up boy, you are starting to piss me off..."

The Swedish kick continues!I just happened to find this song by Peter, Bjorn and John out of nowhere, but it's mildly addictive. And I also want to thank Sarah Odio for informing me about the Swedish Lunar Lander and House Building Mission...it's as if she were encouraging me to move to Sweden and eventually the moon!

"Hey (Shut the Fuck Up Boy!)"

Oh my wow I forgot Ingmar!

While regaling you with my love of Sweden I completely forgot one of the most famous, talented and brilliant people to have ever come from there, Mr. Ingmar Bergman. Ingmar was an actor, a playwright and stage director, with a rather impressive filmography. Bergman directed his first film Crisis in 1945, with first cinematographer Gunnar Fischer and together they found a way to synthesize theatre and the visual image, and went on to work with the many of the same actors over and over again. In 1956 Bergman directed The Seventh Seal,and his most famous film to date. It is about a medieval knight who returns home from the cruisades only to encounter Death waiting for him on a desolate and rocky beack. The knight challenges Death to a fame of chess, knowing the inevitable result but plays for time, so he can discover the value of living.

Years later in 1965 Bergan directed Persona which some believe is his true masterpiece and his most complex film, is about a nurse that is put in charge of an actress who can't talk and finds that the actress' persona is melding with hers. If you have the chance to see any of his films do they're fantastic.

The first few minutes of "The Seventh Seal"


Ingmar Bergman - The Seventh Seal
Video
Envoyé par lola_k sur wat.tv

I am totally and utterly obsessed with Sweden

So much so I'm tempted to go to IKEA to munch on meatballs and meander through the massive edifice. I've had a fascination and appreciation for all Nordic countries since elementary school thanks to Marcus Christensen, but Alexander Skarsgard helped kick my interest into all things Swedish into high gear this summer, as did this Wall Street Journal Travel article from not too long ago. Prior to me fully immersing myself into all things Swedish, all I knew about Sweden was that I'm not really a fan of their fish, it was synonymous with IKEA, Alfred Nobel- creator of The Nobel Prizes was from there, they gave the world ACNE Jeans, ABBA & Peter,Bjorn & John are the only musical acts I can think of from there, I'll sadly never go to Valhalla, they have Ice Hotels like in "Die Another Day" and Stockholm Syndrome wasn't something I wanted.

Alexander Skarsgard

Don't know much about Sweden? Well Wikipedia of course offers the basic historical and factual information on the third largest country (by area) in Western Europe, while The Gateway to Sweden lists so much information, I could barely scratch the surface, and Visit Sweden offers everything a tourist could need. It's also at the center of space tourism in Europe and some of the best stargazing on the planet. If/when I finally go there I'll make sure to post and take plenty of pictures and hopefully come back.

Alfred Nobel

ABBA

Ice Hotel

The view of Northern Lights in Kiruna