Swedish envy...

It's that time of year again-- the dawning of another dreaded Florida summer, where the constant dreary hum of the air conditioner serves as a brutal reminder that unless you're partial to third-degree burns and heatstroke, you're going to spend the next six months or so indoors.

I may not have solar panels on my roof; I don't drive a hybrid car, and despite my best intentions I'm still not composting in my garden, but I've most definitely gone "green" in one respect: I'm jealous as hell of anyone who gets to spend their summers in more civilised climate.

One such lucky sod would be English-born, Swedish resident Malcolm Carter. Malcolm is the kindly gent who recently wrote the generous review of Undercurrent for the Scottish-based Penny Black Music website, and he recently interviewed me for the same publication. Among other things, The Headlights, mushy peas, and Peter Noone all came up in the discussion. You can read the whole thing here.

Apparently, he resides in Sventorp, which I found humourous, since Sven would be the Scandanavian equivalent to Steve, and Torp must be where Thorpe comes from. My hometown is, of course, Scunthorpe (stop sniggering at the back!), and many of the towns and villages in the surrounding area take their names from nordic words (take a bow, Viking invaders). Funny old world innit?

At the time of the interview I had no idea he lived in Sweden. If I had, I might have been tempted to ask him a few questions of my own, like: "Is it difficult to get a work visa?"

Oh well, back to the swamp...