Tuesday, February 7th, 2006:Hair on Swedish telly

What I think:

I'm normally not too bothered about hair. I'll have mine cut rather short, then forget about it, sometimes for a bit too long, according to some people. When it starts getting in my eyes, I start to consider maybe getting a haircut. When it starts getting in my pint, that's a pretty good indication for me that it's definitely time.

The same goes for other people's hair. I'm not really too interested in hairstyles. Sometimes, people will "have something done" with their hair, and I won't even notice. (Well, I have to admit that I'm not too fond of that sort of wannabe mohawk - you know, that thing that David Beckham had for a while when his real mohawk grew out a bit; the kind of longer-sticky-up pointy thing on top, with the sides only a bit shorter. That's pretty popular with some guys in Helsingborg. Still.)

But what I find annoying is when people who present the news or weather have outrageous hairstyles (or clothes, for that matter). Where newsreaders or weather presenters in the UK usually have a relatively neutral look, with sensible hair (or none), and fairly tasteful yet unremarkbale clothes, many here in Sweden seem to go out of their way to be try look bizarre or at least overly casual and un-news-or-weather-like . I've seen some of the oddest ties and weirdest hairdos on news programs here.

But the Swedes seem to love it.

On one of the main national stations, for example, there's a weather guy with long-ish hair. It's not particularly messy or anything; it just feels like he should be playing guitar in a rock band instead. Then I found out that that's precisely what he did before presenting the weather. Hmm...I can't honestly comment on his meteorological credentials. I just wonder what his band was like (insert your favourite weather-themed cover song here).

So anyway, this ex-rock guitarist weather guy once decided to cut his hair a few years back. Apparently, as soon as the Swedish public saw him on telly, there was a huge national outcry. Calls & letters came pouring in demanding that he grow his hair back at once. Which he did. Well, perhaps not all at once, but after much hard work and concentration (and a month or two), he got there in the end. Have a look if you want. (Oh yeah, you'll have to scroll up a bit.)

There's another guy on the same station who has big curly hair. Sometimes he lets it grow a bit long in the back to make what the English call a "mullet" and what North Americans call "hockey hair". This guy looks like a poodle. It's a bit difficult to take him very seriously. (Newsreader: "That's all the news we have for this evening. Now here's Mr Fluffles with the weather.") Click here to see him.

There's also a woman who reads the news (and sometimes chairs discussions) who's hair is in constant turmoil. She's having a bad-hair life. But she's actually famous for it. It's true. Look here for a nice selection of photographs of her. I saw a discussion with her and a few other people on telly the other night, and there was a guy there whose hair looked Kramer's (off Seinfeld). For a second I thought I was watching The Muppet Show.

You know, we non-Swedes have enough trouble trying to learn the language. But if we try to pick up some extra Swedish and make an effort by watching Swedish news on telly, we can't pay attention to what's being said because we focus on funny clothes or hairdos. (Look at this weather guy as well. Yes, he's for real.)

Although it can be very amusing to watch, it's distracting, and we miss a lot of what's being said because we're driven to distraction. It's time that the Swedish government did something about it. That's what I think.