Finland's Ovi

Finnish literature is set to make a notable splash on the German book market in 2011. Finland is in the process of filing an official application to become the theme country of the world’s most prominent literature trade fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair, in four years’ time. Finland’s Minister of Culture Stefan Wallin (Swedish People’s Party) is likely to sign the application already this week.

“The plan is to send our letter of intention to the Frankfurt Book Fair already today or tomorrow. This is an opportunity worth seizing – especially after the organisers of the fair have practically demanded that Finland apply for the guest of honour position for 2011″, Wallin confirms.
Being the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair will be the largest-ever single effort to export Finnish culture.

As yet, no exact figures are available, but presumably Finland’s investment in the undertaking will be in the region of EUR five million. The Frankfurt Book Fair organisation has in several instances emphasised that with a EUR 4-4.5 million investment, a theme region can obtain sufficient publicity.

“It is too early to speculate about the cost of being the guest of honour. First we have to wait for an acknowledgement from Frankfurt. Obviously, at least the Ministry of Education, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry will then take part in the effort”, Wallin says.

But money alone does not guarantee success at the fair. With the smallest-ever budget of a mere EUR 1.5 million, Lithuania failed to produce a breakthrough in the international book market. But then again, so did South Korea, in spite of its whopping EUR 14.5 million investment in the fair.
According to Wallin, the undertaking would coincide perfectly with the south-western city of Turku’s turn as European Capital of Culture in 2011.

At present, around 30-40 Finnish books are translated into German each year. Should Finland succeed in becoming the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, this figure could increase many times over.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat

A children’s TV channel is going to edit scenes from Tom and Jerry cartoons where characters are shown smoking. The move follows an investigation by media watchdog Ofcom into a viewer’s complaint that the vintage animations were not appropriate for young viewers.

Wait, a viewer’s complaint, ‘a’, not many viewers’ complaints, but one person has single-handedly managed to get smoking censored from classic cartoons. The power of the individual truly is awesome.

Has anybody ever been encouraged to smoke because a cartoon cat lit one up? “Excuse me sir, why did you smoke your first cigarette?” “Well, it all began after seeing Tom trying to impress a female cat by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand. I thought to myself, ‘that could be me!’”

Don’t these people have anything better to do with their lives, such as switching off the television and taking their kid outside. I guess they are too busy writing their next complaint letter trying to rewrite history.

Ok, we have been a bit slack in the last few weeks when it comes to updating this site, but that picture of two boys being hung has finally driven me to add a new post.

A bar in eastern China has come up with a novel way of attracting clients - they are allowed to beat up the staff.

The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing lets customers smash glasses, rant and even hit specially trained workers, state media reported. The owner, Wu Gong, told China Daily that he was inspired to open the bar by his experiences as a migrant worker.

The bar employs 20 men who have been given protective gear and physical training to prepare them for the job. Clients can ask the men to dress as the character they wish to attack.

I hope somebody copies this idea in Helsinki because it will be my first destination - I just hope they dress the man in a 1970’s safari suit to make it more realistic.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…hmmm.

Ovi magazine is so popular that Jone Nikula (former Finnish Idols judge) is using the same name on his forthcoming new free magazine.

In addition, we have been presenting a weekly radio show under the name ‘Ovi Bad Boys’ for nearly four months. The show name is announced every week in the Helsinki Sanomat radio programme section and we talk about Ovi magazine, interview guests and promote events for the foreign community.

After all the expense and effort they have done and will do, they will find that they are coming second and advertising another magazine that might not be their style! From our side, the only thing we have to do is remind them that there are European laws protecting copycats and fourteen months of successful history gives us a good advantage.

We will be sending this mail to all the media (including Ovi magazine network of blogs, forums and sites) nationally and internationally to ensure that people know that this free magazine has nothing to do with us.

If Jone Nikula or anybody connected with this Ovi impostor wishes to contact the original Ovi, please email info@theovimagazine.com

Open the original
http://www.ovimag.com
We cover every issue!

Source: Ovi Magazine

The French cultural centre, the French-Finnish association for research and technology and Neogames (Finnish association for video games) are the main coordinators of DigiFrance 2006, the first European video game conference to be held on 2 June 2006.

This will be a unique opportunity to meet creators, researchers and companies who will present different exciting aspects of this rapidly developing sector. The conference will take place at High Tech Center-Helsinki (HTC Helsinki Pinta-talo – Room Kolumbus Tammasaarenkatu 1-5 00180 Helsinki)

The video game industry and multimedia creation represent a market value of 18 billion euros, more than two and a half times the turn-over of the American film industry. French companies hold 24% of the world market in game software and therefore the time is ripe for discussion about the development of this lucrative sector in Europe.

Key note speakers include Marita Liulia (founder of the Mobius Nordica prize for multimedia creation), Stéphane Natkin, director of ENJMIN (French school for video games and multimedia), Fernando Herrera (CEO of Rovia Mobile and Pascal Luban game designer of the multi-player versions of Splinter Cell (Ubisoft).

Click here for more information.

Click here for PDF programme.

See you there.

I said that Lordi will be making the doubters choke on their disparaging words and they have done just that. The group have stunned the bores by winning the fifty-first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with a record number of points.

The win ends many dubious honours the country have amassed since the debut in 1961. They had participated the most times without winning and from the 37 entries, they have finished last on eight occasions, received zero points three times, have not received full marks for a song since 1977, are the only country to perform last and come last and the 1982 entry from Kojo is mathematically the worst song ever.

‘Tom Tom Tom’ had saved Finland’s blushes by placing sixth in 1973, but that is all history as Lordi bring home the trophy and the contest will be in Finland next year.
Congratulations Lordi on reminding Europe (and the other countries) that the contest is supposed to be fun.

Rock on!

The latest Bad Boys radio show is now online.

Download it from here: BAD BOYS

This unflattering picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a British newspaper has sparked a backlash from the German government and media. The Sun printed photos of Mrs Merkel on holiday taken from behind while changing into her bathing costume. The Sun printed the photos under one of its trademark puns: “I’m Big in the Bumdestag”.

This makes the Mohammed cartoons pale in comparison, but the first question that everybody has got to be asking: Why?

Why the world needed to see Merkel’s naked rear end we will never know? Thankfully The Sun never found topless pics of Mrs Thatcher?

I would like to share with the ovi some nice thoughts I’ve found online. Hope you like them!

It isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.

You never miss the water until the well runs dry.

The people who live in the Golden Age usually go around complaining how yellow everything looks.

It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.

There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man.

If it is to be, it is up to me.

A bend in the road, is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove… but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed… Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle
…when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward orgaizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Some people dream of success… while others wake up and work hard at it.

Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened…

Keep your head and your heart in the right direction and you’ll never have to worry about your feet.

Nothing in this world is impossibe to a willing heart.

History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other.

He who tries can fail. But he who doesn’t try, already has.

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.

Half the misery in the world is caused by ignorance. The other half is caused by knowledge.

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

Always do right, this will gratify some and astonish the rest.

Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

That which the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Why do you need two coats when you have only one back?

Today is the first day of the rest of your life ==> make it the best day since the beginning of your life and may tomorrow bring sunshine into it.

Learning is weightless treasure you always carry easy.

There are too many sad things in this world. Don’t walk away from the happy ones.

It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.

Animals do not smoke, drink nor take drugs - except in laboratories.

Open seven days a week, excluding Sundays!

Either you give me what I demand or I’ll take what you’re offering!

Opinions expressed here are mine and not those of ovi. And if you don’t agree with them, you are racist, sexist, elitist, imperialist, Baptist, and possibly even right.

The only thing you need to know about a country is whether people are trying to get in, or get out.

We must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world.

Always forgive your enemies. That’s what they hate most.

What ‘exists’ is only a small part of what is ‘possible’.

Do not let big ambitions overshadow small successes.

Since I am convinced
That Reality is in no way
Real,
How am I to admit
That dreams are dreams?

In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire.

Yesterday is History, tomorrow is a Mystery, today is a Gift, that’s why it’s called ‘The Present’

A mind stretched by a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.

That which is beautiful is not always good. But that which is good is
always beautiful.

Only two kinds of people complain about taxes - men and women.

He who has a thing to sell
And goes and wishes in a well
Will not as likely get the dollars
As he who climbs a tree and hollars.

Sooner or later, everyone stops smoking.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

There are no explanations for human evil. Only excuses.

Has anybody else noticed the similarity?

Is that George Clooney in Syriana on the left and Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas, on the right?

Spooky!

We all love to argue over the best movie ever and it is a discussion with no end. However, this does not stop us!

As a slight detour from the usual posts on this blog, we want to know what is your favourite movie climax.

Is it the endless queue of cars in Field of Dreams? Is it the head in the box in Seven? Is it ‘I’m Spartacus’ in Spartacus? Is it ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!’ from Gone With the Wind?

Let’s get the ball rolling: I love Morgan Freeman finally meeting Tim Robbins on the beach in The Shawshank Redemption…goosebumps everytime!

Today dot matrices, tomorrow the Holodeck: Tatsumi Kimura, at Japan’s National Institute in Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, demonstrates a laser plasma technology that can create Real 3D images as dot arrays in space.

Source:Reuters

Mr. James Akin has done his fellow Catholics a huge favor: he has written a straightforward book on the do’s and don’t’s of Catholic liturgical worship called ‘Mass Confusion’.

Certainly, few topics are more practical and within the range of most Catholics’ experience than this. The vast majority of Catholics know little about the liturgy today, probably as little as they do about Catholic doctrine in general –which is to say, next to nothing. I say that not to belittle anyone, only to point out the grim reality. Many people operate with a mere “grade school” grasp of Catholicism that extends to their grasp of the liturgy if in fact it reaches that far.

What makes matters worse is that those who should be their teachers pastors, catechists, adult educators though better trained than the congregation at large, are nevertheless often only somewhat less bewildered about the liturgy than those they seek to serve. One major reason: the seemingly incessant flux of liturgical change. Just about the time you get one thing down, the “experts” get to work revising it and a whole new set of guidelines or norms are sent out to confuse the issue.

Buy the book on AMAZON

A Serbian funeral director is facing legal action after organising the burial of a man who was still alive.

Mourners realised a mistake had been made when the dead man rang his daughter on her cellphone during the funeral service to ask why no one had been to visit him for a few days.

Lucky he didn’t just leave a message, although why did she have her phone switched on in the first place? At least it isn’t as bizaare as Finns taking photos at funerals.

Michael Jackson has been cut off and kicked out by Prince Abdullah, son of the King of Bahrain. He is no longer funding Jackson, his kids and nanny in an extended stay in Bahrain.

The first clue that this was the case was Jackson’s traveling last week on commercial flights in business class. There was no more private plane. “Jackson is essentially bouncing around the United Arab Emirates looking for handouts,” sources say.

Jackson’s $270 million worth of loans owned by Fortress Investments are due on Feb. 20. Fortress had given Jackson a 60-day extension, which began on Dec. 20, to resolve his problems with it, but nothing’s happened. Now Fortress will either foreclose on Feb. 20 or make a deal with Sony Music.

Come on Michael, it is as plain as the nose on your face…oh wait.