Northern Finnish Lapland gets its first snow.

As we are basking in our Indian summer it is hard to believe that this week has seen the arrival of snow in the north of Finnish Lapland. At the moment Finland is definitely a divided country when it comes to weather. While Helsinki basks in day time temperatures of +20, in the far north evenings are already a chilly -3.

With the leaves still on the trees the region had not even seen the end of Autumn or as it is called locally ruska before this light snow shower earlier in the week. The covering will probably last just a few days before melting or being washed away in the rain. It may be several more weeks before the snow arrives in earnest, but it is a gentle reminder that winter is on its way.

For Finnish weather information click here.

To visit Finnish Lapland click here

Swedish research shows that Oily fish prevents kidney cancer.

People who eat oily fish at least once per week have increased protection against kidney cancer, according to a Swedish study presented on Wednesday.

Between 1987 and 2004, the eating habits and sicknesses of some 60,000 Swedish women were followed by researchers. The participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding their food habits and given a mammography during the late 80s. The same routine was done in 1997.
The institute for environmental medicine at Karolinska Institute analysed the results and has now concluded that the regular consumption of fatty fish at least once per week reduced the risk for renal cell cancer, the most common form of kidney cancer.

“This is the first study of its kind,” said Alicja Wolk, a professor working on the subject, to Svenska Dagbladet.

“Earlier investigations have not differentiated between oily and lean fish.”

The big difference between oily fish and other fish is the amount of the omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D. Fatty fish have 20 to 30 times more omega-3 fatty acid and three to five times as much vitamin D.

“We think it is a combination of omega-3 fatty acids and D vitamin that works against cancer,” said Susanna Larsson, a doctor with the Karolinska Institute.

“We already knew that fatty fish helps prevent heart disease, and that vitamin D reduced the risk for other cancers.”

The study was published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A Judge bans snowmobiles to protect caribou.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A judge has declared nearly 470 square miles of national forest land in northern Idaho off-limits to snowmobiles in an effort to save the last mountain caribou herd in the contiguous 48 states.

In a 31-page ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley banned snowmobiles throughout a caribou recovery zone in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests until the U.S. Forest Service develops a winter recreation strategy taking into account the impact of the loud, exhaust-spewing devices on the herd.

Estimates of the herd in the Selkirk Mountains, which extend into southeast British Columbia from around Priest Lake, Idaho, northeast of Spokane, run to about three dozen animals, a "precarious finger-hold" on survival, Whaley wrote.
Citing aerial photographs that show snowmobile tracks crisscrossing caribou routes to vital feeding areas, the judge added, "The court chooses to be overprotective rather than under-protective."
The ban does not apply to hundreds of miles of state-owned land east of Priest Lake and offers a slim chance that limited snowmobiling might still be allowed in part of the recovery zone. Whaley gave environmental groups and the forest service a week to develop a proposal for a more trail-specific approach.

Many experts believe that not all snowmobile trails within the 300,000-acre recovery area cross key caribou habitat, especially at lower elevations.
The ruling was the second in less than a year by Whaley against snowmobilers who have provided a vital wintertime economic boost in an area many have viewed as a powder paradise.
In December he banned snowmobile trail grooming, and few were willing to endure the bumpy trails although snowmobiling was still allowed.

Owners of businesses on the west side of Priest Lake said the grooming ban put a severe damper on winter tourism, and the new snowmobile prohibition "will probably be pretty devastating," said Mike Sudnikovich, a lifelong area resident and member of the Priest Lake Trails and Snowmobile Association.
Citing evidence that snowmobiles scare caribou from feeding and calving grounds, environmentalists have sought to ban the machines to protect the endangered animals, which once roamed vast reaches of the forests east of the Cascade Range.

"We're down to the last few animals. We need to do everything we can to protect them," said Mark Sprengel, director of the Selkirk Conservation Alliance in Priest River.
Other plaintiffs in the legal battle include The Lands Council, the Idaho Conservation League, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity.

With lighter, more powerful designs, snowmobiles have increasingly been able to roar through remote areas that once provided refuge for the caribou, which can weigh 400 pounds but are able to walk on deep snow with their dinner plate-sized hooves, grazing on lichen that hangs from the branches of subalpine trees.
Lichen provides little nutrition, but deep snow provides safety from predators - except when, according to experts cited by the environmental groups, the predators area able to take advantage of compacted snowmobile trails and tracks.

Snowmobile interests have countered that the herd has shrunk over the decades mostly because of past logging, backcountry skiing and global warming, adding that as few as two or three caribou from the herd have been seen south of the border in recent years.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

It is the ideal way to experience Finnish Lapland.

While there is a mad exodus come winter by Brits to the Alps, Rockies and just about anywhere else that allows them to throw themselves down black runs or show off their skills on a Super Pipe, but mention cross country skiing to them and they look at you as if you have gone mad!

As Lapland is usually the first place to see snow in Europe there is an influx of international Cross country Ski teams from all over the world desperate to get in some pre-season training. A first flurry of snow last October saw the arrival of 6 international teams to the resort of Saariselka in the far north of Finnish Lapland. Each team arrived with hundreds of pairs of skis, a huge support team and operated in great secrecy. They have experts to wax their skis, a chef to prepare their food, this is serious stuff. 
Having to gain access to one of the conference rooms a team was using to prepare and store their skis, the hotel manager rang the team manager on our behalf to ask permission. The team manager adamantly denied the request due to secrecy until he realised we were British, when between chuckles he changed his response implying that we were no threat as Brits know nothing about cross-country skiing! Hurtful but on the whole true.
As the days warmed once again the snow quickly began to disappear leaving the teams competing for an ever shrinking short distance of track! We had the last laugh the following day when we passed all six teams out jogging along tarmac roads in glorious sunshine!

I have to admit that in the past the mere mention of cross country skiing would be met by a rolling of eyes and yawns but after many years visiting Finnish Lapland during its long beautiful winters I have  slowly been won over. Not by the Finns, I think they quite like our indifference as it means all the more never ending trails for them, but by nature. Come spring, not your British spring of daffodils and gambling lambs but the Lappish variety, metres of snow, crystal clear blue skies and long sunny days, there is nothing more amazing than setting out on a trail through the silent forests for a days trek.  

I guess the equivalent in the UK is hiking or rambling. The Finns take their cross country skiing seriously, there isn’t a village in Lapland that can’t boast at least a 250km network of trails, all lovingly cared for and maintained. For those crazy people that wish to ski on the short winter days of November to January there are also illuminated tracks. Along the network of trails you find small Kotas (Lapp tepees) where you can rest, make a fire to prepare lunch, or in the middle of nowhere cabins where coffee, soup and cakes are on offer.

There are a small number of people in the UK that have discovered cross-country skiing. Put the skis on children and they are off, making it look so easy. For many people that hike it is not the process of walking that they love but the scenery along the way. Once they had mastered the basics of cross country skiing they would soon love exploring, Finnish style!

In Finnish Lapland you are spoilt for choice when it comes to cross-country skiing, to learn more about the villages and resorts click here.

Saunas play a major part in Finnish life.

If the entire population of Finland was told to immediately enter a sauna, they'd all be accomodated. With a population of around five million, there are more than 2.5 million saunas. That means almost every household has its own sauna.
And there are plenty of public saunas.

"Sauna is basically in the nature of everything here," says Jari Etelalahti, who runs local tour company Eat and Joy Helsinki.
"A lot of homes have them and Finnish people are crazy about summer cottages which all have sauna."

For Finns, going to a sauna is more than a passtime. It is part of their Nordic culture.
"In the old days, that was the only place that was really heated," said Etelalahti.
"It was hygienic also so you gave birth in a sauna ... you spent half of your day in the sauna.

As a tourist, there are many opportunities to experience the traditional Finnish sauna.
Public saunas are open daily and you may be lucky to be invited to enjoy some Finnish hospitality at a local's home.

Traditional sauna is a wooden building where the bathers sit on benches splashing water on the hot stones of the stove and gently beating themselves with leafy birch whisks.
More common in homes nowadays are electric saunas.
"The real sauna is the smoke sauna which is heated for like six hours before the whole event and it stays like that."
"Saunas can be electrical ... many of these flats nowadays have electrical saunas.
"But for me the wooden heated saunas are the best."

Temperatures can range from 70 degrees celcius to 180 degrees celcius for the more hardcore sauna lovers.
"It can get up to 150 or 180 degrees and the guys sit there happily sweating."
There are even competitions where people attempt to stay in the sauna for a lengthy time at a high temperature. Etelalahti said men were particularly competitive.
"Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature," he said.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want. Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature. "Guys are always competitive and many have fainted in the heat of the battle.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want."

Certain rules generally apply to saunas. "Sauna is not supposed to be a connection to business so the rules are: no politics, no religion, no business and hardly no sex talk at all," says Etelalahti. "It is just about pure and natural things. It is nice to just talk about everyday subjects like the weather or food."

A trip to the sauna usually takes a couple of hours and involves a whole process of activities.
One must first get naked and shower before entering.
Sauna is usually done nude - it is more hygienic that way - and in public places, male and females are normally separate.
At home, saunas are usually mixed. "Every time you go naked because it is more hygenic not to go with the swimsuit," says Etelalahti.

The term sauna refers to the whole bathing process and includes several repeated periods of perspiring in the heat and the steam, known as "loyly", produced by the water thrown on the stones.
Loyly is described as the spirit of the sauna. It is a Finno-Ugric word going back 7,000 years.
Between bouts in the sauna room, people often bathe in cold water.

In winter, people cut holes in the ice in the Baltic sea or any lake and jump in for a short time.
If there is no water nearby, people will often roll around naked in the snow.
"If you have water next to you, of course you want to jump into it," says Etelalahti.
"If you don't have the ocean or a lake near you, you always go outside and chill out in the cold for a while."
"It is addictive, both sauna and going into the icy water."

Jonathon Moran, Sydney Morning Herald. September 12, 2006
Image provided by the Finnish Tourist Board.

To visit finland and sauna among the experts click here.

Saunas play a major part in Finnish life.

If the entire population of Finland was told to immediately enter a sauna, they'd all be accomodated. With a population of around five million, there are more than 2.5 million saunas. That means almost every household has its own sauna.
And there are plenty of public saunas.

"Sauna is basically in the nature of everything here," says Jari Etelalahti, who runs local tour company Eat and Joy Helsinki.
"A lot of homes have them and Finnish people are crazy about summer cottages which all have sauna."

For Finns, going to a sauna is more than a passtime. It is part of their Nordic culture.
"In the old days, that was the only place that was really heated," said Etelalahti.
"It was hygienic also so you gave birth in a sauna ... you spent half of your day in the sauna.

As a tourist, there are many opportunities to experience the traditional Finnish sauna.
Public saunas are open daily and you may be lucky to be invited to enjoy some Finnish hospitality at a local's home.

Traditional sauna is a wooden building where the bathers sit on benches splashing water on the hot stones of the stove and gently beating themselves with leafy birch whisks.
More common in homes nowadays are electric saunas.
"The real sauna is the smoke sauna which is heated for like six hours before the whole event and it stays like that."
"Saunas can be electrical ... many of these flats nowadays have electrical saunas.
"But for me the wooden heated saunas are the best."

Temperatures can range from 70 degrees celcius to 180 degrees celcius for the more hardcore sauna lovers.
"It can get up to 150 or 180 degrees and the guys sit there happily sweating."
There are even competitions where people attempt to stay in the sauna for a lengthy time at a high temperature. Etelalahti said men were particularly competitive.
"Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature," he said.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want. Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature. "Guys are always competitive and many have fainted in the heat of the battle.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want."

Certain rules generally apply to saunas. "Sauna is not supposed to be a connection to business so the rules are: no politics, no religion, no business and hardly no sex talk at all," says Etelalahti. "It is just about pure and natural things. It is nice to just talk about everyday subjects like the weather or food."

A trip to the sauna usually takes a couple of hours and involves a whole process of activities.
One must first get naked and shower before entering.
Sauna is usually done nude - it is more hygienic that way - and in public places, male and females are normally separate.
At home, saunas are usually mixed. "Every time you go naked because it is more hygenic not to go with the swimsuit," says Etelalahti.

The term sauna refers to the whole bathing process and includes several repeated periods of perspiring in the heat and the steam, known as "loyly", produced by the water thrown on the stones.
Loyly is described as the spirit of the sauna. It is a Finno-Ugric word going back 7,000 years.
Between bouts in the sauna room, people often bathe in cold water.

In winter, people cut holes in the ice in the Baltic sea or any lake and jump in for a short time.
If there is no water nearby, people will often roll around naked in the snow.
"If you have water next to you, of course you want to jump into it," says Etelalahti.
"If you don't have the ocean or a lake near you, you always go outside and chill out in the cold for a while."
"It is addictive, both sauna and going into the icy water."

Jonathon Moran, Sydney Morning Herald. September 12, 2006
Image provided by the Finnish Tourist Board.

To visit finland and sauna among the experts click here.

Man trapped in Chimney in Johannesburg, South Africa

Joburg emergency personnel have battled for two hours to free a man trapped in a chimney.

The 21-year-old became stuck after allegedly trying to make his way into a Yeoville house through an L-shaped chimney on Sunday.

Emergency personnel first tried to pull him out through the top of the chimney. When that didn't work, they broke their way into the chimney from inside the house.

"He was hanging in there and we broke away some bricks to free him," said spokesperson Malcolm Midgley. The injured man was taken to hospital.

Homeowner Gavin Almazien thought it was a joke when a friend told him someone was in his chimney. He later found out it was a man who had lived with him in the house for about six years.
"I asked him to leave as I couldn't handle his behaviour anymore," Almazien said, adding: "He knew he could knock at my door at any time for help."

By Poloko Tau
This article was originally published on page 2 of The Star on September 11, 2006

JAPAN WINS AIR GUITAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Air Guitar World Championships took place in Club Teatria, Oulu, for the 11th time. Japan's strong presence produced a world champion and this year Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke gets a chance to spread the gospel of air guitars. Yosuke outplayed the other skillful contestants with his simplistic but extremely classy air guitarring.

The five finalists who had made their way from the Qualifying Round on Thursday were challenged with Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels, the reigning champion, and the winners from national competitions. There were people from Australia, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and the Great Britain. After a round of optional songs, the ten best players performed a song chosen by the organisers, "Who's Your Daddy", the latest single release by Lordi, the winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

In addition to fame and prestige, Yosuke received a custom made Finnish guitar called Flying Finn and a special donation from the Queen guitarist Brian May, a VOX BM Special amplifier, designed by the man himself.

The results of the Air Guitar World Championships are:
1. Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke (Japan) 35.4
2. Clay "Bangers" Connolly (Australia) 34.8
3. Christian "Heart Buckboard" Sweep (Germany) 34.6
4. Gabriele "The Hoxton Creeper" Matzeu (United Kingdom) 33.9
5. Takeshi "Takeshi the SAMURI Kongochi" Kongochi (Japan) 33.8
6. Craig "Hot Lixx Hulahan" Billmeier (United States) 33.7
6. Rainer "Le Freak" Fussgänger (Austria) 33.7
8. Romain "Sideburn" Lesaffre (France) 33.4
9. Christian "Der Prettauer" Steinhauer (Italy) 33.1
10. Benjamin "Helmutt" Greaney (New Zealand) 32.7
11. Karita "Rässi Rinsessa" Kivioja (Finland) 16.7
11. Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels (The Netherlands) 16.7
11. Igmar "Iggy Stardust" De Haan (The Netherlands) 16.7
11. Eero "Oulun oma poika" Ojala (Finland) 16.7
15. Max "Max" Heller (Austria) 16.4
16. Kanagawa "Super IQ" IQ (Japan) 16.2
17. Terje "Doc" Stephansen (Norway) 15.7

The chair of the prestigious jury was, for the 11th time now, Juha Torvinen, a legendary Finnish guitarist himself. In addition to Torvinen, the jury included Sami Lopakka, an ex-guitarist from Sentenced; Marzi Nyman, a real guitar virtuoso; Milton Mermikides, a guitar professor of Royal Academy of Music London; and Philipp Brammer, the organiser of the Austrian competition.

As usual, the contestants welcomed everyone to join in as they played their guitars along with the song Rocking in the Free World. Air guitarists believe that all the bad things disappear from the world when everyone plays the air guitar, you know.

The first ever CIRKO Festival: 18th-29th October 2006

The CIRKO Helsinki Contemporary Circus Festival 2006 is an event for all interested in modern circus and the performing arts. During the week and a half there will performances by 13 acts from France and Finland at various venues throughout Helsinki.

The festival, being organised or the first time, is enabled by the tight cooperation between Cirko –Centre of New Circus and Centre Culturel Français, the City of Helsinki, The Cultural Office of the City of Helsinki and 5-3-1 the Festival of New Juggling.

Cirko - Centre for New Circus was established in Finland in the autumn of 2002 for the purpose of gathering together the resources of new circus groups and artists and to promote new circus. In the spring of 2004 the Finnish Cultural Foundation granted Cirko significant three-year funding for a development project, giving Cirko the decisive impetus for starting its activities. Cirko was established as a response to the development of new circus in Finland in the mid-1990s.

A few of the performances include:
From France: Compagnie Pré-O-C-Coupé´s LES KUNZ fascinates, COUNTREPOINT by Les Objets Volants, Compagnie XY
From Finland: Ville Walo and Kalle Hakkarainen´s DISCUSSIONS, Tatu Tyni introduces his production MULTIMAGIGA

For further details of the festival click here.

To visit Helsinki click here.

The only ferry route between Britain and Sweden to be discontinued from the end of October.

Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways is to scrap the only passenger ferry route between Sweden and Britain, with the axing of the Gothenburg-Newcastle route at the end of October.

The company said that "a number of factors" were behind the decision, including rising fuel costs and falling passenger numbers.

DFDS has been running ships between Gothenburg and England for decades, with the Newcastle route the last to close. The company had previously also served ports including Harwich and Immingham.

The company said it would still continue to operate routes to England from Norway and Denmark. The company said it was in the process of purchasing the M/S Fjord Norway from rival ferry company Fjord Line, and would run the ship on a Norway-Newcastle route.

DFDS has faced competition from airlines in recent years on its routes between the UK and Sweden's second city. Ryanair has invested in new lines from Gothenburg, and FlyMe has recently introduced new flights to London.

DFDS Seaways' sister company, DFDS Tor Line, will continue to run shceduled freight ships between Gothenburg and several English ports, although these have limited capacity for passengers.

Published: 6th September 2006 15:11 CET
The Local by James Savage

Image by Kjell Holmner, Goteborg & Co.