Breakfast view from restaurant at Hotel Iso-Syote!

We took the above photo while we were sat enjoying a leisurely breakfast on our final morning at Hotel Iso-Syote in northern Finland last December.

After 4 crazy and wonderful days of snowmobiling, husky sledging and of course meeting Santa we were all quietly sat reflecting on our trip when the cloud settled and this amazing view opened up before us.

It just summed up our breathtaking location and unforgettable Santa holiday.

Alec.

Nokia hopes to lead the market with slimmer and more powerful phones.

Finland's Nokia , the world's top cell phone maker, on Tuesday unveiled a pair of media phones and a music service in a bid to increase revenue and win back popularity lost to rivals.
Nokia hopes to regain ground lost to phones such as Motorola Inc.'s fast-selling Razr with sleeker devices equipped with music players and powerful cameras in what it sees as the fastest-growing cell phone market segment.

Nokia unveiled the N95, a high powered camera phone, and a slimmer model called the N75, which has dedicated music player buttons and is aimed at U.S. consumers. It also plans to boost demand with a service for sampling new music.

"We have left nothing out," said Nokia general manager of multimedia Anssi Vanjoki at a launch in New York.

Nokia said the N95, its first phone with location mapping and a 5 megapixel camera, will sell in volume in the first quarter via a number of European and Asian providers. It is priced at about 550 euros ($700), before subsidies and taxes.

It expects the N75, a folding model slimmer than most of its N-Series phone line, to be "widely available" in the United States in the fourth quarter of this year, Vanjoki said.

Nokia did not reveal deals with U.S. carriers on Tuesday, but the phone is based on a high-speed wireless technology only used in the United States by market leader Cingular Wireless, a venture of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp.

"This phone could sell well. Nokia users have been looking for a slimmer model," said eQ analyst Jari Honko.
Nokia's N-series, which it first launched last year, represented a push toward more stylish and lighter phone models. Critics have said previous phones in the lineup fell short of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd's and Motorola's thin models.

For the full story from Reuters click here

Young Swedish director aims for an Oscar with his debut film.

The Swedish Film Institute has named Farewell Falkenberg as Sweden's official selection for the Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film.

The film opened in cinemas across Sweden on September 22 and has received glowing reviews from the Swedish press. It was also highly acclaimed when screened at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.
The west coast town of Falkenberg is home to director Jesper Ganslandt, Born in 1978, Granslandt is a self-taught director who has previously worked with music videos and feature films.

With Farewell Falkenberg - Granslandt's feature film debut - he will be attempting to add a fifth Oscar to the Swedish trophy cabinet. Ingmar Bergman is a three-time winner, while Bille August picked up a statuette for Pelle the Conqueror in 1988.

The film is about five childhood friends growing into young men in a small Swedish town. Europeanfilms.net describes it as "a freewheeling dive into the hermetically sealed world of all-male friendships that […] feels natural and true."

Granslandt was not exactly overcome by emotion upon being told that his film was to Sweden's official selection. "I plan to celebrate in the Swedish way, with a cup of coffee", he told Metro.

The young director will have to wait until January 23 to find out whether his film is to be one of the final five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film.

Paul O'Mahony   The Local

Finland ranked 2nd and Sweden 3rd in Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007

Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are the world’s most competitive economies according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, released by the World Economic Forum on 26 September 2006.

The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum.

Countries that, like the Nordics, are investing heavily in education are likely to see rising levels of income per capita, growing success in reducing poverty and an increasing ability to establish a presence in the global economy," said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network.

Finland has a very healthy macroeconomic environment and transparent and efficient institutions, as well as an excellent educational system and a highly innovative business community.

“Finland is very well managed at the macroeconomic level, at a time when many other industrialized countries are struggling in this area. The willingness of Finnish governments to run budget surpluses, so as to be able to meet future social commitments linked to the aging of the population, is particularly impressive. The country is also endowed with public and private institutions that are assessed as
being the most efficient and transparent in the world. Finland is also unsurpassed with regards to the quality of higher education available to citizens, which is so critical for adaptation in a fast-moving global economy. Furthermore, the private sector shows a high proclivity for adopting new technologies and nurturing a culture of innovation, placing Finland very firmly among those countries closest to the high tech frontier,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros.

Sweden's position on the Business Competitive Index, a sister rating focusing purely on business conditions in 121 countries, was seventh. Despite being ranked third for 'sophistication of company operations and strategy', Sweden came eighth for the 'quality of the national business environment'.

High tax rates and restrictive labour regulations were highlighted as the most problematic factors for doing business in Sweden.

Global Competitiveness Index 2006 and 2005 comparisons
Country	GCI Rank 2006	GCI Score 2006	GCI Rank 2005
Switzerland	1	5.81	4
Finland	2	5.76	2
Sweden	3	5.74	7
Denmark	4	5.70	3
Singapore	5	5.63	5
United States	6	5.61	1
Japan	7	5.60	3
Germany	8	5.58	6
Netherlands	9	5.56	11
United Kingdom	10	5.54	9

Source: World Economic Forum click here.

Storage problems means an early start to Christmas in Cornwall.

Shoppers in St Austell were checking their calendars on Monday to make sure they hadn't missed three months and it was September 25 and not December 25.People coming into the town were surprised to find that the Christmas lights, including a large sign saying 'Merry Christmas', had been put up over the weekend in Fore Street and Truro Road, three months before Christmas Day.

The surprise left many people bemused and has also attracted the attention of the national media with the belief that St Austell is the first and only town in the country to have its festive lights up in September.

St Austell and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry was forced to put the lights up early after failing to find a new place to store them.

The chamber is set to move out of its current base in the Engine House this week as work starts on preparing the building for demolition next month.

The chamber is set to relocate to an office in Sembal House.

Chamber chairman Paul Scott said: "We were left with a choice of leaving them in the Engine House and having them trashed or putting them up, so we decided to put them up.

"Nobody has come forward to provide a store for them, despite me asking around the town and the appeal in the Cornish Guardian.

"At the end of the day they are only really up a month early, but I am surprised by the fuss it has caused.

"I think there are more important things in the world to worry about - we should be worrying about the cars in Fore Street for a start.

"The lights won't be turned on until the end of November, so I don't see why everyone is talking about it."

However, many shoppers in the town were left laughing about the decision.

One commented: "It has certainly brightened up the town, although it looks a bit daft having them up so early.

"We might be the first town to have Christmas lights, but we are probably already the first town with no town centre."

Another said: "I'm surprised they haven't gone the whole way and set up a Santa's Grotto."

One trader in the town said: "It makes the town a laughing stock, as if we didn't have enough problems already.

"I feel sorry for the chamber in a way because they have had no choice.

"The fact that nowhere could be found to store the lights shows just how little support there is for the town from Restormel Borough Council and the Regional Development Agency."

However, there is some good news with hopes for a new storage area for the lights under the Woolworths store in the town being made available after Christmas.

Mr Scott added: "There have been Christmas puddings in the shops for weeks and nobody says anything about that - why is this any different?"

Cornish Guardian.

The refined art of fermented fish.......

Truth be told there are few “bring the house down” parties, but the custom is regularly practiced in small bunches of dinner guests. Ironically, there seems to be a great sense of style and refinement expected for those who take part in the tradition.
And a tradition it is. In 1999 the Fermented Herring Academy was created. Its mission is to maintain the surströmming culture and promote its development. Ruben Madsen, Chairman of the academy takes his PR responsibility for the fermented fish quite solemnly:

“Surströmming should be eaten with finesse. Should one host a surströmming party all the fixings ought to be represented on the table: minced onion, dill, sliced tomatoes and bread; that gives visual appeal,” Madsen says.

“Potatoes boil while the guests settle and chat at the table sipping some sherry or snack on some crisp bread with Västerbotten cheese or blana - a paste of whey butter and cinnamon. Only after the potatoes are done should the tins of surströmming come out.”

Apparently the sophistication of the tradition ensures some dignity of eating a strong smelling fish in the age of refrigeration and food preservation.

But why are these events associated with September?

The surströmming season runs from late August through to the end of September. It is now that the fermentation process is complete and the herring is ripe to eat. This is the time that these die-hard traditionalists unlock the bulging conserved tin of the fermented herring.

The eating of “sour herring” began centuries ago when salt was a hard-to-come-by commodity and the people ate what they could get. The preservation process uses salt sparingly to slow down the decaying process in a delicately timed dance which relies on the fermentation process to take over in conservation.

But back to the gobbling of suspicious smelling herring. Keep in mind that no herring, fermented or fresh, should ever be served in Sweden without the accompaniment of copious amounts of beer and chilled spiced aquavit.

Helan Går!

Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius, The Local.

Huge success as Ikea brings art to the masses in Sweden.

Swedish furniture giant Ikea’s decision to sell paintings by well-known artists was a wise move, with the warehouse’s entire stock running out in just 12 minutes.

Some 6,000 paintings will be sold, 1,560 of those were bought this morning in the store’s warehouse at Kungens Kurva.

“Three of them were sold out at the same time,” said Tina Björeman, Ikea spokesman, according to Dina Pengar.

“It was Ernst Billgren, Denise Gråstein and Jan Håfström which went in five and a half minutes.

The paintings were being sold at all Ikea warehouses in the country and long lines were reported in Malmö and at Barkarby near Stockholm. Some waited all night at Kungens Kurva to buy a painting.

“One person was here already at 10:30 p.m. and has waited all night,” said Björeman.”

The paintings are being sold for 1,695 kronor each (Approximately £120). Shoppers have to mount the paintings themselves.

Image by Toshikiro Oimatsu, Flickr

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.