Aurora borealis alarm - be alarmed for auroras!

Be alarmed for auroras! Several hotels in Lapland, Finland offer 24/7 Aurora alarm systems! For example at Arctic Snowhotel guests can turn aurora alarm button "on" and in case there are northern lights in the sky, their alarm system will wake you up! Also Hotel Aurora at Luosto, Lapland offers aurora alarm system. Both hotels provide panoramic view rooms with glass ceiling and walls. And do not forget the original glass igloos at Hotel Kakslauttanen, Lapland.

If you are not able to visit Lapland in Finland, Unique Lapland has brought the wonderful Lapland winter into the city of Helsinki. Snow attractions and activities are available in any weather: igloos, ice sculptures, toboggan hill, kick-sledding and tandem skiing. Everything is built indoors of a huge sports hall using snow and ice. Their weather forecast of the day is always -3 degrees Celsius, no wind, steady weather conditions. Indoor cross-country skiing can be done in a same address at Kivikko Ski Hall.

Anyone can fly or surf indoor @ Sirius Sport Resort

At Sirius Sport Resort anyone can fly or surf indoor. Enjoyably and safely. Sirius is located at Pyhtää, about one hour’s drive from Helsinki in the direction of Kotka.

More info: www.siriussport.fi

15 minutes of fame for social media stars

The power of social media is amazing. With an exceptional idea anyone could gather even millions of Youtube views in few days. Or what do you say about these Finnish digital natives?

• Smoukahontas (Sara Forsberg) published a Youtube video "What Languages Sound Like to Foreigners" and gathered 10 million views in two weeks. Two weeks later she was visiting Ellen Degeneres Show and she signed a several hundred thousand euros deal.
• Lare Lekman published his aerial sighseeing in Helsinki filmed with a quadcopter. Within few weeks almost 300 000 views for his "My Helsinki" video and I bet his aerial videoshooting services are fully booked for the next few months.

If you want to meet the Finnish vloggers you should check Tubecon the biggest vloggers festival in Finland. Tubecon will be organized on August 16, 2014 in Helsinki.

Sunhouse - modern prefab homes from Finland

(image: copyright by Sunhouse)

Finnish Sunhouse offers modern prefab homes and summer houses.
I would be happy to see Finland full of these kind of modern houses :-)

It's amazing Sunhouse is not offering any material in English on their website. All models are made out of wood and designed by Finnish architects.

Helsinki Allas - new outdoor complex is out there

(image: copyright by Huttunen Lipasti Pakkanen architects)

The 1st phase of Helsinki Allas is ready. Helsinki Allas contains urban garden and picnic area, cafe and Finnair Sky Wheel. Small curiosity of Finnair Sky Wheel is a VIP cabin. When you purchase the VIP package you will receive a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne and a prolonged flight experience in the VIP cabin. Cabin features a glass floor, leather seats, music and air condition. A lot of gigs and other events will be organized throughout the summer at Helsinki Allas area.

2nd phase of the project is planned to be open in the spring of 2015. Then the new outdoor sea pool complex with outdoor pools and saunas will be available. See the aerial image of the forthcoming complex in my previous blog post. Helsinki Allas is designed by Huttunen Lipasti Pakkanen architects.

More info:
www.helsinkiallas.fi
finnair-skywheel.com/en

Bicycle film festival Helsinki 2013

Bicycle Film Festival - BFF Helsinki 2013 is on August 30 – 31! Program coming in July.
In Finnish the preliminary program is available already.

The uprising of the bicycle culture has created funny things around the bicycling in Finland. Or what do you think of these? A pianist on wheels (see the video) or library bikes in Helsinki.

Unmonday 4.3L - wireless Airplay speaker

The Unmonday is a portable speaker that delivers superlative sound for the truly mobile-minded audiophile.

Read more: www.unmonday.com

New outdoor sea pool complex and observation wheel coming to Helsinki

Katajanokka in the centre of Finnish capital Helsinki will be hosting a new outdoor sea pool complex Allas – Helsinki Pool. The new complex will offer swimming and saunas all year around as well as all kinds of activities. The facilities are planned to be open in the spring 2014.

The City of Helsinki has granted a building permit to an observation wheel to be placed on the Katajanokka waterfront in Helsinki’s South Harbour also. The permit allows the wheel to remain and operate at the waterfront to the end of October 2016.

Dream job in Finland: Hotel Finn looking for a professional sleeper

Hotel Finn in the heart of Helsinki is offering a dream job in Finland. The hotel is seeking a “professional sleeper” for 35 days to test their rooms and write all about it. According to Associated Press, the hotel manager Tio Tikka came up with the idea to promote the hotel after lengthy renovations.

The Time magazine writes that similar kind of campaigns are becoming more popular amongst tourism and leisure operators.

More info:
www.hotellifinn.fi

49 999 by Sampsa @ Makasiini L3

Sampsa is the working name of an underground Finnish street artist, whose highly political work is premised on the conviction that art can change the world.

Sampsa
Makasiini L3 (Tyynenmerenkatu 6)
28.11.–9.12.2012
Open 29.11.-9.12. 12.00-18.00, closed Mon 3.12.
Free entrance

More info: www.lenspolitica.net

Sarpaneva Korona Moonshine

Sarpaneva Watches manufactures mechanical timepieces of outstanding quality, created in the spirit of the traditional watchmaker's art.

Perfectionism, enthusiasm and an infinite passion for watchmaking. Do I need to say more? These products reflect well the Finnish way of thinking. If you do something, do it better than well.

More info:
www.sarpanevawatches.com

M83 (FR) @ Tavastia

Tavastia-klubi, Helsinki
Mon 27.02.2012
20:00-01:00
Sold Out

CSS (BRA) @ Tavastia

Tavastia-klubi, Helsinki
Thu 17.11.2011
20:00-01:00
Tickets 26 eur

More info: CSS

Flow Festival - The Documentary

A story of the Helsinki-based music and arts festival and its contributors. Select 'CC' from the video menu for subtitles in English. Read more about the project at www.nokia.fi/flow

FinnSurf - documentary about a thing called Härmäsurf

FinnSurf is the world’s first Finnish surf film. It’s a freezing, and at the same time warm documentary of surfboarding in Finland, and in some other places as well. A film about true love and a passion larger than life. Escaping boring life and not regretting later. Winning yours fears. Aiming for balance, peace of mind and harmony. Relaxedness and pleasure. World where the life is dream and dream is everyday life.

FinnSurf tells a story of five Finnish surfers. Everyone has their own point of view on surfing, Finland and surfing in Finland.

More info:
www.finnsurf.fi
Pablo Films

Out to Sea – 150 Years of Sailing in Helsinki

The Helsinki City Museum exhibition titled "Out to Sea – 150 Years of Sailing in Helsinki" at the Hakasalmi Villa look at the maritime past of Helsinki from the perspective of yachting as a pastime. Besides boats, yacht clubs, sailors and boat races, the endangered underwater nature of the Baltic Sea is an important topic. The exhibition will also feature the origin of the Finnish blue cross flag, first used by a yacht club.

More info: Hakasalmi Villa, Mannerheimintie 13d

Opengreenmap.org: documenting the green world

Green Living Sites. Nature. Social and Cultural Resources. You will find them all on the OpenGreenMap.org! I checked the status of my hometown Helsinki and there seems to 36 sites listed when posting this article. Many sites are missing like these ones:

Pyykkis - New ecological laundry service (Helsinginkatu 16)
Eat&Joy Farmer's market
Ecomarket Ruohonjuuri
Anton & Anton local food

Anyway, Open Green Maps are designed to be explored, customized and enhanced by anyone. Please share your insights, ratings and images or suggest, compare and share sites.

I try to suggest the ones listed above.

More info: Opengreenmap.org

Disc golfing in Finland

There are over 10 000 disc golfers and over 150 disc golf courses in Finland. Both figures are still rising annually.

Finnish Westside Golf Discs is the third company ever to produce frisbee golf discs in Europe. Westside's products have unique hotstamps from Finland's national epic Kalevala from the north European iron age.

Do you know a disc golf course in Finland which is not listed in here?
Please, let them know.

More info:
www.pdga.com

Team ERA - Electric raceabout

Finnish contender compete in the X PRIZE competition for super efficient cars. Besides fame and the respect of other competitors, the winner will take home USD 10m.

Arcticstartup.com reported about the ERA (Electric Raceabout), a Finnish contender in the X PRIZE: "I just heard that the ERA team finished the second shakedown week in Michigan - in which the different cars needed to pass on-the-ground challenges - and they did it in style: The team passed all mandatory and optional tests with the first try, and were the only team to do so!".

Read more: www.raceabout.fi/era/

Finnish Wooden Boat Center

The Finnish Wooden Boat Center is an integrated 1.5 hectare area in Kotka’s Cultural Harbor, near the Maritime Centre Vellamo. The Boat Center’s appearance is dominated by the copper, arch-shaped roof of the boatyard (designed by architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki). However, the Center also has a lot more to offer.

What makes the new building unique even on international terms is the fact that it was purpose-built for a wooden boat yard. Modern technology ensures temperature and humidity control as well as sawdust and dust removal. Another unique feature is the idea of a boatyard that is open for the public at no cost. The workshop is encircled by a Visitors’ Bridge at the second floor level, where the public can watch the boatwrights at work and observe the fascinating progress of boat-building. At the moment, the boatyard’s most notable attraction is the 21-meter-long classic wooden racing yacht Blue Marlin.

Don't miss the Wooden boat marina either. There you might see "Smuggler's boat (Pirtuvene)" and other rarities.