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.

Superpop! in brand new wood pavilion Gösta

(image: copyright by Serlachius museum)

Gösta’s pavilion, a multifaceted wood building, offers modern spaces for art and visitors in Mänttä, Finland. Superpop! is Serlachius Museum Gösta's main exhibition in summer 2014.
The new pavilion shows the international classics of pop art side by side with the Finnish ones.

Superpop! contains about 130 artworks from 23 different artists that represent pop art in many different ways. The artists of the exhibition include Jiri Geller, Damien Hirst, Jani Leinonen, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and many others.

Art museum Gösta will be open in 14 June 2014.

Treasure islands of Helsinki

A new book called (Aarresaaret) Tresure islands of Helsinki by Jarmo Nieminen is out (in Finnish only). The book is about the incredible archipelago of Helsinki. If you can't visit any of the islands you could always browse online the photos by Nieminen.

You can get a touch of Helsinki islands by catching a ferry to some of the islands.
Try island hopping and dinner at some of these island restaurants:

• Särkänlinna (Restaurant in an old sea fortress) 
• Lonna (Every Friday there is a popular Poiju club. Even coast guard boat might be needed to help you out there.)
• NJK (Most popular crayfish restaurant in town) 
• Skiffer (Famous pizzas on Liuskaluoto island)

More info: Island restaurants in Helsinki

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

Hotel Tegel invites to Fiskars Village

Brand new Hotel Tegel is situated about 1 hour drive from Helsinki. Hotel is in the middle of old Fiskars Village. 13 brand new rooms in an old building next to river are waiting visitors to Fiskars Village. Today there are over 100 artisans, designers and artists working or living in Fiskars Village.
The company Fiskars was founded in 1649 in Fiskars Village and has since become an international corporation. This year Fiskars is celebrating it's 365th anniversary.

More info: www.tegel.fi

Andy Warhol - An American Story 8.3. - 28.5.2014

The spring season of the Sara Hildén Art Museum opens with an exhibition of Andy Warhol, king of pop art. The exhibition presents around 150 works coming from famous institutions such as the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the Albertina and the MUMOK in Vienna, and great historical collections such as the Sonnabend and the Ronald Feldman in New York. These masterpieces provide an overview of the crucial years in the career of Andy Warhol, an artist who, while denying he was such, shook the foundations of the academic world of painting and criticism in the second half of the 20th century, changing forever the image of America, and with it, of modern contemporary society.

More info:
Sara Hilden Art Museum

Chimeras

Finnish documentary movie maker Mika Mattila has released a new film called Chimeras. Chinese contemporary art is wanted all over the world. In movie the talented Liu Gang and the father of Chinese modern art, millionaire Wang Guangyi, reflect on their identities amid Western influence. The son of a poor family, Liu Gang, takes photographs of billboard ads, and his rocketing career opens doors to the same jet set lifestyle he criticizes in his art. Identity crisis is imminent. Wang Guangyi contemplates his career and China’s role in the art world.

Screening:
Docpoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival
Sat 1.2.2014 19:00 @ Kinopalatsi movie theather

More info:
www.chimerasfilm.com

Wired names Helsinki as one of Europe’s hottest startup capitals

Helsinki has been named as one of the hottest startup capitals in Europe by Wired magazine, in its November 2013 issue.

Wired magazine also lists online banking company Holvi, mobile phone and software company Jolla and bookmarking company Kippt amongst the 100 companies causing the greatest buzz. In total, the magazine lists 10 Finnish startups from gaming companies to location services.

Finnish startup Supercell is an amazing example as the value of Supercell grew from zero to $3 Billion in 3 years.

Read more about hottest Finnish startups at the moment.

Source: Goodnewsfromfinland.com

Sin Cos Tan - Limbo

Sin Cos Tan is a duo comprised of producer Jori Hulkkonen and the singer from Villa Nah, Juho Paalosmaa. New album Afterlife has been released only 10 months after the debut. The first single from the second album is Limbo.

The debut album of Solina Records artists got three nominations in Emma-awards, the Finnish equivalent of Grammy Awards. The debut album of Sin Cos Tan have been nominated for Critics Choice of Album of The Year.