Archives for March, 2004

A not-so-subtle picture from the new bauMax catalogue.

I know that sex sells, but sometimes it’s nice to be subtle about it. The new 24-page catalogue by Austrian retailer bauMax gets an “F” in subtlety.

If you think the picture above is somehow accidental, go take a look at bauMax’s site, because you’ll see the same girl in the same revealing pose only this time in a swimsuit. Behold:

Ahhh, watering flowers can be so much fun!

(Big thanks to Katka!)

The grafitti reads: “Quick, into NATO; Iraq is waiting!”

Slovenia is now an official member of NATO. Since there is no Slovenian air force to speak of, Italian and Hungarian planes will patrol the country’s air space, guarding it from possible attacks by Mothra or MechaGodzilla.

Last March, 66% of Slovenian voters decided in favor of joining NATO, but enthusiasm for the alliance has always been mixed. The country was snubbed during the first wave of expansion, and many locals see it as a puppet of American foreign policy. (Oddly, the fact that NATO didn’t enter Iraq in support of the U.S. hasn’t convinced them otherwise.)

There are occasional rumors that NATO will build a base here, which makes some people worry that the sun will be blacked out by stealth bombers and the quiet countryside shattered by the sound of artillery practice. But nothing concrete has been announced so far.

All in all, it was an uneventful day, without any serious celebrations. I suppose Slovenes don’t have to worry about Mothra anymore, which is good.

And finally, today’s award for sloppy reporting about Slovenia goes to Sonya Ross of the Associated Press, for writing that Bush was welcoming “seven former Soviet-dominated nations” into NATO. Neither Slovenia nor Yugoslavia were members of the Soviet Union. Remember the NAM? This is why (careful) reporters use the phrase “former communist countries” when talking about EU and NATO expansion into Eastern Europe. See this BBC story for a textbook example.

An unknown child’s sidewalk drawing.

I saw this picture on a sidewalk today. I found it interesting for two reasons: First, that children in Slovenia draw space rockets with “USA” on them the way I did when I was a kid. Second, that they put “USA” on it, instead of the Slovenian equivalent, ZDA. (Zdruzene drzave Amerike)

I wonder if Slovenian children will ever draw the letters ESA (European Space Agency) on their space rockets?

Psycho-path in action at the Orto Club in Ljubljana. (full size pic) (photo: sps) 

Melée, the lead singer of the Slovenian band Psycho-path, came in for an interview on Thursday. I’m a very poor interviewer, so I’m happy when an interview isn’t a total catastrophe. With Meli there was, thankfully, no catastrophe. In fact, it was the opposite of catastrophic. I had a great time.

I didn’t know about Psycho-path until this week, but I like what I’ve heard so far. Although the name might suggest death-metal, a more accurate description would be guitar-based melodic noise. A bit like Sonic Youth, actually. I hate when reviewers compare bands to other bands (especially when they write things like: "They sound like Mudhoney crossed with early Bing Crosby with just a touch of the Raincoats and pre-1990 Cherrybombers") but in this case, they really do remind me of Sonic Youth.

So, if Sonic Youth is the kind of music that tickles your cherries, there’s a good chance that Psycho-path will tickle your cherries too. I happen to like the former, and I’m happy to have stumbled across the latter.

Psycho-path’s official site is here. (Neat flash introduction, I have to say.) They just started touring Slovenia and will be in Germany later as well. Their current tour schedule is here.

And finally, if you’re curious, you can download the single AIR RAGER (2.77 MB) which is currently being offered on their site. (right click and save…)

Earlier this month, the EU passed a new directive against piracy. They had to rush it through parliament (or “fast-track” it, in the words of CNN/AP) so that it would be ready for the Eastern European countries entering the fold on May 1. It’s a bit like America inviting Jamaica to become the 51st state, and then quickly rewriting its marijuana laws shortly before their union.

Eastern Europe has twice the piracy rate of the west. Generally, pirate copies outnumber authorized versions, although there are some exceptions. There is also a correlation between poverty and piracy. Look at this table for example, which shows various countries, their GDP per capita, their piracy rate, and the cost of Microsoft’s Windows XP, both in its “effective” amount and how many months someone has to work to afford it. (All monetary figures are in USD.)

If you can’t imagine why Eastern Europe is such a hotbed of piracy, the answers are here. I can’t imagine that many Americans would pay $11,000 for Windows XP, so it should come as no surprise that few Bulgarians do.

The new EU laws will call for civil penalties, meaning seizure of property and fines. The original plan was to have people pay double the cost of the pirated items; the final draft has left the issue vague.

Of course, some folks, like the people at the BSA were hoping for criminal penalties, which would result in Eastern European police being obligated to arrest the majority of computer users.

What a wonderful way that would be to start the new European Union.

The Russian news service Interfax has joined the long and distinguished list of agencies that have failed the Slovenia/Slovakia test. Here’s their jumbled report on Belorussian President Lukashenko’s trip to Slovakia Slovenia somewhere.

(Thanks Brian!)

A hamburger stand in Maribor goes up in flames. Click to enlarge.

(Thanks to Kaiserschmaren!)

Dear Thieves!

Thank you, God bless you!

(Thanks to Dejan!)

A scene from an ACE fruit-juice commercial.

When I saw this commercial for ACE, I had a hard time picturing how it got made. I suppose that in an office somewhere, the following meeting took place:

Executive: Hi, come on in.
Commercial Director: Hi, thanks for calling. What’s up?
Executive: Well, we’re looking to make a new commercial for our fruit drink, ACE.
Commercial Director: Uh-huh.
Executive: It’s called ACE because it has lots of vitamin A, C and E. Hence the name.
CD: I understand.
E: So, we thought it might be good to make something that stresses how it’s good for you.
CD: Hmm. Well, let me tell you what I’m thinking.
E: Okay.
CD: I’m seeing a prison. And a big surly guy. A prisoner. He’s big and bald and mean. Everybody’s scared of him. He steals a bottle of ACE from another inmate. Then there’s a sexual misunderstanding. And then the commercial closes with two naked prisoners standing in the shower and a picture of ACE fruit juice.
E: Wait a minute. Naked?
CD: Well, you would only see their asses.
E: Make it happen.

How else to explain this commercial? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not offended or shocked by it. I just don’t know if stuff like this actually sells fruit juice. You can see it for yourself. There’s no dialogue, and the Slovenian sentence that appears, Pred uporabo pretresi means “Shake before use!” (You’ll get the significance of the line when you see it.)

Download the Ace Commercial (4.96 MB) (right-click and save as….)

I’ve updated The Glory of Carniola’s glorious blogroll. No major changes, actually, just some nipping and tucking. Among the newcomers is the Slovenia-based blog: 2 much beauty. Slovenian bloggers are a bit of a rarity, so it’s nice to have him around. I’ve also started snooping around at another local blog, ABlog.

I’m always looking for a few good blogs, so if anyone notices that a particularly interesting and intelligent European blog is missing from the list, let me know. As a general rule, I shy away from hardcore partisan blogs. It’s not that I’m politically apathetic, it’s just that I’m full. I also can’t make it through strictly personal blogs where people talk about brushing their teeth, or brushing their cat’s teeth or God knows what else. Otherwise I’m open to absolutely everything.

And, of course, I do read blogs outside of Europe and will be putting together a blogroll of these soon.

But not today.