Archives for December, 2006

Some Christmas links:

* Natalija Verboten the dancing elf (Make your own here)

* Sunshine’s spectacular photos of Christmastime Ljubljana

* Photos of Christmastime Vienna

Feel free to add some more in the comments. Merry Christmas to everyone and see you in 2007!

“Bio pašteta iz shita = Organic pâté made of shit ?

If someone could explain this label, which was photographed in a Tuš supermarket, I’d be grateful. What in the world were they trying to say?

(Thanks Barbara!)

“Za odrasle”: My two favorite words in the Slovenian language.

A while back, Brian uncovered this interesting site: Distriest. It’s a Sežana-based company that offers subscriptions to foreign magazines at suspiciously reasonable prices. They currently boast a respectable 656 available titles from nine foreign countries, including the States. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but it is when you realize how difficult getting your hands on foreign publications in Slovenia can be sometimes.

Take, for example, a subscription to the German magazine Schöner Wohnen. The first thing you’ll notice on their subscription page is that there’s no option to have it delivered to Slovenia. That’s because they only deliver within Germany. Distriest, in the meantime, offers it for an annual subscription price of 50 euros, which is just five euros over the newsstand price. That seems quite reasonable.

(In case any of you are wondering, this isn’t a paid advertisement or anything. I’m not nearly as financially astute as other bloggers, although I wish I was.)

And, to be honest, some deals are crap: A year’s subscription to The Guardian Weekly is ten euros more expensive if you order it at Distriest.

I currently have subscriptions to three U.S. magazines, and I’ve had trouble with them all from the beginning. The absolute worst of the bunch is The New Yorker. I pay twice the price to get it here, and am rewarded with upwards of a month’s delay. (See? I told you I wasn’t financially astute.)

What usually happens is that I get two (sometimes three) magazines on the same day. For example, last week I got three November issues simultaneously. You know that saying about nothing being older than yesterday’s news? Well, it’s true. Try reading a column speculating on the midterm elections when you already know how they turned out. It ain’t much fun, I promise.

I’ve complained a few times, but to no avail, and right now I really don’t have the energy to press the matter. I will, though.

Unfortunately for me, Distriest doesn’t offer The New Yorker. They do have erotic magazines, but somehow those aren’t quite the same.

(Thanks Brian!)

This CD of Slovenian X-mas songs is available on Amazon.

Caroling in Slovenia is an old, old, old tradition — mentioned already in the 16th century. It doesn’t seem to be as popular anymore. But it does exist; there’s even a readily available CD to buy.

Some of the titles are a bit, I don’t know, difficult to imagine in a traditionally festive context. I certainly can’t imagine Bing Crosby crooning stuff like Blood from the Butchering (Track 4) or I’m Old and Sick. (Track 25) Although I’d certainly love to hear it.

You can preview some of the carols here at Amazon, or over at Allmusic.

(Thanks Tron!)

In the eyes of the Lord, 50 tolars is 50 eurocents.

Rok recently posted this sign from inside Maribor’s glorious Franciscan Church. It lists the suggested donation for candles, in which Slovenian tolars are generously matched to eurocents one-to-one. In truth, 50 tolars is only 21 cents. Therefore, the church put a 138% mark-up on the euro price. As you can see, someone has scrawled “What kind of math is this!!” at the bottom of the sign. What kind of math, indeed.

Here’s hoping other Slovenian businesses don’t follow the church’s lead on January 1st.

(Thanks Rok!)

A commercial for Visoki C (High C) candies.


Čunga Lunga, Slovenia’s answer to Hubba Bubba.


Pips insecticide, produced by Slovenian pharmaceutical giant Krka.


Viki krema — like Nutella, only made by injuns.

(Thanks Matej and Pengovsky!)

Look out behind you!

I love this commercial for the Zastava 101. Instead of appearing majestic and serene, it just looks like the car is out of control and about to run over a hapless cellist. If there were still commercials like this, I’d consider watching more television. It’s like a proto-version of Christine.

Extra super happy time fun bonus: Another funny Zastava 101 ad.

(Thanks Barbara!)

A commercial for Frutek.

You might not know it from this old commercial, but Fructal is probably the coolest company in Slovenia. Once you’ve tried their juices, you can never go back to watered-down artificial stuff again.

(Thanks Matej!)

This commercial really makes me, um… what was I saying?

We’ve visited this commercial once before, thanks to a comment by Pengovsky over here and then Davor again yesterday. Still: it absolutely deserves a post of its own. Hell, it deserves a blog of its own.

It’s a commercial for milk, made in 1976. It pretty much demonstrates that Slovenia’s lack of inhibitions in advertising has been around for a long time. After all, are there any other commercials that feature a topless man and women that aren’t pitching soap or shower gel? And are there any other commercials as awesome as this one? I think not.

(Thanks Pengovsky!)

A legendary moment in Slovenian advertising: Slovenija, moja dežela.

This week will be dedicated to classic old advertisements from long ago. And what better way to kick things off than with this one?

Slovenija moja dežela (Slovenia, my land) is a commercial that’s come to embody Slovenia’s break with Yugoslavia. I’m told that when it was first released it was seen as seriously provocative — and for good reason: it stirred up a lot of very strong patriotic feelings among people. I wasn’t around for Slovenia’s stint in Yugoslavia, but I do know that quashing regional nationalism was a priority at the time.

But to give you an idea of how big of an imprint this made: I played it for my wife, who hasn’t seen it now in over 15 years, and she immediately broke out into song. Even though she was an out-of-control, girls-gone-wild teenager back then, it still made a big impact on her. And on a lot of other people too, I think.

If you have any reminiscences about the commercial, please share!

(Thanks Carlos!)