Archives for March, 2007

Some recent highlights from the Slovenian blogosphere:

—> When Slovenes “chirp” like birds (Thanks Matty!)
A Trieste blogger mishears ÄŒer! (as in dober veÄ?er/good evening)

—> Slovenian skeleton stamps
Yet another reason why Slovenia rocks. (Thanks Wu Wei!)

—> A cool exhibition in Ljubljana by artist Marko JakÅ¡e
Kinda reminds me of Mark Ryden. I likes.

—> Public nudity at the Lunapark Club in Kardeljevo (NSFW)
Don’t miss Dinozaver’s comment.

—> Yet another birth in the blogosphere
Some congratulations are in order. And welcome, Josia!

—> Some great behind-the-scenes photos at the ballet
Taken from Masters of Time

—> The movie Blades of Glory is Drkajva Skupaj in Slovene
Which means “Jerking Off Together” in slang.

Photo by Borut Gorenjak. Used with permission. (Original here)

Toti Foto is an online gathering place for local photographers. There are currently about 500 members, and they’re producing some seriously great stuff — like this series of photos from a hot-air balloon or this masterpiece boasting Slovenia’s most famous balloons.

There are lots of pictures of Maribor: both idyllic and industrial. I quite like this one, taken by our man Borut, or this one of the plague monument, this dark one, and this even darker one.

There are plenty of categories (including an erotic one — this being Slovenia, after all) as well as a helpful search option.

A good place to start is here: the current top-rated photos. Great, great, great stuff.

There are so many things awesome about this picture. (source)

There was a recent thread at Something Awful entitled Which old rich guy has the hottest young wife? It was great to see Slovenia represented among the many finalists, in the form of Melania Knauss, wife of Donald Trump. (* Obligatory link to pictures of pre-op, un-dressed Melania *)

But that’s certainly not all Slovenia offers. There’s also superstar philosopher Slavoj Žižek, who is currently married to an Argentinean model nearly half his age. The picture you see above is from his wedding, and would constitute the central piece of evidence if I ever had to prove that Žižek is God. Or at least a God among men. Of course, the picture also invites the question: Is Žižek the reincarnation of Mussorgsky?

Now, did I miss anyone? Who would be at the top of your list?

I got this question about roundabouts right.

I often complain about Slovenian drivers but it’s nothing personal. I just hate that they keep trying to kill me. My philosophy is: “Let’s share the road in peace, and not slam into each other in roundabouts” but judging by what I see every day on this country’s roads, I’m hopelessly in the minority.

I constantly see accidents on one of the three roundabouts that are on my way to work. And it’s always the same scene: two guys standing next to wrecked cars, yelling at each other about who’s to blame.

Judging by what I’ve seen, I’m also one of the few people who actually understands the dynamics of roundabouts. But I admit that my knowledge ends there.

In fact, after taking this online driving test (Slovene only) I now realize that I’m a disastrous driver as well. What can I say? I feel at home now.

Feel free to post your scores in the comments.

Giving new meaning to the term “computer repair.”

This is normally the kind of thing David would blog about, but here’s how you can transform your personal computer into a car jack:

Step 1) Stick it under the car.

(Thanks Dejan!)

Here’s this week’s installment of the best of Slovenia’s blogs:

—> A walk in the Ljubljana woods
With litter galore.

—> Marta protests MySpace’s anti-breastfeeding policy…
… by whipping out her titty. (SFW) (Some background info)

—> Grega put together some Slovenia logos in Web 2.0 style
And they’re even better than the real thing!

—> Awful names parents are picking for kids (Slovene only)
My favorites: Sidonija, Odila, Žuža, Genofefa, and Maja Čebela
But still: Worst. Baby. Name. Ever.

—> Funny pic: “I’m fucking, don’t honk” near a car in Montenegro
Wouldn’t the sign only encourage people even more?

Have a great weekend!

Clever girl…

The city of Maribor recently installed new parking meters in its perpetually overcrowded city center. From the outside these things seem perfectly normal. It’s only when you come closer that you realize that they:

1) Do not give back change. (Unlike, say, the coffee machine at work, which is about ten years older but somehow still technologically superior.)
2) Do not accept anything less than 10 cents. (i.e. any of the brown coins)
3) Charge 80 cents/hour (minimum) or €1.60 (maximum)

The third part is the key to their fiendish beauty, because how often do you have exactly 80 cents in change? I’ll tell you often: never. Well, almost never. To insert 80 cents you need at least three coins. (50 + 20 + 10) However, since most people probably lack that combination, they’re forced to dump in one euro and overpay by 25%.

It’s brilliant. Really. Like all great cons, it took me a few seconds to realize what the machine was doing to me. But when I did figure out, I was filled with a certain reverence. Do you remember that one scene from the movie Jurassic Park, when that one idiot is out hunting raptors but suddenly realizes that they’ve outwitted him?

“Clever girl”: A perfect metaphor for me and Maribor’s parking meters.

That’s exactly how I felt. Except that instead of getting shredded, I just put a euro in the machine.

However: when I went to the city yesterday the sums had been changed. (It demanded 40 cents for an hour) I’m not sure why this was so but I’m still impressed. I had to put in 50 cents, which is still a 25% overcharge.

Clever girl.

Here now are a series of dunks by Slovenian NBA star BoÅ¡tjan “Boki” Nachbar. You can also read about him in this recent Sports Illustrated story.

Nachbar vs. Tim Duncan.

Nachbar vs. The Knicks.

Nachbar vs. Elton Brand.

Nachbar vs. Jermaine O’Neil

Nachbar vs. Calvin Booth.

UPDATE:

Nachbar wrecks Dalembert — hvala Tomaz!

(Thanks Mark!)

The great white hope: Ljubljana castle. (source)

One of the things I miss a lot about New York is McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, a literary journal that seemed to overdose on creativity every few months. So it was a nice surprise to see Slovenia mentioned in a recent article on their website: Kevin Dolgin Tells you About Places You Should Go in Europe.

It’s a bit old, but much of it is still applicable.

The ultimate geographical challenge: 210 Slovenian municipalities in 10 minutes.

I often get chided here by people who love pointing out how poor Americans are at geography. The conversations usually go something like this:

Slovene: “So you came here from America, huh? Did you ever see that one video online where they ask that American guy where America is and he’s all like “Dur dur dur, I don’t know.” Ha, ha! Americans are so stupid!”
Me: “Great, thanks.”

So, over the weekend, I put together the ultimate test of Slovenian geography skillz. Nevermind 192 countries in 10 minutes, here’s:

Frankly, I’d be impressed with anyone who gets even half of them in that time. And I’d be extremely impressed with anyone who gets all the ones that start with “Sveti.” It’s incredibly difficult.

Post your results in the comments, and good luck!