I write in margins

In no other place than in Britain you realise that the sports is a cultural thing. What we follow in the TV, what newspapers cover and mostly, what Intersport is selling to us defines us as an athletes. You do not find skates, ice hockey stuff, floorball equipment, skiis or Finnish baseball in a highstreet sports' supermarket in the heart of England in Cambridge. You find rugby, land hockey, darts and pool/snooker (+swimming) in the premier floor. But there's a one sports which unites as all: Football :-) And as a <3 of a game. It's fantastic!

The most famous sale in the world. Harrods' Xmas sale starting on the Boxing Day. I've seen many stories and clips on the sale and while in London on a very same day this sales-madness was definetly something to catch. Incidently, London underground was striking on a sales start day, but it seemed not to affect to the crowd in the front of the department store. The queue was long. Stretching over the facade of the Harrods. And when doors opened on 10 AM people were applauding and screaming began. In five minutes everyone was in (then the doors were closed again because the luxury & parfume departments were stackfull of shoppers. All that can be seen on a video above. The best sight? A young lady walking by me with five designer bags on her elbows just few minutes after the door had been opened. Me? I did not buy anything. It was for the show and it was worth of it. UPDATE 5PM. ITV news reports the Xmas sales been 22% higher than last year bringing £4Billio...

Tate modern was one of the London's Millennium projects. Converting a huge power plant built in the 1960's to a modern art museum. Most of the general collection exhibitions are free for the visitors and for the special exhibitions you pay either £15 or £17.50 depending on whether you make a donation. That's for the adults. Kids get half price. Reserve plenty of the time to go throught the exhibitions. Men of the family chose the free exhibitions, dames the special ones. It took well over three hours from both to their parts through in a relaxed phase. Collection was impressive. Definetly worth visiting. Links: My daughter's blogpost on Tate . Tate Modern (coming up from 21st Feb: Roy Liechtenstein. Even the exhibition book (was on sale during Xmas at Tate) weighter like 2 kilos.

It happened again. Gävle bocken, a gigantic goat made from straw, was burned last night.  As I wrote couple of weeks ago, this goat has become a phenomenon in the world due to fact that it is more likely it is burned down than it survives to Christmas. Burning of the straw goats (though not so big) is an old Nordic tradition for the darkest time of the year. Burning washed away the bad spirits and bad luck away and was a promise for a good crops for next harvest. So, Gävle's citizens are saved from bad spirits also this year. Since it was raised fist time in the 1960's the goat has been burned almost 30 times. Some years ago it was burned by an American tourist who actually thought that it was the traditions people just had to do - and he thought himself lucky. So, this morning when I visited Gävle Goat's site , I saw the smoking rests of it: RIP Gävle Goat - Gävle bocken 13.12.2012 The Goat's last words in Twitter were: "The last hour is here.I'm...

Edvard Munchs wine and spirit bottles are found reports Norwegian Broadcasting Company NRK earlier today. This artist -whose painting "The Scream" became the most expensive painting ever sold in an auction* - proved to be the real artist. All bottles were empty when found. Archaelogists wish to find out how Munch had it live in Nedre Ramme farm where the artist spend his live from 1910 until his death in 1944. Thinking of the amount of the empty bottles, something can be concluded very easily. Edvard Munch's painting The Scream was sold for $120m at a Sotheby's auction in New York in May 2012. Owner of the Ramme farm and the financer of the archaeological excavation is the very same Petter Olsen who sold the painting in the auction. Edvard Munch was here. Photo: Petter Olaisen/NRK Related links: NRK: Graver fram Edvard Munchs vin- og spritflasker Sotheby's- The Scream