F is for a Fantastic Finnish Festival

My goodness, this is too good.
Is Finland the coolest place on Earth or what? I mean, the Finns seem to get it all: they brought us Nokia, and they care deeply about the things I happen to care deeply about: classical music, and music in general - and ski jumping. And they have such great, unique events- like this one: the Annual Air Guitar Festival.

"The world championships, which began as an offshoot of Oulu’s annual music video festival, have been held for 12 years in this small city of low wooden houses on Finland’s west coast. This year 19 men and one woman from 17 countries competed in the finals, trying to demonstrate to a panel of judges their charisma, technical skill and “airness.”

NYT article: Costumes Malfunction, but Never the Guitars



The official website of AGWC

I like the real live music with no mikes, but Bollywood lip syncing AND playing air guitar- these are two special kinds of artistic expression.

B is for Boy Band

.. not just ANY boy band. THE Boy Band. For real.
Our intrepid glob trotting Nokia aficionado, VRN, alerted us to this glittering musical pearl.
Bunch of hunky guys professing their love to..:

the NEW Nokia N81. For real!
Nice try, guys! I'm a swivel type of gal and I love my bronze Nokia 7370. But, really, good sell.
It's not just classical music that these Finns do so well.
Speaking of nice Nokia guys, I recently went to a presentation by Jan Chipchase, from Nokia's design team, on Nokia's global search for the perfect phone. How could such cool thing happen at my workplace...Here's a shout out to Jan, whose Future Perfect blog is a thing of beauty and some deeper thought.
All the best to Nokia on their quest for - ehm, I have no idea what THIS is about. But I am surely it will be designed beautifully.