Can you guess what the plush toys in the image above represent? Haven’t got a clue? Urine and excrement. That’s right, plush piss and poop are the latest rave among the Swedish kids … and probably adults too.

When I first heard about plush piss and even plushier poop, frankly, I did not know what exactly to think of them. Sure, it might be fun as a practical joke, but I can’t really imagine attaching them as a key ring to my keys, let alone learning that my kids picked plush excrement as their totem for good-night’s sleep. I can’t.

Even though one cannot be exactly sure what the people behind these “toys” really had in mind when planning this product (toilet training or bachelor parties, hard to tell), it all started as a student project. Kiss och Bajs, as they are called in Swedish were designed by Emma Megitt, a student at HDK (a sister academy of Valand where I’m studying right now) for her Master’s in Design project. She started the couple’s Web site and requests for the plushy bodily produce started pouring in.

Now the original Pee and Poo are so big that they even have their own merchandise ranging from tattoos and T-shirts to sold-out socks and, naturally, underwear.

Anyway, the small Kiss and Bajs (key rings) run at 8€ a piece, while both also come in the larger version (each approximately the size of a pineapple) will set you back for 32€. Quite affordable for something so ephemeral and priceless at the same time. Go and grab one, they’re on sale on the Internet too, and let me know how you feel about them.

One more thing. Kiss and Bajs definitely have a glitzy site catering to the whole world, but I beg you pardon, in Finnish they’d be called Pissa and Kakka, and not Kissa and Kakka. In Finnish kissa stands for cat, not piss.

Mladen

Not long ago opera house in Gothenburg begun a marketing campaign that seems to be the right kind of approach to selling an opera. The posters scattered around the city of Gothenburg invite people to dial an advertised phone number and listen in on opera’s current and upcoming program. Enticing.

Naturally, if you want to attract people to whatever you want to sell, you should let them get a taste of it, or in this case, let them hear what it sounds like.  I just wonder why opera houses don’t realize and accept this fact more often, or ever at all.

To get a glimpse of Göteborgs Operan program the old fashioned way dial 031 10 81 00 (or +46 31 10 81 00 if you’re calling from outside of Sweden), or visit the campaign Web page where you can sample different operas by picking up different telephones.

Even though the new generation of consumers will be content by hearing just these samples, I find it to be unfortunate that they don’t play the whole deal.

Mladen

In the previous two parts of this series on curiosities of life in Sweden I’ve written about cosmetological enhancements and tobacco consumption in the form of snuff. Now it’s time to peek into the peculiarities of Swedish bar culture.

I have to say right away that I am not much of a bar-goer. As I like to talk, doing so in bars usually means I’ll be literally speechless the following day; it takes no less than shouting to get the message across. But anyway, here are a few interesting observations I’ve come across in Swedish public houses.

Even though the ambient noise might be quite high, one thing I really like about bars and clubs in Sweden is that smoking is not allowed. So at least you don’t end up stinking like a cigarette bud for the next 24 hours. Which is also one of the reason why snuff is so popular around here.

Rules don’t end, but rather begin at this point.

In one of the previous posts I wrote about dancing permits that must be obtained by bars and clubs, if the owners don’t want to be fined for their customers’ hip swaying. I mean, this sounds so ridiculous that I’d like to see how dance police defines dancing. I’m sure they must be as creative as civil aviation authorities are when it comes to defining what is liquid and what is not. There’s more.

If bouncer sitting at the entrance of practically every bar decides you’re intoxicated, they won’t let you in—if you managed to sneak in and they find out about your condition later, you will fly out. What about if you get drunk in their bar? Tricky question. I don’t know, but I assume the result would be the same as I haven’t seen any on-the-table-sleeping gals and lads, which is, by the way, a common site in Finnish bars, pubs and clubs. They are definitely strict about such nibbles, which make me think that Swedish bars are safer than their laundry rooms. Almost a disturbing thought, I know, but more about disorder in Swedish laundry rooms some other time.

Other than that, bars are just bars, nothing special. Oh, wait a minute. Did I mention free food?

Yes, practically every other bar in town has what they call an “after work” program. Which means that one or more days a week between certain evening hours you can walk in and eat for free. It’s not exactly gourmet food, but hey, it’s free. However, the gluttony doesn’t end here. While food is free, all drinks are usually half price, or pay one, get two. So people juggling at least two plates and two glasses at the same time is not such an uncommon sight.

And to make things even more interesting there’s at least 40 such places in Göteborg where type and quality of food varies considerably from one place to another. So there you go, plenty of excuses for you to get wasted: “I just went food sampling to Dubliner’s.”

What’s the deal? How does such a deal work out? I have not really thought about the economics behind this seemingly altruistic transaction, but I did taste the food. It is mostly greasy and very salty and both qualities stimulate drinking. The more you eat, the more you will drink. Eventually you end up buying liters of beer to quench your thirst, just to get thirsty a bit more as you get dehydrated now by food and booze. It’s a vicious circle, and bar owners obviously know this. But it sure is fun.

Mladen

While wandering around Göteborg I’ve stumbled upon this architectural gem The building definitely looks like it came straight from the drawing board of Mr. Buckminster Fuller himself. I have no idea if this architect was involved in designing it or just served as an influence for the look of this house. Neither do I know when was it built, although it looks like some futuristic vision conceived in the 1960s.

I’m filled with curiosity, but couldn’t do much about it as there was no one around this sphere house to answer my questions. I’ll definitely stop by again and maybe gather enough courage to ring the bell and see if anyone would answer … or are inhabitants already tired of unannounced visitors inquiring about their residence.

I’d definitely like to see what it looks like from inside. Is it functional, or are slanted walls and round shape an annoying constraint?

Mladen

When Nike and Apple released Nike+, their joint creation for runners and walkers, last year, it immediately caught my eye. Owners of iPods could turn their trendy players into running buddies that can actually do more than just keep the pace up.

If you haven’t heard about Nike+ yet, here’s the elevator pitch: place a tiny sensor into the sole of your specially designed shoe, while the small receiver attached to the iPod picks up data from the sensor and shows the metrics.

A perfect thing, I thought. There was only one problem … two actually. You need Apple’s iPod and special Nike shoes. Did that come as a surprise? Well, not really. Shoes and iPods are what keeps these two companies afloat, so I guess one of the main things on their minds is how to sell more of both, plus some extra other stuff (which probably makes more profits than shoes and iPods do). Hence the name: Nike+.

I know it’s a bit of a nerdy thing, but I always want to know how long my runs are. And this product seemed like a good solution.

True, the whole thing is almost childishly simple as all it shows is the distance covered (and enough other data that can be calculated once you know how fast something is moving), but I figured that 99% of the time I know where I am running. Also totting around a bulky GPS watch, or just a GPS receiver and fiddling with the reception or something similarly distracting is still out of the question.

But how does Nike+ work? Since it is relatively cheap (about 32€ in Sweden), I figured it cannot be a GPS receiver. So really the only other option is accelerometer. And that’s exactly what it is.

Why would I have to get a special pair of shoes? Sensing brand and model of shoes is not what accelerometers are sensitive to; they can’t be smart enough to figure I’m wearing Mizunos. Or can they? And from here on the solution was straightforward: I sew velcro on my shoe, glued the other part on the accelerometer and voíla, I modded my first pair of shoes. That was easy and clean. And accuracy? I would say it’s pretty accurate. On my test ride a 1490 m long loop was read as 1420 m. That’ll do.

If you’re a nerd runner and have an iPod, this is a pretty cute mod. It’s as simple as it gets, just make sure that the sensor is in as horizontal pos as possible and oriented length-wise, in relation to the shoe, that is. If you hate either Nike or Apple, or both, and have a degree in electrical engineering, well drop me a note and we’ll make our own thing.

Happy modding … and running.

Mladen