Archive for July, 2010

Monocle’s Tyler Brûlé falls in love with Sweden again

Miscellaneous: July 29th, 2010 by VT

Why I’m sweet on Sweden again

The magic of Google Analytics

Business, Health, Marketing, Media, Miscellaneous, Music, Newsbites, Offbeat, Society, Swedish Life, Technology: July 23rd, 2010 by VT

Sometimes older articles on The Local find new life weeks, months or even years after they are initially published when they are picked up by external sites.

Recent examples of this are a sudden spike in traffic of 8,000 readers on June 16th to Swedish parents keep 2-year-old’s gender secret, initially published nearly a year earlier on June 23rd, thanks to a pickup on i am bored.

More recently, on July 8th, Cracked.com cited our article Black Cobra gang steals selection of small cakes from March in a roundup of 5 bizarre real-life gangs, sending 4,700 readers our way to read about their exploits that merited the mention (they came in 3rd).

This week alone, we’ve seen a significant spike on Artists lose out as fans stop burning CDs and Cerebral palsy fraudster gets 3 years in jail thanks to Fark and Swedish women vote to keep their tops on thanks to reddit.

How can we narrow down the dates, numbers and sources of the traffic coming to our site? Google Analytics. We could spend hours tooling around to see where people are coming from to our site, but we would never get any work done.

We love to see where our stories end up on the Internet, so please feel free to share any articles (old or new) that amuse or enrage you from our site (using the buttons at the bottom of each story or elsewhere). And don’t forget to check out our new and improved Facebook page.

Stockholm Oranje fans pull out all stops for World Cup runners-up

Miscellaneous, Sport, Swedish Life, Tourism: July 12th, 2010 by VT

No one can accuse the Dutch for not throwing a great party whether they win or lose. After being told at the door of the Dutch embassy that it was full on Sunday for the World Cup final against Spain, as soon as the staff of De Hollandse Club Stockholm heard about The Local, it was all smiles and a warm welcome in.

Pre-game show

Wandering into the courtyard, a big-screen TV broadcast a live Dutch feed with the names of the evening’s sponsors spliced in was the focus of the attention of the crowd. Organisers estimated 550 people watched the game, with the event costing about 70,000 kronor ($9,300).

Big screen for big crowd

There was indeed orange, orange everywhere – jerseys (one curiously with “Björklund” on the back), hats, one vuvuzela, shoes, pants, suspenders, furry lobster pendants, wigs, blow-up plastic crowns. However, the face paint was clearly the red, white and blue (the stripes in that order) of the Dutch flag and the hand stamp for re-entry when leaving the premises happened to be a red, white and blue crayon. In addition to Dutch fans, there were also a number of Swedes and English speakers of all accents among the crowd among the lucky ones who arrived early enough for entry.

A fan with an orange-hooded (!) Dutch flag toots on her orange vuvuzela

They also lived up to the promise of Dutch beer at Dutch prices – Grolsch at 30 kronor, as well as wine-in-a-box and soft drinks. Curiously, the bitterballen (Dutch pub snack food) were free. Only when those ran out did they starting charging minimally for the kroketten.

One does not truly feel short until he or she watches the World Cup final with a Dutch crowd – ironically forcing one to the back of the viewing area. After the crowd of Dutch fans who were denied entry finally dispersed well into the second half, seven-year-old Emilia Bouterse, a Stockholmer with a Swedish mum and Dutch dad, still lingered on at the front door, seemingly indifferent to the action on the big screen.

Stockholmer Emilia Bouterse, 7, whose father is Dutch, with Swedish mum Johanna

There were many gasps, jeers and cheers throughout the game for each of the numerous yellow cards shown depending on which team they were directed to, as well as every corner and free kick. Most audible were the shouts of relief when Nigel de Jong did not get a red card for kicking Xabi Alonso in the chest.

Interspersed throughout the game, as well as pre-match and during half-time was a DJ blasting out of the loudspeakers, as well as typical Black Eyed Peas fare in addition to classic Dutch favourites. In addition to the lone orange vuvuzela, other decible-shattering horns blew intermittently, peppered with “Holland!” clapping chants and oddly, “¡Olé Olé Olé!” once or twice.

The red card shown to Johnny Heitinga in extra time seemed to signal a turn for the worse and hinted that the game in the end might not go to penalty kicks, but there was not any excessive shouting at the screen for the decision. There were also nary but groans when Andres Iniesta finally scored four minutes before the end of the game.

As the final whistle blew, a palpable disappointed silence fell over the courtyard of the Dutch embassy as the fans streamed out to Götgatan to meet the oncoming jubilant Spain supporters, but the mood remained festive and cheerful in spite of the loss. However, there is no doubt there would have been partying all night had Oranje won – the line for beer disappeared instantly when Iniesta scored.

The bitter but happy end