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Last year we ran a series of articles detailing the "10 reasons" that we love every country at Eurovision. This year we've decided to focus on the countries that are no longer participating. Their departures gave us sad face, but the thought of their return — no matter how unlikely — makes us smile big. Next we turn our attention to Slovakia. The Slavic nation has competed 7 times and hasn't seen a grand final since 1998. That's not to say there haven't been some iconic moments though. So let's look at 10 reasons why we love Slovakia at the Eurovision Song Contest.
1. The Slovak language
Many Eurovision fans love hearing a variety of languages each year. Let's face it — Eurovision wouldn't be the same without a generous helping of Slavic tongues. The Slovak language fits the bill and Slovakia sang in its native tongue in all of their Eurovision appearances except the last two. We have to applaud that as a stepping stone to the rest of this list.
2. They sent a Slavic "Prayer" nine years before "Molitva"
Sticking with the idea of Slavic languages, we have to point to perhaps the most famous Slavic-language song to grace the Eurovision stage. Slovakia didn't compete in Helsinki in 2007 when Serbia debuted and won with "Molitva". However, they sent their own Slavic "Prayer" to Eurovision before Serbia was even an independent country. Katarína Hasprová sang "Modlitba" in 1998 and finished 21st. Ironically, it received all 8 of its points from Croatia.
3. They beat KEiiNO to the weird double I thing in their name
While Slovakia haven't had any success at Eurovision, they have certainly set successful trends. They did "Modlitba" before "Moltiva" but that isn't the only trend they set. KEiiNO won the Eurovision 2019 televote and if you were wondering why they have two lower case Is in their name, we have the answer for you. Clearly they were paying tribute to Slovakia's TWiiNS who got the ball rolling eight years earlier in 2011. The more you know!
4. They sent twins to Eurovision in 2011
Speaking of TWiiNS, let's pay tribute to them a little longer. Jedward weren't the only twins who rocked Düsseldorf. Slovakia did it too and they decided to put it in the name to remind you. You might argue that TWiiNS were blown out of the water in the battle of the twins but only one set of twins went on to release a collaboration with American rapper Flo Rida, and it wasn't Jedward.
5. They came back to the contest only to fail to qualify four times
Every Eurovision fan hates seeing countries pull out of the contest. It's like having a family reunion with some members missing. As such, every Eurovision fan likes seeing countries come back. Some come back and find new success, such as Bulgaria returning in 2016 and recording two Top 4 results. Others come back and ruin their perfect qualification record and leave again anyway (hello Bosnia & Herzegovina). The only thing more iconic than that? Slovakia returning to the contest and failing to qualify 4 out of 4 times, only to leave again.
6. Genre diversity
It's one thing to fail by doing the same thing over and over again. It's another thing to try your hand at different genres and still fail to qualify either way. Slovakia's last Eurovision appearance was the epic rock number "Don't Close Your Eyes" by Max Jason Mai. Even rock couldn't take Slovakia to the grand final. Bonus points go to Slovakia for the best hair of 2012.
7. They have the best hair in Europe
Speaking of big hair, Max Jason Mai isn't the only Slovak act to slay the pack. I'm just going to leave this one here for you and make no further comment.
8. They are the only competing country who didn't make a grand final this decade
This might sound a bit negative but go with me here. Winning Eurovision is all well and good but it takes a special kind of talent to do quite so badly. Even San Marino managed to qualify for two grand finals this decade. You might argue that Slovakia only participated three times this decade but even Montenegro qualified twice — and they spent much of the decade sending things like "The Real Thing" and "Falling", which are basically tantamount to not competing anyway. Slovakia don't really have their pick of plaudits so take what you can get and let this honour be bestowed upon you.
9. Bratislava would be an incredible Eurovision host city
There are many countries which have never hosted Eurovision, including plenty which still compete unlike Slovakia. However, a big gap exists in this geographic region. Slovakia hasn't hosted and neither have neighbouring countries like Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. There are plenty of cities in that part of Europe equipped to host the contest — Prague being a prime example. However, Bratislava would make for a brilliant host city too.
I had the pleasure of travelling to Bratislava this year and between the majestic Old Town, the restaurants and atmosphere along the Danube and the imposing Bratislava Castle atop the hill, it is a stunning city that deserves some time in the spotlight. It is easily accessible, located a stone's throw away from a major hub like Vienna and it can accommodate the international community, having recently hosted the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Having Eurovision in Bratislava would be a fairytale come true.
10. The legend that is Kristína Peláková
Surely you didn't think we would finish this list without paying tribute to the one and only Kristína? Even though she finished second last in her semi-final, "Horehronie" is clearly Slovakia's moment of Eurovision glory. There are many "robbed" semi-final songs at Eurovision, like "Hear Them Calling" and "Blackbird" for instance. However, the fact that "Horehronie" didn't just fail to qualify but finished so far down the leaderboard is an absolute crime. The powers that be in Slovakia may look to this as a reason to steer clear of the contest and that is a tragedy.
That hasn't stopped our queen though. She has been releasing hit after hit after hit in recent years and has developed an impressive discography. If we can be thankful to Slovakia for one thing, it is that they brought this goddess into our lives.
Do you want to see Slovakia return to Eurovision? What are your favourite Slovak entries? Let us know in the comments below.


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Cheap Eats:
Brotchán Foltchep
Irish Leek and Oatmeal Soup
When King Henry says, in Shakespeare's "Henry V," that he will wear a leek in his cap, he is identifying himself with his Welsh subjects. The reason this created a connection is that, when King Cadwallader and the Welsh faced the Saxons in battle in AD 640, the Welsh soldiers identified themselves by wearing leeks in their caps. Leeks have been consumed for so long in Wales and other Celtic countries that some hypothesize that the British Isles are a possible point of origin. Other scholars say the Mediterranean is where they emerged. They were popular in Egypt and ancient Rome (Nero's nickname was "leekeater"), the Chinese were praising leeks by 1500 BC, and leeks were being written about in Mesopotamia as early as 2100 BC. So wherever they started, they clearly were popular and on the move pretty much from the get go.
If leeks did start in the Mediterranean, rather than colder climes, as some hypothesize, then the Romans would have brought them to Britain when they invaded. So Britain has had them for a couple millennia, even if leeks didn't actually start out there.
Europe has long valued leeks— though ironically leeks have also long been associated with poverty. Leeks appear in a large number of local and regional specialties, and are insulted with almost the same frequency they appear. They are sometimes called "poor man's asparagus." The French word for leek, poireau, is also slang for "simpleton." And there is a saying in Italian that something is "not worth a leek leaf." And yet, they keep showing up on the menu.
Actually, comparing the leek to asparagus is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Both are members of the lily family. And leeks are grown rather like white asparagus is grown—and for the same reason. Leeks are kept white by mounding dirt up around them as they grow. This is also why leeks have to be washed carefully, as leaves have to push up through mounds of dirt and sand, and they tend to accumulate grit (and the more white you see, the more likely there is to be soil of some sort—if there's only an inch of white, you may not see much dirt between the layers).
Ireland being a Celtic country, leeks are popular. In fact, there is even a story about St. Patrick and leeks (he is said to have created them out of rushes). Oats are also massively popular among Celtic people. So the Irish leek and oatmeal soup given below is a very Celtic thing— perhaps something to serve to the summer solstice. This is an amazingly delicious soup—the milk and oatmeal combined to make it really thick and creamy, and leeks make it wonderfully flavorful. Enjoy.
Brotchán Foltchep
(Irish Leek and Oatmeal Soup)
3-6 leeks (depending on size; see Notes)
2 Tbs. butter
¼ cup oatmeal (uncooked)
3 cups beef stock or broth
2 cups milk
pinch of ground mace
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley (optional)
Clean the leeks thoroughly (see Notes). Slice the leeks in ½-inch slices (just the white and pale green section—as you move up the leek, you can remove outer layers, if they are dark and tough—but you'll just be using the straight part of the leek, not the fanned out top part).
Melt the butter in a large pot, add the leeks, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until leeks are soft but not brown. Sprinkle the oatmeal over the leaks and stir them in. Then add the stock and milk. Add a good pinch of ground mace, plus salt and pepper to taste. (If you use salted broth, you may not need much salt.) Simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Garnish with parsley, if you wish.
Leeks vary in size, even in the same store-packed bunch, so the number of leeks needed will vary. You need about 3 cups of sliced leek for this recipe (a little over is fine, but you don't want much less). One really big leek, 1½ inches or more in diameter, will come close to giving you one full cup of sliced leek. If leeks are smaller—say 1 inch in diameter or so—you'll get about 2/3 cup or less. So buy accordingly.
Because of the way leeks are planted, they usually accumulate sand among the layers. Cut off the top of the leek (where it fans out). This dark-green part can be reserved if you're making stock, but should be discarded if all you're making is this recipe. Cut off the roots, then split the leek and rinse, separating layers slightly to make sure you get all the dirt.
I generally use 2 percent milk in this and get excellent results, but whole milk would be creamier—and more traditional.

subset: commoncrawl


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Yeast homologue of the PHD finger protein 3 (PHF3) is known to be involved in transcription regulation, but its exact function in mammalian cells has remained unclear. New work from the lab of Dea Slade now shows that PHF3 regulates RNA polymerase II through a specialized domain called SPOC. Their study, published in Nature Communications, identifies PHF3 as a regulator of both transcription and mRNA stability during neuronal differentiation. The work is a collaboration between the Slade Lab, scientists from the Vienna BioCenter, the Institute of Science and Technology (IST, Austria), the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC, Czech Republic) and the Max Delbrück Center (Germany).
Read the full story here.
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Video Transcript:
I'd say it's an aggregate of lots of little things rather than one single big thing. So for example, you weren't tracking before how many phone calls we were missing or that we were missing them at all. So I've now got, if somebody rings up, we've got an on-hold marketing message. If somebody doesn't pick up, they go through to a call answering service or something like that. Might not seem like a big deal, but actually it means that we're not losing out a lot of customers each day, just to someone not picking up the phone. It's really an obvious thing, but it's something that I had not thought of before.
I think I was like a lot of business owners, quite lonely. It's lonely when you don't have anyone to talk to bounce ideas off and ask advice from. So that's what I was looking for general support and also the marketing expertise. I think if you work on your own, you can't keep up to date with all of the marketing trends, but obviously the EC is a huge organisation. They can keep up today and then they pass it onto us, which is really useful.
In 2016 were up by about 20% on the previous year. So I know that the EC has definitely contributed to it.
I think I see the inspiration and the motivation it provides you with. I know one of Nigel's big thing is that the people you surround yourself with is so important and I've never met so many successful people as being here. And I used to think we were doing fairly well. And then you come, come to the EC and there's people just doing phenomenally well and it spurs you on and it makes you realise actually you can do a lot better. And I think that's what I like.
Rebecca Dowdeswell – NKD Waxing


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M&A Integrations Program Manager
Building the Future of Crypto
Our Krakenites are a world-class team with crypto conviction, united by our desire to discover and unlock the potential of crypto and blockchain technology.
What makes us different?
Kraken is a mission-focused company rooted in crypto values. As a Krakenite, you'll join us on our mission to accelerate the global adoption of crypto, so that everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion. For over a decade, Kraken's focus on our mission and crypto ethos has attracted many of the most talented crypto experts in the world.
Before you apply, please read the Kraken Culture page to learn more about our internal culture, values, and mission.
As a fully remote company, we have Krakenites in 60+ countries who speak over 50 languages. Krakenites are industry pioneers who develop premium crypto products for experienced traders, institutions, and newcomers to the space. Kraken is committed to industry-leading security, crypto education, and world-class client support through our products like Kraken Pro, Kraken NFT, and Kraken Futures.
Become a Krakenite and build the future of crypto!
The Opportunity:
As an M&A Integrations Program Manager at Kraken, you will play a pivotal role in the successful integration of acquired entities into our rapidly growing organization. Your expertise in program management, combined with your knowledge of M&A processes and the crypto market, will ensure seamless transitions and the realization of synergies across departments.
What You'll Do:
Integration Planning and Execution:
Develop comprehensive integration plans that align with the company's strategic OKRs and M&A goals.
Lead cross-functional teams to ensure timely and effective execution of integration strategies, maintaining a focus on critical business continuity.
Stakeholder Management:
Serve as the primary point of contact for all integration-related communications, ensuring clear and consistent messaging to internal and external stakeholders.
Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organization, as well as with the leadership of acquired entities.
Risk Management and Problem-Solving:
Proactively identify risks and issues that may impact integration efforts, proposing and implementing appropriate mitigation strategies.
Demonstrate strong problem-solving skills, providing hands-on leadership to address challenges and remove obstacles.
Performance Tracking:
Establish and monitor key performance indicators to measure integration success, including cultural alignment, employee retention, and the realization of expected synergies.
Provide regular reports to senior management on integration progress and any adjustments needed to meet objectives.
Best Practices and Continuous Improvement:
Develop and refine integration methodologies and tools to ensure best practices in project management, change management, and communication.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement by soliciting feedback and implementing lessons learned in subsequent integration efforts.
Skills You Should HODL:
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Finance, or a related field.
Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in program management, specifically in M&A integration.
Deep understanding of the crypto industry and its regulatory environment.
Proven track record of leading successful integrations, preferably in high-growth or fintech-focused companies.
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to navigate complex organizational structures and build consensus.
Strong analytical and strategic thinking abilities.
What We Offer:
A dynamic and challenging role in a rapidly evolving industry.
The opportunity to work with a talented and dedicated team passionate about driving the future of crypto.
Competitive salary and benefits package, including ergonomic bonus and geography specific benefits.
A culture that fosters professional growth and development.
Location Tagging: #US
Kraken is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate all Krakenites for their diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions and unique perspectives. We hire strictly based on merit, meaning we seek out the candidates with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills considered the most suitable for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgable about crypto!
As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. Whether that's based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state or local laws.
Stay in the know


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Cinema Graduate has 6th Academy Award nomination!
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - 12:04
Congrats to SF State graduate Ethan Van der Ryn on his 6th Academy Award nomination! He is nominated for Achievement in Sound Editing for "A Quiet Place" movie with Erik Aadahl.
Previously, Van der Ryn won Oscars for his sound work on "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "King Kong."
Van der Ryn earned his B.A. SF State in Cinema in 1985. Read more about him in this SF State Magazine story from 2013.


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Rolling Stone has an interesting article about the Music Business – here's a great example of a very profitable master tape!
Rare, Unheard Nick Drake Tapes Going Up for Auction
"Singer-songwriter Nick Drake made a huge mark on folk music with only three albums to his name, so the revelation that a reel of six previously unheard recordings exists could be a massive contribution to his catalog. According to the New York Times, the recordings will go up for auction on July 31st at London's Ted Owen & Company. A company representative described the recordings as "pristine master tapes" and is expecting them to fetch at least £250,000 ($428,000)…"
We hold some masters and hope they could be sold for a fraction of that amount at some point in time. Stay tuned dear friends…