The mobile phone throwing world championship in Finland on Saturday is just one of many crazy contests on the country's summer diary. Helsingin Sanomat columnist Perttu Haekkinen asks why Finns have such a fondness for these wacky pursuits. Finland is well-known for several reasons: mass-produced mobiles phones, lakes - 190,000 of them - and boiling hot saunas. Also, for Santa Claus and the Eurovision monsterman, Lordi. Finnish summer sports and pastimes owe something to all of these things. The telecoms industry, the natural environment - and the country's gimmicky eccentric side. The list includes boot throwing, wife carrying, mosquito slapping, mobile-phone throwing, swamp football, sauna endurance contests... and many more. And it's probably no coincidence that of all the many countries where people exult in playing air guitar, it's Finland that hosts the world championships. But no-one should assume that Finns treat these contests as a joke - nothing could be further from the truth. The players and fans involved really do mean business.
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