Love Hurts
The stencil graffiti just keeps getting better and this one has a bit of wry humour to it for those who can identify the two men who have been a staple in daily news for the past 20 years. The One-Term President sticker is a nice addition since Dubya is the embodiment of the phrase "Love Hurts" and I like the optimism of 'one term'. Now all it needs is an oil well and Saddam to make the montage complete. :)
29 Dec 2003 at 19:15, Helsinki
Rare Exports, Inc.
Finland exports more than just Nokia phones and this short film details the production of the most rare of Finnish exports. The large version [66mb] is worth the download if you have a highspeed connection. Yanks with a hang-up about naked male bums should likely refrain from watching this film. It's utterly delightful and narrated in English. [from PIE.]
Holiday photos and megawatt redux
A snapshot from a Christmas long ago which proves that my lack of fashion sense started very early in life. :) A few random pictures I took before the holiday and a few from Christmas Eve are up in the Christmas 2003 photo album which will probably be interesting only to family. Others that weren't as good are in the xmas03/etal/ directory. I may add some photos to it after I get the film developed and see if there are any good ones worth viewing.
Finland celebrates Christmas on the Eve rather than the day of Christmas like the US and other countries. Dinner consists of a traditional ham and a variety of side dishes such as potato and carrot casseroles. I was asked what was traditional in the US for Christmas dinner but I couldn't really offer a decisive answer other than "food". Eila made a lovely dinner and Kirsi baked a few delicious cookies and a chocolate bundt cake which I'm glad I wasn't left alone with along with a jug of milk. :)
Two years ago I collected a bunch of photos for what I presented in "2001: A Massachusetts Christmas Photographic Odyssey". I culled the better ones, resized them a bit more uniformly and put them in an album, Merry Megawatt Christmas 2001. A few houses were added at the suggestion of Babbage who lives next to people whose homes are runway beacons for Logan. This year, Chris wrote to tell me about his pictures from this years' display and a disturbing video of the most obscene house. What is most entertaining for me is seeing what a difference 2 years make in the accretion of kitsch. In 2001, there were 2 reindeer flying and this year there are 9 reindeer, complete with red-nosed rudolph. :) I quiver at the thought of the size of the electric bill these folks must have over the holidays.
Hyvää Joulua
I can't remember the last time I put up a Christmas tree. I've had these boxes of old glass ornaments and an oddball assortment of others that I've moved around with me for ages. One year I bought a cast iron tree stand from L.L. Bean and another year I bought a nice red velvet tree skirt. I nearly gave the whole collection to Goodwill before we moved this time last year but I couldn't part with it not having yet put it all together on a tree even once.
Well, after the snowstorm and walking past a full lot of fresh trees for a few days, Jarkko and I succumbed, bought a tree and decorated it last night. There's nothing quite so crazy, and possibly romantic, as carrying a tree home and decorating it for no apparent reason other than getting into the holiday spirit. Honeybear is glaring at it wondering it whether he can eat it, sleep on it or pee on it and, if he can do none of these, what is it doing in his house...:)
Happy Holidays everyone :)
Statuary snow
Snow makes everything brighter, softer and more quiet. I've often thought that this statue of Elias Lönnrot, compiler of the Kalevala epic, was a bit creepy. The snow seems to accentuate the ghoulish expressions but in a snowy, fuzzy, friendly kind of way. :)
Snow Job
The next time you think you've got it rough sitting in a warm office on a cold day, think of this poor bastard shovelling snow off a pitched roof with only a little bungee cord to keep him from plunging 50 or so meters into the street below. It's still snowing and bloody windy too.
A little Latitude goes a long way
As a former 'southlander', I used to think that I understood what the Winter solstice was all about and thought that, while Stonehenge was cool, weren't the Druids going just a bit nutty over the whole sun thing? :) Unless you've lived above 60° latitude in the Northern Hemisphere, the depths of Winter darkness and the glory of Summertime sunshine aren't nearly as dramatically different. I completely understand now why pagans sacrificed anything that was available and prayed to a goat in order to hasten the return of the glowing orb on the horizon. A few degrees of latitude make a big difference. Small wonder that people in the Caribbean didn't make henges as they were too busy drinking fine rum and enjoying 11 or more hours of sunshine every day of the year. So, before the folks who get a luxurious 10 hours of sunshine on the shortest day of the year go dancing around a fire and whatnot, come spend a winter up here where the solstice really means something. Bring your boots though as it has been snowing for nearly 2 days now. :)
Also, I might note that the Astro::Sunrise module sees the Arctic darkness above the circle as an error which I may have to report as a bug since I guess it would also think that the sun never setting in the Summertime as an error too. It happens every year, twice a year and for several months :)
Muonio, Finland Temp: -36C/-33F Conditions: Clear Humidity: 79% Long: 23.6667, Lat: 67.9667 Sunrise: 12:24 Sunset: 12:24 Length of day: 0.00 hours Sun never rises!! ------------------------------------- Rovaniemi, Finland Temp: -23C/-9F Conditions: Clear Humidity: 77% Long: 25.6667, Lat: 66.4833 Sunrise: 11:08 Sunset: 13:23 Length of day: 2.25 hours ------------------------------------- Helsinki, Finland Temp: -8C/18F Conditions: Moderate Snow Humidity: 91% Long: 25.000, Lat: 60.133 Sunrise: 09:24 Sunset: 15:13 Length of day: 5.82 hours ------------------------------------- London, United Kingdom Temp: 1C/34F Conditions: Partly Cloudy Humidity: 75% Long: -0.1667, Lat: 51.5000 Sunrise: 08:04 Sunset: 15:54 Length of day: 7.83 hours ------------------------------------- Central Park, New York Temp: 3C/37F Conditions: Clear Humidity: 48% Long: -74.0000, Lat: 40.7000 Sunrise: 07:17 Sunset: 16:32 Length of day: 9.25 hours ------------------------------------- St. Louis, Missouri Temp: 10C/50F Conditions: Overcast Humidity: 62% Long: -90.1833, Lat: 38.6167 Sunrise: 07:15 Sunset: 16:43 Length of day: 9.47 hours ------------------------------------- Miami, Florida Temp: 14C/57F Conditions: Mostly Cloudy Humidity: 88% Long: -80.1833, Lat: 25.7667 Sunrise: 07:03 Sunset: 17:35 Length of day: 10.53 hours ------------------------------------- St. Croix, Virgin Islands Temp: 23C/73F Conditions: Scattered Clouds Humidity: 94% Long: -64.7333, Lat: 17.7667 Sunrise: 06:46 Sunset: 17:49 Length of day: 11.05 hours
Leningrad Cowboys go snow
It has been snowing all day today and there is some hope that it will stick around for a white Christmas. HB and I went to the park to watch the kids sledding down the hill and noticed a snowman. I took him up the hill to have a look and laughed when I realised it was a Leningrad Cowboy. Only in Finland :) HB, irreverent old man that he is, hiked his leg on the snowman just the same.
/. Schadenfreude
Slashdot personals. Sure, your options are endless....if you like annoying and stupid teenage geek boys.
Matka Suomeen
While waiting for Tennispalatsi to open the doors to the theatre for the Return of the King I noticed a photo exhibit which was likely placed there for the RotK crowds. The exhibit is promoting a new book from Otava Press, Matka Suomeen, Journey into Finland, by Pekka Luukkola [ there is a sample pdf at the bottom of the page ]. The text is in both Finnish and English with photos covering all regions of Finland. The photos are beautiful and the details of Finland throughout history complement them to make the book a very pleasing whole. The price is about 50€,ISBN 951-1-18925-5, but I think it's a worthy investment for anyone who enjoys excellent photography, loves Finland or who has family elsewhere on the globe who imagine Finland as something a bit like a post-glasnost ex-Russian province. I've had people in the US ask me if we can get UPS or Fed-Ex in Finland so embrace your denial and send a copy to the family back home who think you live in a hovel next to the red factory.
It's the thought that counts...
My life has largely been spent in the company of men/boys because my profession is not very well populated with women. Every year around Christmastime, for as long as I can remember, every geeky male engineer has sidled up to my cube, my office, my inbox or online persona to ask me either what to get for 'the wife' for Christmas or what I think of a possible gift. Like some sort of fucked up Mrs. Santa Claus I channel what little feminine instinct I have to try to save Christmas for the woman and help the guy get laid if only once a year. Jarkko and I don't really do gifts but this year the desperation of these geek guys is starting to make me wonder if I didn't get a defective model of geek. :)
The range of gifts this year are worse than I can recall so I'm going to write down the few suggestions I give to every one of these guys each and every year to help them have a jolly holiday...if you know what I mean. The more cynical marrieds might say, "But we're married, what does getting laid have to do with Christmas or, well, anytime of year?". Well, if Strongbad did geek gift advice I suspect we'd have much the same advice to offer.
The BAD
- This year the most popular dumbass christmas gift idea is the Roomba. It's a robotic vacuum. Now, except for the rare women who really want a vacuum for Christmas, what woman is going to want an appliance that helps her clean up after your sorry geeky arse while knowing well enough that you bought it as a toy for you with a plausible out of saying it's a practical gift for her? Dude, it's like her buying you some Viagra for Christmas; the boner isn't for you, it's for her. Buy it if you think it's cool, but don't give it as a Christmas present. Your prospects of getting laid on Christmas or within 6 months of giving this gift are slim. Be sure to buy yourself a Fleshlight and plenty of lube to tide you over.
- Clothing is another popular yet misguided idea for Christmas. Geek guys who can't manage to match their own socks without the woman in their lives should "Just Say No" to this horrible idea. Gift certificates to her favourite shop or mall is a much, much better idea.
- Lingerie is yet another fabulously bad gift idea, especially for the over-35 set unless you really want to be forced to answer the question, "Does this make me look fat?". Just resist and buy a gift certificate to Victoria's Secret or something. Really. It's the young pre-childbearing equivalent to a tie.
- Buying food, chocolate, bon-bons, etc. for the weight loss/diet obsessed woman is not only stupid but insensitive as well. Think, you moron! You get a boner crowing about how smart you are all damn day and buying something for your woman isn't rocket science. It is a challenge, but easier than writing code for that arse of a client if you can pay attention to another humans' feelings for more than 5 minutes. I don't want to hear you say that you're autistic, either. You have plenty of attention for your own feelings so get over it.
- General rule of thumb is that when in doubt, buy something that she might not buy for herself and has a little flair that gives her the idea that you put a little thought into it that wasn't entirely self-serving.
The GOOD
- Every woman I know drops hints like bricks throughout the year for potential gift ideas for Christmas. Books or magazine/periodical subscriptions you know she would like are great gifts. You can also buy them on-line most of the time. Ask her to start an Amazon wishlist for you for next year even.
- Perhaps a trip to somewhere she has always wanted to vist, with or without kids if you have them. Even a weekend a short drive away on a smaller budget is nice.
- What about a camera or some other means of self expression or communication? Yes, I'm biased and it's a risk depending on the woman but, for some of you, this should make a light go on above your head.
- Tickets to the opera, symphony, movie or whatever cultural event she has been trying to drag your uncultured arse to for the past 5 years is bound to surprise and delight. Make sure you buy a nice suit to go with it. Armani or B2 is always a solid choice for a suit.
- Something that shows you have been listening to her for the past 364 days of the year is always a winner and if you haven't been listening, well, wing it.
- Come to think of it, gay guys have much better taste and feminine instincts than I do on this stuff. Ask a gay guy about gifts.
Perhaps there is potential for "Queer Eye for the Geek Guy" on next year's fall lineup on NBC with a Christmas special on how to shop for your woman.
In any event, you now have 5 shopping days left until Christmas so you'd better get to it soon. A good dose of common sense and thoughtfulness will work well most of the time so relax. Also, remember that like going to war, feeding the enemy well beforehand is a tactical advantage since everything seems better with a stomach full of turkey and taters.
Fun with Snow
The Helsinki Parking Police are terribly thoughtful as they carefully place each and every violation ticket into a plastic bag and secure it under the wiper blade. It managed to snow today on top of the ice left behind by the last snow-rain-slush cycle. Jarkko put a little sign in the snow of this car to alert the driver from several blocks away that a gift awaits them. :)
If Santa were on the Menu
If Santa were merely a holiday dish I think a brioche [recipe: 50k .pdf] would suit the jolly old fat man, especially this one I saw in a bakery tonight.
Tiernapojat
Yet another unusual Christmas tradition imported to Finland by the Swedish is something called the Tiernapojat, a sort of roving band of Magi players who sing and perform on Christmas Eve. There aren't any Carolers in Finland so I suppose that in order to comply with some EU regulation Finland adopted the Tiernapojat. :) I asked Jarkko last night about the blackface king since I wondered if he was some obscure Finnish LotR character I wasn't familiar with. Being the expert on guiding me through his native culture he told me to look it up on google....so I did.
Tiernapojat, also known as tähtipojat ("Star Boys"), have been around a long time--for centuries. Students in old Oulu, a town in Northwestern Finland, who were in need of some extra cash, put together a Christmas pageant with singing, costumes and dialogue that has its roots in the Medieval mystery play. This little show was then taken "on the road," from house to house, and after the performance, donations were solicited in the form of a few coins. The story was of the maggi visiting King Herod and Baby Jesus, told with boyish vim and vigor. (It becomes quickly evident that tiernapojat is a distant echo of the Spanish Posada and Reyes Magos.)
I also wonder if the Mänkki, the star twirler, who has the exact same costume as the boys in the St. Lucia procession are somehow connected. Perhaps one costume influenced the other or one tradition borrowed from the other. I'd be curious to see Tiernapojat perform but I don't suppose that they come around to apartment houses in downtown.
Pixel Pointillista
There is an art gallery on Bulevardi that I walk past fairly often which usually has some really funky looking art in it but for the last few weeks I've noticed some art that I like. The artists name is Sami Lukkarinen and he apparently uses photoshop to pixelate photographs which he then uses as a guide to paint. The high-brow artsy description of his work doesn't mention what I find interesting about his pieces which is that he has taken a very old technique and somehow made it different with the use of photoshop and the colours he chooses.
The artist has one painting that is obviously derived from a picture of the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Somehow, even without the details, it is familiar and known. The square pixels also lend a certain feeling of order which is strangely comforting. I may have to select a picture of HB and try painting a portrait of him using this technique since an art teacher of mine in gradeschool had us do a painting using the technique but this was long before photoshop came along.
n.b. Well, the alleged Eiffel picture is actually a Finnish church. I suppose that should have been obvious had I realised that the entire exhibit was of churches. I have an aversion to churches so I think I like the Eiffel idea better. :) Still, there is something familiar about them even when you think it's something completely different than what it really is.
Return of the Fans
The last time I stood in line for more than an hour for movie tickets was for The Empire Strikes Back so I was not about to queue up for LotR tickets for several days in the cold just to get in for the midnight showing. I wanted to see the costumes of the more devoted fans though so we went down to the theatre and watched the crowds of Elves, Nazgul, Wizards and Hobbits go by. A few disinterested freaks were playing "Dance, Dance, Revolution!". Heathens.
There wasn't much time and the theatre was mobbed so I couldn't get many pictures. There wasn't any other press that I noticed and few of the news wires have photos of fans in costume so I put the few photos of fans that I managed to get up on-line. The Nazgul costume was fabulous and I'm a bit sorry that I didn't get a much better pic of him/her. There was a dude on knee pads which I presume was a Hobbit costume but I can't say that it was very clever. Lots of Gandalfs and Arwens but no Ents! I guess that sitting in the theatre as an Ent would get you defoliated pretty damn quick but, still, in a country where the trees are as important as the sky itself I was sad to be deprived of Ents in costume.
The 10D, in spite of the fact that Canon serviced it back in September, is beginning to resemble the electrical system in my old Volvo which had it's own demon and sense of humour. The camera behaves in unpredictable ways at times and, especially in low light, likes to crash. I loved my old Volvo in spite of its quirks and law-of-physics defying cantankerousness by sometimes only allowing the passenger window to roll down on the coldest day of the year. Multiple mechanics couldn't ever find a thing wrong with the window motor or the electrical system in general but I knew there was some sort of anime in the machine. And now, the camera has begun to behave the same.
Raw Nerve
I love single malt scotch so when I saw that an author I love, Iain Banks, was to write a non-fiction book about scotch I waited impatiently for it to arrive at the posti. Sadly, Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram is possibly one of the most disappointing books I have ever awaited anxiously for publication.
You would think that a terrific author and scotch drinker approached by a publisher to do what any scotch drinker only dreams of, to drive around scotland drinking scotch and writing about it, would be a winning combination but you'd be wrong. He mentions rather frequently the envy of his friends as he writes which gets rather annoying after a while. I admit that I am jealous as I would have loved going along on the tours but what scotch drinker, his audience, wouldn't be?
The most aggravating and inappropriate part of the book is the frequent insertion of Banks' commentary on the US invasion of Iraq. I fully agree with his anger, his frustration and overall distaste for everything involved with the war in Iraq but this is not to say that I want to read about it while trying to enjoy a tour through Scotland. It gives one the idea that it was written very quickly without any editorial control and it shows. Had I been the editor, I would have ripped out nearly everything about the war since such things tend to either alienate people of other opinions or bore those of the same opinion when the subject of the book is about Scotch not war. Not to mention the pages and pages he devotes to his gas guzzling Rover without any sense of irony in bitching about a war for oil. Guess where the fuel to power your Rover comes from Iain.
Banks also has a very irritating tendancy like many bloggers to talk about something and then stop abruptly with a parenthetical remark to the reader that more will be coming (but more about that later). Either write about it or don't and let the reader get on with the story instead of propping up your lazy writing style with such evil stylistic crutches.
The reader is regaled with everyone in his family, all of his friends, boat, cars, and just about everything but an entertaining meander through scotland with detailed remarks about the distilleries and their history. There is some terrific content but it gets so lost between the story about his boat, grumping about the war and frequent asides that don't always add to the journey and leaves you feeling cheated that you had expected so much from such a promising book. A map of the many trips and locations of the distilleries would have been a nice touch as would have a few pictures of one of the most beautiful countries on the face of the planet.
I will say that Iain and I at least share the same snobbery in single malts by strongly preferring the Islay malts. While I really didn't enjoy the book I can still respect the man who had a very short time to cover a broad topic without a strong editor. Iain, if you're just like all the googling obsessed authors I know and come across this give yourself more space to organise your thoughts better and more time to research for such kinds of books as I wanted desperately to love this book. I'll be happy to buy you a few drams of scotch and rant about Bushistan since I even left the country partly due to my strong opinions but keep it out of your writing unless you do a book about politics.
Joulupolku
A selection of photos from the Joulupolku, the Christmas Walk, on Seurasaari on Sunday. It was a dark grey day that became a dark snowy evening with not much illumination so it's not a stellar collection of photos.
Seurasaari is an island very close to downtown Helsinki that is both an outdoor culture museum featuring historical architecture from all regions of Finland as well as being home to many furry-eared squirrels. I read a blurb in the Helsinki tourism guide that there was going to be a Christmas walk event on the island for a few hours. I grabbed my camera and took Jarkko along in spite of his cold thinking it would be good for us both to get out of the house.
A minor detail that the program failed to mention was that the event was for children and that children attending should bring a torch/lamp/source of illumination and 1 handmade ornament for decorating a tree. Had I known about the torch request beforehand, in addition to the weather, I likely would have left my camera at home. When we arrived the place was teeming with cars, more cars, hundreds of small children and a legion of prams.
It was sorta fun wandering around the island watching kids with miner style headlamps cavort about like they had been fed crack and looking for stuff in the dark and snow. Giant squirrels were handing out cookies and pedestrian reflectors, carolers were singing, warm rice porridge was being served and sausages cooked. Around what I have dubbed the scary Nazgul Nativity there was a collection of Christmas peace candles, some of which had been carefully placed within snowball containers to help keep the wind at bay. The handmade ornaments were adorable as were the gingerbread cookies left out for Santa. On the dance grounds there was singing about porridge and dancing in circles. And, of course, there was the Joulupukki and Mrs. Joulupukki to tell all the kids they'll all be getting coal this year. :) The trees were lit all around in various colours which had a mystical effect since it was snowing. The last stop on the walk was a few bon fires for people who brought their own sausages to complete the holiday outing with warm, greasy meat enjoyed al fresco amidst the falling snow.
So, next year we'll have to bring a torch, sausages to grill and an ornament or two to put on the tree. I think I'll start reading the event programs in Finnish more often as well since I'm finding that the information is a lot better and more accurate in Finnish.
Lucia Light
A few photos from St. Lucia Day in Helsinki.
So, what's an Italian Catholic saint doing strolling about Finland with her eyeballs intact? Good question. :)
John Donne said it thusly in A nocturnall upon S. Lucies day, Being the shortest day:
Tis the yeares midnight, and it is the dayes,
Lucies,who scarce seaven houres herself unmaskes,
The Sunne is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rayes;
The worlds whole sap is sunke:
The generall balme th'hydroptique earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the beds-feet, life is shrunke,
Dead and enterr'd; yet all these seeme to laugh,
Compar'd with mee, who am their Epitaph...
There is an odd mixture of the pagan and christian traditions in the Nordic countries. The Joulupukki, commonly known as Santa Claus these days, is also represented by the pagan goat where offerings were made to this god in the dark of the year to bring the sun back. Light plays a significant role in many of the celebrations here and so it isn't terribly surprising that the patron saint of light and the blind should be part of the holiday tradition in spite of the Catholics having little success in establishing themselves in the Nordic lands. St. Lucia died a martyr's death asserting her Christianity by refusing to marry the pagan suitor her parents chose for her to wed. Her eyes were torn out but miraculously restored. The day of St. Lucia marks the longest night and the beginning of the 12 days of Christmas.
In Helsinki, the Swedes here appoint a girl to be St. Lucy and sing in her honour. The girl wears a white dress, a red sash, a crown of electric candles and carries a sheaf of wheat. The boys wear white robes, pointly white caps and carry stars though I've no idea what they represent. This year's St. Lucy is the lovely 23 year-old Anna-Charlotta Thibblin.
I stood at the foot of the Tuomiokirkko freezing my arse off for almost 2 hours before she emerged to descend the steps with her entourage. Quite a few children were waiting impatiently for the main event along with me which made me feel a bit like the aged tourist. :) There were more photographers around than flies on a cowpie in summer. Some Japanese film crew set up next to me and I got tired of them hassling me so I jumped the line and moved past the carriage to get a couple of reasonable photos of her. The lighting was difficult since it was either very dark or blindingly light from the spotlight YLE had aimed at her. I felt a bit badly for the other maids and the boys since none of the photogs seemed interested in them. Once she was in the carriage, the parade started to move towards Finlandia Hall but I was terribly disappointed to find that she is at the end of the procession so all of us who waited for her to arrive were deprived of seeing the rest. Something to remember for next year. :)
Now, if I could only get Pavarotti's Santa Lucia out of my head....
Infopankki
There is a new Infopankki for immigrants to help ease the transition into Finnish society and to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about social benefits, work, etc.
Mita sina sanoa?
In Wednesday's sanomat I saw the picture and article about Pizza Enrico. I couldn't read all of the article but I got the impression from the photo that either Colonel Sander's grandson wearing a gold lamé jacket was visiting Helsinki while drunk or that lounge singers were making a comeback. I was partly right :)
Meet the boys from Vantaa who are Pizza Enrico. The joke is that most, if not all, the pizza kebab joints in town are owned and operated by Turkish guys. The same is true in Boston except they seem to be Pakistani, but I digress. What started out as a joke has apparently mushroomed into a full album. They also take a bit of glee from ribbing the Turks on their bad Finnish by making flagrant use of it on the website and in the lyrics. :) After listening to the Club Mix of Mita sina sanoa? I find that I have a sudden craving for kebab. You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll kiss far too many euro good-bye!
Tuomaan Markkinat
An evening at the Tuomaan Markkinat in vivid colour.
We wandered down to the Tuomaan Markkinat, the St. Thomas' Christmas Market, yesterday evening and had a good time browsing through much of the touristy and non-touristy wares but the best part was the food. The polentadogit are full of everything bad for you but taste terrific. Fresh out of the fryolator, still steaming, a meat sausage coated in a deep-fried polenta batter and eaten while standing in the cold. Delicious. The lohikukko is salmon and fatty bacon rolled into a rye bread crust. A bit salty but tastes great.
The local handicrafts fall into several flavours; woolen/textiles, wood craft, metalwork and food. The things done with wool are beautiful. The sweaters are usually a traditional nordic style but the crazy hats, warm slippers and other items made with wool are colourful and beautifully styled. Items made from wood are no great surprise since much of Finland is forest. You can buy just about anything made from wood but I particularly like the more practical housewares such as the cups and serving trays. I'm not really certain where the metalwork figures into Finland's heritage but the designs are sleek, simple and practical with a few whimsical exceptions like a candleabra shaped like a viking ship. And, there's no shortage of food either. I like Finnish food and there were a few things like the lohikukko that I hadn't seen or tried before.
The market is held on the Esplanadi, [ map of the market from the HS on Monday ~140k ], and is very well attended. The aisle between the bright red tent stalls is rather narrow so the tide of humanity pushing past the vendors makes it rather difficult to browse or take photos. I somehow managed to take a few good photos, one in particular is a vendor modelling a hair towel for a guy who may be purchasing it for some female in his life. I'm intrigued by these people who sell things in a tent in cold weather to the crowds of people who go by each day. Some, like the wacky hat lady, obviously love their job while others have more complex stories to tell and faces to go with them. I'd like to go back and just hang out in one spot for a day just to watch people and stuff go by.
Haisuli
This is one of the cutest cookie cutter shapes I've ever seen. It is a complex shape and requires a firm dough that will bake well at a 4 or 5cm thickness. He is Haisuli, Stinker, from the Moomin. Hands down, the piparkakut recipe from Kotiruoka is the best ginger/spice cookie recipe I've tried. They could use a touch of shredded candied ginger but I'm a freak for ginger.
Photoshop CS(8.0)
Photoshop CS (8.0) is likely the best version upgrade in its history. There are many new tools and features but the ones I'm most happy with are those for the photographers. There is a new panorama stitch tool, a shadow/highlight tool to fix some exposure errors, a range of photographic filters you can apply, metadata tools(!), the RAW import filter, a web gallery export script that does a reasonable job, built-in automation scripts, a new colour replacement tool and likely a few I've not noticed yet. There is so much new stuff that I may just break down and take a look at the books and tutorials when they are published sometime in Janaury. It's well worth the upgrade price for PS8.
I have one minor complaint which is that ImageReady seems to desaturate the hell out of jpegs when saving them for the web and it also strips off the metadata. I've stopped using ImageReady for photos since saving them as regular jpegs preserves the metadata and doesn't desaturate them while still keeping most of the images under 100k. I don't know if this is a bug or a feature but when I compare the same photo saved with ImageReady in PS7 with one saved in PS8 the difference is very noticeable.
Rabbit blog
rabbit blog. This is some of the best writing on the net since suck.com died and I'm amazed I've not come across it sooner than today in Sean Burke's blog. It's snarky and witty. It's a delicious treat from a former suck writer and current salon.com critic. :)
Let me give you just one small example. Do you know that when I started to type "Dear M" at the beginning of this letter, Microsoft Word popped up a little suggestion window that said "Dear Mom and Dad"? Is this some insidious family values campaign that Gates has accepted payola from? Does every American write little letters in Word to "Mom and Dad"? If my computer's so fucking smart, why doesn't it learn to be a little more sensitive? Why doesn't it know that my dad isn't around anymore? As long as it's automatically offering up my address to every form I chance upon online, you'd think it could ask me a thing or two about my personal history before it goes making assumptions. Before long, it'll be asking how my unfinished, long-untouched novel is coming along, or whether or not things are going well with my exboyfriend Jake.
From wired to tired in 10 minutes
I've been fond of the business card doodles of the guy behind Gaping Void for a while and he has announced that he is going to offer business cards in the next week or three. It would be fun to order some with a particularly ascerbic cartoon that suits me just for grins. Of course, he's calling them 'blogcards' which will mean that all the blogerati will get them and the idea will jump the shark in about 10 minutes.
Think Blinky Lights
It's that time of year I usually fire up xsnow on my sparc console and stare at the swirling snow after drinking too much at the office holiday party. I don't have a sparc or office parties this year but xsnow is still around. I could run xsnow on OS X but I'd have to run X11 which I don't use for most things like Safari. There is Snow for OS X but these guys want $10 for it. I think they need to get some perspective as charging that much for a novelty utility that you use for one or two weeks a year on OS that only costs $120 is a bit sad in the shareware realm. If they changed santa into the grinch and the reindeer into the dog wearing antlers though I might reconsider.
Needing something festive I settled on a xmas lights which are lovely and inobtrusive with just the right amount of holiday flair. The author also has ThumbNailer which is a blazingly fast and simple app that will create thumbnails of a folder of images. And for the missing snow there is Snö which has both desktop snow and a snow screensaver. I may split the $10 the xsnow guys wanted and send each of these guys $5 for christmas. :)
Yule Pork
Pigs seem to be everywhere for the holidays in Finland; pig motifs, cookies shaped like pigs, piggy marzipan cakes, big pork roasts for the traditional meal, etc. It's a bit macabre since, you know, Wilbur is not only cute and pink but he's on the menu. I figured that Finland would be all over the reindeer motif, which is the most common in the US, since they seem to have a lot of them in Lapland but I suppose it would traumatise kids on both continents too much if they thought that santa served up the reindeer after hauling his fat arse around the globe in one night. :)
Picturing the Past
Under the City Sky, an exhibit of 8600 or more photographs of Helsinki taken between 1969 and 1987 by Eeva and Simo Rista. It's rather fun to look at all the photos from the neighbourhood 30 years ago and barely recognise the area.
Helsinki Panorama: 1866 and 2003. A really interesting comparative panoramic view of Helsinki past and present.
Museum of Photography at the Cable Factory [ Tallberginkatu 1G, open Tues-Sun from 12 to 19 ] I've been meaning to visit the museum before now, but there is an exhibit unti 21 December by Sakari Viika which sounds interesting even if the English description is awkward.
Snow, ice and light are motifs that have been part and parcel of landscape painting and photography throughout their history. Landscapes are pictured for their beauty, uniqueness or wondrousness. Immortalising landscapes is often linked to travelling. Being on the move, seeing new things and recording them are among the photographer's oldest tools, a role imposed by the profession. As a photographer, Sakari Viika belongs to that classical school of photographers who love to travel and are always dreaming of it.
These images were taken within a square kilometre in a landscape that was in No way special. They were taken during the darkest time of the year when life means stillness and monotony. In these images, snow, ice and light form scenery the photographer saw every day on his way from home to his study. Occasionally, the same scenery would change temporarily, natural light luring us on a journey into the moment at hand. Therefore, these images are characteristically silent and still.
The Degree Confluence Project. Jarkko found this one and it's rather interesting if you look at the map. Gaping holes of dark territory are all over the globe. What puzzles me is not why Novaya Zemlya hasn't been fully covered but why so few of the confluences and the pictures taken of them seem to be near anything.
The individual pictures taken as a whole make for an lovely mosaic, but the present incarnation doesn't interest me nearly as much as the 2nd stage of the project to document the changes over time at the various confluences.
Punning Wit
I love linguistic punnery and I've been seeing this advertisement around Helsinki for the past few weeks and smiling every time. "Meri" is the Finnish word for "sea" and the advert is for the Viking Line cruise ships. Yeah, it's corny but it's cute. If South Park were on TV here, there could be ads for the Joulupuu [christmas tree - pronounced 'YO-lou-poo'] with a picture of Mr. Hanky draped in tinsel with a star on his head. "Mr. Hanky the joulupuu..." :)
Mac t-shirt
Somone needs to put this design on a black t-shirt with a luminescent ink so that it glows in the dark. Panic.com apparently made the blue/purple t-shirts for MacWorld earlier this year but the black/glow-in-the-dark combination would be cooler. It could work with the power button icon as well. I want one :)
The new face of holiday marketing
During the holidays this is not a message you would expect to see in the window of a retailer in a suburban shopping mall. It's like Wal*Mart turning customers away this time of year, the ones who haven't been trampled, and informing them that they shouldn't be buying into the crass commercialism of Christmas. :) I wonder if there is a misunderstanding in the meaning of "Cut the crap" since retailers really do like to sell you as much crap as you are willing to purchase during the holiday season.
Holiday flashback
Ho!Ho!Ho! Just another reason to be glad it's not the 1970s anymore - people don't show up at your parties with monster cheese balls and stale crackers. This stuff makes herring look good.
Carrot Cake
I adore the Cook's Illustrated cookbooks. I don't have many cookbooks but I have nearly all of the CI series and subscribed to the magazine for a number of years. Their most recent addition, Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show, is another wonderful book full of reliable recipes borne from testing and research. What I find most attractive about these cookbooks, aside from their being utterly reliable, is that all of the recipes are for foods that most people could realistically imagine themselves making and eating regularly. The books also appeal to the chemist within since many of the recipes, ingredients and kitchenware are discussed in detail.
Recently we had dinner at a nominally American-style restaurant and for dessert we decided to split a slice of carrot cake. I love carrot cake so I was a bit bummed when it arrived smothered in caramel sauce. Oh, and no cream cheese icing. Finns seem to enjoy things SWEET when they have something with sugar which I can appreciate except in alcoholic ciders but, not everything tastes better with more sugar. Carrot cake is lovely on its own so leave the pineapple in but lay off the karamelli kastike, ok? :)
So, I was really happy to find that CI has a terrific recipe for carrot cake in the new book. They emulsify the vegetable oil for a lighter cake and adjust the carrot portion to keep it from being either soggy or dry. And they didn't forget the cream cheese icing. :)
Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
carrot cake
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon gound cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound ( 6-7 medium) carrots, peeled
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cups safflower, canola or vegetable oil
cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
For the cake:
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350F. Spray a 13X9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and spray the parchment.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a food processor fitted with a large shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer the carrots to a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the food processor workbowl and fit with the metal blade. Process the granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Stir in the carrots and the dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. If you like nuts in your cake, stir 1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter along with the carrots. Raisins are also a good addition; 1 cup can be added along with the carrots. If you add both nuts and raisins, the cake will need and additional 10 to 12 minutes in the oven. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
For the frosting
- When the cake is cool, process the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in a clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
- Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen from the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, then invert again onto a serving platter. Using an icing spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the surface of the cake. Cut into squares and serve.
Ginger-Orange variation
Follow the recipe for the carrot cake, reducing the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon, adding 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger along with the spices, adding 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger along with the carrots, and processing 1 tablespoon grated orange zest along with the sugar and eggs. For the frosting, substitute an equal amount orange juice for the sour cream and 1 tablespoon grated orange zest for the vanilla.
Forces of Light 2003
A few photos taken around Suomenlinna and Helsinki during the Forces of Light event.
By some stroke of luck on Saturday night, I figured out that the lights in the Old Church Park, a.k.a. Plague Park, were part of something called Forces of Light. The program describes it:
The Beauty of Dark Helsinki
Forces of Light is a nine-year old urban event. During this time our capital Helsinki has become faster, more colourful and more loud. The mission of Forces of light has been to show the city in a different light - both for the inhabitants as for visitors. With small gestures, Forces of Light has demonstrated that Helsinki in the dark period can be quite an intriguing experience. Open-mindedly the festival has mixed urban planning, art and design - acting close to the people and co-operating with them. Helsinki is the City of Light - even in the darkness.
We took the ferry over to Suomenlinna with a friend, Arabella, and wandered through the handicraft market, various art installations, artists workshops and the museum. Sadly, the schedule was wrong and the parade, which was said to start on Suomenlinna, actually started at Plague Park at 4p and we completely missed it. The Helsingin Sanomat had a small blurb and fuzzy picture of it today with a mention that there was some excitement with one of the torches. This would explain why the torches along Bulevardi weren't lit later in the evening and why the performance at 20.30 in the park was done using glowsticks and blacklight instead of fire. I commend the fire artists who, at the last minute, changed the plan and still gave everyone a good show.
It was really cool, interesting and a lot of fun but, hopefully, next year the organisers will do a bit better job of getting the schedule firmed up and synchronised with all the various places which advertise such events since we would really have liked to see the parade and some of the other events we missed only because of incorrect information.
