Citius, Altius, Tedious.

« Citius, Altius, Tedious. Faster, Higher, Boringer. »

One of the features of city living is being near everything and not needing to drive. Conversely, one of the drawbacks of city living is being near everything the tourists want to come gawk at. This weekend, the city put up aluminum crowd fencing all through the city for the marathons that would snake through the heart of the city. As a bonus, drivers didn't try to run pedestrians over or park on the sidewalks for a few days while the barriers were up which made me fond of them in spite of the claustrophobic effect they tended to give you on the more narrow sidewalks.

We just managed to escape our neighbourhood before the barriers were sealed and as we walked towards the train station we looked in wonder at countless frustrated drivers who either didn't get the memo regarding the marathons or thought that they would drive into the center anyway. Plenty of people were waiting for trams and busses at stops that were clearly marked as being closed for the marathons until 6pm, too. Even on a sunny, pleasant day watching people in sweaty, tight, brightly coloured spandex run through the streets is a pretty dull experience. On a rainy day the appeal is substantially reduced. Track and Field events make me think of the 70s when it was so wildly popular and all the guys wanted to be Bruce Jenner when they grew up. Little did they know he'd turn into a leathery motivational speaker for all those people who attempted and failed to be someone that they weren't ever meant to be but who still haven't given up trying. Perhaps this is the appeal; the idea of being able to run 26 miles or so without being chased by a very hungry predator instead of working in a dead-end managerial/desk job with every day the same as the last stretching out before you to eternity.

The IAAF games are over now and I'll miss the daily amusement from the Metro paper's English section with goofy headlines. I read in the paper this morning that the games, of course, lost money due to the bad weather but that there is talk of building a newer, bigger stadium in the euphoric wake of the one medal, a bronze for the long jump, that Finland took away from the event. Sports and nationalism always seem to be inseparable and the amounts of money spent on sports and athletes, especially in the US, make the education budget look like pocket change. Somewhere, between the doping scandals and the dozing fans, one hopes that there are some redeeming features for paying millions of euros to host a giant sporting event with the ambitions of a large country, but the budget of a small one. The arts and education need to figure out how to turn their pursuits into jingoistic sports and they'd never have funding problems ever again. ( An esteemed member of our local Fourth Estate reminded me that today's English edition of the Helsingin Sanomat had an analysis of the end of the games and reminded me that Finland did save IAAF's arse on the venue. My grumping largely is about the seemingly limitless funding and showbusiness spectacle that modern sports events have become.)

I'm not sure if Walken 2008 is a joke or not, but I figure if Jeb is running in '08 that I'd consider just about anyone else. I keep thinking of the Saturday Night Live episode he hosted where he did a few screen tests for Han Solo and a skittles commercial which were brilliant. Well, and the Fatboy Slim music video. If nothing else, the campaign TV spots will be entertaining. I think Walken could even make a marathon worth watching.

Students frustrated with the current state of Finnish for Foreigners texts might want to look at Sounds Good - Kuulostaa hyvältä recently published by the Finnish Literature Society. There's a reader/workbook by the same title but it's tough to tell them apart which is tragic book design since stores will only stock one title thinking that both are the same book. There's a VHS tape, too, but no sign of a DVD which is odd since students or transplants are usually young and have moved past VHS.

What makes this book really attractive is that it's in English for the beginner, it covers a lot of grammar in a compact text with nicely done tables for the pronouns and vocabulary for each of the chapters in the workbook complete with inflected forms and usage. The less attractive features are that they still have conversational dialogues that gradeschool kids would find ridiculous, there's no mention of the colloquial, a.k.a. spoken, language and the workbook is separate from the text so that you have to switch back and forth between them.

I often wonder if teachers who design these books have ever bothered trying to learn a language from a book like their own or are just following the templates from others before them. I mean, do the teachers really expect students to have a conversation about the Finnish tango?! Someone, someday, might just do a book listing some real, everyday kinds of conversation in the language as it is spoken for people who are learning but don't know how to phrase things...like me. I'd speak Finnish more often if I didn't have the terror that I'd sound like an ass or a pretentious tourist most of the time. And I have no interest in discussing the Finnish tango. :)