Candy is Dandy but Liquor is Quicker

Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.
-- Ogden Nash

« A small gallery of photos of Helsinki teenagers having fun at Penkkarit 2006. »

I love penkkarit [read No more Latin, No more French... if you are unfamiliar with the tradition] as it's hard not to enjoy trucks filled with drunk, happy teenagers tossing candy into the streets of Helsinki. At my Catholic high school, the nuns let us have a full day of mass for such sorts of events. They sure knew how to have fun. It's no wonder my entertainment threshold is so low. I'm sure the just the thought of penkkarit would have given them all the vapours.

Last year I swore that, since I had the flu, next year I would go down to the Merisatama on the southern edge of town to take pictures [ see map of penkkarit routes (~400k)from the HS. These don't change much from year to year, if at all]. This year I had a blistering migrane due to my tooth problem, but I forced myself to go as it was an unusually beautiful sunny day and penkkarit always makes me smile.

The HS had an interesting article about the history and folklore of Penkkarit (~60k pdf, suomeksi). Helena Saarikoski is apparently the folklorist in residence on Penkkarit and has published a study, Kouluajan kivoin päivä. Folkloristinen tutkimus penkinpainajaisperinteestä. English Summary: The Best School Day. A Folkloristic Study on the Tradition of “Penkinpainajaiset”. 240p. Helsinki: SKS (Finnish Literature Society) 1994, on the folklore and traditions over the years that looks very interesting.

I know the kids look forward to it, but it's funny how one of the dog owners in the park commented how taking the young kids down to the park to get the candy is a cherished pastime and, given the number of kids barely old enough to walk who were going for the shiny bits in the snow, I can understand why. Spring is on its way.

permalink Ω 23 February 2006, Helsinki

Koirametsä

« Minimal signage pointing the way to the 50 hectare dog forest in Sipoo. »

Since we still had the use of the rental car on Sunday we drove out to the koirametsä, a 5 hectare dog forest owned by the City of Helsinki, out in Sipoo as I had known about it for a while but never managed to pay a visit. A journalist from Poland actually asked me about it a while back when she was doing an article on dog parks around the world for a Polish dog magazine and used a few pictures from the Helsinki dog park guide I had made. She had heard something about the forest but couldn't find anything in English. It doesn't get much publicity and a lot of the dog owners in our dog park have never heard of it, which is a pity since it really is a huge and lovely place for dogs to enjoy being free to run. It was rated as the best dog park in Helsinki in a recent article about the 80+ local dog parks in the Helsingin Sanomat, too.

« A wide meadow flanked by trees and paths leading into the forest. »

The only rule is that dogs must be leashed or trained well enough to heel on command from 1 March through 19 August to protect much of the wildlife that inhabit the area during their breeding season. The rest of the year dogs can roam at will. There is also a mention that puppies under 5 months of age may be free of the leash at any time which I suspect is the source of the mistaken idea of many puppy owners in the city who frequently comment that puppies are exempt from the leash law. As far as I can tell, the rule only applies to the koirametsä.

(Note: A very nice reader sent some clarification of the leash laws that some might find useful. There are two laws; Järjestyslaki and metsästyslaki. Järjestyslaki applies to metropolitan areas and stipulates that all dogs, regardless of age, must be leashed at all times. Metsästyslaki requires that adult dogs outside of densely populated areas be leashed from March 1st to August 19th to protect wildlife during their breeding season but that puppies may be unleashed at any time.)

The forest is filled with a variety of terrain; marshy low areas, rocky nobs, wide meadows, soft mossy forests and streams. Plenty of opportunities exist for a dog to run, explore, play and get wildly muddy/dirty. It's dog nirvana. :) Take water along, wear good boots and use a compass or GPS as there is no map or marked trail and it's easy to get lost.

The directions on the Helsinki Parks Department directions to the forest are a bit vague, especially if you don't know where things are and the Sipoo map site only works with an IE browser. There is a mention that busses go to or near the forest, but I've not yet been able to figure out the schedule and routes. I made a few extra maps to make it, possibly, easier to find.

• Location in the Helsinki Area (red star on the right).
• Street level location (red star parking area)
• More detailed local map with driving directions.

« Otava bounds down the trail. »

permalink Ω 23 November 2005, Helsinki

The Dark and The Dead

« Even in darkness, there is light. A few photos from Pyhäinmiesten Päivä in Hietaniemi Cemetery. »

In spite of the pissing rain on saturday, I dragged my camera and my poor umbrella-toting assistant cum husband out to Hietaniemi Cemetery to wander amidst the candlelit graves illuminated for the Finnish All Hallow's, Pyhäinmiesten Päivä. I have always found the abundance of candles, each representing a member of the living hauling themselves out to the cemetery in usually disagreeable weather to remember their dead who have returned to the dust from whence they came, a touching and beautiful sight. The cemetery was mostly quiet by the time we arrived save for the hissing and sizzling of rain as it landed on the hot metal tops of the candles. I had hoped to take more, and more interesting, photos but the steady rain made it a challenge to use the tripod which was slippery so I only took a couple of shots with it. I also didn't want to change rolls of film with no dry place around, either. So, I figure it at least got us both out of the house and I will think to bring a towel and ziplock baggies in the rain next time.

November begins with the dead as All Hallow's is the first saturday and continues with ever increasing darkness as the year slides towards the Winter Solstice. Even the name itself, Marraskuu, means dead month, though it is likely more in the sense of harvest than Halloween. Pyhäinmiesten Päivä (holy men day) is a wee bit of a misnomer since in the cemetery it is not the saints the candles pay tribute to, but to all the dead, a.k.a. All Soul's Day which was abolished in many protestant churches in the Reformation. In the dark northern latitudes, it is rather plain to see that the christian church co-opted the tradition of Samhain, repackaged it in a different mythology and resold it to the locals, but it retains much of its pagan flavour since, at least traditionally, the day involves not only lighting the darkness but offerings of a harvest meal and sauna. Vuotuinen Ajantieto also mentions a few bits of lore such as if the sun shines at all between All Hallow's and Christmas, then there will be a beautiful summer. While I doubt there is any truth in that, it's good to have something to look forward to in this, the most dark and difficult month in the Finnish year.

permalink Ω 8 November 2005, Helsinki

Every Street

« My entry for 'everyone must wear facial cream' in the 2005 Fotomaraton on the Night of the Arts. The rest are in a small gallery and on the fotomaraton site where you can view the winning and losing photos. »

Have you ever noticed that just about every city block in Helsinki has at least one, if not two, hair salon/parturi/kampaamo? I noticed not long after moving here that rug shops and hair salons were likely consuming the majority of retail space in town. I could understand the lust for rugs in this climate but are there enough women who get their hair done weekly to support all of the salons? In our suburban office wasteland there is nothing useful like a dry cleaner, film drop off or convenience store, but damn if there isn't a hair salon.

permalink Ω 20 October 2005, Helsinki

The Name behind the Name

« The old Arabia ceramicworks factory. »

Somewhere between obsession and compulsion lies tenacity which comes with age when you're too damn lazy to be so compulsive anymore so that you ruminate about the things you can remember in spite of your awful short-term memory and try to get solutions and answers for the things that don't fall through the cracks, usually the insignificant and the inane which matter to nobody but yourself, which only adds to the appeal. Someday I will find an answer for just how melba toast got its name and how the Keebler Elves manage to slice it so thinly but, until then, I will wait for opportunity to strike. A while back I found a silly jpg out on the net somewhere that featured some ridiculous text that, though I've yet to confirm it, originated in some Nordic-American humour book suggesting that Arabia was named so to give the Finnish ceramic products an exotic appeal.

This sent me on an obsessive mission to find out what is the deal with the multi-culti names in a country that in 1840, much less today, is not exactly the crossroads of trade and multiculturalism. The Arabia website had a tiny blurb about the factory taking the name from the plot of ground it was built upon, but said nothing about how the name came to be before then. I even got an email from someone who wrote: "one old-timer working in Arabia-factory told me that the whole area of Arabia and its streets got their names when one of inhabitants came back from his travels in real Arabia." That sounded like a cool explanation but urban legends often have that more-exciting-than-reality kind of appeal to them. I emailed Arabia for more information but didn't get a response, so I asked Jarkko who might know the answer to this burning question and he emailed the Helsinki City Museum. Jarkko received a very thorough reply from Jere Jäppinen of the museum, who also mentioned that there is a 3-volume set of books available from the museum shop containing all the Helsinki naming trivia you could ever hope for should those with similar burning questions about local names be wondering where to look for answers.

Q: Mikä on historia Arabia-nimen takana?

A: Kansa nimesi syrjäisiä paikkoja 1700-luvulla ja 1800-luvun alkupuolella toisinaan Raamatussa mainittujen seutujen mukaan, mikä tavallaan leikkimielessä viittasi niiden etäisyyteen. Helsingin Vanhastakaupungista tunnetaan tuolta ajalta paikannimet Jerikonniitty, Kaanaanmaa ja Arabianpelto. Kun kaupunkialueen ulkopuolisia maa-alueita alettiin vuokrata asumis-, viljelys- ja teollisuuskäyttöön 1840-luvulla, lohkotuille tonteille annettiin usein värikkäitä nimiä. Niinpä kallioinen alue nykyisen Eduskuntatalon tienoilla sai nimen Arkadia muinaisen Kreikan vuorimaakunnan mukaan ja vielä jylhempi alue Töölönlahden pohjoispäässä sai peräti nimen Alpen eli Alpit (nykyisin alueen nimi on Alppila - Alphyddan alueella sijainneen Alphyddan- eli Alppimaja-nimisen ravintolan mukaan). Yhtä luontevasti Arabian tontti sai vuonna 1840 nimen alueen vanhojen kansanomaisten nimitysten perusteella. On sattumaa, että ruotsalainen Rörstrand-yhtiö hankki juuri tämän tontin posliini- ja fajanssitehtaansa käyttöön 1874 ja että tehdas itsenäistyessään 1884 otti nimekseen Arabia Aktiefabrik. Arabian nimi on myös innoittanut Kumpulan eksoottiset kadunnimet kuten Jaavan- ja Sumatrantien sekä Intian- ja Syyriankadun.

Q: What is the history behind the Arabia name?

A: In the 1700s and in the beginning of 1800s, citizens sometimes named distant places after biblical areas, which in a way jocularly referred to their distance. Areas around Oldtown (Vanhakaupunki) known at the time were named Jerikonniitty (Glade of Jericho), Kaanaanmaa (Land of Caanaa), and Arabianpelto (Field of Arabia). When, in the 1840s, the area was beginning to be split into housing, tilling, and industrial use, the lots were often given colourful names. Therefore the rocky area around the current Parliament House was given the name Arcadia after the ancient mountainous province of Greece and the even rougher area at the northern end of Töölö Bay was given the name Alpen or the Alps (nowadays the area is called Alppila ("Alps-shire"?) after the restaurant Alphyddan ("Alps cabin") that used to be located in that area. Naturally, the lot of Arabia was named in 1840 after the old commonly known names. It is by chance that the Swedish company Rörstrand acquired just that lot for its porcelain and glazing factory in 1874, and that the factory, when becoming an independent company in 1884, took as its name "Arabia Aktiefabrik". The name Arabia has also inspired the exotic street names of Kumpula, Jaavantie and Sumatrantie ("Java Road" and "Sumatra Road"), and Intiankatu ja Syyriankatu ("India Street" and "Syria Street").

permalink Ω 7 September 2005, Helsinki

Trees With Occasional Trailside Attractions

« Erja Laakkonen's "At Home in the Forest", part of the Skutsi environmental art exhibit in the Ruskeasuo section of Helsinki's Central Park. A small gallery from Skutsi 2005. »

Every weekend we take Otava out to the one of the various parks, nature walks or green recreational areas in Helsinki to give him some exercise as well as to make sure that we don't sit at home in front of our computers, especially on days like today when the weather is warm and sunny. Otava is quite the attention magnet as people often comment on him, want to pet him or, like today on the bus back from the wilds of northern Helsinki, two drunk guys tried to kiss him and ask him along to the pubs in Kallio. I suppose beer has the power to make a big, stinky, drooly dog appear to be their ideal hairy woman, but he was coy and they headed for the bars without a slobbery kiss and alone.

On a recent outing to the woods, we took a couple of friends along for a walk in Ruskeasuo to check out the artwork that is part of the Skutsi environmental art exhibit. I had printed out the map of the artwork [pdf at the bottom of the page] and the thumbnail pics before heading for the forest which proved to be very handy for finding and identifying the various displays. We spent the entire afternoon wandering around the impressive urban forest hunting for all the sights indicated on the map. It became a treasure hunt of sorts since they are difficult to find sometimes as they are well camouflaged in their surroundings.

Some of the art is interesting, some of it is underwhelming and some of it is missing in action. Overall, it's a fun walk through the woods with occasional trailside attractions. Print out the Central Park map and take either tram 10 north to the stop near the Rock & Roll McDonald's or any commuter train to Pasila and wander around for a few hours. There will also be a guided tour this Thursday from 4-6pm as part of the Night of the Arts for the less adventurous. Take the dog and enjoy the weather while you can.

permalink Ω 20 August 2005, Helsinki

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. :)

permalink Ω 15 August 2005, Helsinki

An ice cube's chance in HEL

« Selling 60,000 euro of ice in the summertime to Finns must be good business. It lasted one day. It was called Kesämonumentti (Summer monument) and was designed by the Finnish born American academic architect, Stuart Wrede. »

As improbable as selling snow to Eskimos, someone sold Helsinki 60,000 euro worth of ice in the summertime as 'art' that would last 2-4 weeks. Now, I'm a chemist, not a physicist, but the math ain't so different; that sucker is gonna melt at a far faster rate than advertised unless it is sheltered from the sun and rain or contained in a climate-controlled environment. It's straight out of Chem101. Surely, an architect should be familiar with such natural phenomenon. Given that Finland is frequently cited as the most and best educated country around, one has to wonder how it happened that folks spending 60k euro of public money on a giant ice cube in the summer didn't do the math or find someone who could. While I am sure that all governments waste money, my own being a prime example, I'd think there would be an angry mob demanding the head of the bureaucrat who blew 60k on ice promised to last up to a month in the summertime as there'd likely be a family or personal connection for the expenditure. In spite of the reports that Finland has little government corruption, the reports do not say that it does not exist. What bothers me most is the quote from the Helsingin Sanomat article:

The opening audience was impressed by the beauty of the ice sculpture, and if the residents of Helsinki like the artwork, it is likely that a similar ice carving will be seen in the park also in coming summers.

I love the arts and admire the fact that the city spends a good deal of money on culture and the works of freaky starving artists who likely wouldn't get paid otherwise as it's important to have a wide variety of arts, but ice in the summertime that doesn't last more than a day or two and becomes a public hazard? Fuck that. People should be angry since 60k could foster a lot of struggling artists or surely something that has more artistic and lasting value than an ice cube. How about next august, everyone saunter over to the annex park with a cooler filled with ice cubes and we can make a mountain of cubes for free.

After reading the depressing climate tipping point article in the Guardian yesterday, I thought about the Finnish weather over the past two years and figured that in 50 years this may just be a sunny vacation spot. Perhaps I'm being a bit overly optimistic when the report mentions the thawing of western Siberia, which is what I call Helsinki in -30C weather. I wish reporters of this important issue would stop with the dramatic language and the dire picture of destruction since it's an important issue, and those of us who get it and who don't need the news to tell us dramatic global climate change is upon us aren't the ones who need to read the articles and understand. I was drinking tea and eating soup, something I reserve for cold weather, for two days this week. That ain't right, even if every Finn chirps, 'that's Finnish summer!' Bollocks, it's fucking early AUGUST. Unless this is the new ice age, November has no business in August.

permalink Ω 12 August 2005, Helsinki

Flash flood

« Waterfowl smorgasboard in Stockholm. »

People from the midwest like to talk about weather, but that's mostly because we actually get weather worth talking about aside from it being an important concern for farmers in the flat, fertile expanse that is flyover country. You grow up with severe thunderstorms, green skies, baseball-sized hail, twisters, flash flooding and a distrust of the TV weathermen who try in vain to make computers predict weather that changes every 5 minutes. Finns don't do much small talk and don't, in general, chit chat about the weather since you can't really do much about it. I mean, it's raining, so what? Weather is something anyone can talk about. In fact, it may be the only topic of conversation in the US these days that won't get you sent to Gitmo or berated by fundy freaks.

The weather lately has been odd as it hasn't been very warm but the humidity has been so high that it has taken clothes at least a week to dry when they would normally dry in less than 24 hours. Today the wind was blowing in strong, sustained gusts all day long and it made me uneasy since strong winds always mean trouble, especially storms. The clouds started coming in on my way home and I had just made it in the door when it started raining fairly hard, so I fed Otava and decided to wait until the rain subsided. The sky was dark enough to fool the sensors on most of the street lights and, after about 15 minutes, the rain let up and we ventured out the door to do what dogs do outdoors. The wind was still blowing which should have told me to stay inside as we didn't make it more than 100 meters down the street before the sky opened and began pouring buckets of water. We ducked into a driveway which, unfortunately had a yard higher than the street so that we had about 3 inches of water rushing past our feet while we watched downspouts become geysers, the street transform into a river and a few soaked kids resignedly pedalling home on their bicycles. Gale force winds blew sheets of water in every direction while idiot drivers hydroplaning down the street chucked curtains of water onto the sidewalk. It was an electrical storm as well, the likes of which I've not seen outside of the midwest and certainly not here before. Otava kept trying to bury his head between my legs with every flash and boom. The lightning took out a few trees and a flagpole in front of the Hotel Marski, too. It was an impressive storm, even by midwestern standards. Who says that radical global climate change isn't good for anything?

It's still warm, humid and the winds remain strong so I'd bet this storm isn't done yet.

And the blue moomin princess cake is coming soon since a colleague of mine brought me a bowl of freshly picked blueberries from home. It's blue food season. :)

permalink Ω 9 August 2005, Helsinki

Team America

« Linnanmäki's resident frylock. »

Every morning and every evening I sit on the bus in the quiet pall that is commuting, but in the last few days there are suddenly quite a few chatty people on the bus who have invaded our mute gloom; Team America. The IAFF World Championships begin next week and the athlete village is nearby so they catch the bus into the city in the futile quest for hot wings and thick, juicy steaks. What bothers me though is that I have now had several days of resisting the urge to summon my loud booming voice and start singing America, FUCK YEAH. I mean, I'm not a patriot, I'm pretty pissed off at the US in general at the moment to be sure and, yet, hearing a guy speaking English in a dialect not too far from where I'm from was inexplicably familiar in a nice way. I'm thinking that the US team won't have many people here to cheer for them and have this thought of rounding up my Yankee friends to make a banner bearing the Team America lyrics and cheer them on after having enough beer to get past the fear of getting our asses kicked by local skinheads or anyone else who takes offense to our momentary lapse in pessimism directed at our homeland. Perhaps I'll just dip into the whisky tonight and the feeling will pass and I'll instead feel the urge to dress up as a viking, get drunk and cheer for the home team.

The Helsinki Marathon is tomorrow afternoon and promises to snarl traffic for hours at rush hour on a Friday evening [see map]. At work we have been advised to leave early to avoid being stranded in the office until after 6 so I might walk home and catch a bit of people running sans predator.

And...Bridget Jones has returned but it's a real disappointment as Fielding has chosen not to go the way of boring domesticity leaving Bridget without Mr. Darcy and, instead, shagging Daniel on the first column in 8 years.

"Listen, Bridge," snarled Shazzer, "You've got to get over both of your fuckwitted exes. Mark Darcy is an emotional withholder to a degree which verges on the sadistic and Daniel is just a straightforward man-whore."

"Anyway, as they're both in their forties now, they're about to go through what we went through when we hit our thirties, and start panicking about losing their sexual power. Fuckwittage becomes a luxury you can't afford when your hair's falling out, your stomach's hanging over your trousers - and if you try it on with your 19-year-old secretary she tells you you're a dirty old man."

At least Shazzer is still in touch with reality. :) Which reminds me....My Dog is Tom Cruise.

permalink Ω 4 August 2005, Helsinki

Oat Power

« The Koff beer wagon. [picture from the brochure] »

I see these horses fairly frequently as the dog park is right next to the stables in Sinebrychoff Park and Otava gazes at them wondering if they're big dogs to play with or not. One of my first impressions of Finland on the first time I visited was seeing the equine beer delivery system and thinking it was quaint and civilised, especially since I grew up with the Budweiser Clydesdales who are only for trotting out at sports and civic events anymore. I've seen them regularly since moving to Helsinki and it never ceases to catch my attention and think that modern deliveries have far less style or cachet.

A few weeks ago I ran across a glossy booklet and postcards on the Koff wagon and thought it was nicely done with a bit a goofy humour and more detail than I ever would have tracked down on my own. Did you know that the 13th of October is "Finnish Beer Day"? I thought not. Be sure to mark your calendar to find out just how this beer day is distinctive from any other.

Where did they find a brewery for the horses?

On 13 October 1819, the Imperial Reconstruction Committee, which was appointed to create a new capital city for the Grand Duchy of Finland, deemed it expedient and beneficial to grant merchant Nikolai Sinebrychoff an undeveloped block of land in the Hietalahti district of Helsinki on which to build "a great beer factory" to meet the needs of the city. Almost the very first job was carried out by two horses, who pulled logs on a sledge over the frozen sea to Hietalahti from a house that had been taken apart on Suomenlinna, just off the coast of Helsinki. The logs were used to rebuild the house, which, to this day, still stands in the corner of Sinebrychoff park next to the Bavaria ice cellar and the stables, adjacent to the Sinebrychoff Art Museum.

From modest beginnings of just a few horses, the new brewery and distillery operating in conjunction with it grew, expanded and became so prosperous that in 1848 the brewery's moveables included 9 horses and one horse-driven two-stone malting mill. Their was neigh holding back in 1890, when new stables were built for 60 draught horses. Horsepower peaked in the early 1900s and thereafter gradually declined with economic recession, World War I, the Prohibition Act (1919-32) and internal crises in the early years of Finnish independence (1917). In addition to many other good things, engineers on the continent had also invented the combustion engine and horseless carriages. Consequently the large stables were converted into garages in the 1930s. During the Winter War (1939-40) and Continuation War (1941-44), the brewery's draught horses distinguished themselves in pulling artillery and provision carriages alike. The horses remained in action in the brewery until the late 1940s, but had to retire for a while until they returned permanently to delivery work in the streets of Helsinki in the early 1960s.

The beautiful brick stables still stand and add character to the park in spite of the encroachment of aseptic glass apartment houses on all sides. Koff beer isn't all that bad, either, which begs the question why or how Lapin Kulta got the "Official Beer" vendorship for the IAAF games instead of a decent beer with the cachet of a horse-drawn carriage and whose inception date is "Finnish Beer Day". The word "Kulta" is a near guarantee that whatever product bears a name with kulta will be far from golden; coffee, beer, etc. In fact, I think that Budweiser beer was called "Guld Brau" before changing to the current name...but I digress. There are four horses; Kalle, Roki, Pintti, and Sigge.

Equine Technical Information

• Type: Heavy, cold-blooded horse from Jutland.
• Temperament: calm and docile, good memory, dependable
• Length: approximately 300 cm from nose to tail
• Stands: 15.5-16.3 hands
• Weight: 800-1500kg
• Power: 5-10hp, four-hoofed drive
• Acceleration: adequate
• Average speed: about 20-30 km per day
• Fuel: 15kg hay, 10kg oats, some buns and 50-60 liters water per day
• Shoes: size 9, two pairs per month
• Transport capacity: 500-1,000 liters beer per day

The booklet also claims that the horses have mastered Finnish. Shit, not only do I get smoked daily by 5 year olds speaking turbo Finnish, now I'm getting my ass kicked by hoofed beasts who enjoy classical music, drink beer and come from Denmark. When MTV3 starts airing a show called Herra Eetu with a talking Finnish horse, it'll be time to take a more realistic assessment of my chances of learning Finnish when the equines are good enough to have their own show and I'm still trying to order pulla and a coffee without the dreaded "--TÄ?!" I should try practising my Finnish on the horses and order a beer. :)

permalink Ω 2 August 2005, Helsinki

Drummer Man

« Juha Kiwano, the drummer man. »

Downtown living has a few constant features like drunks and rubbish, but there are also the musicians who play on street corners who you start to feel a sort of fondness for since they are a familiar part of the landscape. I've never chatted with the street musicians like I have with most of the local drunks in the park, who all know Otava and love to visit with him if they are able to stand, but I have enjoyed their music which might be more telling, really. Some play only during the warmer months but there are those who are out in every season, no matter the weather, who comprise the core of the street music scene.

There's 'opera guy' on Aleksi by Pohjola who always dresses in slightly stuffy clothing that you might expect to see on your grandparents. He plays opera tunes on a boom box while belting out the top opera hits in Finnish in a deep baritone/tenor voice. I've heard him out in -25C weather singing away without his voice changing even a tiny bit. I've not seen the talented guy with the electric guitar and disfigured face, from what I have guessed to be due to a severe burn[s], this year but I always wanted to know what his story was. His music was quite good though I never could linger very long as I had a sense of shame when I kept catching my eyes drifting back to his face and the uncomfortable feeling that comes when looking at someone who has suffered some sort of great misfortune.

The Peruvians play in Three Smith's Square almost all year these days instead of just in the summertime. They dress up in the full headdress and costume and seem to do a pretty decent business for themselves. It's just like Zamfir, master of the pan flute, if only he looked like a Peruvian. Once, while waiting for a friend, I was listening to them when I heard an American woman go past me saying very loudly to her husband, "They're Peruvian, not American, honey!" Had I been feeling more pedantic at the time, I would have caught up to them and informed them that Peruvians are, in fact, American Indians. South American Indians.

And then there is 'the drummer guy' who camps out near the Atheneum in warm weather or in doorways on Aleksi in cold weather. I found a copy of Matkaan, the VR rail newspaper, on the bus home last week that had a feature on a few street musicians around Finland and one of them was 'the drummer guy', a.k.a Juha Kiwano. I suspect that Kiwano is a nom de plume since Kiwano isn't a usual Finnish surname and kiwano is also the horned melon hailing from the more arid parts of Southern Africa. I've heard this guy play plenty of times and suggesting that his music has 'African rhythm' is probably stretching reality quite a bit, but what he lacks in rhythm he makes up for in persistence as he's always there, clinking and banging away. I'm not sure why, but I'm always happy to hear him downtown, even from a few blocks away. Voima had a short blurb about him last January that I had Jarkko translate for me since it was a bit more challenging than usual;

Juha Kiwano, a Vantaa resident, warming up the African rhythm culture over the winter, plays percussion instruments at the corner of the Ateneum. His fourth season ended in December 2003. Kiwano tells that the playing stemmed from long-term unemployment, loneliness, and the desire to do something.

"Ten years ago I was looking at street musicians and thought that I wouldn't be doing that. Now, later, I have thought about it from many perspectives that I need to play. I must get to play.", says Kiwano.

There is no particular tune or plan to the three hour long (including break) sessions.

"It comes from deep within", he says and sighs deeply.

A street musician who has been playing in Helsinki for years, and who wants to stay anonymous, remembers the beginning of the downtown percussionist Kiwano. Over time, starting from playing glass bottles and a homemade metallic string instrument, both his skills and arsenal have developed. In the collection of the African-rhythm-adoring musician, carried on a cart, are in addition to the usual drums and cymbals also kettle lids, wooden sticks, and a wide variety of self-made instruments.

"I try to find which ones make a nice sound. Finding them is a nice feeling,", Kiwano says.

permalink Ω 18 July 2005, Helsinki

From Arabia to Pluto

« A page from a book so filled with errors that I'm sure it was filed under comedy in the bookshops. »

I don't remember where I found this picture nor could I find it again, but I straightened it up a bit as I think it's worth a good chuckle. I'd love to know the title and publisher of the book. You have to wonder who made the shit up about Arabia and Iittala:

...when the Finns started marketing their dinnerware outside Scandinavia, they named it after other countries--such as Arabia, or Ittala[sic]--in hopes that exotic locations would impart a mystique to their efforts. The ploy worked so well that today people all over the world own beautifully designed crystal which they think came from an OPEC country.

I nearly spilled my coffee laughing at that. Even the smallest amount of research might have prevented such a glaring error. I suppose I should thank the publishers as even though I didn't know how Arabia got the name I could spot that as a steaming pile of misinformation pretty quickly and went to look it up on the net. The model's name is spelled incorrectly and the address doesn't exist [I don't think street numbers pass 60 in downtown actually]. And Finnska? Don't they mean Finland-Swedish?

Judging by the width of the tie [isn't it fun how ties are almost as reliable as carbon dating? :)], the 1971 Marimekko "Mansikkavuoret" print and the 1960's Ultima Thule glassware, I'd put the photo/book somewhere firmly in the 1980s or later and, judging by the English, I'd almost bet good money that it was written by an American. The whole thing is one giant, glaring error that's both funny and rather sad. [I am sad to say that I have been informed that the page was taken from a book filed under humor. Can anyone confirm or deny that it is from Scandinavian Humor and Other Myths by John Louis Anderson published in 1986 in Minnesota? At least the tie and the English didn't steer me too far from wrong. Still....would people living outside of Finland get most of the jokes? :) ] So, here's today's completely useless factoid in both Finnish and English; How did the Arabia brand ceramics get their name?

October 1874, the factory is seen to completion on a plot called Arabia. Arabia, the name of the plot, was taken as the name for the factory and afterwards, it became the name for the entire city district. Arabia's next-door neighbours include Intiankatu [India Street], Koreankatu [Korea Street], and Kaanaan katu [Canaan Street]: when the plots and streets in the then summer villa area were named, it was felt they were very far from the centre of Helsinki - that is how they got their exotic, romanticized names.

Lokakuussa 1874 tehdas valmistuu Arabia-nimiselle huvilatontille Helsingin Vanhankaupungin lahdelle. Arabian tehtaan valikoima laajeni nopeasti astioista uuneihin ja saniteettiposliiniin.

Tontin nimi Arabia otettiin tehtaan nimeksi, ja sittemmin se on tullut koko kaupunginosan nimeksi. Arabian naapurissa sijaitsevat mm. Intiankatu, Koreankatu ja Kaanaan niityt. Kun silloisen huvila-alueen tontteja ja katuja nimettiin, tuntuivat ne sijaitsevan kovin kaukana Helsingin keskustasta. Siksi ne myös saivat eksoottisia, romantisoituja nimiä.

So, instead of Timbuktu, Finns named the boonies, now thought of as the suburbs, Arabia. Surely, this must mean we have to rename Vantaa as Pluto. :)

permalink Ω 12 July 2005, Helsinki

Gate

« Cryptonomicon gate on Fredrikinkatu. I called it this after I remembered that I had seen similar symbols in Stepheson's Baroque Cycle which were from John Wilkins' Philosophical Language. »

It was a long, long weekend in spite of not much drinking or partying, but included an unexpected houseguest from the US and I'm still trying to recover. I used to be young and spontaneous and now I'm just old and cranky when the rituals that get me through the day are disturbed. In an attempt to be hostess to the houseguest who travelled 4,000 miles where others failed, I finally managed to see the somewhat legendary expat junk food store in the lower level of Kämp Galleria and I am now convinced that I am, in fact, in the wrong line of work judging by the prices. I should open a shop called "Pimp My Crack" in Hakaniemi filled with crap from the US and the UK or maybe a Krispy Kreme store. The first one is always free...

permalink Ω 3 May 2005, Helsinki

Shoe Me

« Please wear shoes when crossing here. Look at the size of those feet in comparison to the short arms. You know what they say about big feet....:) »

permalink Ω 27 April 2005, Helsinki

Ole!

« A cute embellishment with a bit of wordplay on a don't even think about parking here sign. The tow trucks are busy these days. »

My deep thought for the day is that after seeing the Helsinki Marathon yesterday going past our house, the entertainment value of watching people run would be greatly improved by releasing some of the big cats from the zoo to run behind them. No more stragglers, just survivors and lunch.

permalink Ω 25 April 2005, Helsinki

Looking Up

« The very eclectic "Villa Johanna" Jugend home in Eira on Laivurinkatu that I'd like to buy in the very unlikely event that I would ever win the lottery. There is a beautiful coiled dragon on the turret above the front door which I would love to give glowing red eyes and fire-breathing steam for scaring kids at Halloween. »

The HS had an interesting article accompanied by photos on Sunday about Helsinki's turrets and a man who likes to photograph them. Helsinki was expanding at the time that Jugend was popular and so large parts of certain neighbourhoods are full of these gorgeous turreted buildings. The quote about how people never look up is true. I'm always looking up or around and only very occasionally see anyone curious enough to wonder wtf I'm looking at, if they even notice. I presume that it goes hand in hand with the whole numbness to ones own culture phenomenon.

I went to see the spectacle that was Hanoi Rocks! Stockmann Shakes! at 5p in front of Stockmann yesterday along with a huge throng of kids in glam wear and hundreds of guys toting around giant Canon kit with L lenses. I found out later that there is a contest for the 10 best pictures of the concert which might explain all the mad heavy camera toting guys since there was only one sad little picture of it in today's paper so they couldn't have all been members of the Fourth Estate. Hanoi Rocks is actually pretty good, but I don't know what their cachet is since they are described as a Finnish Guns and Roses. [ arabella and kallu have some fun photos from the concert. :) ] My photos are in the Hanoi Rocks gallery.

The band played on the ledge over the door which made for quite a dangerous situation with the trams as the kids inched closer and closer to get a better view. When the band started playing the trams had no other choice but to stop when the crowd took Alexanderinkatu completely. I had to love the Helsinki Police driving down the tram tracks and greeting everyone politely with a "Good Afternoon" before asking people to get the fuck off the tracks. :) The most hilarious scene was a group of Kelly Osbourne/Helsinki Harajuku girls when one of them pulled out a giant can of hair spray and proceeded to lay on another coat of shellac to her hair helmet. I narrowly missed getting coated and the girls behind them started laughing and saying something about how they couldn't possibly need more of that on their hair. The old ladies coming out of Stockmann with a pained look on their face and fingers in their ears was pretty amusing as well. Damn kids! :)

I'd like to quickly explain how to express days hence for social engagements as it seems to be a frequent source of miscommunication in the Finno-Anglo space-time continuum.

• Today is Saturday.
• The Saturday a week from today is next Saturday.
• Tomorrow is Sunday or this (coming) Sunday.
• The day after tomorrow is Monday, a.k.a. this (coming) Monday.
• The Monday following this Monday is next Monday.
• The Monday after next Monday is the Monday after next.

Summary: Use 'this' to indicate the day of the coming week unless it is the same day 7 days hence whereupon use 'next'. Do not use next for anything less than 7 days away, e.g. on Wednesday say something about a party next Saturday when you mean the Saturday only 3 days away as the English speaker will presume that you mean a week from the Saturday 3 days away. I don't make the rules, I just show up a week late altogether too often or get annoyed with Jarkko when we play the 'but you said next Friday, not this Friday' routine. :)

Whether it is synchronicity or someone from the HS reading this droll backwater on the intarweb, there was a nice story in Friday's paper about the Gaudí-esque building in Arabianranta that I was so curious about over the weekend. Perhaps the power of suggestion could also answer my wonderings about how the Helsinki storm drain system manages to avoid silting shut during the springtime grit season. :)

permalink Ω 16 April 2005, Helsinki

Pipeline

« The view of Helsinki and Töölö Bay from the Pallokaruselli at Lintsi. In spite of the rain and the ice cream hand prints from the kiddies on the plexiglass, it looks like a (sur)realistic miniature of the city. The entire month of June was grey and rainy last year and the rest of the summer wasn't all that great either. I'm craving sunny warm weather, roller coasters and ice cream cones. I'd also like to wear something other than a turtleneck this summer. »

There are plans to finally build a pipeline from Humallahti (on the far right) to Töölönlahti (in the center) [HS article in English and full graphic with map] to help improve the fetid, stagnant water whose quality is often very poor, especially during summertime. It's a good idea that has been in the works for many years but it's a large bay with little circulation that will likely require more than pumping water from another less stagnant bay into it to address the problem, especially when the algae blooms arrive at the beaches and coastlines in the warm weather. I can't think of a single city in the US with a population over 1 or 2 million people that has a large lake/bay of this size in the city center since they're expensive to maintain and often just breeding grounds for diseases and bugs.

permalink Ω 12 April 2005, Helsinki

Blue Shoes

« One of the five bright blue towers of the 110 kV Salmisaari-Meilahti power line that was installed in 2003 which crosses the seurasaarenselkä that are collectively known as "Antti's Footsteps" in honor of their designer, Antti Nurmesniemi. Look at the tiny little people on the right for a sense of scale. [They were named from a HE contest with 1,496 entries and the winner receiving 5000 kWh of electricity for a year. The finalists were: Sinijätit (blue giants), Johtokurki (guiding cranes), Hattiwatit (Moomin characters), Meritoverit (sea friends), Seireenit (sirens), Stadin Eiffelit (Eiffels of the city), Sinilinja (blue line), Sinimastot (blue masts), Virtaviivat (currents?) and Antin askeleet (Antti's footsteps).] Hattiwatit should have won as it sounds cooler, it has the 'watti' wordplay, the characters look a lot like them and epoynymy is terribly boring. It's no wonder nobody remembers the name. »

Helsinki Energy seems to go out of it's way to make power plants look good as though people might notice, and perhaps blame them, that the Baltic is still so polluted that it's not recommended to eat Baltic fish more than once a week or the layer of smoggy gritty haze over the city today if they didn't sex them up a bit. As though they might be saying, "Yes, this is a coal fired power plant but, hey, aren't these lovely blue power lines beautiful?" Sure, they say the plants are ultra clean but the people they're saying that to probably don't live next to the strip mine somewhere with cheap labour and no pretty blue pylons. Energy production is with rare exception a dirty, ugly business that we'd all like to pretend that we don't participate in and depend on utterly each and every day. I look at those blue giants daily and I'm reminded of the lengths we will go in our own self-deceptions and how we are so willing to be fooled. We are energy junkies.

permalink Ω 4 April 2005, Helsinki

Vernal Helsinki

« Ice blocks emerging from downspouts and thick muddy grit on the sidewalks are the two most reliable indicators of the arrival of spring in Helsinki. »

Spring must be here as I walked around without my winter boots today. It always feels wrong, after dragging heavy boots around on my feet for six months or more, to replace them with light, normal shoes. I must walk a bit funny, too. Of course, my black pants are now brown and the shoes are slopped with muddy grit, but it's bearable knowing that summer is coming.

permalink Ω 25 March 2005, Helsinki

Summertime

« Ah, what could be better than a picnic at sunset in -20C weather? Even the puppy was cold when I took this photo on the southern edge of Lauttasaari recently. Just don't look too closely and pretend that it's summertime. :) »

permalink Ω 11 March 2005, Helsinki

Porn for everyone

« A smiling skull in Hagelstams Bookstore. A row of skulls depicting the Hagelstam family tree were there for Halloween and have reappeared for the holidays with festive hats and skull porn. Yes, that picture behind the happy skull is really what it appears to be. Antique porn for every fetish bound in leather. It makes you briefly wonder what kind of porn your grandfather enjoyed just before you take a fork to your eyeballs to remove the mere thought of it. »

Last year, Helsinki lost a stately old willow tree in a freak storm. The city decided to leave it be and see if it would sprout in the coming spring. In October, the stump was declared dead although enough material from the tree was saved to grow some saplings so the tree lives on. The Sanomat mentioned this week that there is now a small booklet, Vanhan Piilipuun Alla available at the Helsinki City Museum with stories about the tree and pictures over the past 100 years. Perhaps they'll plant some of the saplings grown from the dead willow in the new Kampinkeskus when it's done.

We spent all day Saturday watching all of the Lord of the Rings extended DVD editions with friends of ours in one 13-hour marathon. The movies and company were great, even if I did feel like a Hobbit towards the end of the day. The new material in Return of the King was good but it didn't complement the movie as well as the previous 2 extended editions had. I think there should be some sort of medal that one should receive for managing to make it through all 3 DVDs within an 18-hour period of time. I went to sleep with the visage of Gollum speaking like Yoda, maybe because the last time I sat through a trilogy in one sitting was Star Wars which also had a short, green creature with a raspy voice. "My pressssious you are!"

I was leafing through Deko, a new magazine that is mostly just pictures and design voyeurism that I suspect won't last very long, when I saw a little blurb about giving a fairly useless object d'art, a mini Alvar Aalto dish in the famous lake shape, a purpose by using it as a cookie cutter. I decided to give it a try and my analysis is that it is the most ineffective 15 euro cookie cutter anyone could ever purchase since the glass edges are far too thick which renders it unable to make a clean cut no matter how thick or thin the dough is. It would be much easier if someone just made a 2 euro cookie cutter in the same shape. Maybe use the dish as a cheese dip mold....perhaps there should be a contest to discover an actual useful purpose for these little tourist trinkets. :)

permalink Ω 19 December 2004, Helsinki

Dildohair

« A mannequin with a seriously phallic hairdo. »

I am almost always entertained by the window dressing in shops around Helsinki. Besides the gravity defying breasts and implausibly perky nipples, the variety of mannequin styles and creative displays which rotate at least weekly make them the most interesting free show you can find. There is a mannequin in the window of UFF who has no arms and bears an expression that makes him seem as though he is being painfully savaged from behind while enjoying it thoroughly. I have dubbed him 'the agony and the ecstasy.' Every time I pass the window I giggle as the person in charge of doing the window displays has quite a lot of fun giving him a new look from the hodgepodge of recycled clothes every few days. I've been wanting to do a series of photos of him since it's pure comedy. The model with the dildo hair was pretty hilarious as wouldn't it be a bitch to wear in high winds or through low doorways? Perhaps it's easier than wearing high heeled shoes to give the illusion that you're taller than you really are. Then again, like hairstyles, nothing ever looks as good on you as it does in the catalogues or on the models.

The news continues to be rather grim and sad in spite of my giddy glee over the puppies. I have been watching the red state v. blue state, north v. south sniping grow. It just seems like the country is totally distracted with utterly meaningless shit while the stuff they should be paying attention to is going by mostly unnoticed. The Dems should be really concerned about the most important and most potentially lasting damage this president will do in the next four years; kooky ultra-neocon appointments to the Supreme Court. Instead, everyone is hissing at each other and not really doing much good. Gonzales, the new AG nominee, the guy who justified Gitmo, will likely sail on through the confirmation because of this. There is but one hope I have now after all others have failed and that is knowing that history is on our side as every radical right-wing regime in the past has managed to hang itself and be met with rejection and rebellion. An opportunity will come and we can only hope people have their act together when it does.

The NYT had an article yesterday, Even Digital Memories Can Fade, about the impending crisis with the woefully inadequate archival properties of digital media and formats. Digital fanatics scoff at me when I mention one of the primary reasons I went back to film was precisely because of film having proven archival qualities whereas digital media has a very poor record and decreases steadily over time. The digiheads try to say that film only lasts 100 years but they'll be lucky to get 10 with their digital files if they aren't vigilant. I could put my negatives in a shoe box on a closet shelf and find them 50 years from now in a still usable format. Prints on acid-free paper when stored properly could last possibly 200 years. I can use a database to help me catalogue each roll of film, assign it a number and note which binder they are in, but if that vanishes, I still have hard copy. Perhaps it is something about our attitude towards everything being disposable anymore, that living in the moment or 20 minutes into the future is hip and modern and the past is nothing more than a quaint notion, but pictures that exist only in 1's and 0's have a really good chance of being unavailable in a relatively short amount of time. Print the photos you want to keep.

permalink Ω 12 November 2004, Helsinki

Helsinki by Blimp

« Graf Zeppelin flies over Hietalahti in 1931 and, on mouseover, the same building today sans zeppelin. »

Eila, Jarkko's mother, gave me a huge stack of cool old postcards from around Finland [thanks, again, Eila :)] that I've been wading through. Some are hilarious, some are Parr-esque in their boringness and some are really interesting. I particularly liked this one since it features the zeppelin and, in spite of it's lack of any identifying marks, could be dated easily since there have only been three zeppelin visits to Helsinki. I took a photo of the same building today [the Hietalahden kauppahalli is just out of the frame to the right] where you can see some of the scars from the war remain. Postcards are just wonderful and terribly underappreciated time capsules.

I've been reading a lot of the news around the net lately and, well, I think I hit *tilt* when I read that the dark crusader known as Ashcroft has been asked to resign and complied. I'd be really ecstatic about this if I weren't worried about an even more conservative replacement. I just keep trying to think about puppies instead. "Happiness is a warm puppy."

permalink Ω 10 November 2004, Helsinki

As Darkness Falls....

« Looking west from the Torni Hotel towards Ruoholahti and a few other photos of Helsinki at night. »

As I went to bed last night, I harboured a secret hope that my pessimism would be proven unwarranted. Alas, it would appear that I, and so much of the world who harboured the same hope, have been horribly disappointed. I have no explanation as to how or why such a close election could happen again save maybe that the election process in America is completely broken. It also brings into much sharper focus one of my primary reasons for leaving the US; the emergence of religious fundamentalism in American politics and overall culture. I hope the world will survive four more years and that the damage will be reversible. America itself, I fear, will not be so lucky. The first thing to go will be Roe v. Wade and suddenly, those who voted out of fear rather than religious fervor, will understand their mistake but it will be far too late.

I went up to the Torni balcony on the 13th floor, now that it has been reopened, to try some B&W film at night. I read the Ilford datasheet for the film and it recommended longer exposures beyond 1/24 which seemed to work ok, if a bit towards the overexposure side of the spectrum. Even with the larger apertures the lights have a starlight appearance along with a round halo in some since there was a bit of a light fog in spots. The grain is impressively fine, especially since I didn't use the Ilford chemistry specifically geared for fine grain. I'm not entirely happy with the set, but they aren't all that bad for a first run. On some of the shots there is a bit of glass apparent at the bottom of the photo which is a ~5ft tall glass wall surrounding the outdoor patio/balcony that, even with the tripod and extension, was difficult to avoid since my vertigo didn't make me to want to hang over the edge. :) The lights in Esplanadi Park, described very hyperbolically as a 'spectacular light installation', was a pain in the ass to photograph since the lights are on a voltage regulator which dims and brightens them at random making guesstimating the exposure a bit of a challenge.

permalink Ω 3 November 2004, Helsinki

Sculpture and the 5th Circle of Hell

« Looking up through the pipes and a few other photos of the Sibelius Monument. »

I needed to get out of the house last week so I walked up to see the Sibelius Monument up close since I had only previously seen it while passing by it in a car. I must admit that the texture really makes the sculpture interesting as from a distance it only reminds me of the pixelated cities of the Atari "Missle Command" game from so long ago. The disembodied head of Sibelius is really creepy in a way that clowns are creepy. I must have watched too many cartoons as a kid that featured evil villains depicted as floating disembodied heads or something. It's a popular tourist attraction that was curiously devoid of busloads of tourists but as I was leaving a throng of Japanese tourists arrived.

And interviewing in Finland is like Dante's fifth circle of hell. A few years back, Jarkko and I were 'interviewed' by the CEO of a company we were both going to go to work for. Jarkko, being Finnish, said nothing the entire time and I tried to keep the conversation limping along while the CEO, Mr. Smooth VC Guy, turned himself inside out trying to get some kind, any kind, of feedback out of the silent man in the corner. I was amused and we eventually decided not to move to Canukistan [For those who know the story and CEO in question, he has a blog these days]. I always knew the power of silence but this was a very memorable illustration of it. Now, the tables are turned and I feel like a total freak in interviews where none of the usual verbal or non-verbal cues are there and so I find myself talking at length just waiting for that cue that moves things along or gives you the idea that you're bombing or doing alright. It's like swimming under the ice with a blindfold on looking for the hole....only less pleasant.

permalink Ω 20 October 2004, Helsinki

Space Modern Rock

« Water seeps through cracks and drips down the walls in the Temppeliaukio. A few other photos of Temppeliaukio. »

I have never quite understood why churches are often listed as primary tourist destinations for a lot of places around the globe. I mean, sure, they're often lavishly decorated and have a great deal of history behind them, but even having visited some of the most notable churches still standing I'm of the mind that if you have seen one church, you've seen them all; altar, cross, pews, organ, stained glass, etc. It also feels slightly wrong to step into one of these churches and notice that it's still an active place of worship. Helsinki's most photographed church, Tuomiokirkko [literal translation and the translation I prefer is Doom Cathedral] can be seen from almost anywhere downtown, a rather unsettling spectre on the skyline.

But there is another church that draws busloads of tourists that I hadn't been inside of before, Temppeliaukio, a.k.a. the Stone Church. It's a church....in a rock. It looks like a lunar base straight out of Space:1999. It's the atomic modern style of the 50's colliding with the space age beehive hairdo of the early 60s: Far Out. It's an unusual place and it's interesting to look at, but if I were a tourist I think I'd rather sit in a cafe or have a picnic on Suomenlinna. I kept thinking while walking around the church of how beautiful it must be to watch it snow from the inside with the lights out and how incredibly difficult it would be to heat the space inside evenly and efficiently. From what I understand, the design of the church was met with some controversy or dispute due to its 1960s minimalist space modern design but has since found plenty of admirers. Surprisingly, the space age doesn't include web site technology for the virtual tourist so a bit about the church from the brochure might be of interest.

History: Temppeliaukio Square was named in 1906, when the city plan for Etu-Töölö was confirmed. Gradually, plans arose for building a church there and an architectural competition proved unsatisfactory, and a new one was announced in 1936. This time, the third-prize winner, drawn by Prof. J.S. Sirén, was accepted as the basic building plan. The excavation work for Sirén's cathedral-style church began in 1939 but was interrupted by the Winter War. A third architectural competition was won in 1961 by two brothers, architects Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen with an entry titled the "Stone Church". For reasons of economy, their plan had to be reduced by over 4,000 cu. meters. Construction began on the 14th of February, 1968; the work advanced quickly and the church was consecrated on the 28th of September 1969 with a final cost of 3.85 million marks [about 650,000 dollars].

Architectural details: Quarried into bedrock, the church is situated on Temppeliaukio Square, near the center of Helsinki. The basic idea of the plan was to preserve the rock formation of the square and therefore the essential construction has been built into the rock as far as possible. The outer stone wall surrounding the church is made of quarried stone, piled and bound together with steel bindings. The wall shields the church from noise and people walking on the rock above. The church is covered by a copper dome which is joined to the rock by reinforced concrete beams of various sizes, in between which there are 180 skylights. On the rock to the right of the main entrance stands a cross designed by the architects. The church has no bells. The planted areas on the rocks have been designed by garden architect Erik Sommerschield.

The floor of the church is on the street-level, so that the altar can be seen from the street through the glass doors. The parish house and the offices have been built on the side of the rock to the left of the main entrance. The church has a cubic capacity of 11,000 cu. meters and has seating space for 750 people. Its inner walls consist of bedrock and quarried stone, and their quarried surface has been left rough for acoustic and aesthetic considerations. Various kinds of coloured formations of rock add to the beauty of the walls. Their surface is brought to life by water running from cracks in the rock face which is led away through covered drains under the floor. Drill marks have not been removed from the walls in order to let the working method remain visible. The height of the walls vary between 5 to 9 meters.

The inner surface of the dome is lined with 22 kilometers of copper stripping. The diameter of the dome is 24 meters and the height from the floor to its apex is 13 meters. In the rear of the church is a balcony lined with copper panels. Above the balcony is an observation room for radio and television broadcasts and below it, a small vestry. The altar wall of the church is formed by an ice age rock crevice. During the summer months, morning sunlight falls against the altar during service. The altar table consists of a slab of smoothly sawn granite. The small crucifix portrays Christ as sufferer and victor. The asymmetrical altar railing, which can also be reached by wheelchair, can accommodate 25 partakers at one communion setting. The crucifix, candlestands and the baptismal font to the right of the altar are the work of forgeartist Kauko Moisio.

The church textiles have been designed by textile artist Tellervo Strömmer. In front of the altar and low pulpit there is space for an orchestra. The church benches are of birch. Beside the pine choir dais is located the pipe organ made by Veikko Virtanen Co. The mechanically operated organ has 43 registers, 4 manuals, a pedal and 3,001 pipes. A tunnel starting near the altar wall leads to the two-floor parish premises, built of concrete into the side of the rock. The parish hall has seating space for 130 people. There are four clubrooms downstairs. The church is connected to the municipal central heating network. The premises are ventilated by mechanical means. Heated fresh air is blown into the church through ducts situated in the front wall of the balcony.

permalink Ω 19 October 2004, Helsinki

UFO

« An Unidentified Furry Object on a Töölö street. I'm guessing it's a bit of tourist kitsch, but wtf is it? A reindeer on two legs with big, sad puppy eyes dressed like a Lapp? »

I found a glossy brochure on a scenic place to take an afternoon walk in the tourist bureau recently, Lahtipolku. The beautiful brochure and map are online but you'll need to read Finnish to understand anything aside from the pictures and map. I put a few of the pictures I took while we were walking the trail up in a Lahtipolku gallery which are from the same set of B&W photos I developed myself recently. The walk is really very enjoyable, scenic and well worth the short metro ride out to where the trail begins. Take something to grill as there is a public grill/picnic spot next to the water near no. 32 on the map. The very end of the trail becomes a little hard to find since the trail isn't specially marked as such so be prepared to enjoy a bit of an adventure.

As I was going through photos of HB I was thinking that I'd ask if anyone had photos of him they'd like to share, we'd be delighted to have a copy if you have the time to scan them in and email them to us. And, again, I'd like to thank everyone for all the email regarding HB. It warms my heart and really has helped ease the trauma a bit.

permalink Ω 14 October 2004, Helsinki

Fish Heads

« The fiddler and the accordion player for the "Greeting to the Baltic Herring" performance on Sunday at the opening of the annual Baltic Herring Festival [Helsingin silakkamarkkinat] in Helsinki. It was theatre the way Dr. Demento envisioned it should be. The performance was terrific, if a bit less weird than I had hoped, and I totally want their herring hats. »

I read the instructions, did the math, mixed the chemicals and developed 2 rolls of B&W film tonight. The only difficult part was opening the film spools like a bottle of beer and getting them onto the film spools in complete darkness. After that, it was pretty much agitate and pour at the right times. I think I underdeveloped the film just a bit and my neg scanner is shite, but I'm still happy with the results and it's just like the time I got my first chemistry set when I was 7 except I didn't try to blow anything up this time. :)

permalink Ω 5 October 2004, Helsinki

8 Tuntia. 12 Kuvia. Monta hahaha.

« A magician giving sidewalk performances on Helsinki's Night of the Arts before it started to rain. He roped me into helping with a few tricks and I was reasonably impressed. It was the first time in 16[?] years that it rained on the festival. I took a few photos, including this one, with the Leica before the pissing heavens drove most of the entertainment and people somewhere indoors and most others just stayed home. »

For some inexplicable reason, the evening before Taiteidenyö [Night of the Arts], I noticed in the Finnish programme something that looked like a photo scavenger hunt so I looked for it in the English translation just to make sure I wasn't misreading it. There was a Fotomaraton that was open to mobile, digital and film photographers with the objective of taking 12 photos in 8 hours directed by clues dispensed every 2 hours over the course of the evening from 4pm - midnight. I'm a glutton for self-punishment and rejection so naturally I thought this was quite possibly the most fabulous idea ever and took me and my Lomo on down to Vanha at the designated hour to get my film and my first set of clues. I figured the Lomo was the ultimate in art student camera since you can't always predict how the camera will behave or where it will decide to focus thus creating Art. :) I should have listened to the words of Henri Cartier-Bresson:

A photograph is neither taken nor seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.

The clues were hard, especially since they were in Finnish and the cultural in-jokes were lost on me. I had to call Jarkko a few times, especially for "Vain mäkikotka tietää" [Only the skijumper knows] since, aside from a suicidal tendency and knowing where to get good ski wax, I had no idea what skijumpers know. :) The weather and lack of car didn't help either since we had only 2 hours to take precisely 3 photos in the order of the clue's appearance on the list and so we couldn't really stray too horribly far from Vanha on foot. Jarkko valiantly came along for the evening portion of the madness and held the umbrella against the rain while I took a few shots. It was a lot of fun but if they have it next year and it doesn't rain, I'll have a few ideas on how to make my entry suck less.

The show of the winners photos opens tonight at 7pm on the 2nd floor of Lasipalatsi and I'm really interested in seeing what other people took photos of for all those crazy clues. You can enjoy my non-award-winning Fotomaraton entry in the comfort of your office or bedroom where you can laugh with me in private. The bold text is the clue in Finnish and English and they are in the same order as the clues were given. :)

permalink Ω 28 September 2004, Helsinki

Whisky

« A few photos of expatriate camaraderie over drinks and conversation. »

I finally paid a visit to the place to go in Helsinki for whisky, Pikkulintu [Klaavuntie 11], in an unsuspecting east suburban strip mall about 100m from the Puotila metro station. The name means 'little bird' which breaks from the usual naming convention for whisky pubs, much like the naming convention for PC hardware, where as much masculinity and testosterone is placed into the name as the language will allow, e.g. Ye Olde Cocke and Balls. In spite of the delicate name and the suburban location, it earns the reputation for being the best place in Helsinki for whisky lovers since the list of expressions is impressive and even more impressive is the owner/bartender behind the bar who knows his whisky and keeps half of the whisky he has off the list hidden in the back room away from the dilettantes.

We sat at the rail and had a few wee drams, but the two that were the most memorable were new Islay malts. The first was the Bowmore Mariner which is a 15yo dram that has a bit of sherry taste along with the briny, seaweedy Islay taste. The new Ardbeg Uigeadail (pronounced Oog-adal) is heavenly and of the alleged 3 bottles currently in Finland, 2 of them are at Pikkulintu. We tried to order a bottle or 2 from Loch Fyne Whiskies mail order but, sadly, they're currently awaiting a new bottling. Uigeadail is a cask strength smoky Ardbeg that has been aged in sherry and bourbon casks along with a hint of peppery ginger. I really hope that new bottling comes along soon. :)

Is it a sign I've been living in Finland too long when I keep reading Hurricane Jeanne as Hurricane Janne? :)

And, plush toys for those with a medical or sick sense of humour, giant microbes. Clandestina: 5 destinations and 5 photographers per issue has some interesting photos from unusual places around the globe.

permalink Ω 27 September 2004, Helsinki

Beer Circles

« If only all the Helsinki city trams featured a bar, curtains, a loo and inlaid wooden benches like Spårakoff. »

Every big city has some attraction that the locals eschew as a tourist trap and, if I had to think of one for Helsinki, Spårakoff would likely be it. Boston has the duck tours but Spårakoff doesn't feature an annoyingly perky tour guide spewing useless trivia about Helsinki that you won't remember as you whiz by at 50mph while wishing that you had a beer. No, Spårakoff rolls quietly around the city in a loop [~160kb map] while you look out the window and enjoy a beer or two along with the scenery. The tram only runs from May through August which seems wrong since the times you'd want to ride on a cozy tram drinking beer would likely be more during the cold and dark months rather than the warm and sunny months, but unsurprisingly tourists don't flock to Helsinki during the dark times. There's very little mention of the tram on the net in English and so I suppose that it's something the natives want to ride on but only do when they have a visitor to take along as an excuse for being such a tourist. :)

I had always wanted to take a ride on it since first seeing the red tram, but it's not really something you make time for when you live here, ride the regular trams, have seen the sights and don't feel like parting with 7€ for admission and 5€ for a beer just for a 40-60 minute ride around town. A short ferry ride to Tallinn, a few cases of Koff, and back costs only a few euros more. It's a beautiful old tram appointed with a bar, polished wood seats, carpet and velvet curtains which gives the air of being both modern and vintage at the same time. The tables even have built-in cup holders to keep spillage down to a minimum. The tram was originally built in 1959 for Helsinki City Transport, who still operate the tram, and it has been a pub tram serving Koff beer and cider since 1995. The brochure mentions that it has a capacity for 24 people sitting, 6 people standing and, 1 seat in the WC. :) Koff still delivers kegs of beer to local pubs via a wagon pulled by draft horses driven by 2 gentlemen, too, so I think they have a penchant for nostalgia.

permalink Ω 26 September 2004, Helsinki

Helsinki Moments

« A cute kid at Linnanmäki who wasn't so thrilled to watch the Olympic Torch being carried past him. Perhaps if the torch were made of ice cream.... »

Last year there was a story about Eeva and Simo Rista, a couple of amateur photographers two professional photographers (I stand corrected since I vaguely remember that being the case last year and got caught out for not reading or making Jarkko read the details in Finnish as they are well known in Finland. Mea Culpa. Many thanks to the person who ever so politely corrected me.), who gave a lifetime of photographs to be digitized and shared with the public. The other day we were walking past Lasipalatsi where I noticed a few random pictures in the window and it turns out that Lasipalatsi has started to accept pictures from other people who wish to submit their photos for the collection/archive. The show, Moments in Helsinki is free and open from 12-6p Tuesday through Sunday through the month of August. There are some really great photos and, aside from the Rista's photos, I particularly like the photos of Tapio Mäkiö as his 300 pictures tell a story and he has a good eye. The photo Life returns to normal after the chaos of moving taken in February 1966 is a lovely vignette. There are 10,000 or so more to browse through online (only a tiny fraction of which have been printed for the gallery) which is a really interesting view into life in Finland in photographs taken not by photojournalists but everyday people.

And, note to self...when heading out into the bush in Finland to photograph things that glow in the dark during the warmer months, remember to take a giant stick of bug-off, a can of raid spray, a mosquito net, a citronella candle (or 5), and an extra pint of blood. Damn, I can't wait for the -20C weather with dry wind and snow since at least with frostbite there are no bloodsucking evil vampires on gossamer wings involved. Of course, when it took nearly 2 hours for me to get all the feeling in my fingers back after photographings the Kide in -20C weather I was thinking how wonderful summertime would be. :)

permalink Ω 19 August 2004, Helsinki

Resistance is Futile

« Resistance is futile puny human. You are going to drop that ice cream any moment now. Obey my hypnotic stare. »

I watched this little dog crawl under the bench and gaze lovingly at a German man's ice cream. Sadly, the man was immune to his Jedi mind tricks and he consumed the entire thing without sharing. I almost felt badly enough to go get one and give him some. :) These are supposedly the 'Dog Days' of summer, but if it keeps raining the way it has been we are all going to have to consider buying a boat.

permalink Ω 17 August 2004, Helsinki

Drummer for the Drunk

« This percussionist is frequently downtown during the warmer months and he shuttles his equipment around in a baby carriage inbetween performances. You can see his audience in the lower left corner before the drunk wagon turned up to help him along. »

I received my first absentee ballot from the US today and I had a few questions about it so I called the office in Arlington. It was so weird to talk to someone with a townie accent on the other end of the phone since I've been away from the US long enough now to have some of the familiar details become only vague memories. There's nothing like a thick Boston townie accent to bring all of it back into sharp focus.

Since the ballot I received was for some state primary that I have no interest in I wanted to ask if I should be expecting the Presidential election ballot to arrive in the mail at some point and the woman confirmed that, yes, I should receive it sometime in October. The letter enclosed also instructed me to produce some sort of identification:

Pursuant to a new federal law, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, you must provide a copy of your identification with this ballot if you are voting for the first time in a federal election since registering by mail in 2003.

Acceptable identification must include your name and the address at which you are registered to vote, for example: a current and valid photo identification, current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government document showing your name and address. Please note that this identification will not be returned to you.

I've never heard of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) before but how does sending a current utility bill constitute a form of identification? I asked her about this and she asked where I was living and I told her I now live in Finland. She paused for a moment and put me on hold and returned in a few minutes to tell me that I'm exempt from this since I live outside the US. So, I'm wondering who this clause might apply to. The legalese in the document is really difficult to read through so it's hard to determine what it's all about but given the current administration I'm not convinced its aim is to really help people vote.

permalink Ω 16 August 2004, Helsinki

No Woman No Cry

« Plastic overlay on the sidewalk pedestrian signs that have recently appeared around town that turn the man into a rasta with dreads and chin tuft. I've seen a tiny version applied to smaller round-headed human figures, too. I call it 'No Woman. No Cry' since you never see a male and female stick figure together on one sign and it's only used on the males. They're cute. :) »

I spent the evening grumbling at my scanner and trying to resist the urge to hurl it out into the street just to watch it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces which would then get crushed under passing cars. I got the Prague photos scanned in without casualty though. It's an old, cheap scanner that has developed a haze under the glass and tends to colour the photos rather strangely. Aggravating. I suppose it's time to look around at the newer models and see if there isn't one around that won't leave me walking funny on the way out of the shop.

Oh, and summer left today after a viciously dark cloud blew in, blotted out the sun, and commenced pouring rain and hail in buckets. I'll admit that I wasn't enjoying the 28C weather with 90% humidity, but I'm not ready for October weather just yet. It's still humid only now it's 11C. Well, it was a nice week of warm weather while it lasted. Hrmph.

permalink Ω 12 August 2004, Helsinki

Posteriority

« Plane and a big blimp at Malmi Airport. A few pictures from the Yokoso! visit to Malmi Airport. »

Last weekend, the Malmi Airport hosted the Yokoso! Airship on it's Helsinki stop while waiting for clearance to fly over Russia on its way to Japan. I wasn't all that motivated to go see a blimp from 100 yards away without there being some Hindenburg action, but they aren't filled with hydrogen anymore so that sort of marshmallow roasting excitement wasn't likely to happen. The airfield itself was far more interesting as it was built in the mid-1930s just as air travel was beginning to become popular and was still glamorous. Charles and Anne Lindbergh flew to Helsinki to help choose a location for the airport although the Malmi location was not their first choice. Long before the anal probe security checkpoints and the cattle class flights, there was legroom and an air of the exotic to flying. As we were leaving, we bumped into a bachelor party who were taking the soon-to-be groom on a flight while equipped with girly goggles and bunny ears. If he survived, I hope the wedding goes well. :)

Malmi Airport is apparently under threat of being replaced with something as dull as suburban housing. Considering that it was built on Tattarisuo swamp, it wouldn't seem very smart to build or buy a house in that area. It's extremely curious and likely politically motivated that in spite of the majority of people polled in the neighbouring community who have expressed a strong interest in preserving the airport and the sheer stupidity of building houses on land that has more in common with a sponge than a rock, that 'progress' continues to threaten the continued survival of the Malmi Airport. While I was looking for geologic studies of the Tattarisuo area I found, A reconnaissance flight: is there a shortage of building land in the Finnish capital region, which has a few short, but illustrative, videos of the airport and surrounding areas [one lighthearted note - 'posteriority' should be 'posterity' since the former might be something related to your butt, your posterior. :)]. There is a petition to show support for saving the airport which I hope will continue to gather signatures but, as a cynic, I think it will take a bit more than signatures to save such a beautiful and quaint piece of history even if it's on the World Monuments Fund Top 100 Most Endangered Sites List. The most wise advice ever given in the face of corruption was uttered by the famed Deep Throat [no, not the porn movie :)], "Follow the money." Find out who has the most to profit from building housing on the land and start from there.

In other news, the Hanasaari Vastavalo photos I mentioned earlier are available. There are more photos of Hanasaari than anyone would likely ever want but I suppose they're more interesting than pictures of food and feet. :)

permalink Ω 30 July 2004, Helsinki

Things that go blink in the night

« Dusk over the Hanasaari coal pile and the Vastavalo light installation. »

I have a love of all things that light up at night, like the Kide sculpture. Last month the Sanomat ran a picture of some glowing green things [which remind me of the luminescent esters we used to make in O-chem] next to the big pile 'o coal in Sörnäinen so I cut it out and made a note to make it up there at some point with my camera to take a photo of it.

We had decent weather on a recent evening so Jarkko carried my tripod, I grabbed the camera gear and we headed off for the glowing rods. While walking there we had to go through Merihaka which could only be described as a post-apocalyptic 1970s concrete and aluminum utopia made even creepier by it being devoid of any people anywhere. At some point a healthy looking young guy jumped out of the shadows asking for help which, from my being from US cities, I wasn't going to pay any attention [who doesn't carry a mobile in Helsinki?] to but Jarkko stopped and offered to call the police. It turned out that a really drunk guy was lying in a pool of blood in front of an entrance to one of the concrete blocks. The ambulance eventually arrived and the guy was ok if a bit hammered in the extreme. I was really happy to get out of there, no offense to the Merihaka residents, but to me it was just a really unsettling place at night. Maybe it's better during the daytime.

I set up my kit and waited for the lights to come on and looked at how pretty a city can become at night. The green lights tended to flicker on and off for an hour after dusk which was likely due to an overly sensitive photocell on the switch. I tried both 50mm and 35mm lenses, a variety of exposures and apertures and a few positions along the nearest point of land to the island. I'll probably go back with the pinhole and the 35mm lens and try a few other shots now that I have a better idea of what I want and will put them into a gallery sometime soon. The photo above was taken with the Leica with a 35mm/2.0 ASPH lens at f16 and a 15 sec exposure. The very small aperture is what causes the starlight effect on the sodium lights which is more attractive than the giant blob of light at f2 and a shorter exposure. The 50mm lens just couldn't take it all in. The Helsinki Energy web pages have an explanation about the installation in Finnish that Jarkko translated.

Hanasaari Art Installation Into Use

Coal Storage as part of the city landscape

The art Installation "Vastavalo" (The word can mean 'backlight' or, in this context, 'opposite light' for the lights opposite from Merihaka.), designed by architect Sakari Tilanterä, was unveiled in a ceremony in front of the power station on Sörnaisten rantatie on Friday, the 11th of June with representatives of the neighboring residences and businesses of the Hanasaari B power station in attendance.

The art installation consists of 56 apple green poles which form a fence circling the Hanasaari coal storage. The poles are lit with LED lights, the light reaches the eye of the viewer indirectly. The installation is lit in the evenings and nights and, during daylight hours, the green poles are visible against the black coal. The installation is implemented with energy saving LED lights representing the most modern lighting technology.

Architect Sakari Tilanterä says that the starting point for the design of the installation was urban landscaping. "I was asked to design an art installation that would enliven the coal storage of the power station in the eyes of the neighbors. The installation has been designed so that it is easily visible from Merihaka and its neighboring areas. This is exactly why a peaceful, natural light has been chosen; the installation must not disturb the night scenery, but instead enliven it in a good way."

The coal storage has inspired artists

The power station manager Hannu Kekkonen said in his dedication speech that the Hanasaari coal storage and art have previously had a lot in common. For example, in 1993 the artists Ritva Harle, Hanna Vainio, and Jukka Kuuranne designed and built an art installation called "Tulivuori" ("Volcano") into the coal storage using stripes of grass.

"Sakari Tilanterä, an architect who has been effecting the Hanasaari area architecture since the seventies has, at our behest, implemented an art installation that, without disturbing the operation of the power station, joins the power station in a new way as a part of the urban landscape and enlivens the coal storage for the enjoyment of our neighbors", said the Hanasaari power station manager Hannu Kekkonen.

permalink Ω 23 July 2004, Helsinki

Greasers

« Greasers without a ride wait for a taxi at the Rock 'n Roll McDonald's. The pompadours, the upturned collar and the boots are perfect. »

Some friends of ours live up by the Rock 'n Roll McDonald's in Helsinki. I suppose I had noticed it before but it just didn't register until I was staring at it and wondering what in the hell such a thing was doing here. I have been in the original one in Chicago before and found it excrutiatingly lame and I'm not surprised to read that they're renovating it next month.

We just happened to go in there after the Brian Setzer concert had finished so it was incredibly surreal to sit down in a cloyingly 50s kitsch dineresque McDonald's filled with greaser dudes in leather jackets and girls in poodle skirts. Even in the US this would seem really odd as it's more American than America itself. It was pretty cool to watch all the people, whom I must say have good taste in music since I love Brian Setzer, dressed up for the concert right down to the vintage cars. I don't know what started the 50s craze in the US in the 70s with Grease, Welcome Back Kotter and Happy Days but I thought that such nostalgia would have jumped the shark by now.

The parking lot was also packed with vintage 50s cruisers with tailfins and no rust anywhere. I've seen more beautiful classic automobiles in Helsinki than I ever did in the US outside of a classic car show. I suppose it's because the winter roads are salted so much back home that most of the cars have just dissolved over the years. On the first Friday of the non-winter months, the classic car people apparently gather at the Rock 'n Roll or the Ice Hall parking lot and proceed to cruise around downtown which certainly confused the hell out of me the first time I saw them. I'm in love with a powder pink Cadillac with giant tailfins but I'd be scared to try to park it within 10km of the city. Before the end of the summer I hope to get there in time to take some pictures and lust after a few of their cars. :)

permalink Ω 18 July 2004, Helsinki

Nyet Boris

Helsinki City Museum has an exhibition of Soviet knickers called Memory of the Body which conjures images of Boris Yeltsin's boxer shorts and implements of female torture through the ages. The banner (above) outside is adorable since it's a pair of long underwear, but this is where the cleverness ends. The press release is hyperbole at its finest:

Helsinki City Museum is to open an exhibition, "Memory of the Body", on 4 February 2004 in Hakasalmi Villa. Produced by St Petersburg City Museum, the exhibition closes at the end of July and examines the relationship of Soviet citizens and Soviet society to the body and corporality through underwear, dating from the 1920s to the 1980s.

The "Memory of the Body" exhibition integrates contemporary art techniques with museum objects. It highlights everyday underwear and shows how a totalitarian society extended its control right down to people's skin. The exhibition introduces a new perspective of Soviet object culture. The Soviet era is not viewed from the elevated echelons of power, ideology or politics, but from the grass roots level, the perspective of ordinary people.

I was filled with disappointment when Yeltsin's shorts, the ones he was wearing while bombed and dancing on the news way back when, were not included in the exhibit. There are a lot of bras, various nighties, archive photos of Russians in bathing costumes and Lomo-esque pictures of people in their undies but, for an exhibition that had so much promise I found it lacking in creativity. An underwear exhibit could be so much fun to assemble, but this has all the fun of white cotton underwear, the ones where the waist comes up to your boobs, just like your mother used to wear. All of the tags were only in Finnish or Swedish, too, which is odd for a Museum which should expect a large number of tourists and people who don't happen to speak either of them.

I did learn that Triumph makes more than automobiles that require a live-in mechanic, they also make lingerie. I haven't shopped for a bra since the fitting clerk at Victoria's Secret yelled across the store, "Hey, Julia, do you have the wonderbra in a 34A or 34AA? In black? Do they even bother with them that small?!", when every woman in the store turned to look at me with a pity-filled smirk. So...I'm not real up on the lingerie brands. If you've got an underwear fetish, especially a Russian fetish, nirvana awaits you at the Hakasalmi Villa just north of Kiasma.

permalink Ω 4 July 2004, Helsinki

Old Tall Ships

« A mast and sails on a Finnish Tall Ship during a 90 minute tour around Kruunuvuorenselkä on Helsinki Day. »

On Helsinki Day we got tickets for the Old Tall Ships Tour on the Inga-Lill. The Brits and the Dutch seem to titter at the Finnish tall ships since, of course, theirs are larger and they both had navies of some repute, but the Finns do like to remind them that without Finnish pine tar their boats would have sunk in rather short order. The day was as wet as it could be without it being a full monsoon which made it somewhat difficult to take pictures, but it was still a treat to ride out into open water under full sail without the help of an engine.

There is something terribly romantic about these wooden ships in an age of the giant metal cruise ships which insulate you as much as possible from the idea that you are on the water. The captain of the ship did give a reasonably long talk about the history of the tall ships in Finnish which I hope I have remembered correctly. The Inga-Lill was built in 1947, after WWII, as a cargo ship to transport goods around the Baltic and the archipelago. Most of the surviving tall ships were built around this period since there were a lot of idle shipwrights in the post-war slump and they needed work. When more modern cargo ships were developed these boats were left behind but have been restored to their original beauty in recent years thanks to enthusiasts and charter cruises. The crew mentioned that the Traditional Sailing Ships Association welcomes new members, which would be a really interesting thing to do, but I'm not much of a sailor. There is a very thorough tall ships website which has a lot of history and details on boats from many different countries and also the Maritime Museum of Finland which covers the history of the tall ships in Finland.

permalink Ω 30 June 2004, Helsinki

Pack an umbrella

« A soggy Helsinki Day on a Finnish tall ship. »

Helsinki will be empty by evening as people flee to their summer cottages to eat, drink and dance around the Juhannus bonfires. The forecast calls for rain through Sunday so it's sure to be a bit soggy and chilly....just like last year. It is supposedly summer, but I prefer to call it the 'not-winter' season since this weather is what we get in March back home. :) But, at least it's not snowing and what's not to love about white nights, cold beer and grilled sausages with friends even if a bit moist? I'm looking forward to getting out of the city and not doing Finnish homework for a week or so. Happy Juhannus to all. :)

permalink Ω 24 June 2004, Helsinki

Around the Solar System in an afternoon

« The pavilion where Uranus lives. »

A few weeks ago, Janne "Butt Ugly" Jalkanen mentioned a scale model of the Solar System in Helsinki which I hadn't ever heard about. I am, apparently, not alone in this as just about everyone I asked about it hadn't ever heard of it either, expat and native alike, which was rather surprising since it has been around since 1992. Jarkko found the Ursa Aurinkokunnan Malli website for me and I was fascinated by such magnificent nerd porn only a few kilometers away. :) After some prodding, he translated the directions for me and I rode the bus up to Pajamäki one afternoon with a map and my camera. Perhaps I'm just an easily entertained nerd, but this is the coolest thing since the MIT dome was adorned with a complete police car.

You can bicycle or walk around the model as a car tends to be rather cumbersome since the planets are situated in some out of the way places. The model was especially well placed for a long walk in the woods and around a few islands. Take a picnic and a big bottle of bug repellant. The Ursa pages frequently mention the visibility of the model of the Sun from the other planets but, maybe I'm getting old and going blind, unless you have x-ray vision or a pocket telescope it seems to be a bit of a stretch of the imagination.

Since I decided to make an English version of the pages, I also took the liberty to breathe a little love into the HTML and pictures since they've likely been the same for a decade. It's difficult to sex-up pictures of bits of metal atop grey concrete pillars, but I made an attempt anyway. The information guides have a really nice bicycling map with the locations of the planets, but I included one that I made since their map isn't available on-line. I moved the pages into XHTML 1.0 and kept much of the original design while bringing it into W3C compliance and added a few links and the navbar on the left. Jarkko did much of the translation, but I gave up torturing him and translated most of the guidemap texts at the bottom of the pages. I've got a tarball of it all which I'd like to offer to the Ursa folks if they're interested.

• The Scale Model of the Solar System
• A few extra photos and the rest in A Walk Around the Solar System

It seems a pity that such a neat installation should go so unnoticed, even when in plain view. I'd like to help replace Pluto and maybe get a day set aside during the dark months before the snow arrives where we can get dressed up as comets and ride around the model on our bikes, ending up at the Sun. The possibilities with day-glo, glo-sticks and battery powered lights could really make for a fun event. :) Bring back Pluto!

n.b. - Check out this scale solar system model in Maine with the nicely done planets and the "Spaced Out" plan for a scale model in the UK which would include Halley's Comet. Thanks Paul! :) And yet another one in Boston! How did I manage to miss that?!

permalink Ω 20 June 2004, Helsinki

Nature so close, it'd bite you in the arse if it could

« A wooden platform path over marshland at Villa Elfvik. »

A few weekends ago, before the weather went to the cold rainy pattern we've been having lately, Jarkko and I went to Villa Elfvik, a nature reserve and beautiful English-style Jugend home that has been beautifully restored. The house is gorgeous, but the nature paths along the Laajalahti nature reserve/marshes are the most astonishing feature. As we walked around the grounds, I kept thinking how unbelieveably close to downtown Helsinki it is and how it would have been made into strip malls decades ago if it were situated close to a city in the US. Finns are so lucky to have protected the natural habitat in and around the metropolitan area before strip malls became a permanent feature on the global landscape. Of course, like anything you grow up around and see every day, it takes a fresh eye to appreciate what you've got.

Inside the house is a small exhibit on natural resources in Espoo, a cafe (open only on the weekends), some history about the house and its inhabitants and beautiful art nouveau appointments. The house was built in 1904 for baroness Elvira Standerskjöld and there are some events planned to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The paths outside on the grounds are maintained and scenic and there is a narrow path of wood planks that leads south through the marshes towards Otaniemi that even has cows and sheep along the way. One bummer about wading through a swamp during the not-winter season is mosquitos so it might have been a good idea to have carried some repellant. There are bird observation towers at either end of the path which offer a nice view of the area, too.

• A small map of the nature reserve
• A small map of the location of Villa Elfvik
• Getting there: Take the train to Leppävaara and either walk or take the 52, 57, 106 or any number of other busses that stop at Ruukinranta crossing and follow the signs.
• Free entrance. Open every day of the week during the summer and closed on Saturdays during the winter months.
• Take bug spray. :)

permalink Ω 16 June 2004, Helsinki