hölynpöly

So this is Christmas...

2011-12-25T11:48:00.001+02:00

Joulukortti 2011 - jk @ arkkitehdas

Not catching up

2011-09-25T21:38:00.000+03:00

From St.Petersburg 2011

We went to a tuparit (house warming) yesterday (~~unfortunately~~ luckily no tales or photos of people misbehaving as we left by 10pm) and saw numerous people who we haven't seen in six months. We forgot the tradition present of bread and salt, but did manage to add to the pile of candle holders and lanterns...

When asked what we'd been up to I was surprised by how much we had been doing, like trips (and lots of photos of course) to Barcelona, St. Petersburg and Gotland. Also with my typical uselessness in social occasions I pretty much failed to find out what anyone else had been up to (well except Bore, I figured she had obviously moved house as it was her party) - I even failed to get the name of the friendly person who gave us a lift back home...

There was meant to be a clever point to this about catching up on news, people and uploading photos or something - but due to a dose of near-fatal man-flu I can't figure out how it goes now. Whatever...

Today I have the answer to the ultimate question

2011-09-20T21:56:00.000+03:00

...you know, Life, The Universe, Everything...

or

Kakiskymmentayksi vuotias - toista

Open (House) Helsinki 2011

2011-09-18T20:11:00.000+03:00

Apart from the fact that they can't decide if the event has the word 'house' in it or not, and there are also places in Espoo and Vantaa (well I suppose that is 'greater' Helsinki ) as you might guess this week was this year's opportunity to get into public and private buildings that you often can't. And ships.

Now we have a proper internet connection at last, I can finally upload a decent number of photographs with out waiting for Godot. Be afraid...

(Click on Picasa album links below for more pictures)

Open House Helsinki - saunalahden lastentalo

Open House Helsinki - Urho ja Sisu

Open House - Musikkitalo, WG Lofts, Stora Enso

Open House - Pyhän Laurin kappeli

This is not a blog post

2011-05-15T11:29:00.000+03:00

We have been exceedingly lazy on the blog front this year. If you are reading this via Facebook (as it posts as a note there automatically) you may not realise there are also so my tweets (via Twitter) on this page ... well occasionally. Luckily Sähkötonttu doesn't have a Twitter account.

You could always read 'Jees Helsinki Jees' while you are waiting, which I only recently found (when doing a search for Jonathan Glancey's critique of the new Musiikitalo in HS - 'kone ilman sielu') ... how have I missed this cool blog until now?

And now a list of things we haven't blogged about:

Elections
Spring
Metalligrafiikka courses (etching)
Keramiikka course (wobbly pots and other lumpy objects)
Finnish indie-pop music (Rubik, Regina, LCDMF)
Spotify
Radio Helsinki (finally a radio station I can live with)
Musiikitalo
Työ

Mistä olet sinä kotoisin?

2011-02-04T10:00:00.003+02:00

Great Eng..Brit..UK-land Isles (jne) by C.G.P. Grey via Holy Kaw and @stephenfry

One of the first things you learn in Finnish language lessons is the simple question 'Where are you from?'
What people don't always understand is that may not be as straightforward a query to answer as you might think... now all I need to do is translate the video* into Finnish. Or maybe make a t-shirt of that Venn diagram.

[suomen kielien kurssissa]

Opiskellija 1: Hei
Opiskellija 2: Moi
Missä sinä asut?
Asun Helsingissa. Olen asunnut suomessa noin kolme vuotta.
Mista olet sinä kotoisin? Oletko englantilainen?
Olen englannista, ~~mutta myös iso-brittaniasta ja brittein saarista ja u.k:sta~~
~~Mitä!?~~
~~Olen britti~~ ja englantilainen kyllä. ~~Mutta minun passini kertoo 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'~~
~~Kirja vain sanoo 'maa: englanti, keili: englantia, kansalaisuus: englantilainen - englannista...~~
~~Tiedän, mutta on monimutkainen maa.~~
~~Sitten... oletko irlantilainen myös?~~
~~En ole. Ihminen voi olla irlantilainen ja iso-brittanista, mutta ei aina.~~
~~En ymmärrä sinun maa!~~
~~Määt - monikko.~~ OK. Sinun vuoro. Mistä sinä...

Opettaja: Oletteko valmis seuraava harjoitus?

I wonder if there is a video to explain London, Greater London, Inner London, Central London, London Boroughs and City of London...

---
* Arguably there are still a few inaccuracies in this video. Or possibly sarcasm. See the comments on 'Holy Kaw' here.

Non-Angry Birds

2011-02-01T10:00:00.000+02:00

Sorsa X Tööllönlahden lähellä sunnuntaina: 'En ole vihainen lintu'

If you live in Finland or read any 'tech'/games media (or own an iPhone) you probably don't need me to tell you about Angry Birds (Vihaiset Linnut) the hit game developed in Finland by Rovio (and no. 1 downloaded paid app just about everywhere). Over Christmas Konna and I discovered the phenomenon and quickly became addicted. I even had to get the Mac version for her to play while I was away so she would let me take my iPod with me... I'm convinced that even though the birds and green pigs (don't ask) only make nonsense noises, you can tell they have Finnish accents. And just to rub it in on one level the linnut are attacking a 'tank' manned (pigged?) by said vihreät siät flying a ruotsalainen lippu (thats the blue and yellow flag of the country just to the left of us in case you were wondering).

On Sunday we went for a four hour walk ~~around~~ across Hakaniemenlahti and Töölönlahti (just getting used to taking winter short cuts after three years). The sky was gloriously clear and blue, though the wind was fierce, so ideal for ~~a few~~ (~~dozen~~) about a hundred photos. Stopping to look at the ducks and snow sculptures, we then headed past the Olympic stadium, where traditionally clad skaters were flocking for the first ever public access to the temporary ice rink, and then through Sibeliuksenpuisto to the my favourite, the fantastically unorthodox Cafe Regatta - only to discover we had the sum total of eight euros* between us for a lunch. We settled for freshly baked korvupuustia and a shared coffee... and luckily coffee refills get a five cent refund making it a bottomless cup. As I said - unorthodox.

Crossing Töölönlahti

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* Not enough for two drinks and two pullaa, let alone lunch. And Regatta isn't particularly expensive.

Reverse culture shock

2011-01-27T15:08:00.001+02:00

Konna's tea shipment

Something I noticed while back in UK was that I have now been away long enough to notice and be surprised by things which were part of my everyday life not so long ago. Some examples:

First, an obvious one - how busy, diverse, big and loud London is compared to Helsinki (remember the population of London is bigger than the population of Finland). Especially on the Underground.
Cold and damp - walking to a gig in Portsmouth I was shivering, even though it was +3°C and I was well dressed. The cold, damp air was penetrating; give me -7°C here in desiccated Helsinki any day.
Draughty houses; heating and plumbing. You know how the stereotypical American tourist laughs at our quaint houses and antiquated water heating arrangements? I stayed in three houses (between 50 and 150 years old); each was prone to cold, draughts, and running out of hot water. Oh for district heating, double windows (with triple glazing), and insulation to cope with -20°C. And mixer taps.
The dark nights. A bit counterintuitive this one. When I was picked up from Gatwick I was taken aback by the dark: no snow. In Helsinki we have had snow since early November, so have missed out on those really dark days and long nights.
Choice and cost. Shops with different products from each other. Specialist shops with myriad brands and ranges. Even with VAT up to 20% still cheaper than Finland in almost every case (except housing). Outlet shops. TKMaxx!
TV adverts in English. Weird.
Landscape. Rolling countryside, oak trees, hedges.
New buildings. From the half-built 'Shard' in London to the Big Yellow storage in Camberley - I was only here a year ago right?
Driving on the left again. Trying not to drive like a Finn at motorway junctions...
Food - okay if you are French, Italian, (or quite a few other nationalities) you will be surprised that there is anything to miss on, but: Fish & Chips (preferably takeaway). 'Italian' pizza. British sausages. Sunday roast. Marmite. English full breakfast (not cooked by me!)

And the biggest surprise: after only a week I was starting to miss Finland.

Un-boxing days

2011-01-26T17:36:00.002+02:00

Twinkle kept out of Heisenburg's boxes

I'm sure our boxes had been breeding - there is no way we left a whole room full last year...

Although I had two weeks to do it, seeing a room full of 34 boxes, 2 chairs, 2 glass tables, 1 rug, 2 shelves, several large framed pictures, a drawing board, several portfolio cases, and a crate and several blue Ikea bags of miscellaneous 'stuff' (1950's radio anyone?) and a cat* made me think I had my work cut out for me. I actually wondered if I would have time to visit friends in Pompey** and Town*** as promised.

The worst thing is that I had to unpack the whole lot to see what is actually in them, including several sub-boxes (think Russian dolls) which had been following me around since I was a student. They probably have historical significance of some kind by now. But the worst thing was trying to limit the number of items to be taken to Finland to only six boxes (failed - there are 8 boxes and 1 tube on the way) without leaving too many boxes behind (and the room half full still).

Actually the worst thing was that a lot of the stuff was Konna's and not mine, including her own stashes of student work, memorabilia. And dozens of unlabeled CD-roms. And shoes. And pens (approx 100). And jigsaw puzzles of maps. And globes. And photos. And her mask collection.

But really the worst thing was trying to decide what to throw away, what to re-pack, what to put on eBay, and what to put on Lil' Sis's 'honest-I'll-take-it-to-a-car-boot-sale-when-I'm-back-from-Australia' pile and what to keep. In fact at one stage there were several Heisenberg-esque boxes of items of uncertainty fluctuating between all four states (luckily I kept the cat out of those) - especially until conference calls via Skype to Konna suomessa - having slow/unreliable connections at both ends and the worst webcam in the world at my end didn't help much either. At one point I considered hiring a skip, getting rid of the lot and having a two week holiday.

One thing that also didn't help (although not the worst thing) was that every item put on eBay took time away from sorting out another box. On the plus side I eventually sold 21 items and made around £16.66 on average per item - which was just enough to pay my TKMaxx shopping bill...

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*A real cat, called 'Twinkle'. It had adopted the pile of boxes as it's sleeping spot, but was quite curious to investigate any open ones too. As it is long haired this was useful for dusting purposes.
** For the benefit of non-Brits / Jos et ole britti: Pompey=Portsmouth
***Ditto: Town=(Central) London sama kuin Stadi=Helsinki slangiksi. This also confused my Gran who though I was referring to the local town of Camberely, which needless to say doesn't require an overnight stay when visiting

Boxing Days

2011-01-09T20:28:00.005+02:00

These are not my shoes left in a box in England...

Okay the title sounds a few weeks late* (a bit like the updating of this blog), but anyway in a few days I am heading back to Blackwater/Hawley (whichever it is - even though GoogleMaps claims it is Frogmore!) for a few weeks of sorting through boxes. Yes these are the boxes of 'precious' items (aka junk) that got packed up over three years ago, spent over a year in storage in London, got moved to a spare room in my mother's house and have survived various attempts at selecting useful/desired things to bring over here.
Originally we didn't have room, but now we have a whole flat to ourselves I can't really put off bring the last things here - and ridding my mum of the rest so she can get her spare room back. To help with that I have been eBay-ing things that I thoughtfully photographed for that purpose last time I was at home... 15 months ago. I also plan to do some more of this - although as an eBay seller virgin I am not sure how that will go.

Konna, meanwhile, is staying home and hoping not to leave her keys and phone in the flat when she goes to work (for a change).

Talking of boxes: my mum sent me a Christmas Pudding (for christmas obviously), and I was amused to see on the box that it was from New Zealand... so was somewhat high on food miles by the time it arrived in Helsinki via UK. Tasty though.

*As you may notice I wrote this before I went away and forgot to post it - but time shifted blogging is something you should be used to from hölypöly by now.... emmdee 26.1.11

Hyvää Joulua kaikille!

2010-12-24T08:00:00.020+02:00

Joulukortti 2010 © Arkkitehdas / Mark Davies

Happy Christmas, Hyvää Joulua, God Jul, Frohe Weihnachten, Joyeaux No el, Feliz Navidad, j.n.e and similar Juletide Greetings from emmdee, konna (and the tonttu) at hölypöly

Lost Posts: TdS day 6 & 7

2010-12-22T12:00:00.190+02:00

Kirkkovene / Church boat at Sulkava - photo by konna.

Something I forgot to mention earlier (and as she hasn't even read, let alone posted to, the blog recently she didn't notice until now) all the photos during our 'Tour de Saimaa' (TdS) cycling trip were taken by Konna and not by me as I didn't take my 'big' camera - and even though they are on my Picasa album rather than hers (well if I had waited for her to do it... said the pot of the kettle). Anyway, moving on...

Rowers setting off for 60km overnight race

Kuudes päivää: lauantai 10. heinäkuu - Sulkavalla ja Sulkavalta Juvalle (n. 38 km pyöraily)

On Day 6 such as follows may have happened:

Konna recovered from the previous days trials and tribulations and made me get up early much to my disgust
Eschewing bicycles temporarily we took a madly driven shuttle bus before breakfast or even coffee (!) to the Sulkava soutu/kirkkovene (rowing/church boat) 60km competition start by the bridge at Hakovirta
After watching team and individual starts (and wishing I also had my camera) we take a slightly calmer driven bus back to town
Additional insect repellant, bite treatment and suncream is purchased
We set off late morning under a cloudless sky; there is a distinct lack of shade today (but less insects)
I start to struggle in heat/sun after only 20km; have an awful headache - maybe caffeine withdrawal?
I have to stop in a less than pleasant spot for early 'lunch' break - Konna later claims I go to sleep under a bush in a ditch
After Kyrsyä there is more shade, but also back to small hills, gravel & dust; we are now short of water/recovery drinks
We eventually hit the Savonlinna road where there is a bensa-asema/kahvila; we sit on their terrace in sweaty, dusty cycling gear and consume those cycling staples of icecream, coffee, cake and crisps, then refill our waterbottles

Rowers preparing

Camp next to Jukajärvi (Juva lake) at Juva Camping

Seitsemas päivää: suununtai 11. heinäkuu - Juvalla

The next day (which is a Sunday) we take as another rest day, so in the afternoon after a morning swim we

Visit strange little local museum/gallery (great display on milking)
Go shopping
Wash some smalls
Swim some more
Chill out on the shore
Eat ranskalaiset
Prepare and organise for the next few days activities...

View Day 6 in a larger map

Lost Posts: TdS day 5

2010-12-22T08:00:00.004+02:00

If you use enough sauce you can't see the fishes looking at you

Viides päivä: perjantai 5. heinäkuu, Savonlinnasta Sulkavaan (noin 44+ kilsa)

Day 5 of our summer Tour de Saimaa, in which we...

Get immediately lost on leaving the campsite by trying to find a postbox
Have novelty of clouds and showers (but still 27°!)
Encounter the odd mosquito as we enter the forest... and some trickier gravel roads
Roads and amount of bugs get worse; Konna is struggling on the short but sharp hills - I am unsure if she is flapping her arms to get up them or get rid of the insects that seem to prefer her to me
To add injury to insult a dog then decides to 'see us off' and nips Konna on the ankle
Are really please to find a little sheltered picnic table at Pihlajalahti to stop at after 25km of forest tracks
And are actually pleased to be back on the 'proper' road again
See lots of cars towing rowing boats

We I make camp at the foot of a skijump hill (in the temporary Sulkava campsite). Konna ~~claims to be~~ is understandably ihan poikki (completely shattered) after 44km + insect & dog bites and refuses to help (although somehow manages to summon the strength to take a photo of me trying to put the tent up)
Have a sauna, swim in the river; feel better
Join the crowds and have a Finnish fry-up from street vendor; feel even better
Find wooden 'church' rowing boats parked either side of our tent - now what could be going on here?

View Day 5 in a larger map

V**** jääpuikut

2010-12-21T00:01:00.013+02:00

Jääpuikut

Moika perkelet! Ha-ha säkhö-tonttu on takaisin!!!

Lyön vetoa juuri ne hitto bloggaajia oli päässyt eroon minusta. No nyt ne löytää sen ole niin helppo päästä eroon nykyajan tonttu, joka voi käyttää internetiä. Höpsis-Blogi on hakkeroitu taas. Jos teidän laajakaista ei ole niin paska voisin löytänyt teitä aikaisemmin.

Niiden web-cam näen §*#%* valtava jääpuikkoja ja jopa isompi pelle katolla ilman turvaköyteen. Typerä.

Kyllä, kusihousut sähkö-tonttu on takaisin! Ihminen tottuu kaikkeen, paitsi jääpuikkoon takamuksessa (se ehtii sulaa enne kuin tottuu...)

Kallio snow globe

2010-12-20T18:00:00.002+02:00

Kallion kirkko yesterday

It's a bit strange writing about summer (see lost posts - like you can miss them) when even in Kallio it is like being in a snow globe recently.

Life in the freezer

We braved the weather yesterday (another 10-15cm) to wade to the YLE / Euroradio Christmas concert in Kallio kirkko - while my Mum listened to it live on BBC Radio 3 in UK while the snow fell outside her window. It's a small (snowy) world.

Back home with visitors for glöggiä ja joulutorttuja we looked out the window and tutted at the multi-coloured disco lights on the neighbouring 'talo' (apartment block) tree in their yard (don't they know that everyone in Finland has monochromatic, usually white, lights?).

Our 'house' tree

We ourselves have two trees (courtesy of Dorma, Inlook, Kone, Pilkington, Rakla ja Sapa Building Systems) from the annual architect's joululounas (christmas lunch) at Finlandia talo. As you can imagine with a free lunch and a tree each on offer, it is somewhat popular, even if you have to do a pop quiz on all the reps new products to actually get fed. And that's after getting a ticket (involving booking via internet at 9am on the dot, a bit like Glastonbury it sells out in an hour!). Before anyone asks - we gave one of the trees away (to Hiiri) which involved me carrying it on the Metro to Mellunmäki...

We were also a bit surprised to see that some joulutonttu had been up on the garage roof in our 'house' piha (yard) to somehow attach a tree there for us all to gaze down on (well those flats that face the yard anyway)... especially as they had to dig a path across the roof to get there.

Talking of tonttuja (elves), I have a bad feeling that something is coming back other than joulupukki...

Lost Posts: TdS day 4

2010-12-20T10:00:00.003+02:00

The view of Olavinlinna being spoilt by some cyclist: Kesä10 - Lost Postcards

Neljas Päivää: Savonlinnassa (vielä 16km pyöräily)

Day 4 (a so-called 'rest day') in which we:

Saimaa steamboat

Washed some clothes and left them to dry in the blazing sun
Freewheeled down the hill into town
Had an icecream
Took a tour of Olavinlinna (Olaf's Castle) where the opera festival is held (and heard singers practicing as we go)
Almost broke my neck trying to walk up/down uneven stone spiral staircases in cycling shoes
Had a fancy lunch on a shady terrace and another icecream
Sat in the park while eating an icecream
Took a steamboat cruise
Watched the dark storm clouds roll in across the lake, and lightning flash in the distance
Bought too much food in the supermarket
Waited an hour for the massive downpour to let up (it rained so hard the night's opera had to be cancelled due to the noise!)
Cycled through the lakes and streams up the bastard hill
Washed our not-very-dry washing again (and paid to use the 'drying room')

Gathering clouds over Savonlinna

Lost Posts: TdS Day 3

2010-12-20T01:00:00.002+02:00

What is that stupid piece of plastic for anyway?

I'm guessing that reading all these overlong Lost Posts of summer / cycling tour blogs is almost as hard work as writing them, so in the interests of speeding things up (so there is a chance they are done with before next summer) I'm changing to a more abridged and less windy style. You hope...
___

Kolmas päivä: keskiviiko 7. heinä: Kerimaan Camping:sta Savonlinnaan (noin 35km pyöräillä)

Day 3
In which we:

Take a big detour to avoid the main road
Follow the cycle route onto impassable sandy paths (gee I love pushing my overloaded bike)
Get hot and thirsty
Jam my back wheel somehow
Fix my back wheel (swiss army knifes have a tool for everything)
Take a detour to find a place to eat late lunch
Get caught in a downpour while eating lunch
Run down several opera festival goers in Savonlinna
Discover the enormous hill to get to the campsite
Have to camp half way down the other side of the hill
Have a sauna and swim in a warm lake

View Day 3 + rest day 4 in a larger map

Eduskunta

2010-12-19T12:43:00.001+02:00

Luckily Finland has a substantial paper industry: Winter 2010

A couple of weeks ago we did one of those touristy things you never seem to do when living in you home country/city. In this case visiting Suomen eduskuntatalo - Finland's parliament building.

Finland's parliament is unicameral i.e has only one 'house' of 200 members, unlike say the UK parliament which is bicameral having a lower house of 650 MPs (or 'Commons') and an upper house of 741 Peers (or 'Lords'). The UK parliament is older, bigger and more complicated than Finland's (and some would argue more antiquated) but it seems politicians (and Prime Ministers) are much the same everywhere. Finland's Parliament was also the first in the world to have female MP's as well as being one of the first (after New Zealand) to give women the vote. There is lots more info in english ja suomeksi on Wikipedia.

The bigger, older and more complicated labeling certainly applies to the buildings as well as the institutions. Siren's externally restrained, austere (and perhaps dull and lumpen in my mind) grey neo-classical box (built 1926-31) is a far cry from Barry and Pugin's explosion of perpendicular gothic for the Palace of Westminster (built between 1840-70). The interiors are somewhat richer with it's polished marble and grand staircases, but also included all the latest 20's technology, efficiancy and thinking - with electric vote indicators and paternoster lifts, and non-confrontational horseshoe debating chamber.

As impressive as the debating chamber, and grand state hall are, the undoubted centre of power is the 'canteen' where MPs make deals under the polished green ceiling with kahvi ja pulla.

Maybe I should visit Westminster Palace one day...

A Rare Finnish Export?

2010-12-13T08:00:00.004+02:00

"Just before the first snow of winter falls, professional hunters begin their work. The long process of tracking, hunting and transforming this king of the forest into a finished product is a time consuming process, but the final outcome is a reason to celebrate" Rare Exports Inc.

I first came across the Rare Exports short films about five years ago in London at a Finnish film festival at the Barbican. In amongst the subtitled darkness of Louhimies' Paha Maa ('Frozen Land' - although paha literally translates as bad or evil) and a brace of painterly and bleak yet comedic Kaurismäki's* (such as Kauas pilvet karkaavat or 'Drifting Clouds') were two short interlopers directed by Jalmari Healander revealing the 'real' story behind Finland's most famous seasonal and rare export... (which can both be seen here)

Now there is a full length feature also released in UK, so if any of you in Blighty get a chance to see it do - and experience some seasonal Finnish language and humor with the advantage of english sub-titles where needed (unlike us poor english speaking Helsinki dwellers). While it hasn't had the best reviews, mainly because the ending doesn't quite live up to the rest of the film, it still raises a (dark) chuckle or two.

Actually this is the first Finnish language film I have been to see at the cinema here, I've watched plenty on DVD with subtitles, and have got used to Finnish & Swedish sub-titles on English language films, but was pleasantly surprised at how well I followed suomeksi (Stadi Helsinki slang in Lapland anyone?). And no, the ruotsi sub titles really weren't much help!

UK dwellers can use this to find where 'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' can be seen, tai jos olette suomessa - mene Finnkinoon!

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* Aki is apparently famous for saying in that he directed half of his films while sober and half when drunk, and yet nobody can tell the difference. Also, for all you Finnish language students, it's worth remembering that as his character's usually speak 'hypercorrect literary language' (which is pretty much never spoken in real life) and also say very little anyway, it makes his films good practice for watching with the sub-titles turned off.

Lost post 6: Tour de saimaa day 2

2010-12-12T21:49:00.006+02:00

Kerimäki kirkko - big in metric and imperial dimensions

Lusto (in a less sunny 2008)

So to continue from last time in our 'lost summer blogs' series...

Next morning was another scorcher, and as we had a short leg and a whole day we started off with a detour back to the Lusto suomen metsämuseo forestry museum which has a loop of the cycle route around it's arboretum. As we had visited before (well worthwhile by the way considering the importance of forestry to Finland and to understand the hardships people went through in the past working the forests) we only stopped for postikortit, kahvia ja pullaa.

Boathouses in Kerimäki

After that soft start we skipped the nearby Retretti art centre (feeling self conscious dressed in sweaty cycling gear and continued on to Kerimäki. Here we stopped by the local ranta (beach, shore) and had our lunch under some trees while the locals cleaned their carpets on the pier (this is a curious Finnish custom which I can't see catching on in UK) while their kids cooled off in the water. We then headed back into town, and laboured up the hill to the oversized Kerimäki kirkko (the largest wooden church in the world, and not because of a mix up between feet and metres). Having completed our sightseeing for the day (and bought more postcards) we made a supply stop at the nearby interchangeable S/K-market.

From there we headed towards the camping ground on the road toward Savonlinnä, another less pleasant busy route. This led to another unintended detour as we eagerly turned off the main road to follow the cycle route only to miss the campsite as it was on the main road... though to be fair the map was less than clear. In contrast to the last campsite this one was deserted of people, but made up for it with bugs. Oh well, that's what the insect repellant's for... at least we had another terrace to drink on in the late evening sun to recover after another 40km. Next stop - Savonlinnä.

View Day 2 in a larger map

Dear (secret) santa

2010-12-08T09:00:00.002+02:00

One of our family (pre)-Christmas traditions is the writing and exchange of Christmas lists. It never really occurred to me until recently how potentially strange it is for a grown man to be writing a list 'for santa' still, although these days it is an email that goes to Mum and siblings. We don't think it strange, quite useful in fact to have a few hints, especially when you don't see each other much, but Konna has always found the whole thing odd and refuses to write a list for herself (and looks oddly at whatever item I have suggested to some member of my family). On the other hand she usually agrees or even buys herself, her present from her Mum, and is certainly not above heavy hints to me. At least our way there is some element of surprise...

This year we are making a major change to our tradition in that we are testing a secret-santa present system (i.e. buying only 1 'main' present for a random sibling/parent, and small stocking/tree gifts for the rest), which has been greeted with some skepticism. Unfortunately my siblings don't seem to have thought about the 4x extra buying power per gift this system implies (or have I just inferred it?). I was looking forward to being able to get someone a 'better' present this year - but the suggestions are rather meager, which means I am desperately wracking my brain and surfing the internet for inspiration...

Personally I think writing a good christmas list is an art, and my lists are (of course) far superior to my siblings in imagination and scope. There are certain rules to the form:

There shall be at least 1 unfeasibly expensive item (in case someone wins the lottery)
There shall be more items on the list than members of family (that surprise element)
There be at least 1 extremely boring and mundane item that you actually need
There shall be a range of similar items (e.g. 3 different DVD's so you don't know which one you're getting when you're unwrapping the package)
The thing you really, really want shall be in the middle of the list somewhere (to see if someone has been listening to hints)
There shall be at least 1 item it is impossible to buy
There shall be 1 item that was on last year's list

Writing the list has just become part of the seasonal ritual, like making mince pies and decorating the tree. But when it comes down to it I don't really care what I actually get, anything nicely wrapped works for me. Being there to give out the presents is much more fun, especially when you see you got the 'right' things (and particularly when it wasn't on a list). Maybe next year...

antigravity wax and red carpets

2010-12-07T09:00:00.003+02:00

Up is the new down for wax drips in Finland

Yesterday was itsenäisyyspäivä (independance day) - and is understandably a special day in Finland.
This leaves me with two questions:

Why do 2.3 million Finns (out of 2.4 million TV households) celebrate by watching linnan julat the most boring television event imaginable? (Live coverage of a queue of 1800 overdressed people arriving for a party...)
What do they put in the celebratory sininen ja valkoinen candles? (See picture above).

Any scientific/rational solutions for either would be appreciated...

lost post 5: tour de saimaa (day 1)

2010-12-05T14:04:00.001+02:00

Postcard from Punkaharju via

As you may have gathered by now, we (by which I mean I) am doing a catch-up series of 'lost' posts about what we did last summer. A very late back to school essay if you like. Anyway in the last episode our heroes were about to embark on an epic trip around Finland... well, a bit of cycling and camping around the north-west corner of Saimaa anyway...

1. päivä: maanantai 5. heinä: Helsingista Parikkalaan (junalla) / Parikkalasta Punkaharjuun (pyöräillä)

After loading up the bikes (while Jonna ran round making sure the Isänöitsiä had our new spare keys for the workmen, as the other spare keys were with Hiiri for plant watering duty) we headed of for the station in already blazing morning sunshine. Since we were now at the top of Kallio, this meant an interesting lesson on heavy bikes braking badly on cobbles on steep hills on the way. By the time we had wrestled our bikes and luggage on to the double-decker train (and defeated the Krypton factor cum torture device hanging bike rack) we were already hot and thirsty.

View Day 1 in a larger map - spot the detour?

We arrived in Parikala early afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to get to Kesämaa Punkaharju Camping near Retretti, theoretically less than 40km, and also theoretically a quite straightforward route. We soon hit one of the problems of this tour route (compared to Ahvenamaa say), with a stretch of the route on the busy main road with no cycle path. Luckily we could eventually turn off following the national cycle route 14 on to the quiet old road (Vanha Viipurintie) running roughly parallel which was much more pleasant. This was fine until we got to a slightly strange twisted crossroads which suggested route 14 went straight or right... but oddly not from the road we came from, so we carried on 'straight' under my confident assertion it must be the way, and which started to turn left before leaving the shady trees onto a more open dusty road. In hindsight that change in direction should have given me a clue to check the compass, before we had travelled 5km in the wrong direction...

Which way?

After correcting that small error and adding a further 5km we continued and got into the picture postcard parts of Saimaa - the narrow ridges of forested land between lakes.

Eventually we arrived at the campsite, after almost 50km, quite hot, tired and sore from the first day of cycling. We discovered the tent area to be very busy (unusually so in fact) but being a Glastonbury veteran this wasn't a bother. After pitching camp and the necessary shower, we took advantage of being in a large family holiday campsite and opted for herring pizza's and beer/cider on the cafe terrace - luxury camping!

Herring pizza

Joulukuu

2010-12-01T10:00:00.030+02:00

advent candle

If you are a regular reader (hello Mum!) you might remember that we did a blog-a-day joulukalenteri (advent calendar) on Finnish Christmas/Jule traditions a couple of years ago. Hardly the most original idea ever, but amongst our most highly 'read' posts (all those finnish kids googling joulutorttu and himmeli...)

Konna and I did talk about doing something similar again this year but here we are 1. joulukuussa... But hey, it may be snowy and -15°C outside, but you can read our 'lost posts' of summer instead, and remember the +30°C and sunshine.

So, notice anything different today?

Lost Post 4: What not to take on a bike ride

2010-11-30T10:00:00.039+02:00

Hazards for cyclists... From Kesä10 - lost postcards

Imagine it is the middle of summer again - heinäkuu 2010 to be exact - remember the blue skies, 20 hours of light, 30+°C heat? You are going with your partner on a ten day cycling/camping holiday around Saimaa, starting in Parikala and ending with a few days at a friend's mökki near Haukivouri (see map) - about 350km in all. You can't be sure if the weather will hold, and for every cyclists's instinct shouting 'travel light' there is the camper's instinct whispering 'be prepared'. It may be warm and dry today, but it could be 10° colder, wet and windy in a weeks time. What do you take?

If you are me, you consider the last trip, then make a list divided into essential, preferable and optional. And then do a test pack to check how it will actually fit in the panniers. If you are Konna you put things in the bags until there is no more room the night before... and hope you don't need anything else. Guess who usually forgets something mildly important while taking along one or more totally useless items (a torch, in midsummer anyone? How about two?) - yep, me!

As well as balancing the damn things, another issue which I get quite testy about is where things are in your bags (especially when sharing panniers) - but when it's pouring with rain you don't want to have to empty out your bag at the side of the road to find your waterproofs at the bottom (or do you Konna?).

Load up (yes this is all going on my bike...) : From Kesä10 - lost postcards

emmdee's checklist

Essentials...

Bikes (clean, check brakes, tyres, etc, lubricate chain, attach rack etc a week before)
Panniers, pannier covers, bar bag, bungie straps; saddle/stem bag; SMALL backpack (for money, phone, keys, energy bars - not luggage... right); waterproof inner bags
Tent; Additional ground sheet; additional 'super' tent-pegs
Sleeping mats; Sleeping bags
Bike tools: multi-tool, oil, puncture repair kit; Pump; Spare inner tubes; lube; greasy rag
Map(s) and directions, booking info etc.; Compass; map case; bike trip computer
First aid kit (including punki remover, kyypakaus snake venom antidote and insect bite gel/spray); survival foil blanket
Suncream (factor 30+) x2; insect repellant spray and spiralli; hand cleanser; tissues
Water bottles x2 and camel/platypus bag each thing (refill whenever possible)
Plastic bowl/plate & cup; cutlery; sharp knife (puukko); small insulated bag (to try to keep cheese, salami etc fresh); lightweight camping cookware; matches in watertight box; camping kettle
Travel washing up liquid; sponge; drying up cloth
Tea bags; instant coffee/cappuccino; hot chocolate sachets; sugar; energy drink powder sachets x10;
1-2 days food for two (renew daily): bread/rolls; sliced cheese/salami; half cucumber; tomato; 6x juice drinks; cereal/'energy' bars x6; apples x2; bananas x4; instant pasta meal sachet
'Emergency' food for two: expedition food pouches x4
Spare ziplock bags; black bin bags (have a multitude of uses); toilet roll
Clothes line/string; clothes pegs; Y3 hand wash powder sachets
Chamois cream (you know for...)
Cash (in waterproof bag); credit card; ID; Phone and charger (in watertight bag)
Cycle clothes (1 set being worn!): 2x cycle shorts; 1x cycle leggings; 3x cycle tops (short sleeved); 1x cycle top (long sleeved); Light fleece; Rain jacket; cycle socks x4; waterproof socks; cycle shoes; helmet; sunglasses; clear cycling glasses; cycle shoes; cycle mitts
Campsite/town clothes: Shorts; lightweight long trousers; underwear x2; socks; sandals; hat;
Travel wash kit; toothbrush; Travel towel; Contact lenses travel kit; glasses (case)
Pen (for postcard writing)
Penknife/swiss army knife; Whistle
Torch; spare batteries (depends on time of year!)

Optional...

Camping stove - usually Finnish campsites have cooking facilities (except for temporary ones like in Sulkava) but if you are camping in the forest...
Earplugs (some campsites can be noisy, especially if you want an early night...)
Mallet (cycling shoes work equally well)
Camera and charger (in waterproof bag) - consider size and value of camera against desire to record and blog trip afterwards...
iPod touch and charger (in waterproof bag) vs. paperback novel and address book
Inflatable pillow
Collapsible bowl (if you are not at a campsite and want to wash...)
Electric toothbrush (if you are Konna)

I'm almost tempted to find all this stuff and lay it out. Almost. Seriously, this is the third or fourth time we have done this type of trip and we try to omit more each time, but it still all seems too much weight, and everything seems to gets used... well except the torches and fleece this year.

Hints for new cycle tourers:

Plan route and stopping points well in advance (location of campsites are the key)
Use the national cycle network, which is (mostly) signposted; avoid major roads - but remember Finnish side roads are often loose gravel which is difficult with narrow tyres and heavy loads
Buy a proper cycle map - e.g. Fillari/Pyöräily GT 1:200 000
Overnight cottages are good alternative/break from camping (especially on longer legs)
To estimate your 'daily time/distance' take into account terrain, road type, fitness levels, rest periods/days, attractions to visit, shopping, ferry/train times, allowance for getting lost, punctures etc. NB: This calculation may take several months to work out, and still be found to be completely wrong when on the tour...
If you are not a frequent cyclist already get some practice the month before
Service your bike before the trip, particularly brakes (the bike will be HEAVY)
Pack light! [cough] Invest in good panniers; consider front panniers and/or bar bag to spread load
Practice riding with the bike loaded up - if you haven't done it before / in a while it takes some getting used to!
Be safe, be seen - helmet, lights, reflectors, use road sense and follow the rules...
If you are traveling alone, leave details of route with someone (in case of emergency)
Get someone to water houseplants / pets / children while away
Have fun!

Finnish road sign for bicycle chicken... via vdubbusrider/photobucket

Lost Post 3: Pesis

2010-11-28T10:00:00.003+02:00

Pesäpallo: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

What is the national sport of Finland?

First thoughts go to ice hockey, followed shortly by jääpallo (ice hockey with a ball), mäkihyppy (ski jumping), and rally driving (although maybe that's just a mode of transport to the match).

But apparently some claim it is pesäpallo or pesis. Well maybe in the summer. If you live in what Konna disparagingly refers to as 'middle-finland' - Helsinki doesn't even have a pesäpallo stadium these days...

This meant that to see the Itä-Lansi (East v West) game held in Helsinki this year we had to go to the Finnair stadium next to the Olympic stadium, in the blazing sunshine and 30°C heat on the 4th of July. Any Americans turning up for an Independance day baseball match will have been somewhat confused...

Despite it's superficial similarity to baseball, softball or rounders I can report that it is actually more like the complete opposite (while retaining the hitting a small sphere with a stick and running). One almost suspects that Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala looked at those games in the 20's and deliberately decided to make the rules as different as possible. (Eg. If you hit the ball out of the ground it is not a home run, you are out. If the ball is caught you are not out unless tagged). Anyway Itä destroyed the west team, by the way. Apparently the teams were so unbalanced it was a boring game, as strategy is usually a key part of it.
Not that I could tell...

Same old same old

2010-11-26T14:00:00.002+02:00

Not the view from my window: From Favourites

Like the UK, we are also having an early cold and snowy winter in Finland and looking to last another week at least... -33°C in Lapland last night and -16 forecast here for the weekend. Even in Helsinki we have about 10cm of snow on the ground, which we've had for a couple of weeks now. Our newly purchased thermometer tells me it has warmed up a few degrees and now is only -10.6°C outside. After last winter it all seems pretty common place now (not having a picturesque view from my window, makes it all seem a bit wasted somehow) but good news for all those enthusiasts who got excited and bought new skis last year I guess!

I really must buy a proper winter coat this year...

Lost Post 2: veden varaan

2010-11-25T10:00:00.003+02:00

Veden Varaan was the no.1 platinum album by PMMP (2009)

Still waiting for a review from Breaking More Waves though...

It seems to me that the Finns have the same wary relationship to water (vesi, vetä, veden) and damp in the home as the Brits do to electricity (sähkö) - treat as a potential hazard (varaa).

In Britain we have fuses on everything, ring mains, plugs the size of a brick, and are (apparently) terrified of the thought of light switches without pull cords in our bathrooms, let alone power sockets or appliances - or at least the people who wrote our regulations were. Meanwhile we Brits seem to accept a bit of damp in our walls and when was the last time anyone in UK switched the water off to their washing machine or dishwasher between uses? And do we put our washing machine in our bathroom (with a power socket next to the shower) with a fully 'wet' i.e. tiled and drained floor just in case there is an overflow? Or on a special plastic tray for the same purpose? Back Suomessa while you can't wire a switch to a two pin plug and know which pole will be live or neutral, every kitchen sink in Finland has an extra tap or two for the washing appliances.

Anyway that is all a bit of an aside to the continuation of the first Lost Post, but does relate to our problems.

So when we moved in (back in super hot June if you remember) we only need to do some bare minimum decorating - repainting walls and doors - before raiding Ikea for furniture. However we were a bit puzzled by the ceiling in the kitchen - had it been so bad when we viewed the flat? The answer was ei as it turned out a few days later. The day before we moved in the washing machine in the flat upstairs had leaked water, after taking moisture readings and pictures the patch of plaster was removed over the kitchen to let the concrete dry out, due to be fixed up while we were on holiday in a month's time. They also looked at an area above where I was going to set up my 'office' but decided it was okay...

1928 archive drawing: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

I should explain (for all you architects and engineers) our building has an interesting but typical floor structure (for Helsinki in that period, 1928 in our case). Thin reinforced concrete U shaped channels with timber boarding on top, filled with 'insulation' (i.e. any crap, fluff, dust that gets under the floorboards). This is an efficient structure (saves on concrete) but is problematic for water leaks, and is also quite fragile (the bottom shouldn't be walked on or drilled). If only the repair people were so knowledgeable.

So a couple of days before our cycle touring holiday around the Saimaa area (more on that in future Lost Posts) they start (or rather return) to ripping out the kitchen and floor upstairs, and it transpires drilling holes to take moisture samples/readings. This as you can imagine is rather loud when you are trying to eat your breakfast or work (I work from home - more on that another time too) so I closed the doors and retreated to the lounge.

So the noise abates and I go back for a coffee refill and discover the kitchen covered in dust from the unplastered part of the ceiling (and from the first time round I know the extract hood is now full of dust again). Just great - now I need to clean up. My eyes scan round the room and stop at my desk.

My glass topped desk, newly put up glossy white shelves, office paperwork, new computer, external drives, printer... all also now covered in dust, with a large chunk of concrete sitting on the keyboard. I look up at the plum sized crater in the ceiling with a neat hole at it's centre. As the Estonia contractor says a few minutes later when I hand him a piece of his handiwork: Oh shiiit!

Hole: from Kesä10 - lost postcards

47 down

2010-11-23T10:00:00.003+02:00

What to do when you forget your book: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

Now that I have embarked on my 'Lost Posts' mission, I'm going to immediately set it aside for this...

Here's a list that ~~originally~~ allegedly* came from the BBC but I picked up from Ganching.
You copy the list and then bold the books you have read completely and italicize those that you have partly read or dipped into.

Apparently the average person has read 6 of these books. Yes only six... frightening.

If you ask my family about my childhood they will invariably mention me living with my nose in a book (like that's a strange thing to do). My pace of reading has slowed down in the last 10 years anyway and since I moved to Finland in particular. I only managed to bring over about 20 of the hundreds I had (and have you seen the price of english books here?) although that's changed a bit since I got hooked up with Stanza, eReader and Kindle apps on my iPod Touch and started hoovering up freebies and started buying novels that way too. I should also own up to not having read a whole book in Finish yet either...

I should also admit there are a few that I'm not sure of particularly those in the penguin classics section like Dickens, Austen, Hardy etc. I know I've read some of them - but which ones? I can hardly look at my bookshelf to check...

Anyway here's my version:

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So I've read 47 of these (+/- 3), although I would say having read Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, Baroque cycle and Anathem should count for another 15 at least. There's probably 3 on the list I want to read and 20 I feel I ought to...

Oh and if anyone wants to read a novel linking Finland's civil/revolutionary war to New York 1920's pilvenpiirtaja or skyscraper's (featuring a disfigured genius architect with a disturbed mother and bolshevik father of course) you can't go wrong with The Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner (a Brit married to a Fin). But can you imagine Brad Pitt as a Fin? (And can you put up with the missing ä and ö letters in names?)

---

*Update 28.1.11: Except it didn't - it is a meme that has escaped from facebook - see http://www.purplecar.net/2009/03/how-do-memes-start-a-case-study-100-books-in-facebook/ for an explanation... well I fell for it anyway!

Lost Post 1: Rock on

2010-11-22T09:00:00.008+02:00

Uudessa eteisessa: From Kesä10 - lost postcards

To make the point that I really could maybe have, probably, at a stretch, if I really wanted to, have found a thing or two to scrape together, to fabricate (in the very best way) the merest hint of a few lines of a post, over the last, oh let's say, six months, I'm going to have to own up to the fact that we bought, decorated and moved home back in kesäkuu (that's June for anyone who hasn't changed their date and time settings to Suomi on their computer).

Of course one ~~advantage~~ loss you do have of course is missing out on the ~~excruciating~~ exciting ... kävin K-Rautassa taas ostamaan valkoista maalata ... type blog posts.

So instead of living on the very edge of Helsinki (as in periphery rather than cutting) we are now rock solid in the centre, or at list on the hill above the centre, of stadi. At the expense of any non-bilingual peeps with a lack of knowledge of Helsinki's geography that last sentence contains a rather feeble pun giving away that that means the Kallio area, which transliterates as The Rock. This also means that instead of watching the oravat and tikkat from the kitchen window I now get to see the top of a bike shed and the back of the neighbouring 5/6/7 storey rather yellow buildings around our courtyard. The most exciting wildlife here are the workers from the lastenpäiväkoti downstairs taking a fag break...

Tikka ja oravat, Mellumäessä. From Kesä10 - lost postcards

All the flat windows are also north facing, good in the summer to cut down on overheating, but as you might imagine, a tad gloomy later in the year. Despite that it wasn't until we finally got some curtains up after a month that the morning sun hitting the yellow walls of the opposite buildings at 4am stopped rudely awakening me. And that wasn't our only problem on moving in... more on that next time.

Tyhjä arkki tympäännyttää

2010-11-21T19:13:00.009+02:00

headspace: from Biennale 2010

Prevaricate. Procrastinate. Vacillate. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Hedge. Dodge. Delay. Beat around the bush. Sidestep. Equivocate. Temporize. Stall. Evade. Hem and haw.

English is full of synonyms for viivytellä - the art of not doing something quite yet. And unfortunately (as you may have got an inkling from this blog... or rather it's recent lack thereof) I am somewhat prone to this condition myself. I have also been developing Prevaricate 2.0 - not doing something because I should be doing something else and because although I am not doing that either not allowing myself to do the other thing as that would be an excuse for not doing what I should be doing, thus removing any excuse (but still failing to do what was meant to be done in the first place - in case you were wondering).

So, to cut a long story into small pieces, stick it back together badly, and end up with something even longer and more confusing that the original, my unbelievably lame excuse for not posting here is that I should have been too busy doing other things... like trying to learn finnish, run my business efficiently, get more work, exercise, ja niin edelleen...

And without further ado, ladeez an' genelmen, may I introduce "the lost posts" ...

...ja hengittää

2010-09-26T21:44:00.003+03:00

Pieni ja pikkunen :Autumn 10

Not much of a post really, except to change the embarrassingly old 'latest' photo's (snow?! spring?!) for some more seasonal ones... we had a lucky break with the weather this weekend while we were away, and while the Finns were hunting edibles I was shooting (photos of red mushrooms, not at elk that is).

Well I did say not to hold your breath.

Normal service will be resumed shortly... ehkä

2010-09-01T12:00:00.001+03:00

I've heard it said (by TV de-clutterers usually) that if you put something in a box, and don't get it out again for six months then you don't need it any more. So by that standard I should be deleting this blog (and my facebook, twitter and defunct email accounts). On the other hand if you've ever gone through an old box of things you had in storage and had the joy of rediscovering an old book, memento or childhood toy you may have your doubt's about that. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' after all. Maybe it's the summer ending, but I think I'm starting to feel the blogging bug stirring.

Just don't hold your breath.

Hanging around with Havis

2010-05-01T17:00:00.001+03:00

Mind your head Amanda...

For the life of me I can't understand why they have installed the worlds most impractical ski lift at the end of the Esplanade... and the queues are terrible

Overheard in Helsinki, Vappuaattona. Or not.

Sporadic sausages

2010-04-27T21:07:00.007+03:00

via mtv3

Posting here seems to be getting more sporadic and sparse as time goes on, partly because we are well into the repetition zone as we get closer to kaksi vuotta (what is there to say about Vappu that wasn't said last May day for instance); and also because staying at home sitting in front of the computer trying to design kitchens/extensions/invitations doesn't throw up a lot of insightful or exciting moments. Also I have realised that a lot of my posts are picture led - i.e. an excuse to show off whatever randomly appeared in front of my camera, just be glad you don't have to see the full slideshow. So if I haven't been out somewhere with my camera I don't seem to come up with much to post about.

Not to say nothing is happening. Since the last blog post we have bought a flat, had our 4th client/project, bought a bonsai tree, had a name day and killed my Xbox360 (the dreaded red ring of death). The latter is probably a good thing as will stop me being tempted to play Fallout 3 instead of looking at Finnish building regulations. Now I will have to talk to the bonsai tree instead. (It's called Bernard).

About the most interesting thing going on here just now is people panicking that they won't be able to buy nakkia and perunasalattia for their vappupäivä picnic due to striking/locked-out food sector workers - I imagine if the 'Suomi sausage shortage' goes on much longer the Finnish government will have to declare martial law to prevent rioting when Finns realise their summer barbecue will have to be vegetarian.

Sausage houses, Thunderbirds and Ego

2010-04-06T13:50:00.002+03:00

Toronto City Hall via Erindesignr/Flkr

I thought it was worth putting a few more words about Viljo Revell (with two L's please note Ms. Kilpikonna) as his work still has a big impact on Helsinki at least, and you can't help thinking he would have gone on to do a lot more if he hadn't have died at only 54, before his best know work, the Thunderbirds style (optimist-futurist-expressionist-modernist) Toronto City Hall, was completed in 1966. Whether it would have been popular is a different question. The 'City-Center' Makkaratalo ('sausage house') is pretty much universally reviled (I also struggle to find much positive to say, except the concrete brute with car ramps trumping pedestrian access is 'of it's time'. On the other hand 'Lasipalatsi' the 1935 'Crystal palace' is certainly still a gem of white functionalism.

Anyway how many internationally successful architects can you think of who said anything like 'It was was teamwork you see' when asked how they designed a competition winning scheme? No - I thought not.

Teamwork

2010-04-05T20:37:00.004+03:00

Architect Viljo Revel's exhibition 'It was team work, you see' at Didrichsen Art Museum in Helsinki exhibits architect's life work in a proper setting, in a building designed by him. Worth a visit if you are nearby before mid May 2010...

Our visit was a quick one on Easter Monday morning, before cooking a lamb feast with a few Yorkshire puddings... I know I know - not a usual combination - but because of a great demand the chef had to live up to his audience. I guess the word 'his' gave up the BIG secret (?) who cooks the fantastic feasts in this house :)

Is it winter, spring or summer?

2010-04-03T12:44:00.004+03:00

White on white: From In search of Spring...

I'm clearly a bit late with this post as the warm temperatures and rain of the last few days have (ehkä) decisively cleared a lot of the snow now and we have changed over to 'Summer' time (daylight saving time) already. We are starting to get summer speed limits back on the roads, optimists are changing to their summer tyres and bigger optimists are planning their Vappu picnic for a months time.

But last week, on the spring equinox, following another 5cm fall of snow, a kaunis sininen taivas tempted me out for a walk with my camera around what still seemed to me a wintery Mustavuori, busy with skiers and sledders. While its undeniably lighter (hurray!), and the twittering of a few birds can be heard (and the bright yellow ones spotted), only a few buds on trees suggest much life coming back to the forest. Growing grass (rairuoho) in a tray for the easter table starts not to seem quite so strange...

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Talking of strange things at easter I'm pretty much forced to mention mämmi at this point. I've been saying for the past few years that the visually unappealing brown sludge of orange peel flavoured malted-rye was up there with salmiakki and villi in my mental least-favourite flavours of Finland list. So I was surprised to find that on being served it at a friends house yesterday I not only ate it, I quite liked it. Maybe I've been here too long...

Mysteeri

2010-03-20T18:12:00.004+02:00

Interesting tracks in Mellunmäki

Winter is fantastic time for detectives...

You can see has anyone left the house before you in the morning & figure out has it been a woman or a man, or perhaps a child with a toboggan or someone with a long tail. You can easily see how intoxicated your spouse was when arriving home judged based on the trail left behind...

You can also trick people believing in things; granny used to wear granpa's large rubber boots to make tracks in the deep snow on a narrow country road (in the middle of nowhere) - You might wonder, why was she in the middle of nowhere in my grandpa's boots... and the answer is: she lived in a small cottage alone... in the dark winter time she thought that the big steps would keep potential unwanted guests out of the estate. Soon after she was persuaded to move to the nearby town to live in her own flat (with running water, electricity & central heating).

Can you detect a rabbit hopping in the snow - How about the smaller tracks?

On top of the standard beautiful marks on the snow, one can not pass without noticing the yellow & brown tracks on white background. Unfortunately it kind of gets worse when the snow starts melting... but hopefully it's not time for that yet, although the first migrating birds have started to return to Finland... The winter has been fantastic; beautiful and snowy - perhaps Mr. Snow greets us at the end of the drive way for a bit longer?

Spies

2010-03-18T14:39:00.004+02:00

Spies?

As the resident ~~nerd~~ technologically competent person I get to do exciting things for Hiiri (and actually although Konna may say otherwise I have to do the same for her too):

Change lightbulbs & fuses
Buy and change printer cartridges
Reset the cable digibox when it falls over
Get the TV off menu when the wrong button is pressed
Upload/download photos from cameras & phones
Install/update antivirus (and any other software) on her computer
Put batteries in, and demonstrate the use of, any new piece of technology around the home

It also means that when Hiiri says to Konna 'Your cousin asks you can see their house on Google?', I realise that:

A) They are talking about Google Maps Street View (which is still fairly recent and hot topic of conversation around these parts);

B) Somehow Konna has never heard of it even though it was around causing controversy (yawn) in UK before we left;

C) I am going to have to show them how to use it in about 30 seconds time.

So after owning up to having already scouted my cycling route from here to town (as the Helsinki pictures seem to have been a summer afternoon) we set to 'visiting' said cousins house, Hiiri's childhood home (which is apparently a forest based on the view we could get), our current abode & Konna's childhood house (so Hiiri and Konna could complain about the owners leaving rubbish bags outside and not watering the plants). Then Konna hit on the bright idea of 'visiting' my Mum's home for Hiiri to see (as she has never visited... for real that is).

So I show the house ('Wow isn't it big and nice looking' says Hiiri to my momentary disbelief, forgetting she would not be used to the boring 60's English developer semi/detached suburban typology). Then I show my Junior school at the top of the road. Then the stereotypical english (red brick Oxford movement) spired church where my Mum is the verger. Where my Mum spends a lot of time... Where my Mum is standing outside the front door of the church apparently oblivious to the camera car... hello Mum!!

Night shift

2010-02-21T20:53:00.003+02:00

"The Hour of the Wolf" is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful."

... It is also the hour when the flipping snow ploughs have a gathering underneath the bedroom window in order to take away the snow pushed aside the streets during the day.

Please let us know who has designed the piiping device activated by reversing - can it not be turned off during the hour of the wolf?

A shadowy flight into the dangerous world...

2010-02-16T20:17:00.004+02:00

DH paperdoll via

What has DH got to do with Dipoli's concrete days that MD blogged about a few weeks ago?

You might think nothing - think again...

The first time I visited this congress centre designed by Pietiläs I had a longer queue in front of me and much more eager fellow visitors than on the day of the concrete. I was also much younger... This was in the 80's when Michael Knight - The Night Rider (DH) visited Dipoli & Jäähalli here in Helsinki.

I remember it like it was yesterday (parents to be warned: kids do remember things, so do not take them to see DH if he visits Finland again...).

DH had a black pilot jacket, small soft pink panther attached to his jacket lapel & his hairy chest was showing... Sadly I have to admit I haven't liked hairy men after that... Oh well...

I have lost the autograph I got too... hmmm...

Architecture Corner

2010-01-31T12:05:00.002+02:00

A few things to cover this time out, and a bit long so I'll split into 3 posts below this one:

Betonipäivää: Dipoli; Hämeenlinän arkisto; marte.marte
Europan 10, in which we don't win
Uusi seikkailu, or what have I been doing instead of writing blogs?

Betonipäivää

2010-01-31T12:03:00.005+02:00

Dipoli - on a cold snowy day...

So after the 'wood day' in Lahti's timber-y Sibelius Hall last year we now had 'concrete day' last Thursday in the appropriately concrete-y Dipoli, on the TKK/Aalto university Oteniemi campus, designed by the Pietilä's in early-mid 60's. Dipoli, with it's crystalline, acute cornered, concrete base, and undulating exposed concrete roof shows off their still contemporary looking organo-modern style... although my eye was drawn to the awkward gap between walls and roof filled internally with fanned timber boards.

Hämeenlinnan Maakunta Arkisto via

We arrived in time for a classic example of how not to use powerpoint (put up the full rules of a competition, then read it all out. All. Ten. Slides. Zzzzzz). This was before the annual Betoni magazine award was made to the design and construction team for Hämeenlinnan Maakunta Arkisto (Provincial Archive) - with Heikkinen-Komonen as architects. The historic graphics printed on the concrete archive 'box' are no doubt what won it this prize, but it is a admirably clean and clear expression of the brief - public functions in a fully glazed ground floor, with concrete ark floating above, and brown, copper-clad administration box behind separated with a light filled circulation slot.

On a side note - why do all Finnish architects have English websites?

Haus Marte via

Anyway, we were really there for the main lecture, from Austrian architect's Marte.Marte, in which a German speaker was to talk in English to a room of (mainly) Finns. However despite that minor handicap a good presentation with beautiful graphics and photographs followed (although since they have published a glossy monograph recently you would expect so). Suiting the occasion Stefan Marte concentrated on their minimalist concrete 'shells' with frameless glazed openings - often based on pure square plans and over looking fabulous Rhine valley landscapes. But rammed earth, aluminium, corten steel and birch plywood all got a look in. Have a browse through their rather nice minimalist website (in German) - but notice you'll need to use the little arrow/triangle on the right of the image to cycle through the pictures (something that took me ages to figure out) - maybe a case of too minimal?

During the makkara pasta buffet afterwards, (and influenced by pari lasia viiniä), Konna revealed to us the last time she had been to Dipoli... but I'll let her tell that story another time.

Dipoli also has a link with Europan 10, or at least our Tampere site, as this is where Reima and Reili Pietilä produced many of their major works; and were we saw the exhibition of their work - my first introduction to these important Finnish architects.

Europan

2010-01-31T12:02:00.002+02:00

JM100: © MDD/JSK 2009 via Arkkitehdas

The author has created [a] somewhat general lay-out for the site. Despite of some positive goals the overall atmosphere and the details of the solution seem to look backwards rather that seek new solutions. There are some positive rhythmic ingredients in the repetition of the houses.

So, no, we didn't win.

If you remember way back to this post a year ago, you'll know that we were taking part in theEuropan 10 'young designers' (i.e. under-40's) competition with a proposal for the Tampere, Vuores site. That was submitted way back in July, and results were finally published this month (a day shy of a whole year since the official launch).

The winners (which you can see here - under Tulokset/Palkitutin or Eng/Results/Best Projects, and also the full jury report (in English) for both Finnish sites) were definitely a cut above our entry, so congratulations to them. We knew when we submitted that we hadn't cracked the important corner of the site, and we were never completely happy with the back edge... in fact only the terrace of houses mentioned we felt completely satisfied with. Maybe 'backward looking' terraced (row) housing is an British cultural trait coming out? More controversially, we think the winning entry (Scion) 'broke' the master plan slightly (although we may be misunderstanding the drawings), which we understood to be no-go (and had a big struggle with)... but I've heard it before - the trick is knowing which part of the brief to break to make the best competition entry.

You can see our full entry here (which gives away the next part of the post so read that first), and although damned with faint praise from the jury, it was at least categorized in the 'middle class' entries rather than the lower class. And I learnt a lot about Finnish housing, urban planning and drawing conventions in the process - which was really the main point of the exercise; that and it being my last chance to take part, as now that even as an Architect, I am no longer 'young'.

Uusi seikkailu

2010-01-31T12:00:00.004+02:00

If you looked at the link in previous post about Europan, or received one of our cards, you'll already know what this is about.

A combination of being unemployed (with few jobs around), not qualifying for benefits, and being asked to design some friends house extension has conspired to encourage me to become an yrittäjä ('entrepreneur' - a horrible term which makes me think of Alan Sugar) and register a toiminimi (trade name, sole trader, business) for an arkkitehti- suunitellatoimisto (architect and design studio) which has thrown me into the world of business plans, starttiraha (startup grants), YEL (self employed social insurance - like NI in UK), vastuuvakuutus (indemnity insurance), contracts, professional competence registers,kirjanpitominen (book keeping), ALV (VAT), domain hosting and more. Which is fun enough in English let alone Finnish. Luckily I have some help in deciphering it all... (kiitos kulta Konnalle).

More fun was choosing a name and designing the logo, graphics and website, which of course are the most essential parts of the whole enterprise. (What do you mean getting clients and making a profit?)

If you want to know why Arkkitehdas - have a look at the link.

I also thought of a few others, most of which either are too similar to existing names, or Konna just gave me one of those looks and I quickly discarded:

Luovia (to tack or zig-zag - but already an IT company or something)
Navetta (barn, which is a bit agricultural when you live in Helsinki)
Vintti/Ullako (attic, hmm, like atelier except like suomeksi)
ArKäDa (too similar to Arkkada)
dk studio (er, Calvin Kline?)
jkmd (which is a bit too close to JKMM)
m.ARK (which is just sad)
JaM (we could send out free jars of jam with our name on them... NEXT!)

The 'grand plan' is to ~~hassle~~ remind all those people who've said - 'one day we'll get you guy's to design our house'; to do some of the Finnish open design competitions (hopefully better than Europan); to try to get some sub-contracting work with other architects here and perhaps UK. And maybe do a little graphic design work on the side, based on the response to our christmas cards and launch cards... my second commission (of a huge total of two) is to design some invites...

Anyway, back to the realities of small business. What with investment in a new computer, YEL, PII and accountant's fees for the year I've already spent the income from my first commissions before I've even started...

Anybody need something architecting?

Fishy tale

2010-01-25T18:25:00.005+02:00

Loimulohi: From Finland winter 06/07

It was a Friday evening and my turn to cook.

I thought that on my way home from work I can pick up something nice/easy from the local supermarket (there is a reason why I have not mentioned the shop's name here) and enjoy the evening over a glass of red wine & good food...

So I grabbed a basket; picked & weighed & labelled tomatoes (yes, here in Finland you weight & label the fruits before you walk to the tills...), toured pass the milks & juices, reached for a jar of green olives, approached the fish counter in order to continue my shop tour via fresh bread section & candy land to the exit...

Ok, back to the fish counter where I was weighing the options for the evening. Bought two pieces of 'loimulohi' (salmon cooked next to an open fire). Pieces were the size of your remote control unit (smallish, thin type of remote that is...) - and the label screamed 16 euros. SIXTEEN euros... Huh. Ymph. Ugh.

Quick thinking... picked up 2 ciders (realised ALKO was closed already = no to red wine) and ... dumped the 'loimulohi' in 'makkara-allas' (=chiller cabinet full of sausages)... Do not worry a second before I had looked around like little Miss Marple in order to assess if anyone was looking...

I can only blame the lad at the fish counter for not wrapping 'loimulohi' properly as it was now laying on top of all the makkara's in the world (out of it's wrapping paper) and screaming to me: 'Why did you do this to me you petty criminal?!' And to my dismay a strange fellow nearby was staring at my direction his fillings clearly visible. A nano second decision later I hurried with a steady, determined pace towards the tills, wondering when is the claw of a security stewards landing firmly on my shoulder...

These moments in terror made me pick less important items like suklaa (=chocs) in the form of Kitkat, Geisha, Fazerin sininen etc into the half empty shopping basket. Payment done, sliding doors closed - I think I was safe... still on the shop's land so hurried accross the car park towards the safe house. Safe.

Friday night dinner consisted of chocolate, olives, tomatoes (which were able to accompany tomatoes in the fridge bought a day before) & milk with 2 ciders...

Not so bad after all.

Sumu ja jää

2010-01-11T09:10:00.007+02:00

lumi polku: From More snow days

Saturday was a bright, clear day, with almost no wind, although still -14ºC. Almost perfect for walking in the snow and maybe venturing on the ice to take some photos. This of course meant we woke late, then spent the rest of the five short daylight hours in supermarkets and shopping centres. So looking at similar sää enuste (weather forecast) for the next day we decided we would go out before 10am to enjoy some hyvää ilmaa.

Sunday was white. Not from snow, but from fog; and from the covering of white stuff, a hoare frost on steroids, on all the trees left by the freezing fog. Like tiny leaves or blossom, a thick covering of delicate feathery white ice crystals had grown on the skeletal winter trees, so that even our view of Citymarket car park and the Shell bensiiniasema became almost magical. We took our walk anyway, and instead of low sun, glittering snow and impossibly long shadows, we had a sugar frosted world in shades of white disappearing into the dim mist, and where a gust of wind in the tree tops brought down a shower of frozen powder.

On ice, in fog: From More snow days

feathery ice crystals blossom: From More snow days

From More snow days

More photos here

Deja vu

2010-01-09T12:35:00.004+02:00

Balcony sunrise

Like this, but better...

How to use a camera in mittens...

2010-01-08T16:35:00.005+02:00

From Senaatintori lightshow

As you know I don't like to go on about the weather and length/shortness of days in Finland too much, particularly the cold, snow and darkness...* (kö).

Erm, anyway here are some pictures of the lightshow and projections Senaatintorilla tiistaina. It was about minus 17°C with a biting wind and pitch dark (being after 4pm) so I played an interesting game of 'can-I-hold-my-camera-still-enough-without-a-tripod-and-operate-it-with-gloves-and-woolly-mittens' while Konna hopped up and down (cold, not the other). Thank goodness for the 3200 ISO setting is all I can say (although actually pushing the little button and turning the selector with a digit encased in nylon, neoprene and sheep fuzz was another story...). After watching the final angel fade from Engel's architecture we retreated fittingly to Cafe Engel for lohikeittoa, kähvia ja pullaa, and sweated in our thermals.

Did I mention the 35cm of snow yet?

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* Well as I don't drink tea or like football or cricket particularly I have to do something stereotypically English, don't I? And heck, it was a record -35.5°C in Lappeenranta on Monday which is down here in the sub-tropical south not up in arctic Lappi...

Grow your own frosted glass

2010-01-04T14:32:00.008+02:00

Sugar frosted privacy

Enjoy a tasty new 'acid etched' look to your balcony. (Please note you should take a good look at the view before using this recipe as you won't be seeing it again for a while...)

Ingredients:

1 x glazed in balcony
1 x micro-sauna
Water
1-2 x humans
Seasoning: baste with beer or cider to taste

Instructions:

Chill glazed balcony to around -15 to -20°C (if you can't fit yours in the freezer you may need to relocate to, say, Helsinki in the winter which has an over-abundance of apartment blocks with said items)
Pre-heat ridiculous micro-sauna to 70-90°C for 20 mins. If you don't have a micro-sauna an ordinary sized one will work fine (or as some would say, far better), although you should pre-heat for up to an hour.
Place humans in sauna. You may need to do this one at a time if you are using the stupidly small micro-sauna. Add water as necessary to give the bodies a good löyly - this may take between 2 and 20 minutes depending how well done you like them.
Quickly move the steaming bodies to the balcony - wrapping them in towels is usually recommended.
Allow to rest, occasionally basting with your choice of beverage.
After about 5-10 mins repeat stages 3-5 until a satisfactory layer of frost is achieved.
Rinse humans and store carefully for future use.

Uutta vuotta

2010-01-01T17:38:00.002+02:00

2010: From Christmas 09

So the year counter has clicked over another zero. Second millennium +10.

And that makes it five years for me and Konna; and five years since I first visited Finland.

Helsinki has more snow than for forty years - a proper winter. And my new venture is finally starting...

Even though 2009 has ended sadly for Finland (with another shooting, this time in a shopping centre), let's hope 2010 can be a good year.

Here's to a happy and prosperous new year for you all - onnellista uuttaa vuotta!

New toys

2009-12-29T20:20:00.004+02:00

Red skiers: From Christmas 09

On Christmas morning we always used to look out for kids on their new bikes. I guess it's the same here with skis... going for a walk on Sunday you would almost think you were in some ski resort in Lapland rather than the eastern edge of Helsinki.

See the imaginatively titled Christmas 09 album in the sidebar at the moment for christmas pictures and another walk in a snowy forest with a camera.

Hyvää Joulua / Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T00:00:00.000+02:00

Still here...

2009-12-23T21:35:00.003+02:00

Logs in the snow: From Lapland - Winter 08/09

Yes we are still here.

A combination of moving flat, being busy at work/starting a company, laziness, and a lack of ideas has meant a hiatus in blog posts. Neither of us want to blog about work stuff so not much to talk about and less 'spare' time (as I can use my Xbox360 now when I'm bored...............). At least we're getting a white christmas.

Maybe the new year will bring some inspiration?

Nuuksio

2009-11-17T15:31:00.008+02:00

In the midst of nature: from Winter 2009

When you take your camera for a walk metsässä (in the forest), you don't always end up taking pictures of what you might expect.

So we are walking in Nuuksion Kansalaispuisto (Nuuksio National Park) where we are staying for the weekend - in a better than average lakeside mökki (cabin) - with Bore and her American friend 'Saab'. We figure we should go for a walk and enjoy the snow and light, both likely to fade; so we set off down the track hoping to link up to the 'proper' walking trails, talking about the climate here and in the northern states, buying flying squirrel poo on the internet, (mis)identifying animal tracks and (if you are Konna) trying to do penguin impressions... so generally enjoying walking in the woods.

After trying a couple of turns we end up following this car width track for about 30 minutes until we reach a dead end with a small hut and a big red phone mast. Well I guess that's what you get if you want good 3G mobile coverage, but still...

Winter 2009 photo album

Norsu huonessa

2009-11-08T21:23:00.002+02:00

Sibeliustalon metsähalli: from Finland summer 08.

Actually I do have a couple of architecture related things to mention come to think about it. First is the Puuinfo Puupäivä in Lahti at the Sibelius Hall on Wednesday (11.11) which we are going to go along to. A good excuse to see the concert hall again if nothing else (see this old post for more). If I manage to understand any of it I will let you know!

Then next week is a (free) two day seminar series called 'Innovations: Architect and Engineer' organised by the Alvar Aalto Akatemia/Foundation and TKK. Speakers include Kenneth Frampton and Iain Ritchie, amongst others, so about three-quarters of the progamme will be in English.

After our visit to EMMA we also made a trip out to Otaneimi to use their arkkitehtuurin kirjasto their for some research Konna is doing for work. Then the next day I met up with a friend at my favourite cafe who happens to be studying at TKK at the moment, and we discussed how strange/repressive it must be for Finnish architecture students to study in Aalto designed buildings in part of the soon to be Alvar Aalto (super-)University; the elephant in the room if you like. Mind you apparently they still get frustrated about the quality/availability of seminar rooms just like any other architecture department I have heard of - but I bet they wouldn't swap with the this school in here... (and believe me these are flattering images if my memories of 1988-94 are to be trusted!)

outside/inside TKK: architecture tour 04/09.

Culture corner

2009-11-08T20:22:00.005+02:00

Tapio Wirkkala: Utima Thule, 1967. via.

I suppose we are overdue an Architecture Corner - but not much going on that front so we'll have to cast our net a bit wider. Although only as far as Espoo it seems...

This week we visited EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art) at WeeGee for an exhibition of the work of Finnish sculptor and product designer Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985). He trod a strange path between sometimes figurative, sometimes abstract works and apparently unwilling to differentiate between his product work and sculptures. Much of his work - certainly his best known pieces - are in carved plywood (for which he used extremely high-quality birch plywood to his own specifications). 'Ultima Thule' (pictured above) which shares it's name with the Iittala glassware he also designed, is one of the centrepieces of the exhibition, although I actually liked the roughness of his studio doors more made from simple pieces of standard timber (unfortunately I couldn't find a picture on the web and we couldn't take photos). You can read more about him here and here.

Also in Espoo last night were RinneRadio (a jazz via hip-hop, electronica, straight fusion, dark dub, ambient, and Saami yoik singing experience since the late eighties) and Circo Aereo performing 'Ruostetta iholla' (rust on the skin). Featuring a RR backed choreographed acrobatic act with scaffolding, posture balls, planks, tyres, a trampoline and a suspended hoop... you can find video of their other shows on YouTube, but here is Ommatidi from RinneRadio.

What to do?

2009-11-02T12:32:00.004+02:00

Chirp chirp? From Around Helsinki - Autumn09

I know - I'll join the Twitter bandwagon. Then I can not post anything for ages on that too...

Well that was 5 minutes wasted, now what?

Furry friends

2009-11-02T12:00:00.000+02:00

I was told a story yesterday about someone shutting their puppy in a room at work (let's just say it had been a bad boy), accidentally locking it in and that by the time they had found someone with the keys it had chewed through the office's internet connection cable...

This reminded me of the time I was on Skype with my mum a few months ago when she had just got a new kitten. She was saying how it had needle sharp teeth and liked to attack strings and cables when suddenly the sound cut out... then on the video link my mum showed me the two severed ends of the microphone lead... I don't know, some people will do anything to get out of a boring phone conversation.

Next week: Squirrels ate my homework

Pumpkins and mitre joints

2009-10-28T15:43:00.005+02:00

Well the new seasonal header image from the Linnänmäki Valotkarne kurpitsat photo seemed appropriate for the weekend. You won't be surprised to hear that Konna has bough a mini one to make a lantern from.

With Konna busy at work and me busy preparing for a new 'project' not much we can write about at the moment... except that as Konna is ironically doing project information in English (again) she keeps asking me what the English for such-and-such architectural term is, either by description ("you know one of those metal bars that presses the timber down" which turned out to be a compression rod/bolt) or by it's Finnish term - "what's Haapa and Terva Leppä - they are good for sauna's as they don't have much pihka - and I need to say make jiiri corners".* Usually after a bit of head scratching, leafing through dictionaries and quizzing wikipedia (suomeksi ja englanniksi) we work it out. Maybe I should start an English-Finnish Architectural Terminology Dictionary website/wiki...

*That's Aspen, Black Alder, Resin/Amber and Mitre joints, in case you were wondering.

Are we here yet?

2009-10-19T13:09:00.007+03:00

Kurpitsat! From Winter 2009 - Helsinki & around.

In case you were wondering we didn't turn into pumpkins, but did actually come back to Helsinki. So what's been happening to Emmdee and Konna?

A fancy dress party where we went as teenagers c. 1987 (for me think black jeans, sister's of mercy T-shirt, studded belt...; for Konna think language student - complete with EF rucksack)
A week dog/house sitting (good weather for walkies in the central park - where Konna had never been!)
Mennimme Linnänmäkiin - katso valot karne kuvista (see Linnänmaki Carnival of lights pictures on Picasa) - the lazer show was crap though...
Five (more) boxes of stuff arrived from UK: we now have more clothes, a TV, DVD/home cinema, and A3 printer again after a year! Hurrah! (But where the heck do we put it all?)
DVD player and printer aren't working! Boo! Where's that insurance claim form...?
Konna is working for a small but successful and critically acclaimed practice doing very interesting buildings (down to the doorknobs) ... can't say any more than that
We (or I as Konna is working full time now) may have some small projects coming... the big problem is of course what to call the company if we do
Menin hämmäsläkkärille / suunhygenistille, ja nyt minun hampaat ovat (melkein) valkoinen... ja hän sanoi minulle - sinä puhu hyvin suomea jos olet assunut suomessa vain yhden vuoden (!) Well who says Finns aren't polite?
'Somebody' lost that dentist bill - cue comedy misunderstanding of spelling of my name on telephone: dee ... day - pay?, DEE - bee?; DAY - ...? Voisinko lähetää sinulle sähköposti..?
First sauna for six weeks (I even started to miss it)
First cycle ride for six weeks (since the biggie); 75km Porvooseen ja takaisin - was so damp and cold that on the way back had to stop at a bus stop to take of my shoes and socks to warm my frozen numb feet; notes to self: a) dress warmly when it's 5°C; b) after six weeks 75km is too far...
A video of my TdH triumph is on Strands here; and my Strands page is here (a sort of Facebook/training log for running/cycling)
We may have blinked and missed autumn... it snowed today...

Going home?

2009-10-01T12:58:00.006+03:00

Fish'n'chips via.

That was weird. Without thinking about it I just typed the title of this post (before I added the question mark) - I wonder if that means something? So actually our 'holiday' back in UK visiting my family is ending today, and we will be back in Finland tonight. After three weeks of unusually sunny, warm weather in Blighty, with only the first autumnal tinges showing, we will be greeted by temperatures 10 degrees cooler, and touching zero at night, and autumn in full swing... the first snow has even fallen in Lapland.

But is Helsinki 'home' now, after only fifteen months? Strangely it is Stadilainen Konna who keeps saying 'If we come back in a year's time ... we'll wish we hadn't sent six more boxes of stuff over' or '... we'll want most of this stuff that is now filling your mum's spare room'.

While I've been here I've been keen to partake in several important local cultural culinary treats:

Battered fish and chips (not fries) with salt and vinegar - from a fish'n'chip shop, in paper
Steak and kidney pie - mmm pastry
'Proper' italian style, wood oven roasted, thin crust, pizza (no Finnish kebab-shop minced-meat pies thanks)
Sunday Roast (lamb) - cooked by my Mum (who makes fantastic crispy roasties)
Sitting and reading the weekend papers

I've also realised that I actually missed British TV and radio (particularly radio channels that play new and current music... a radical idea that doesn't seem to have reached Finland yet).

Maybe this all explains why I managed to lose 7 kilos this summer (leading to some comedy trouser issues) not having this stuff around to eat, but I dread to think how much I've regained in the last few weeks. Back on the bike for me then until the snow comes.

It's only a number

2009-09-20T08:00:00.006+03:00

via MoMA by Alan McCollum

Wikipedia will tell you (amongst other things)

The letters are in alphabetical order
It is an octagonal number
It is a pentagonal pyramidal number
It is the atomic number of Zirconium
It's negative is the temperature where Fahrenheit and Celsius scales are equal
This many winks is a nap
This many days and this many nights means a long time

But it won't tell you what connects it with 20 09 2009 - any ideas?

Day for the Big Chief of the Clan

2009-09-18T23:30:00.004+03:00

Zig Zag: From Dartmoor 2009

We ended our family get-together-cum-holiday in Dartmoor today in a rather fitting way on a rather fitting day. But some explanations first.

What 10 things do you associate with Dartmoor?

Ponies (in the road)
Walking up 'Tors' (the granite outcroppings on top of the moor)
The prison
Narrow roads/tractors
Family holidays
Windy days
errrm...
Heather??
Sheep?
..... oh yeah - that thing with stamps

No.10 is properly called 'Letterboxing' which was a past-time my youngest brother, li'l sis, Mum & Dad picked-up visiting Dartmoor sometime after I foreswore family holiday's in my late teens - so something I had zero interest in back then. Later Mum and Dad continued to visit the area to walk the moors and Tors. So it was appropriate that last year, when we went to Dartmoor on 'goodbye' family holiday before we headed off to Finland that the clan left a box out on the moors in memory of our 'big chief'.

So this year, 18 months later, with my own significant large-numbered birthday celebration at hand, we have come back to Dartmoor to regroup, catch-up, celebrate (two birthdays other than mine), meet new additions (nephew and b.f.), walk (best one just Konna & I - 12km, lovely sunny day, Hameldown Tor, Grimspound bronze age settlement and around), eat (excellent and over-ample cooking all round), to dress in Victorian clothing (obviously), take lots of photos with my new 'toy' (and thanks to all my family for the present); and to check on Dad's letterbox.

So yesterday we recovered the box from Feather Tor, near Windy Cross and replaced it with a new one (with an appropriate cross stamp); then after browsing the visitor book last night we placed that box on Top Tor this morning, the day of his anniversary. It was nice to arrive home this afternoon to take some of his favourite flowers from the garden to the churchyard and tell him about the new boxes. I think he would have liked it.

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Clues to find the letterboxes: (remember to wear appropriate clothing, take an OS map and a compass when walking on the moors! A notebook, pen, stamp and inkpad, as well as a sharp pair of eyes, may also come in handy...)

The new box in the old place:

From the car park on the B3357 head south to Windy Cross;
Cross the aqueduct and head up to Feather Tor;
Find the 'balancing rock' (see picture) and head east-ish towards a square looking rock;
The box is somewhere about halfway between...

The Chief's old box in the new place:

From the small car park on the B3387 cross the road and head south to the small Tor;
Look for this small stack (see photo) you may want to scale it for the view west;
Head towards Widecombe-in-the-Moor's church tower - about 70 paces
The Chief now resides nearby...

No. 84 made it!

2009-09-07T10:53:00.004+03:00

No. 84 approaches the finish at the Helsinki Velodrome: Tour de Helsinki 2009

It was a cold, wet day but 1300 cyclists turned up for the Tour de Helsinki yesterday. Lue lisää ja voittajasta tämä suomeksi.

No. 84 (who bears a startling resemblance to emmdee) was nervous at the start: riding on a borrowed road bike* he had only ridden for 10km, not sure what speed group to go with, not used to group riding, not looking forward to the forecast day of rain and 14°C temperatures, and hoping to finish before the 7hr cut off for the event.

In the end he started with the 24km/hr group near the back of the field (so crossing the start about 5 mins after the official 11am start time in the last hundred or so people) and rolled along slowly in the convoy at less than 20km/hr for the first 10km. The rain had stopped and the roads were damp but not soaked. When the 'free' cycling got started he realised that he could go faster than the group speed, especially drafting in a pack, and after the first pit stop at Lepsämä (38km) left the group hoping to catch one supposedly 5mins ahead... the rest of the was spent moving from small group to small group, hoping to catch one that was travelling about 27km/hr on the road (his average by this time) and enjoying the ride.

Skipping stop 2, things stayed this way (near misses with cyclists dodging orava aside) until after stop 3 at Paippinen at 95km where after stopping to refill bottles, eat mini-bananas and phone ahead to the support team his ETA, he rejoined to find the roads seemingly empty, only catching and passing the occasional rider and seeing several stopped with punctures. The roads then became soaking wet from recent rain, and his legs started to tighten up and tiredness set in and without a group to shelter in the speed began to drop off. Then at about 110km as no.84 took a breather behind another slightly slower rider another one came past (no.1410) at a better pace; tagging onto him 84 was able to pick up the pace and after a few kilometres agreed (in broken Finnish) to try to stick together and help each other for the rest of the ride. Towards the final 5 to 10 km this became a matter of sisu as 84 couldn't quite stay with him - particularly after a close call with a car that disobeyed a signal to stop from policeman directing traffic.

The support team gives a hand: Tour de Helsinki 2009

Finally arriving in the Velodrome for the finish and after few scarey moments on the wet track 84 completed the course, and stiff, exhausted but happy to be greeted by his supporters.

Official timing stats

Distance: 140.1km

Time: 5 hrs 37 mins 50 seconds

Position: 947 of 1178 recorded finishers/1301 starters

Average speed: 24.9km/hr

Stats from bike computer (i.e wheels moving):

Distance: 144.5 km (!)

Time: 5hrs 20mins

Average speed: 27.10km/hr

Max: 53.75km/hr

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me for this event, it was really appreciated - currently we have raised £340 (+£47 gift aid) via my JustGiving pages for Cancer Research UK and the CJD Support Network. If you haven't and still want to contribute the pages are still open!

*Many thanks to Patrick for the loan of his road bike for the day - it would probably have been 7+hrs on my mountain bike. Hmm - maybe I could get my own road bike for next year....

Pictures by Bore & Konna

Ruska tulee, sitten tälvi...

2009-09-01T15:42:00.005+03:00

Senaatintori steps: from Around Helsinki - Autumn09

You might think that this month's new header image is a bit early, especially if you are in the UK having just enjoyed the late summer bank holiday, and breathing a sigh of relief the kids are back to school. But looking out our window you can believe autumn is already here. A cool, damp, windy day; koivu (birch) leaves fading and falling to the ground; mushrooms sprouting up. In fact that header picture was taken at the end of September last year (see Autumn Colours), and this year's ruska (the aforesaid autumnal vegetation) will be well underway, the autumn equinox will have been and gone, and Finns will be bringing out the cold weather gear from the attic before the month is done and the header changes again. And the bad news for me is the same is forecast for next Sunday - not ideal for the big ride.

It seems like only yesterday I was wandering around stadi under blues skies showing our weekend visitors from London the sights, and taking touristy snaps with my (slightly early*) birthday present. Hang on it was only yesterday... Where are my jumpers and wooly socks?

*Well I had to make sure it worked, right?

Hot water bottle

2009-08-24T11:48:00.002+03:00

Plasticiens Volants at Taiteiden Yö (Night of the arts) 21.8.09 in Helsinki

It was advertised in the papers that during the arts' night on Friday the fairy tales become true... and they did - in the form of the hot water bottles. Perhaps I should explain...

A few years ago we were driving around the country side with Emmdee and I happened to see a group of colourful hot air balloons in the sky - and I scared the driver by yelling loudly (as I often do): 'Look - lots of hot water bottles over there!' Of course the driver couldn't see them immediately, but wondered probably in his mind that now she has lost it big time.

He might have rubbed his eyes twice on friday too, if he saw the hot water bottles, which were shaped differently; there was a whale, a helpful lobster who let the pearl out from its shell (& eventually put it back where it belongs), an evil octopus & small sea horses & crabs - but he didn't as he was sleeping home...

That brings to my mind that I was supposed to book a hot water bottle ride for this September - yes the one we were suppose to take already a year ago :0 Perhaps we are lucky with the weather this time around?

And finally...

2009-08-22T19:24:00.007+03:00

Eija Laakso of Finland mid-fling during the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships in Savonlinna, 2007. Photo copyright by Seppo Sirkka / EPA via Flkr

I guess all Finnish summer sports were invented by drunk people

Harri Kinnunen, boot-throwing world championships organiser, Via BBC News website

So here's the annual "those Finns are crazy (and drunk)" summer article from the UK, supposedly triggered by this year's totally sensible kännykkä chucking event in Savolinna (

although as it was actually written by a Finn for the BBC I suppose it was a sort of self-stereotyping). You'll have to wait until winter for the "seasonally affective disorder/suicidal (and drunk)" one to be rolled out.

Interestingly for grapheme spotters auntie beeb doesn't seem to do Ä or Ö - and is also apparently inconsistent in (semi-incorrectly as it isn't an umlaut) transposing Ö as OE in the the only* 'foreign' word used (mökki -> moekki) but A for Ä in a few of the place names and surnames (which is more conventional). Mind you, even Konna's passport has AE for the Ä in her name so we can't be too critical.

Maybe they don't use Macs so can't figure out how to get those ¨pësky¨döts¨ from their UK localised Windows keyboards?

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* Okay I realise sauna is Finnish, but we use it too, even if we pronounce it wrong!

Cows, Horses and Crayfish

2009-08-16T18:53:00.006+03:00

Apparently they are both lactose-free

I managed a 120* km 'training' ride to Somero on Friday and after six hours and nine minutes** in the saddle was greeted with an appropriately named 'Recovery' bottled drink (although I was ironically too knackered to open it before the call of the sauna overcame me). I think it will come in handy for the real thing though. I also finally got the courage to try the infamous 'chamois' cream. If you don't know what that is, let's just say that the padding in cycle shorts used to be soft chamois-leather. So yes it goes there. I have a tub of 'Udderly Smooth' (see what they did there?) which was apparently developed for dairy cows... (I wonder how and why someone first thought to use it on places other than udders?) But despite some uncertainty of how much to use, it did indeed work, preventing any soreness in my own udder regions.

Earlier in the year - when I hurt my back - I thought I may only be using another animal treatment: Hevosvoide or horse 'liniment' (cream) - which Hiiri insisted was the best treatment. Although I'm not convinced it was, it actually does seem to be a popular sports muscle rub here, so who am I to argue - it works for tired a cyclist's legs and back muscles anyway - so I'm a bit annoyed to discover we left it at the cottage!

The reason for going to Somero in the first place was an invite from K&K to their rather lovely place there. It was originally supposed to be a traditional end-of-summer rapujuhlat (crayfish party) but ended up being raputtajuhlat (a without-crayfish party). Not that I minded - I was just pleased to get there.

Strangely getting back was much easier***

___

*well, 119.43 to be exact - although I had only planned it to be about 105km originally I did unintentionally take the scenic route out of Helsinki (well Espoo actually as I even cheated and started from Rauholahti at the other end of the Metro line from us to knock off 20km). I don't think they will allow that on the TdH. There again hopefully the TdH won't get lost.

** yes I know that's slow: only 19.4km/h average from pedal power. Even worse I actually set off at 13:10 and arrived at 20:30 - so I was actually stationary for over an hour.

***kiitos again to Taiska for the lift!

PS: You can still sponsor me for the TdH here

Kaappi kuin kaappi

2009-08-14T12:56:00.005+03:00

Savusauna at Taiska's cottage in Sysmä (hatch for the outgoing smoke & incoming candle light)

My mom was born in a savusauna in 1945 near the place were Kekkonen is from. Perhaps you know the place perhaps you don't - that's not relevant... Relevant is the next question that was made to my mom when she told the story of her being only 1.9kg and coming to the world only after 7 months in the safety of my grandmother's womb. the question was: 'Oliko siellä keskoskaappi?' (=was there an incubator?)

How detached are we from the reality that in 1945 in the middle of nowhere (7km from the main road to the nearest village, which is approximately 30km away) in a savusauna the last thing there could have been is an incubator, unless the Doctor travelling in a blue phone box brought it there! The next question was: 'No oliko siellä edes kätilö?' (= was there a midwife then?) Yes, the old hag from the neighbour's house, said my mom... The title 'Kaappi kuin kaappi' (= Cupboard as a cupboard) refers mainly to the savusauna acting as 1940's model of an incubator for her (and many others!)

P.S. Emmdee is now on his 'kaappimopo' on the way to kesämökki & 'rapujuhlat' (= cray fish party) for the weekend... Only 130km to go... I'll gladly wait for the Meze to pick me up. Have a good weekend you all!

S5000: Rest in Pieces

2009-08-11T14:10:00.004+03:00

R.I.P 03.2004 - 07.2009: It took some Fine Pix

I think I already mentioned that my beloved camera has shuffled off this mortal coil - although I'm not the only one similarly bereft.

It's a lonely feeling going out without it to shows and events (especially on bright and photogenic days). But my snappily named FinePix S5000 had a long (for a piece of consumer electronics that is), hard life - having taken it's first picture on 1/03/04 - I guess it was the first thing I saw after I unpacked the box, loaded the batteries and slotted in the memory card.

picture_00001

Despite it's upgrade to a 1GB xD card last year, it's passing comes as no surprise: after it's watery escapade in Tallin the flash gave up the ghost, and it's auto-focus became geriatricly unresponsive. But it served me well recording thousands of happy memories, buildings, scenery and sites - and the occasional inside of a bag, blurred back-of-head and substandard brickwork detail; but it's crowning glory was shots for the 'This is not a building' competition - those and many others live on as a fitting tribute for my little photographic friend.

Hmmm - I wonder what I'll get for my birthday next month?

Ruma Suomi?

2009-08-09T15:10:00.013+03:00

From Asuntomessut 09 + Taiskan mökki 08&09: best of Asuntomessut

There has been a series on TV recently called 'Ruma Suomi' (Ugly Finland) which is described as a tragicomic investigation of how Finland (and specifically urban and sub-urban Finland) has replaced 'beautiful old timber buildings' with 'ugly concrete' in the post wars period. Architects and town-planners will be torn between running for cover and rolling their eyes and sighing at this point. To be fair the program, produced by YLE1, seemed quite balanced in also presenting the political, economic and social historical background to this - not just a reactionary attack on the designers. In particular the program questioned the still frequent urge just to rip everything down a build new - is Finland still a developing nation in that sense? Despite the fact that Finland has produced some fantastic Modern and contemporary architecture (and still does) we have to agree there is more than a grain of truth in what they are saying.

This weekend we visited this year's 'asuntomessut', (housing fair) which was held in Valkeakoski, on the event's last open weekend in fantastic weather. It was reported that the messut hit the visitor target of 5000 people & was a success...

It made me wonder what kind of success was it and for whom. I found only a few successful sides to the messut including the fiddler on the roof of Talo Valo (no.34), 2 interesting developments: passive house Paroc Lupaus (no.21) & ENSI-omakotitalo (no.17), good company of friends & free press parking near the main entrance & kyyttö cows (definitely the high point of the 4 hour stay at the messu area for me!)

The first so called disappointments were the houses located on the first loop to the right of the main entrance ('so called' as we knew that these asuntomessut were not going to be as good as Vaasa last year & that neither offered the same kind of interesting solutions as Espoo in Kauklahti asuntomessut a few years ago, both of which we visited... Saying that I should probably mention that the city had tremendous difficulties getting all the houses/flats sold in Kauklahti...)

Anyway the Valkeakoski houses no.1-10 were standard package houses (why would I go to see these to asuntomessut, when there are brochures after brochures of these solutions out there? + Finland full of these boring wannabe boxes... being too harsh on standards of our newly builds?) - one of the houses even bosted on the accessible design solutions, which culminated in high thresholds (for the main door & all doors inside), inaccessible sauna where you have more than a high chance of falling onto the 'kiuas' (=stove where you throw water...) and stairs leading to the main entrance (note secondary entrance included a steep ramp ending with a ad-hock timber 'creation' ramp between the terrace & door - still with a high enough threshold for a person with a wheelchair to have a difficulty getting in).

After these shockers we entered no.11 with a hopeful thought that we can't judge this one as it is not actually yet finished. The promised sea side features & feeling most likely had not been realised yet - perhaps the engineer designer should leave it to this. We entered the house, passing two massive garages, via 'takkahuone' (=the chilling room for sauna, where you usually have a fire place etc) without 'takka' (=fire place) which was not yet been built, we climbed to the main living floor via spiral staircase... The challenge for this house had apparently been the sloping site to the north and perhaps the fact that the house of 192m2 was designed for a SINGLE MALE (with a note: this house suits also a bigger family... uh?)

- What does the nation learn from this?

1. Perhaps we should use an architect on the challenging sites next time? Hmmm...

2. Don't date the owner of the house

Huh - the first loop ended in a cafe. Pulla & coffee had never tasted this good. Next stop was the 'celebrity house' (no.14) designed for a famous bike rider Mika Kallio & his family (incl. a bike & trophy room). The house was hideous from outside, but never the less we approached the destination happily discussing the food products from our coffee break. The massive sauna for the whole family (perhaps for the moms, dads, cousins, kids, dogs, cats, turtles, nieces, cousins friends, stray cats, neighbours, asuntomessu-visitors, etc) was pleasant, I guess the three jacuzzi/whirl pools were ok too (definitely not too many), the huge manor-like middle stair case was ok (brought to my mind tv-program Dynasty - aaaah that charmer Blake Carrington)... Was I in a bad dream with Joan Collins? I must have been as the messu-magazine said that this was a dream of most men!!! Emmdee - please comment!

Luckily the next houses were pleasant. Pretty standard, but pleasant (after the Blake Carrigton manor anything goes). No.17 had a surprising (in a good way) exterior - a by passer commented as follow: 'helvetti, että osaa olla muuten ruma talo' (= h*** that it can be an ugly house). I had read earlier that an architect's (sorry can't remember whose) comment was as follows: 'tuo pystylaudoitus on tavanomaista' (= that vertical timber bording is fairly common)... I would like to remind of the Blake Carrington in this case...

Yes - swiftly moving on to no.21 by architect Kimmo Lylykangas. This passive house was the jewel of the site. The design concept was based on the wedge shape site and the client's wish for the living areas opening towards north & the scenery over the flower fields (& towards the cows). The shape of the building gives a strong character for the upstairs bedrooms with lovely rounded roof & walls. A magnificent bonus was the internal exposed brick spine wall extending as the fist floor walkway balcony balustrade. The house fulfills VTT requirement for a passive house - the simulated heating requirement is only 23,8 kWh/m2/a (the concept of VTT passive house is tested via 3 concept houses, one being this Lupaus in Valkeakoski, second in Vantaa & third in Rovaniemi).

Fiddler on the roof

Last, but not least we spotted the violin player on the roof of no.34... Not to sound too positive about this year's housing fair (is it possible?), I still need to comment on tv-house no.35. What on earth has happened here? Outside the house strikes like a standard brick faced day care centre - slightly upscale from a standard single family house, but this almost 300m2 - also a passive house - is monstrous in it's use of internal space. Apparently client's clear vision for the way they wish to live, tv-audiences influence for the development of the house & external swimming pool (remember we are still in Finland where a good summer is 'vähäluminen' (=with little snow only)) make us vacate the housing fair as soon as we were able to find our way out from the tv-house labyrinth...

The best house was yet to come - our friend's Taiska's lovely red timber cottage in Sysmä from the 1920's. Thank you for your family's hospitality. What a lovely day after all :)

What does the nation/designers/architects learn from this?

... probably nothing, but ought to respect old traditions and design/build beautiful - EVEN IF IT COSTS MORE & to keep it passive!

Good intentions

2009-08-06T14:32:00.004+03:00

Luckily my bike is in better condition: From Åland cycle tour 2009

I know, I know. I was supposed to be writing in Finnish about the cycle trip, but what with language exams (yesterday) and Konna's (unintentional?) filling of every weekend with various activities the acres of spare time I should have seem to like a mirage...

Anyway as it is now only one month to the day until the Tour de Helsinki I thought I better commit myself to it once and for all, and so have now set up a JustGiving charity page, and a widget on the side of the blog, so it's not just my thighs that get to see the benefits of 140km of cycling.

At the moment I have two British charities Cancer Research UK and CJD Support Network, chosen due to their different connections with my family history. I would also like to have a Finnish charity, as I am in Finland afterall... but I am at a bit of a loss here as to what it could be - any suggestions of a suitable one in the comments section please, or to holynpoly[at]mudelta.co.uk

Click click click

2009-07-29T12:50:00.007+03:00

Click the links for Emmdee throwing his winter fur coat away after paddling in his red 'Ferrari', hoisting sails on Linden and visiting the past... Also view some Turku Tall Ship Race weekend photos by clicking Konnan picasa web album... which has now been finally set up (as Emmdee's camera is kaput).

Eli klikkaa ylläolevia linkkejä, niin näet mitä ollaan viime aikoina puuhailtu - Ahvenanmaalla sekä Turussa. Lisää Ahvenanmaan pyöräretkestä tuonnenpana (kunhan 'koululainen' ehtii kiireiltään)...

Paljon onnea minulle ja muille :0

2009-07-21T19:37:00.006+03:00

Kakkua taas meikäläisen malliin - cake again á la moi...

It is the name day of my good friend today (my alter ego?)... which means is the name day of me too... and Johanna, Hanna & Jenni... to mention a few. To celebrate the occasion we invited a few mates around from Vallila & Walsrode + we carried some leftovers to Vartiokylä to a friend who had just ordered some indian with her sister. Does the strawberry cream kakku go with curry? At least the thank you message said that they enjoyed the dessert.

As e.g. in Finnish phone books V & W are often under the same heading V,W, this time we only invited people from towns/cities/places starting with V & W covering the above mentioned placed in the world... perhaps next time L for London & 'L-can't think of any other place where we have friends'? Sorry guys... The cake was good though :) ha ha ha...

Pyöräilyretkimme Ahvenanmaan ympärillä

2009-07-19T18:53:00.009+03:00

Kartta / Map: From Åland cycle tour 2009

Olen päättänyt kirjoittaa Ahvenanmaasta pyöräilyretkistä suomeksi ja ilman Konnan apua. Todennäköisesti huonosti. Toivon että en tee lian paljon isoa virhettä, tai ymmärretään vahan kuitenkin. Tee kommentti niin että minä voin korjata niitä!

Ehkä minun pitää kääntää sitä englanniksi myös...

I’ve decided to write about our Åland cycle trip (probably badly) in Finnish and mostly without Konna’s help (unless I’m really stuck). I hope that I don’t make too many big mistakes, or it can be understood at least. I have asked the Finnish speakers to make comments so that I can correct the most glaring errors.

Of course the irony is that Swedish is spoken in Åland, not Finnish, so I didn’t get much practice there!

Almost forgot: I think we’ll put up the posts with retrospective dates so they will be before this post; and some photos are already here if you just can't wait for the blog.

I do have some reference material at least...

Waft of tar

2009-07-19T17:00:00.004+03:00

Pommern anchored in Mariehamn

On our last day in Mariehamn we visited the famous four-masted barque Pommern (built in 1903), which belonged to Ålander Gustaf 'Gusta' Erikson in its hay day when it used to carry grain from Spencer Gulf area in Australia to harbours in Uk & Ireland until the WWII. Pommern's strategic measurements are a bit different to Linden's... Made of steel her length is 95m, width 13m & draught 7.5m. The windjammers were able to attain great speeds; most four-masted barques were able to cruise at 15kn on plausible winds, some logged 18kn regularly - and Herzogin Cecilie is known to have logged 21kn. This was excellent on long voyages against steamers doing barely 8kn. Pommern now sits still in the harbour. Her sails are not hoisted anymore, she is only towed to the boat yard for regular maintenance works once a year or so - but she is truly a windjammer from the era long gone (can't wait to see the Tall Ship Race that comes to Turku this year...).

The Mariehamn Sea Museum has a fantastic exhibition on the last grain race around the treacherous waters of Cape Horn in 1949. This was a race against the clock between Pommern & Pamir on Pommern's favour. The exhibition in the museum and on board Pommern prompted me to buy a book titled 'The Duchess'.

'The Duchess' tells a story of Pommern's sister ship Herzogin Cecilie (ship named after a German duchess; book written by the skipper's wife Pamela Eriksson 1958), who was wrecked off the coast of Devon in the summer of 1936. Parts of the ship are now exhibited in the museum for visitors to admire, but the true marvel of Herzogin Cecilie is well captured on the pages of The Duchess - with the occasional peculiar waft of tar when turning the pages (no kidding!).

Interesting link for 'a survivor's story' to be read with regards to the last voyage of Herzogin Cecilie.

Strategic measurements

2009-07-18T22:00:00.002+03:00

Sails up!

Early afternoon of the 18th July we arrived to Mariehamn (Maarianhamina in Finnish) and we had some time in our hands after setting up the camp to Gröna Uddens camp site (middle of the city, on the coast... like everything else). Conveniently it was the Sea Days of Mariehamn and the city was bustling with people, activities such as Rock off, gathering of old American cars & all sorts of boats, e.g. schooner Linden - and we hopped on board for an evening sail.

Her strategic measurements are:

- length 49m

- max beam 8.6m

- height of the masts 32m

- sail area 632 m2

- draught 3m

Linden sails under the flag of Ahvenanmaa (of Finland)

On board we admired the lovely scenery and enjoyed 'kalakeitto' (= fish soup), 'saaristoleipä' (special archipelago bread, which takes approx. 3 days to bake) + 'Ålannin pannukakku' (=Åland's pancakes) with jam & cream and witnessed the last moments of Emmdee's camera. You have to stick with my photos for a while now... :(

Kalakeitto + dark saaristoleipä (which I don't like!!!) and pannukakku with jam & cream

Melontaretki

2009-07-16T20:00:00.001+03:00

I'm heading to the open waters through a narrow passage

It was a pretty still & sunny day when we rented kayaks from the Föglö camping site near Finholma. We had a break from cycling on Thursday 16th July and what could have been a better past time than relaxing legs on board of a kayak. We took a local map & compass with us & bottles of water. Hat was a necessity as the sun was beaming on us.

We spotted a heron or a stork couple (didn't recognise which!... Emmdee only saw the legs underneath, so it could have been anything really...), ducks (sorsia), grebes (silkkiuikkuja), an otter (saukko), and some other sea wild life such as Emmdee capsised near the shore...

On board of Emmdee & staring at him investigating an old boat shed

After the 'melontaretki' we relaxed in the sauna, which had a fantastic setting on the rocky shore - we also threw our winter fur coats away... which means we swam in the sea (can also be a lake) first time this summer... yeah yeah - better late than never!

Sauna (bastu in Swedish) & the view out from the sauna's terrace

One year on

2009-07-10T23:05:00.003+03:00

verilettuja ja puolukkan hiloa - blood pancakes and lingonberry jam

Today is a year to the day when we came to Finland (or rather was, as this is a retrospective post because of being off peddling in Åland and not having an internet connection in our tent).

I feel like this should be significant, but strangely can't find much to say about it even though a lot has happened in the last 12 months:

Quit job
Rented out London flat
Moved to Finland (obviously)
Didn't get a job (yet)
Visited a few places / buildings (by foot, cycle, boat, train, plane, canoe, kayak, ferry, sledge, (husky and reindeer), skis, snow shoes, schooner, 'meze', and ladder)
Took some photos; okay a lot of photos
Learnt some Finnish - Nyt minä ymmärrän (ekhä sanoisin vain kirjoitan ja luen) suomen kieli parempi kuin vimme vuonna, on totta, mutta ei puhu hyvin tai nopeasti vielä. Tiedän minun täytyy harjiottaa lisää puhuminen, kunneleminen, kirijoittaminen ja lukeminen suomeksi.
Sold London flat
Entered an architecture competition
Had a few saunas (electric, wood and smoke)
Eaten sausage, moose, blood pancakes, cloudberries, lingonberries, macaroni laatikko, rye bread, salmon...

It would be good if I could at least say that the 'culture shock' is over - but since I haven't worked here yet I think that is really still yet to come... ask me next year.

Timeless expressions

2009-07-07T11:17:00.010+03:00

My other half has noted that I make LOADS of spelling mistakes when I write (in English that is - as not sure he would find the Finnish mistakes - yet!)... This was also pointed out to me by a good friend in Uk (who thinks that her spelling is perfect... and that everyone lives in a perfect world of spelling!!!) - My response is: 'Annetaan kaikkien kukkien kukkia' (=Let all flowers to bloom) and continue blog writing even with not so perfect language skills :) A colleague of mine here in Finland has pointed out to me many times that I should write a book (ha ha - there you go you spelling chekers!) and has already figured out the name of the book & my writer name. It goes like this: Imperfect life of Joan Coupé. So if one day YOU - English friend of mine in Uk walk along the street & see Imperfect life of Joan Coupé in the window of Borders, be happy as the book is for you :) Check all you want - there will be millions of spelling mistakes - unless the editor has managed to find them all!

This brings me to (who knows how) the image above - Timeless expressions, which is the Aalto exhibition at Vellamo Maritime Centre in Kotka and to the story told on a short film re: Aalto's pants... 'Usually Aalto wore quite elegant black shorts at the summer place of the family when some visitors (even reporters & famous folk from abroad) came around. One day he was wearing dirty, baggy trousers when some important visitors were scheduled to arrive to the Muuratsalo experimental house. The wife of Aalto's pointed out this (which might have been a mistake) as Aalto is said to have started loudly protesting against this making a point that he wore exact same pair at the Paris World Fair many years back... also taking (used) handkerchiefs from his pockets throwing them around in front of the visitors saying that he used the handkerchiefs at the fair too'. Nice... So be careful before you comment on other peoples spelling as I might start throwing deliberate/random midtakes everywhere and your time will go in correcting them! HA - there you go.

Models of Aalto's small houses made by students - I can spot Villa Mairea in there... + my friend's face - can you?

P.S. It's worth your while visiting the exhibition if you are near Kotka anyways this summer. The film is funny & informative (but shown on a miniscule screen). The models are interesting too... Otherwise the usual is on show - Remember though that Sunila is very near Kotka, so pop in there too.
P.P.S. I spelt Morrissey wrong - hmmm...

Day trip to...

2009-07-06T21:24:00.011+03:00

...Merikeskus Vellamo in Kotka on Sunday was pleasant. Maritime Centre Vellamo is a museum building in Kotka harbour (approx. 2h from Helsinki towards East) and was opened to the public on June last year. The building was designed by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects. Building's exterior is mainly steel & glass - interior uses timber. Our second visit to this location had a better weather than last time - but still windy.

Missä on sähkötonttu?

2009-07-06T20:52:00.007+03:00

KESÄLOMALLA? Is sähkötonttu on summer holiday?

It's Eino Leino's day ( & summer & poetry) today and the flags are up again. It is very peculiar that our third writer, Sähkötonttu has not been 'around' lately... He's been missing some of the flag days in the past, but... He must have a good explanation for his/her absense. Some of our blog readers have been asking after tonttu... Oh well, we'll see tonttu when we'll see tonttu - as simple as that...

2 kysymystä

2009-07-06T20:43:00.005+03:00

Kysymys 1: Mikä ei kuulu joukkoon?
Q 1: What does not belong in this picture?

Kysymys 2: Kuka on lavalla
Q 2: Who's on stage?

Some clues: both berries are red & Kaapelitehdas on 27 June 09 gig.
Kiitos kakusta Mari!Oli hyvää :)

Pure Laziness

2009-07-01T22:28:00.003+03:00

Can't be bothered to post really, but I will update the header with this months image... these things are everywhere this time of year.

The competition is in by the way... so Jonna gets some now (competition on the blog that is)

Oh and I got a 5- on my level 7 Suomen Kieli the other week, despite getting everything wrong.
And level 8 is buggeringly hard.

If you know what I mean.

Partisiipit, ihana...

I'm really going now, move along, nothing to see here...

sun is out - I'm not...

2009-06-28T17:39:00.009+03:00

No need for 'kumisaappaat' (=wellingtons)

If Juhannus had a rainy & cloudy weather, there's no need for umbrella today as the sun is out now - big time... and I'm confined inside the four walls finalising the competition design report... you may wonder why I'm not doing it right at this second, but writing the blog and the reason is that I'm spooling the document... and with our stone age machinery this process can take ages... in the meantime you can view some images below from the Juhannus cottage weekend (the only sunny patch during the weekend is seen in these images!).

'Kaivo' - the source of drinking water, steps to our quarters, the pier to cold lake & our loyal companion 'MEZE' who always takes us around Finland...

The serious tone re: sun & hot weather was on today's Hesari. It noted in a small article that the heat ruins everything... By this the writer meant that the heat forces more children to be taken into custody (moms & dads go drinking...), people lose their sleep (too hot & sunny during the night), people get fat (drink too many sugary drinks over hot periods of time) and people get sun burn (should stay in shade instead)... And above all, this information & article was published after 3-4 days of sunny weather in Finland! So go out & enjoy the summer where ever you are - unless it's sunny!

Hauskalta juhannukselta mökiltä

2009-06-20T05:44:00.001+03:00

NnneeiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeEEEEE - [WHACK!]

...whawaszat...?
Just another mosquito. Go back to sleep.

Worm-ÖÖÖÖÖ

2009-06-17T10:47:00.012+03:00

Otherwise know as Vormö Island (near Kirkkonummi & Degerby in southern Finland)

Sun, sea, summer & friends

Returned to sender...

2009-06-11T19:16:00.003+03:00

Palautetaan lähettäjälle...

And our good luck just continues re: weird things happening.
Because of a tiny nail varnish bottle the parcel sent to Emmdee's sister has been returned to us (evidence above). What do we learn from this? Never send nail varnish by post to anywhere :)

45mins, 2 men & 150€ later

2009-06-10T18:31:00.003+03:00

One image is more than thousand words...
Kuva on enemmäin kuin tuhat sanaa
;D

Kova - Tough (kuka? - who?)

2009-06-10T16:31:00.013+03:00

Trans. Viivi: 'The world is a tough place'. Wagner: 'So is Mellunmäki'.

... tämä tapahtui tänään aiemmin Mellunmäessä:
... and this is what happened earlier today in Mellunmäki:

Ilman lukkoa ovi lukossa?! the door is locked without a lock!?

(inner of the two doors leading to the main corridor...

a standard solution in a Finnish apartment buildings for acoustics/fire etc)

Emmdee on our balcony in cycling gear

leaving the balcony... and you know how much he likes the heights

You may again wonder if this is one of the weird Finnish past times, to climb down from balconies dressed spandex - a new fashionable sport Emmdee has taken up as a hobby...

Just at 15:05 today it was discovered by Emmdee that there's no way out from our flat... The door had locked itself, even it does not have a lock - nice surprise for our cyclist on his way to the Finnish lessons in town (starting at 16:00). The estate maintenance chap hurried to help, but was not able to open the door from outside either... ladder was luckily found in the basement house store and the cyclist was on his way - fashionably late. I'm on the other hand stranded at home... and Hiri outside - no way in or out at the moment (which is always good especially if fire was to spread in the apartment...) The locksmith on call is lowering his boat to the sea in the harbour and could potentially make it here in 'a few' hours :)

Perhaps I'm out of here soon too?

Juhannuskalenteri

2009-06-01T11:51:00.005+03:00

Colourful calender in our back yard

Obviously all of you have heard of 'Juhannuskalenteri' (by now, all English speakers should know what Juhannus is and what the word kalenteri means), right? Well, this is the first time for me too, so don't feel you have been left out from something great :) ... saying that though, I think you are missing out if YOUR friend has not made one for you! And no, you can't have mine. + If you don't have Juhannus in your country, the calender might be pretty meaningless to you - oh well...

So thank you friend for 'askarrella' this for us. The first 'luukku' (=hatch) has been opened and it revealed a bag of 5 flight bags for small items containing liquid one wishes to carry in the hand luggage - very handy for our flight to London in September. I wonder what does the rest of the bags keep inside... Should I sniff them in case there's chocolate and I could - perhaps - maybe - taste a bit (like I did a few years ago with the Christmas calender I was sent)... Oh perhaps I just wait and be patient, as difficult as it can be. This will definitely make the waiting & sitting inside in this 30 degree heat wave more pleasurable... Then again, if there's chocolate - surely it will melt in these temperatures, just a small peek - it won't hurt anyone...

Thank you :)

P.S. Juhannus = Mid summer, kalenteri = calender (... like an advent calender for December/Christmas)

Onnea Ylioppilaalle!

2009-05-30T17:00:00.000+03:00

Ylioppilaan 'juhla-ateria'

30.5. Suomi juhli monen uuden ylioppilaan kanssa, niin mekin teimme. Mikä parasta, ilma oli aurinkoinen ja tunnelma ylpeän isän puheessa shampanjan ja kakun siivittämänä oli mahtava.

On Saturday Finland celebrated many new 'Ylioppilas' (= youngsters who had passed their matriculation examinations (a mouth full that word...) and had just received their shiny white caps, which they can now start wearing every vappu (making them less shiny & white)). The weather was perfect for a garden party of my god son and the speach of the proud father + 'kakku' (=cake) & champagne were memorable.

Good luck for T in future & army... in 45 days ;D

Time flies when you're having fun

2009-05-28T23:03:00.008+03:00

Danger - Architect at work... via

What is it with architects and deadlines?

Somehow it is 10 days since our last post, although it only seems like last night. I have several things I want to blog about (including horses & cows, blood pancakes, not cycling, dentists and other random things) but we're in that mad 'draw-up' zone trying to get our Europan 10 competition entry ready, working 12 hour days redesigning everything for the n-th time, redrawing it, redesigning it again, drawing it again, re-reading the brief, starting it all again.... Having the world's worst rickety, uneven table as a drawing board, no network, flaky software and only an A4 printer (also very temperamental - rather like it's owner) doesn't exactly help. Mind you the set up is still almost as good as my last office...

The observant amongst you may be wondering why I making a big deal about this as we still have exactly a month to go, however my course starts on Monday (oh bugger I have to revise for that too), and we have Juhannus in between, and I need to get a 3d CAD model of the whole site finished next week so we can work up some perspective views then work on the written part. While Konna will only have to draw everything else! If we were doing this in an office I would hope there would be a few more hands. Lucky it is 'only' three A1 boards... (and 10 A3's, and 2 CD's) ... and we can't even publish it here until after the judging - in January!

things you should and shouldn't know

2009-05-18T00:17:00.001+03:00

I've just discovered (while idly skimming through my Sitemeter stats) that our little unfocused blog has been picked up by 'this is FINLAND' published by the Finland Promotion Board as one of just five blogs (so far anyway) of 'recommended' reading on Finland, along with our fellow ex-pat architect Lewism. So heipa if you have just arrived in confusion from there. One of the others is the Finnish foreign minister's blog... which isn't so surprising once you see who produces the site. Nice Aalto vase inspired logo too.

I wonder if we come under the 'things you shouldn't know' category the site's strap line mentions?

In which summer hurtles towards us

2009-05-17T22:27:00.006+03:00

mmmmm, ihana

It only seems like a couple of weeks ago since I was still writing about snow. Now all the snow is long gone, winter gear retired to the attic/cellar and even the grit has been swept up and taken away. Suddenly the bare birches have got this season's must have look (in leafy spring green) and as I look out the window at 22:31 twilight is falling, although the sun will be back in just six hours. In a few weeks the schools will break for summer, and Juhannus - the nightless night - is only five weeks away...

Anyway we have been absorbed in working up our ideas for Europan (which has only six weeks to go - oh-ho!), and otherwise kept busy Nordic walking and going to an Utzon lecture (where we also bumped into Lewism) in the last week, and now my back is finally better I'll be back on my bike this week.

I also cooked a rather fine (even if I do say so myself) roast beef dinner for some friends today - but I'll show you a salad as it seems more seasonal - as well as better for you...

Remember

2009-05-17T15:10:00.002+03:00

Tänään on kaatuneitten muistopäivä suomessa

Today is Remembrance Day in Finland

Finnishnessness

2009-05-12T10:00:00.005+03:00

Suomen lippuja: From hölynpöly

Tänään on JV Snellmanin päivä, suomalaisuuden päivä

Today is JV Snellman's day - the day of 'Finnishness'

Here are some ways to be Finnish today (if you are not already):

Try to be quiet or at least monosyllabic (unless using a mobile phone, in which case speak rapidly and volubly for at least 1 hour about your most personal issues while on public transport)
Don't smile at strangers, or anyone else much
Eat a disgusting black substance containing NH₄Cl
Pretend W and V are the same letter
Shake hands with everyone you meet
When going for a walk take your ski-poles (you may need to hire some if you don't ski)
Sit naked on a bench in a small wooden hut heated with a stove full of rocks to between 70 and 90°C with several people you barely know; throw water on the rocks to make steam and sweat; if insufficiently masochistic so far hit yourself with leafy boughs; you may only leave to swim in a freezing lake; award self with a beer. Repeat until cooked, drunk or drowned.
Eat lots of sausages. And potatoes. And then some more sausages. If you want vegetables or fruit you'll have to wait until autumn when the mushrooms and berries are around.

Also hard English is

2009-05-10T23:06:00.003+03:00

Came across this article on this site (via an exchange on Facebook about clams... but that's another story) which reminded me that although the Finnish language is difficult, English is not exactly a piece of cake either. Or any other bakery product.