Today I have the answer to the ultimate question

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

or

Kakiskymmentayksi vuotias - toista

Happy Birthday Mr. Hugo Wave...

From Favourites

Aalto means 'wave' in Finnish.  Which is appropriate for an architect who brought sinuous, wave-like, fan forms to soften and humanise rational, rectilinear, Modernism. His first name was actually Hugo - maybe he liked the alliteration from his middle name more...

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto. Syntyi 1898, kuoli 1976.

Metsän poika tahdon olla, sankar jylhän kuusiston

Suomi artifacts like puukko and kuksa

The birthday of my other half is now a distant memory, but his path towards a true 'metsän poika' (= son of the forest) has started... After receiving 'kuksa' (= handmade wooden cup carved out of birch burl) from Hiri (otherwise known as Hiiri) the other half has slowly build up his wilderness essentials from Suomi t-shirt to 'puukko' (= woodcrafted belt-knife which is used as a tool... not a weapon). The other half is now ready to continue wilderness hikes such as the Herajärvi kierros (= Lake Herajärvi hiking tour) in Koli which we did counter clockwise from Pirunkirkko (= Devil's church) to Ryläys mid August.

View from Ukko-Koli viewing place over the lake Pielinen 

On the other hand the other half might 'utilize' his other birthday present/s more. They were the famous Finnish Reino-slippers... Autumn is here and perhaps the Reinos are more comfortable than dragging 30kg 'rinkka' (= rucksack) along the ridges of Koli... Not yet though - oh no no... Next weekend is the trip to Vierumäki 'mökki' and Reinos can stay behind... The other half can once more sing the song of Aleksis Kivi: Terve, metsä, terve, vuori - Terve, metsän ruhtinas - Täs on poikas, uljas, nuori (39 in his case!) - Esiin käy hän, voimaa täys - Kuin tuima tunturin tuuli ... Metsän poika tahdon olla, sankar jylhän kuusiston... lal lal laaaaaa... Happy b-day sweetie - put your Reinos on and take it easy!

Reinos from the Ainot ja Reinot -collection

P.S. I will write about the Heräjärvi experience soon...

In John Buchan's footsteps

Maybe they know something?

Kaksituhataa kahdeksan minus tuhat yhdeksänsataa kuusikymmentäyhdeksän on yhtä kuin?

Muumi - Moomins

Image from Flickr, by Radical_Adult.

If you were to go into Stockmann's department store in central Helsinki, while getting lost in it's labyrinthine interior (or is that just me?) you might suddenly find yourself in the gift shop area, surrounded by Moomins, which seem to feature on at least 25% of the souvenirs there...  Of course this experience isn't just limited to Stockmann, it might happen in Kämp Galleria or the airport. And that's assuming you can avoid Naantali's very own Moominworld.  

So what's all the fuss about? Well since the resurgence in their popularity in the 90's (known as muumibuumi - honest), the Moomins have become almost as important to the outside world's picture of Finland (and hence tourism) as Santa Claus and his reindeer (Joloupukki lives in Rovaneimi in case you didn't know), sauna, snow, Sibelious, Aalto vases and stools (what, he designed buildings too?), Marimekko, wooden thingys (you know, like butter knives and kuksa's),  Mikko Hirvonen (ha! see I do know Finnish racing drivers other than Kimi and Heikki in F1 - oh, he's a WRC rally driver) and Lordi (actually maybe everyone has forgotten Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 by now). There are even research papers on the subject. This would probably be better if 50% of the Moomin branded goods weren't complete tat, but hey, compared to some other children's book/cartoon character merchandising it's actually quite restrained, if occasionally a bit weird (Moomin brand Japanese sweets?); and some are positively artistic and tasteful.

Tove Jansson was an artist and illustrator as well as a writer for children and adults (and had a pretty radical, bohemian lifestyle back in 30's 40's & 50's) and this shows in the original illustrations (especially the woodcut style ones). The sometimes dark and chaotic stories (in a naive, childlike way) and strangely, and (perhaps) autobiographical characters are I suspect where the lasting (adult) interest comes from.  When coupled to Iittala's classic Teema ware (designed by Kaj Franck in 1952) you certainly have a better class of souvenir mug or bowl to collect.  No wonder they (Arabia Finland) release a new one every six months...

So Happy Birthday Lil' Sis (or should that be Pikku My?), maybe this is the start of a beautiful collection?

Syyskuu ja syksy

Where were we last year? Eden project, September 2007.  

September (Syyskuu) has always been my favourite or at least a special month for various reasons, (okay, because of my birthday then); even with it's connotations of 'back-to-school' for us from UK.  These days we often seem to go for short holidays with friends in (out of season) September.  I like the occasional indian summer days, the autumn colours, the first rustle of leaves on the ground; the beginning of autumn (syksy) and the end of summer (kesä).  Things always seem to start or end in September for me somehow, and now it will always be more poignant. 

Today is another start: the first lesson here in my Finnish for Foreigners course. 

Ehka ehkä mina minä sanoan sanon nyt: tänään on minun ensimmäinen suomen kieli oppitunti keilioppitunti.

I wonder how many mistakes are in that sentence...?

[corrected  23:06 01.09.08 by konna]

Mölkky

Rustic Mölkky 

[image from Wikimedia commons]

Drop in at just about any Finnish mökki over the summer and you are more than likely to interrupt one or more of the following activities: the grilling of makara, sauna, and mölkky.

According to Wikipedia, Mölkky was invented in Finland in 1996, and has been very successful here. Although described on American websites as a 'Finnish tossing game', it's certainly a good way to while away the long summer days in a more social way and can be played (and even benefits) from the uneven and varied terrain you find in the average yard. Just be careful not to lose your mölkky (the throwing 'stick') in the forest or lake...

The world championships are held in Lahti each year, this year's being the 11th.  

These days you can even buy mini, indoor versions for the long, dark days of winter (but mind the glasswear!), and of course to add to the burgeoning list of Suomi souvenir gifts to inflict on your friends and family...  happy birthday Robert!