Finland, Finland, Finland - come in y'all..! ;) [Archive] - Page 3

FinnFreak

05-22-2006, 5:25am

The Daily Mirror - 22 May 2006

20 FINNS ABOUT WORLD'S STRANGEST LITTLE NATION

AS FINLAND WIN EUROVISION, WE FIND..

THOSE crazy Finns! And that's not something you hear too often about the nation that makes a virtue of cool, calm and collected.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest winner Lordi - dressed like something unpleasant from Lord of the Rings - turned the annual cheesefest on its head when they stormed to victory with Hard Rock Hallelujah, taking 292 points to England's measly 25.

But heavy-metal Lordi, it has to be said, are not your typical Finns - so here are 20 things you never knew about a little country hardly any of us have ever been to ...

1. Wife Carrying World Championships

FORGET its champion skiers and rally drivers - every year, Finland plays host to an arduous men's race over 250 metres of obstacles, including a water jump. To make it harder, men must carry their wives on their backs to win her weight in beer. Drop her, and you lose.

2. Sleepyhead Day

A PUBLIC holiday in a land where, in summer, the sun sets for less than an hour. Traditionally, the last member of the family to wake on Sleepyhead Day (July 27) is thrown in the lake or sea.

3. Sweating contests

A Nordic endurance test in the land that invented sauna. Participants sit as still as possible, for as long as possible, while the heat in the sauna is cranked up. Good fun or what?

4. Forests and Lakes

TWO thirds of the country is forest-the highest proportion of any country in the world. And what isn't covered with trees is covered by water - there are 200,000 lakes.

5. Air Guitar contests

IN 1996 the Air Guitar World Championships began in the town of Oulu and is now an annual event. Last year's winner was Michael "Destroyer" Heffels from Holland who won a real guitar for his efforts.

6. Donald Duck

IN 1977 Walt Disney's duck was banned in Finland because he doesn't wear trousers. Actually, that's an urban myth. In fact, politicians in Helsinki decided they were wasting taxpayers money on mindless American comics and cut them from their library budget. But the story stuck...

7. Mobile phones

THE home of Nokia is the biggest user of mobiles in the world - 98 per cent of Finns use mobiles and only five per cent have land lines.

9. Hugging

FINNS prefer not hug a friend in public. In fact, expressions of strong emotion (unless a drink has been taken) are usually met with a blank stare.

9. Saunas

IT had to come... there is one for every three inhabitants and it is an ancient Finnish custom. Archaeologists have uncovered hot huts dating back to before Christ.

10. Language

THE Finnish language is widely regarded as one of the world's most difficult - which is why most Finns speak perfect English. It also has the world's longest word - lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliups eerioppilas - a rank in the Finnish air force.

11. Ice

FINNS literally have to break free if they want to leave the country in the winter as thick ice prevents boats from travelling. Today Finland builds and supplies most of the world's icebreakers.

12. Youngest to win an Olympic gold medal

THE youngest male athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal was 16-year-old Toni Nieminen of Finland. He won the ski jumping event at the 1992 Winter Games in France.

13. Road signs

DUE to the country being bilingual, all signs are in both Finnish and Swedish. Even the capital is Helsinki in Finnish, but Helsingfors in Swedish.

14. Equality

NOT only was Finland one the first countries in the world to give women the vote, in 1907 it became the very first country to allow them to stand for parliament

15. Christmas

YOUNGSTERS from Finland don't have to wait until Christmas Day to open their presents - Finns unwrap their gifts on Christmas Eve.

16. Computer licensing

FINLAND introduced the European Computer Drivers Licence in 1988. It is recognised in 17 European countries and in South Africa - and is a certificate of digital competence.

17. Alcohol

THE Finns like a drink - or three. There have been two alcohol bans over the last 100 years and today liquor sales are mostly state controlled.

18. Blondes

FINLAND has the highest proportion of blondes of any country. A study in 2002 predicted that the world's last natural blonde will die out in 200 years - but will have been born in Finland.

19. Northern Lights

IN Finland the Northern Lights are called "revontulet" which literally means foxfire.

20. Safety

FINLAND may have its eccentricities, but according to the World Audit study, it is also the least corrupted and most democratic country in the world.

Which, unlike Lordi, can't be bad.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tm_objectid=17111493&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=20-finns-about-world-s-strangest-little-nation-name_page.html

Click here (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&q=lordi&btnG=Search+News) to view about 600 other news articles from around the globe about... well, heh - you know...

John - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/ROCKON.gif

EilleenTwain88

05-22-2006, 7:51am

doteurovision.com

A Broad in Athens salutes the Finns

All we need is lightning ...... striking down the prophets of war.

Eurovision is heading to Finland - yes, FINLAND! Never has there been a nation more worthy of this achievement. For over forty years they have waited, through nil points, last places and ridicule. All that time, never knowing what that feeling is like to hear so many douze points heading their way. Every year they arrive at Eurovision, full of hope, a warmth in their hearts that belies their cold climate, a wonderful, self-effacing, modest bunch of people who take all their misfortunes in good part, and yet, without complaint, come back year after year for more of the same. Never pushy, never bragging and always accepting their unkind fate in good part.

Well, not this time! This time the warriors of the north, the titans from the Tundra came with passion, and a bravery in choosing a song that would put an end to this suffering, and finally give them a chance to stage the contest that the country so loves. They have seen the light and shown unprecedented foresight for sending what Europe wants to hear - and see. And in the process, scuppered many a pessimistic view that this contest is becoming purely the domain of the east, and an event dominated by the dance routine and mini skirt.

I cannot remember a time when I have seen so many bewildered and confused faces of the winning delegation, in a collective daze, wondering when they'd wake up - and then expecting to find it had all just been an impossible dream. Calls to friends and family revealed the same was true back home, commentators were crying openly on live TV, fireworks and singing were emanating from every street, and the bars of Helsinki had thrown open their doors and were serving free drinks to the revellers, keen to share this new experience with each other. It really must be a strange and delirious feeling to be a Finn right now.

And so I am sure, this feeling will continue - right through until May 2007, when the warm hearted, slightly reserved nation will play host to the whole of Europe. It will be one hell of a Eurovision. Finland, this time you got it right, this time you sent us your true soul, this time we embraced you like never before. And how richly we rewarded you! You infiltrated even the most stubbornly Latin temperament. You touched the hearts of those of us who love this contest and want it to embrace EVERY musical style. You won - yes, WON - and how!

And so, flying Finns, fly! Rejoice, for this is your Arockalypse Now. This Broad has very great pleasure in accepting your very kind invitation to join you in celebrating YOUR Eurovision Song Contest next May. And she is very much looking forward to it already.

Rock and Roll!!!!!!!

XX

John - :]
That was quite touching in fact... :cry: :kiss: !! Thank you.
You are most welcome, Europe. Let's rock the house next year also :music: !!!

aFinn

05-22-2006, 8:10am

I also had tears in my eyes... but from laughing so much :funny:

"For over forty years they have waited, through nil points, last places and ridicule. All that time, never knowing what that feeling is like to hear so many douze points heading their way."

"the warriors of the north, the titans from the Tundra"

etc etc... :biglaugh:

EilleenTwain88

05-22-2006, 8:21am

I also had tears in my eyes... but from laughing so much :funny:
Yeah. Actually that has been the feeling for me since Saturday. Like laughing so hysterically that you are close to tears.

But this writing was quite onto the head of the nail. Like the feeling of being aFinn ( :p ) must be rather overwhelming right now. You don't know if you should laugh or cry. Literally.

And how simple it was to make the whole of Europe upside down, after all.

The world is such a funny place and God definately has a weird sense of humor... :funny: :funny: ?!?

FinnFreak

05-22-2006, 8:32am

STT - 22.5.2006

Rovaniemi to name square after Finland's Eurovision victors

Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland, intends to name a square after Lordi, the heavy metal group that won the Eurovision song contest on Saturday.

The city fathers added Sunday they would reward Tomi Putaansuu, the vocalist who is from Rovaniemi, with a plot of land - an honour normally granted to Olympic gold medallists and athletics world champions who hail from the town.

The Rovaniemi town council is also offering its Lapland Arena as the venue of next year´s contest.

...you guys up in Lapland must be ready to burst from pride..! :D:up:

...and to think that they achieved this by sticking to their guns - believing in their music 100% - because, in the end: who dares, wins.

John - :]:up:

FinnFreak

05-22-2006, 8:49am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - 22.5.2006

Lordi and Hard Rock Hallelujah bring it home after more than 40 years

Eurovision Song Contest success at last in Athens

By William Moore

On Sunday morning, waking Finns could have been forgiven for pinching themselves.

After forty-something years of trying and failing, in various forms and guises, the nation had finally won the Eurovision Song Contest - and with a heavy rock entry delivered by characters dressed as scaly horror-movie monsters. Lordi, a theatrical band from Rovaniemi, took the 51st annual Eurovision Song Contest by storm, scored a record 292 points, and - in a small way - changed Finnish life forever.

Many had predicted disaster when Lordi and their song Hard Rock Hallelujah won the Finnish qualifiers for the event, suggesting that it would all end in tears and utter embarrassment, with the rest of Europe jeering at the "Satanic" monsters of Lordi and their very un-Eurovision offering. But as it turned out, the doomsayers were all quite wrong.

Negative publicity, as so often happens, proved to be just as potent as positive: the fact that some Greek groups had called for the monsters to be banned only whetted the enthusiasm of those who felt that the glitzy, campy competition needed an injection of something new.

From the beginning of the televoting on Saturday night, it was obvious that Lordi's and Finland's window of opportunity had come.

Votes poured in from across the continent, from Andorra to Ukraine, and what one Helsingin Sanomat journalist described succinctly beforehand as the "Battle of Latex versus Botox" turned into a complete rout.

Countless acts from across the continent featuring silicone-enhanced and scantily-clad dancing girls were floored by four men and a woman wearing more than enough clothes. Or more than enough rubber scales and masks, at least.

A wave of support for the only significantly different show in a competition that has long since been more about style than substance meant that there could only be one winner: the most unlikely winner, perhaps, in the history of the event.

When the dust had settled, and when the millions watching at home had done cheering and clapping each new regional breakthrough, Lordi had a record-breaking 292 points, beating off the challenge from Russia (248) and Bosnia & Herzegovina (229), and leaving former Eurovision greats like France and the United Kingdom far, far in their wake.

The UK, presenting an entry featuring a white rapper and girls in the alluring school uniform attire of the dirty postcard, received the dreaded "null points" from no fewer than 28 international juries, while Finland's song was dismissed by just three: Albania, Armenia, and Monaco. Naturally we shall be working on them for next year. We do not need to work on the Brits - they gave us 12 points, bless them.

There was media attention aplenty after the show. The British conservative broadsheet The Daily Telegraph, raising a quizzical eyebrow as to what Lordi's victory might mean for the six-month Finnish EU Presidency, summed up the events of the night in fine fashion:

"Self-styled 'meat-eaters in a vegetarian cafe', Lordi's studded-leather costumes, blood-spurting chainsaws, and spine-tingling lyrics left the traditional spangle-suited, love-ballad-singing entrants strewn around the Olympic Stadium in Athens like extras in a zombie film."

Exactly! The Arockalypse had arrived, and not just in the form of Lordi's new CD. And next year there will probably be even more outlandish bands on display.

"Next year" is of course the next big question. How are the cash-strapped Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) to rise to the challenge of arranging the enormous Song Contest circus? And who will be drafted in to do the honours with the compereing? Conan O'Brien, anyone?

The YLE Director-General Mikael Jungner has promised there will be no licence-fee hike to pay for it, but he has also hinted darkly that support will have to come from somewhere.

Fortunately, at least for the present, helping hands seem to be in abundance.

Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was quick to point out that arranging the spectacle is a national project, and announced that the government would help out, though without writing a blank cheque for the public service broadcasters. Money is also likely to be forthcoming from the European Broadcasting Union and from ticket sales.

Vanhanen sent his greetings to the Lordi members and entourage in Athens, but intends to congratulate the band in person himself.

President Tarja Halonen and Minister of Culture Tanja Saarela (Centre Party) have also congratulated the winners. Halonen sent off a telegram within minutes of the victory becoming clear. As for Saarela, formerly Tanja Karpela, she had her work cut out at the weekend - she also remarried and took a new name.

It may seem like a flippant and even gross comparison, but there was a sensation in Athens before the competition that if Lordi were actually to win, it would represent a "9/11" or "5/20" moment for Eurovision, marking a turning-point after which there was no return.

"The Lordi show is so extreme that there is no going back to the old ways", argued the CEO of Sony BMG Finland Kimmo Valtanen. The band are signed to the SonyBMG label.

During the week in the Greek capital, the band members under their leader Mr. Lordi, a.k.a. Tomi Putaansuu, carried themselves with great credit on and off stage, and Putaansuu's performance at the post-competition press briefing would have put many Finnish politicians to shame, along with nearly every Finnish sporting personality throughout recorded history.

He was articulate, spoke excellent English, and will have gone a long way to dismantling the charges that the band are a bunch of Satanists that your mother always warned you against.

It was planned that there would be a welcome home ceremony in Helsinki's Market Square today, but this has been postponed until later in the week.

One thing is certain: the band members are adamant that they do not wish to remove the masks or destroy the mystique behind their costumes.

They appealed to the media to respect their privacy and not to go in search of paparazzi images of them out of make-up and costumes.

Leaning on his Lappish roots, and referring to another hero of the Finnish North, Putaansuu pointed out drily that nobody really wanted to "out" Santa Claus, either.

The Finns have never taken the pomp and circumstance of the Eurovision Song Contest as a life-or-death matter. Over the years they have died on stage too many times for that, with a range of entries from fey folk music in national costumes to anti-nuclear protests, to ethereal ambient, to world music, and even a reggae act. It's a show, after all.

However, it is probable that a small frisson of pride will run through the nation in roughly a year's time when the words ring out: "Finland welcomes the Eurovision Song Contest!"

It's been a long time coming.

John - :]

Troll

05-22-2006, 8:58am

EilleenTwain88

05-22-2006, 9:05am

...you guys up in Lapland must be ready to burst from pride..! :D:up:

...and to think that they achieved this by sticking to their guns - believing in their music 100% - because, in the end: who dares, wins.

John - :]:up:

"It’s who dares, wins
You will see the jokers soon’ll be the new kings"
- Hard Rock Hallelujah, Lordi

:D

Cannot really take pride in that personally, but honestly without voters from Lapland Lordi wouldn't have made it into Athens in the first place. THAT is true.

FinnFreak

05-22-2006, 9:11am

Tänään Lordia voi kuunnella suorana Internetissä, kun Radio Suomi lähettää yhtyeen tiedotustilaisuuden kokonaisuudessaan. Kello 17 alkava tilaisuus on kuunneltavissa osoitteissa:

http://www.yle.fi/radiosuomi/radiosuomi.ram

sekä

http://www.yle.fi/radiosuomi/radiosuomi.asx

The Lordi Press Conference today on Radio Finland will be streamed live on Internet at the above links...

...within 45 minutes...

John - ;)

FinnFreak

05-22-2006, 2:16pm

Finnish movie director Aki Kaurismäki promoting his latest work at the Cannes Film Festival today:

"It's a bit different than the last time. The last time we had lost both in hockey & the Eurovisions. Because of Lordi's win I have no pressures at all."

John - :p

tower

05-22-2006, 3:09pm

aFinn

05-22-2006, 5:15pm

The Finns have never takenthe pomp and circumstance of the Eurovision Song Contest as a life-or-death matter. Over the years they have died on stage too many times for that:funny: :funny:

Oh and a quick PS, I leave for Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow to join a Dive support Vessel there. :DHave a safe trip!

Troll

05-22-2006, 11:23pm

Have fun Tom.

FinnFreak

05-23-2006, 1:54am

Wonderful Stuff that John... and 40 to 1 odds against Finland winning from the British Bookmakers... Oh my Oh MY what fantastic odds... 1 Euro to win 40... I hope the Band bet on themself to win.. LORDI LORDI LORDI...

Well it's off to Finland next year for the Eurovision Song Contest Finals, I wonder what City is up for the Invasion, I so hope to be there. Oh and a quick PS, I leave for Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow to join a Dive support Vessel there. :D

With 99.9% certainty - it's gonna be Helsinki - most likely at the same venue where Shania performed: the Hartwall Areena. :]

heh... and talking about beating the odds: one 35-year-old Finnish man somewhere in central Finland placed a bet 5 weeks ago... 5000 Euros at the odds of 1:59...

...he won 295 000 Euros...

...and may the winds be favorable to you at the Caribbean..!

John - ;)

Troll

05-23-2006, 8:59am

That is a lot of Euros.

FinnFreak

05-23-2006, 9:31am

The band Lordi requested at the Press Conference right after their ESC win, that the media would kindly respect their privacy & NOT send in an army of paparazzi to get pictures of the band without their masks - to maintain some mystery & that the people behind the masks aren't really that interesting.

So far, at least the Finnish media has respected that request, however, the media in Sweden, Germany & the UK have not been that considerate...

BUT...

blabbermouth.net - May 23, 2006

LORDI Unmasked! … NOT!

The U.K.'s The Sun newspaper has published a photo that it claims depicts the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest winners LORDI without their stage outfits. The Sun article states, "The faces behind the terrifying Eurovision Song Contest act LORDI can today be revealed — as a bunch of harmless, long-haired rockers. The Finnish hell-raisers startled viewers with their gruesome stage outfits, which they wore all weekend as they romped to victory in Athens. But, as our picture shows, they look a lot less hairraising without their 'Lord of the Rings'-style outfits."

However, according to a posting on the CHILDREN OF BODOM fan site Scythes-of-Bodom.com, the photo in question is actually from 1998, featuring CHILDREN OF BODOM session keyboardist Erna Siikavirta (who formerly played keyboards for LORDI) along with CHILDREN OF BODOM members Henkka Seppälä and Alexi Laiho.

heh... and Mr. Lordi (Putaansuu) already has laughed at a previous attempt by Swedish Aftonbladet, by saying:

"Nice try - but those pictures aren't us."

John - :biglaugh:

Troll

05-23-2006, 1:13pm

That is a great article.

FinnFreak

05-24-2006, 2:51am

http://www.platinum.ac/eurovision07/img/banner_468x60_01.gif (http://www.platinum.ac/eurovision07)

http://www.platinum.ac/eurovision07/phpPetitionTemplate/mm_travel_photo.jpg

Näpit irti Euroviisuista!

Vetoomus Suomen Euroviisujen pelastamiseksi

Kaikilla suomalaisilla on vielä tuoreet traumat vuoden 2005 yleisurheilun MM-kisojen avajaisista. Professori Gandalf repi joulupukkinaamarissa voimavirtajohtoja "aikakoneessa". Rednex, Laura Bono ja muut Suomen huippubändit esiintyivät kaatosateessa. Playback-esitykset lähetettiin miljooniin koteihin takakaarteen kakkoskameran mikrofonilla äänitettyinä.

Ettei vuoden 2005 MM-kisojen avajaisten kaltainen fiasko, sekä siitä seurannut kansallinen häpeä toistuisi, vaadimme seuraavia toimenpiteitä:

Ammattilaiset asialle: Suomessa on kymmeniä kansainvälisesti tunnustettuja viihdealan ammattilaisia, jotka ovat tähän saakka karttaneet Euroviisuja kuin Lordi kasvisruokaa. Suomalaisia kukkahattutätejä ei saa päästää koskemaan tulevien Euroviisujen järjestelyihin. Emma-gaalojen tuottajille, Yleisradion fiilistelijöille, Matti Vanhaselle ja MM-kisojen organisaatiolle porttikielto tapahtumaan.

Tekotaiteellisuus pannaan: Väliaikaesityksiksi ei tarvita Ateenasta kopioituja tanssiesityksiä. Rockilla Lordi toi kisat Suomeen ja rockilla jatketaan! Suomalaisilla ei ole tarvetta kopioida muiden maiden seremonioita, pitäydytään siinä mikä osataan parhaiten.

Nuorta ammattitaitoa: Tunnarit, välianimaatiot ja graafinen ilme parhaille nuorille luoville tekijöille. Ylen grafiikkaosasto ei saa koskea tapahtumaan (oletko nähnyt Ylen ohjelmatunnuksia tai markkinointia?).

Euroviisut Lappiin: Kaikki jotka ovat käyneet betonilähiöiden ja rautateiden ympäröimässä Hartwall Areenassa ovat sitä mieltä että Euroviisut tulee järjestää Lordin kotikulmilla Lapissa. Mikä näyttäisi Euroopassa paremmalta kuin porot parveilemassa viisuhallin parkkipaikalla? Mikäli tilaa Lapista ei löydy (eikä Hjallis hallia pysty rakentamaan) tyytykäämme Hartwall Areenaan.

Lordi ansaitsee kaiken kunnian voitosta. Suomi ei voittanut Euroviisuja, Lordi voitti.

Lisää nimesi vetoomukseen!

http://www.platinum.ac/eurovision07/

Allekirjoittaneita yhteensä 9078

heh... basically, this is a petition demanding that the ESC 2007 in Helsinki should NOT be handled like the Athletics World Championships 2005 Opening Ceremony fiasco...

...no overly artsy stuff, which bores the socks off & makes the viewers change the channel - instead of using the most visible YLE designers, the artistic responsibilities should be handed over to the new generation of young talented professionals.

...and while I typed this, the number of people to sign has grown to 9183

John - ;):up:

FinnFreak

05-24-2006, 3:36am

NewsRoom Finland

Latest images in the news

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0522_cannes_m.jpg

A still from the Finnish film "Laitakaupungin Valot" (Lights in the Dusk) directed by Aki Kaurismäki, competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or award at this year's Cannes film festival, which continues until May 21.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0522_pronssi_m.jpg

Finland won the bronze medals after beating Canada 5-0 in the match for places three and four at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Riga, Latvia, on May 21. Sweden won the world championship after beating the Czech Republic 4-0 in the final.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0522_kymppi_m.jpg

About 14,000 women and girls took part in the annual 10 kilometre fun run, "The Women's Ten", in Helsinki on May 21.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0522_lordi2_m.jpg

Lordi's leader, Mr Lordi, pictured heading for his hotel after greeting fans at the Euroclub in Athens after the metal band's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest on May 20.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0522_athens_m.jpg

A jubilant crowd at the Euroclub in Athens celebrate Finland's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Greek capital on May 20.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0522_lordi_m.jpg

Monster metal band Lordi are national heroes at home after securing a first-ever sensational victory for Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens on May 20. Their winning song, penned by the band's boss, Mr Lordi (centre) was "Hard Rock, Halleluja".

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0523_tuomioja_m.jpg

Foreign Minister of Tunis Abdelwaheb Abdallah (right) met his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja (left) in Helsinki on May 22. Mr Abdallah was on a one-day visit to Finland.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0523_software_m.jpg

Use of illegal computer software has perceptibly decreased in Finland. According a survey by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the level of software piracy here is among the lowest in the world.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0523_cannes_m.jpg

Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki (3rd left) dances with the president of the Cannes Film Festival Gilles Jacob (4th left) on the red carpet before a screening of Kaurismäki's film 'Laitakaupungin Valot' (Lights in the Dusk) at the festival on May 22.

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0523_lordi_m.jpg

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (centre, without mask) poses at a press conference in Helsinki on May 22 with heavy rock band Lordi, winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

John - ;)

FinnFreak

05-24-2006, 4:51am

;)

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 24.5.2006

Lordi meet press and PM

Welcome-home concert for fans on Friday evening

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135218532536.jpeg
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen learnt the heavy fans' hand-greeting on his
encounter with the Lordi band-members.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was among those who went to meet Finland's new Eurovision heroes Lordi on their return to the glare of the Finnish press on Monday.

The latest episode in the saga of the Hard Rock Hallelujah band in the lizard-king and splatter-movie monster outfits was predictably mobbed by journalists, but Vanhanen had a few moments alone with the five band-members to congratulate them on their achievement.

Vanhanen also noted that the win had come at a perfect time, in the wake of efforts on behalf of Finnish music exports and the international success of other local acts, and said that he was sure the band's example would be a model for many others to come.

Lordi are certainly making hay while the sun shines. New record deals for the band's albums have been signed with 18 countries, and the intention is to get the CDs into the shops as quickly as possible.

Similarly Lordi's management are firming up festival dates and other gigs for the summer and autumn. Lordi will be on the bill, for instance, at Ruisrock in Turku on July 7th.

Monday's press conference was a fairly relaxed affair, despite the record company's strict stipulation that no TV cameras would be allowed in to film the band-members as they answered questions.

The move is a part of the Lordi members' efforts to preserve their privacy and the mystique of the horror-movie masks, and at least front-man Mr.Lordi Tomi Putaansuu is worried lest Finns would simply laugh at "the goofiness" of a scaly monster who is speaking in a broad Lappish accent straight to camera.

Aside from details of Friday's welcome-home concert in Helsinki's Market Square, which will feature the band and other acts and will be televised live in part, the most serious bits of information to come out of the gathering were the band's own considered remarks about the staging of the annual Eurovision event.

Some in Rovaniemi have already urged that the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest should be held in Lapland, as a mark of respect to the winners' roots.

Tomi Putaansuu said he would naturally like nothing better, but having witnessed the enormity of the arrangements and staging and press facilities and everything else in Athens, he noted that even the Hartwall Arena and Trade Fair Centre in Helsinki - the current bookmakers' favourite as a prospective venue - would have trouble coping with the task.

It is not simply the job of finding a venue that can hold 10,000-14,000 people: there were around 2,000 accredited press personnel in Athens and the event sprawled out across the city in hotels, restaurants, and elsewhere. It is a vast spectacle, requiring staging on a massive scale, and only after having been there and having been through it is it possible to explain to others just what is involved.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135218532926.jpeg
Mr. Lordi was in talkative mood at the band's first official press engagement in
Finland after winning the Eurovision Song Contest.

Even as the press briefing was going on, staff at the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) were putting their heads together over how the project of arranging next year's Eurovision Song Contest should be approached.

It is not merely the venue that is a question-mark: discussion has already begun on whom would be most suitable - and most unsuitable - as the master of ceremonies pairing, and on what kind of programme it would be best to present.

Still raw in the memory are the opening ceremonies to the 2005 Athletics World Championships, which seriously underwhelmed many Finnish and foreign viewers. Finns have in the past tended to have a rather down-to-earth "we don't want to show off, now do we?" approach to such matters, which is of course rather at odds with the completely camp and larger-than-life nature of the Eurovision circus.

* * *

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 24.5.2006

The two-metre monster who knows what he wants

Lordi is a labour of love for Tomi Putaansuu

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135219964022.jpeg
Vocalist Mr. Lordi and keyboards player Awa (Leena Peisa, right) doing a bit of
shopping in an Athens department store.

By Jussi Ahlroth in Athens

Mr. Lordi sits in the front seat of the band's minibus and waves a laid-back "Yo!"

The image is a tricky one to get your head around. Here is this monster, like something straight out of a splatter-movie, chatting jovially and laughing throatily. This is the bit of Lordi that the public doesn't see: Tomi Putaansuu chatting in Finnish, but in the Lordi mask and make-up.

A few minutes earlier, Mr. Lordi and the other band-members joined the scrum outside an Athens hotel. They simply stepped out through the doors and all hell broke loose.

Hotel guests and passers-by stopped and gazed slack-jawed at the two-metre tall monsters in full gear. Eurovision Song Contest staffers, accredited journalists, and photographers were milling around all over the place.

Michal Wisniewski, the green-haired lead singer and lyricist from the Polish Eurovision entrants Ich Trojen, stands slightly to one side. The Polish show was among the most spectacular. Here, nobody pays him any mind.

A large black car pulls up in front of the hotel. From the windows blasts out the sounds of Hard Rock Hallelujah, Lordi's monster-metal anthem for this year's competition. Jaana Pelkonen, one of the two Finnish commentators for YLE TV, rocks back and forth to the music.

http://www.iltalehti.fi/2006/05/24/4565467_vi.jpg
Jaana Pelkonen & Heikki Paasonen are currently the favorites to host the ESC

The monsters strike a pose. They are photographed from all sides. Their departure threatens to be delayed. Katja Toivanen of SonyBMG Finland does her best to keep some kind of lid on the situation. She doesn't have much success, and once again the band are late getting on the move.

On the way to the arena at the Olympic Indoor Hall, part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the band's drummer Kita is excited. "Get a look at that! That bus driver is taking pictures, too. Pretty cool!" Sure enough, the driver of a bus in the next lane is taking a snapshot of the band.members while he is at the wheel.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135219964024.jpeg
The bottled water is welcome, as taking a few rays in these kinds of outfits is a
pretty sweaty business. The Lordi band-members on the roof-terrace of their
hotel in Athens.

The record company people are grinning like Cheshire cats. "We've made contracts for the release of the album in fifteen new European territories", enthuses Kimmo Valtanen, CEO of SonyBMG Finland.

Valtanen introduced Lordi to the other European regional managing directors about a month ago. "They were like so many little kids - getting themselves into photo ops up next to the monsters."

BMG made the right decision a while back, taking Lordi as a complete package - music and image.

Before that, record companies used to growl and grumble for years, by turns telling the band to change their sound or change their image. Putaansuu was having none of it. No compromises. And now here they are, with a police motorcycle escort, heading off to perform in the Eurovision final for a hundred million viewers.

Not bad.

Lordi combines two objects of fond desire for Tomi Putaansuu - horror movies and 1980s melodic hard rock. For the 32-year-old from Rovaniemi, life is Lordi from dawn till dusk, and often beyond. He has made practically everything that one can see or hear of the band.

"No, no, the whole PLACE is a workshop", he replies to the question of whether he has a workshop at home for making the gear the band wears on stage.

"The kitchen table gets used by turns for sewing and for making plaster casts or working latex. If there's something good on the TV, then there's latex and pots of acrylic paint all over the sofa as I watch and work at the same time."

Putaansuu's live-in partner is the band's semi-official seamstress and costumier.

Last fall, Putaansuu made the outfits for Lordi's new album and the album cover. The band's accoutrements are changed somewhat with each new release. "Our uniforms remain the same for just the one tour of duty."

Lordi released the look for their latest album, The Rockalypse, at the turn of the year, a couple of months before the CD hit the stores. At the same time two new band-members were introduced - bassist Ox and keyboards player Awa.

In the course of the spring, Putaansuu designed T-shirts and other merchandising items. He also goes through all the band's promo pictures with a fine toothcomb, and makes sure that everything looks right.

"I've noticed that if you let these things slide even a bit, you easily end up looking like a joke or alternatively all too serious."

Putaansuu is clearly a control-freak, but then again he also simply happens to know exactly what he wants.

So what does he want, ultimately? Where does he want to see Lordi going?

Putaansuu's greatest dream is the same as it was four years ago when the band's first album Get Heavy! appeared.

"A big budget Lordi horror-flick is still my biggest dream and the end-goal, even if it is a rather distant one. I guess I'll have to go and have a chat with [Finnish movie producer] Markus Selin", laughs Mr. Lordi.

Putaansuu certainly has no shortage of ideas in his head. "I've been into this since I was a kid."

A short visual dip into Putaansuu's treasure-chest of ideas will soon be available in the Finnish magazine Jysäys!, which is to publish a five-page Lordi strip-cartoon.

"But the music is really the most important stuff. I'm composing new numbers all the time."

Mr. Lordi has been wearing a new pendant around his neck for the Athens gigs, featuring the crest of Rovaniemi's surrounding rural district.

Putaansuu crafted it while the monster band were in Greece. "It's a tribute to my home town and to the ‘land for the band' campaign", he grins. This is a not-too-oblique reference to hopes that a plot of land might be forthcoming if there is success in Athens, along the lines of what many Finnish communities have done for local-hero sporting icons.

Although the other members are not necessarily from the north, in the Finnish qualifiers for Eurovision the Lapland credentials of the band were well to the fore: around half of Lordi's votes came from Northern Finland.

Putaansuu himself has to live in Helsinki because of his work - namely Lordi, but he admits he'd prefer to be elsewhere if he could.

"I do miss the peace and quiet of Lapland, the natural surroundings, and the more laidback way of life up there."

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135219958601.jpeg
Lordi celebrating on stage after hearing the result on Thursday night. Into the
Final! The Kiss impersonator appeared again from somewhere on Saturday night,
but is not part of the band.

After Thursday's Eurovision semi-final, Putaansuu just withdrew to his hotel room to get some peace. He has a wake-up call before 6 a.m. to start putting on his make-up, long before the other band-members have to get in costume.

At an official after-show party on Thursday night, I ran into two Finnish men.

I looked at one of them and recognised the same pair of eyes that peek out from behind drummer Kita's mask. I shook the other guy's hand, and felt the mighty fist that pounds Ox's bass guitar.

Kita swore me to secrecy: "Hey, we've got a right to party sometimes, too."

Absolutely.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 20.5.2006

Note: as will be obvious from the above, this article appeared BEFORE Mr. Lordi, Ox, Kita, Awa, and guitarist Amen went on to break the mould of the Eurovision Song Contest and bring home Finland's first-ever victory in the event. The linked articles describe what happened later, and also how the monster-rockers and Hard Rock Hallelujah made it to Athens in the first place.

John - :D

Troll

05-24-2006, 9:09am

Some awesome pics.

FinnFreak

05-24-2006, 9:54am

:D - Thanks for all the congratulations, guys - it's much appreciated..!

...deeper analysis on the social consequences are still in the works, but it's already safe to say, now after the most immediate euphoria has settled down a bit - this is perhaps one of the most significant positive events ever to hit the Finnish society.

Many have compared this to winning the Hockey World Championships in 1995.

I say it goes light years ahead of it.

Some call the Finnish view on our lack of success in the Eurovisions to be "a national trauma". I'd say that rings true. Just imagine going into the competition with high spirits and then failing misarably. Not once, not twice - but the same thing happening again and again for 40 years. When the whole Europe says you suck for 4 decades - you don't wonder if they are right: you know they are right. It's our fate.

Hold me now,
maybe just pretend
I could be someone that you might have loved before
Hold me now,
and let me believe in a kiss that means nothing to you…
'Cause it means the world to me

It's like a kid feeling excited about Christmas coming & all the other kids receive their presents with joy, but Santa passes on you every year... you lower your head & think... oh well...

...but despite that, we continue to try - over and over and over again...

...and finally the day arrives, that you realize: Santa Claus never forgot you - he just decided to give you all those gifts at once.

Never before have I seen grown-up people cry like that... when those first maximum points came in, the whole country was in shock. Then, gradually noticing how we weren't in the lower points chart given on the screens from the nations to follow - we took that as a very promising omen - already like children, laughing at the unlikely possibility of getting a top score... it was simply amazing...

The UK announcing their votes was a favorite moment for most: knowing how Britain's music market is the most important in Europe, we were really looking forward to see how the UK would rate Lordi's performance... we didn’t get the lower numbers, presented on the screen… (yay!)

...and as the BBC's female announcer didn't give us the 8, not even the 10 points... as I recall - time began to slow down... or like another favourite lyricist of mine would say in his own surreal fashion: “…the clock moved sideways…”

She then declares the final result:

"...and the 12 points goes to..."

I believe millions of hearts in Finland stopped beating for a moment, a moment that will be forever in our memory & a tale that will be passed on to the generations to come... and time stood still.

That British lady in red begins to smile mysteriously, reminding one of Mona Lisa's similar "I know something that you don't know"- kind of look... the smile then begins to change. Her facial muscles pushes it into a grin, the expression in her eyes having a hint of fiendish knowledge of how the next word will be received. In slow-motion, as in a dream, her hand begins to rise into the screen... all but her index and little finger closed in her palm... forming that well-known salute amongst all hard rock fans... and holds it there triumphantly for a moment & takes a sharp inhale of breath, before executing that one word that would finally lift that curse that has lied upon a nation for so long:

"...Finland."

...and the lyrics have now changed forever:

Hold me now,
let it never end
Hold me like you've never done before
Hold me now,
we don't have to pretend
Smash the chains and throw them to the floor
Hold me now,
and let me believe that a kiss is the way it should be…
'Cause it means the world to me

It means the world to me

Thank You, Europe.

John - :]

aFinn

05-24-2006, 7:30pm

The UK announcing their votes was a favorite moment for most: knowing how Britain's music market is the most important in Europe, we were really looking forward to see how the UK would rate Lordi's performance... we didn’t get the lower numbers, presented on the screen… (yay!)

...and as the BBC's female announcer didn't give us the 8, not even the 10 points... as I recall - time began to slow down... or like another favourite lyricist of mine would say in his own surreal fashion: “…the clock moved sideways…”

She then declares the final result:

"...and the 12 points goes to..."

I believe millions of hearts in Finland stopped beating for a moment, a moment that will be forever in our memory & a tale that will be passed on to the generations to come... and time stood still.

That British lady in red begins to smile mysteriously, reminding one of Mona Lisa's similar "I know something that you don't know"- kind of look... the smile then begins to change. Her facial muscles pushes it into a grin, the expression in her eyes having a hint of fiendish knowledge of how the next word will be received. In slow-motion, as in a dream, her hand begins to rise into the screen... all but her index and little finger closed in her palm... forming that well-known salute amongst all hard rock fans... and holds it there triumphantly for a moment & takes a sharp inhale of breath, before executing that one word that would finally lift that curse that has lied upon a nation for so long:

"...Finland."

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Finn55/misc/brittijuontaja.jpg

canoilers

05-25-2006, 4:58pm

Congrats Lordi and Finland on the Eurovision contest, heck it even made the papers here in Canada. Heck they even had a picture of those puppy dog faces. :p

Congrats on the win against Canada, nice job.

aFinn

05-26-2006, 5:49am

Some call the Finnish view on our lack of success in the Eurovisions to be "a national trauma".Clearly we now need a new national trauma. How about: "Finland will never win football WorldCup" ?

canoilers

05-26-2006, 1:47pm

Clearly we now need a new national trauma. How about: "Finland will never win football WorldCup" ?

Hey thats ours, you can't take our slogan. First you take the broonze from us and now this. :p

aFinn

05-26-2006, 4:04pm

Hey thats ours, you can't take our slogan. First you take the broonze from us and now this. :pOoopps, sorry http://www.saunalahti.fi/~oskarila/sekal/s/garfield.gif

:p

canoilers

05-26-2006, 5:45pm

You should be too, and when I find out why I'll tell you. :p

EilleenTwain88

05-27-2006, 2:50am

Hey thats ours, you can't take our slogan. First you take the broonze from us and now this. :p
Are you guys sure that you talk about the same sport, though?
Finns should rather be after Soccer World Championship.. Canadians mean American Football by "football", don't they?

The Saving :angel: ET88 (giving everybody dreams&traumas to share) :funny:

canoilers

05-27-2006, 4:00am

Theres only two of us that play it that way, how bad can we be. :p

Myyde

05-27-2006, 1:58pm

Congrats Lordi and Finland on the Eurovision contest, heck it even made the papers here in Canada. Heck they even had a picture of those puppy dog faces.:p

:cool:

Now you can take all your Shania posters and stuff off and put something nice to your walls.:p

Clearly we now need a new national trauma. How about: "Finland will never win football WorldCup" ?
Good that you didn`t put bar too high.:funny:

Maybe this would be a little bit more realistic (or more traumatic). Finland will never even make it to the final tournament. I guess that Finland is only huge football country in the world which has never been in the final tournament. Well, maybe if they start to play those games by televotes, maybe then...:p

Theres only two of us that play it that way, how bad can we be. :p
Well, then you can`t have more than 2 bad players on the field...you can`t be that bad.:p

FinnFreak

05-29-2006, 7:05am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - Monday 29.5.2006

More than 90,000 celebrate Lordi and an end to Eurovision failure

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135220044108.jpeg

http://kuvat2.iltasanomat.fi/iltasanomat/iDoc/1178968-yleiso468.jpg

http://www.iltalehti.fi/osastot/lordi/kauppatoriilmasta_middle_lo.jpg

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135220044612.jpeg
Mr. Lordi and his colleagues played for around 45 minutes in the Market Square on Friday evening.

The long-awaited return to the stage by Finland's surprise Eurovision Song Contest winners Lordi took place in Helsinki's Market Square on Friday evening, when the monster-rockers played a short set in front of an enthusiastic crowd estimated at 90,000 or more.

The entire square was packed, and the throng stretched back into the Esplanade Park, with their only chance of seeing the action being from large video screens erected for the show.

Finns were clearly eager to celebrate an end to 40 years of Eurovision humiliation, and sang along with the winning number Hard Rock Hallelujah as though it was the spring's national anthem.

People began arriving in front of the stage, set up at the eastern end of the square, already in the early afternoon. There were already more than ten thousand present when the event got under way at 6 p.m.

Warm-up bands and an attempt on the world's largest karaoke performance preceded the arrival of the latex-clad monster rock band, who played half a dozen numbers and closed with their Athens victory song and an impressive show of stage pyrotechnics and a fireworks display over the South Harbour.

There was an official presence from the very highest level, as President Tarja Halonen handed over a bronze key awarded to the band by the Association for Finnish Work in recognition of the members' triumph in Athens.

Halonen then walked across the road to the Presidential Palace, from where she would have had an excellent view of the proceedings.

The police reported that the evening's victory party went off without trouble, although there had been concerns that there might be demonstrations against the gossip weekly 7 päivää after the magazine had published a photograph - sans costume and make-up - of the band's vocalist and front-man Mr. Lordi, a.k.a. Tomi Putaansuu.

Police had earlier in the day cordoned off the area around the magazine's offices, but only a handful of protestors had turned up.

The band themselves had appealed for the event to be a celebration, despite their obvious annoyance that requests for their privacy to be respected were not observed.

In a quite unprecedented gesture, 7 päivää apologised unreservedly to the band for the lapse, as did another publication Katso, which had shown pictures of other Lordi members without their stage masks and costumes.

A massive outpouring of protest on the Internet had followed the publication of the pictures (see article (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Lordi+fans+furious+at+outing+by+gossip+magazine/1135220038344)).

In a separate and equally remarkable development, some 15,000 French Lordi fans signed an Internet petition demanding an apology from French TV Eurovision comperes for what were claimed to be disparaging remarks about the artists during the Athens show.

The Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast live to around 100 million viewers across the continent, and has turned Lordi - who won with a record number of points - into an international success story and prompted widespread international press coverage of the Finnish heavy rock boom.

John - :)

Troll

05-29-2006, 9:12am

Thanks for the article and pics John.

FinnFreak

05-30-2006, 3:12am

Make your own Lordi mask (http://iltalehti.fi/kuvat/lordi/naamari.pdf)

:funny:

Iltasanomat - 30.05.2006 klo 07:01

Nykäset palasivat yhteen

http://kuvat2.iltasanomat.fi/iltasanomat/iDoc/1180798-GGLL8H92.jpg

Matti ja Mervi Nykäsen ero kesti kaksi viikkoa.
Myöhään eilen illalla Matti palasi kotiin Mervin luo.

:biglaugh: - happi loppuu..!!!

John - :p

aFinn

05-30-2006, 11:11am

:biglaugh: - happi loppuu..!!!I'm happy you find anything humorous about those two, me, myself and I cannot :bonk:

EilleenTwain88

05-30-2006, 1:11pm

I'm happy you find anything humorous about those two, me, myself and I cannot :bonk:
If ANYONE in Finland deserves boycotting the papers them for, it is poor Matti&Mervi. I mean if everybody stopped buying any magazine where they are mentioned, it would soon stop.

I know that they are doing it to themselves also, but still it should be stopped somehow. Show that much of a mercy - not to make movies and hundreds of thousands people running to watch. Jeez. :uhh:

Big Swede

05-30-2006, 3:45pm

At Swedish radio today they hade pronouncing lesson how to say "Lordi" correct. :p
They spoke with a Finlands-Svensk woman who explained that they often got complains from "real Finns" that they pronounced Lordi wrong. :rolleyes:
Well she showed how to pronounce it in "real finnish" also...

FinnFreak

05-31-2006, 1:40am

...but when will you Swedes learn how to pronounce "Deep Purple" properly..? ;)

:uhh: - No, it's NOT "Diippörppel"...

John - :p

FinnFreak

05-31-2006, 2:32am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - 31.5.2006

Lordi homecoming party was largest-ever
public gathering in Helsinki

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135220081601.jpeg
The Lordi homecoming party on Friday evening filled the Market Square and the
Esplanade Park.

Friday evening's celebrations of monster-band Lordi's Eurovision Song Contest success were the largest public gathering ever seen in Helsinki.

According to official police estimates, the crowd at the free concert in the Market Square numbered around 90,000, which is twice the capacity of the Olympic Stadium.

More people turned out to welcome the five-piece band home than did for example after Finland's hockey players won the World Championship in 1995. Originally that gathering was said to have attracted as many as 100,000, but it is believed that only 30,000 or so were in the square for the actual event.

Another large public gathering was the free concert some years ago in the Kaivopuisto Park headlined by Latino singer Shakira, which allegedly drew around 80,000.

Police arrived at their current figure for the Lordi party after examining aerial photographs of the extent of the crowd, which stretched well back into the Esplanade Park and along streets adjacent to the Market Square.

The event was also watched on television by more than a million Finns.

John - :)

FinnFreak

05-31-2006, 2:39am

I'm happy you find anything humorous about those two, me, myself and I cannot :bonk:

The fact, that the media seems to think *anybody* would be even remotely interested in reading about that poor couple's on/off affair - amuses me in the extreme. :p

...but on the other hand: Matti is an attention seeker.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

05-31-2006, 2:53am

Finland for Thought.net - 30.5.2006

Fine, I’ll admit it, European beer tastes better

It kills me to admit this but, European beer tastes better. I just arrived in the states two days ago, been away from the states for three years, one of the first things I wanted to do was enjoy some of my old favorite beers. Now they’re my “ex-favorite” beers.

Within the past three years in Finland, I have really come to love the Belgian and British ales, and have been dying to know how they compare to the ales back in the states. In fact, and I’m dead serious when I say this, I’ve had dreams where I realize I’m back in the state sand I immediately head to the liquor or grocery store for my favorite drinks and food (and in those dreams I never find what I’m looking for). Pathetic, I know.

Europeans love to diss American beer, but most have only tried Budweiser or Miller or some other watered-down cheap beer. But surely our microbrews can compete?!? Sadly, no. Everything tastes watered down to the stuff I’ve been drinking in European. I hate Koff but compared to Miller Light, Koff wins. However, maybe it’s just as well for overweight Americans to be drinking light beer instead of the heavy European stuff?

"American beer is a little like making love in a canoe" - MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

John - :p

Troll

05-31-2006, 9:23am

Thanks for the interesting articles.

FinnFreak

06-02-2006, 2:16am

BBC News - Thursday, 1 June 2006

Lordi revel in Eurovision glory

Eurovision winners, Finnish heavy metal band Lordi, speak to the BBC in their first British radio interview since their victory.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41674000/jpg/_41674452_lordi_afp_203bod.jpg
'Mr Lordi' railed against mask-less
pictures of the band

"There were so many people against us before we went to Athens and where are those people now?"

"Well I hope they moved to Sweden. There were a lot of people who said if Lordi got through to the final, they would move to Sweden."

"Now we did it and won the whole thing, we will help them pack and wave to them at the border."

'Devil worship'

Mr Lordi said the band had "no links whatsoever" with Satanism, despite Hard Rock Hallelujah being released as a single in the UK on 6 June or 06/06/06, considered to be a Satanic number.

"OK, so it's a good point for some moron to point his finger and say 'hey, they're devil worshippers, they're Satanists'."

"But if you read the lyrics for Hard Rock Hallelujah, it's more like gospel."

"I said in an interview in Finland, 'we are not Satan worshippers'. The next day the headline screamed 'I am a man of God!'."

"If you think there is heaven and hell, where would you like to spend eternity - being barbecued or sitting on a cloud and listening to some harp music? I think the answer is obvious."

"Our drummer used to work for a church and actually composed some church music for children, and it is still used in churches in Finland today. He is a religious guy."

"We have absolutely nothing to do with Satanism or devil worshipping."

"This is entertainment. This is like horror movies. No real Satanists or devil worshippers watch horror movies. I don't know what they do, but I'm sure they are not listening to Lordi and watching horror movies."

Monster-mad

Mr Lordi described himself as "a huge monster freak", naming Freddie Kruger, the Incredible Hulk and Monster from the Muppet Show as his favourites.

He hit out at sections of the media in Finland who published pictures of the band without their masks.

"There are morons who don't want to play along. We are not criminals, there is no reason to expose our faces, it doesn't serve any purpose."

"But we calculated that if you count all the pictures of us without make-up, there are 17 different people playing in Lordi right now! There are our roadies, our technicians, people from the club in Athens where the after-show party took place and even people we have never met."

"[Our masks] are such a huge part of our mystique and our image, it is infuriating when people try to ruin 14 years of our work without reason."

"It makes us sad, it makes us feel bad, but what can you do? The only thing we can do is to give absolutely no co-operation with such media."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5036840.stm

At the moment Lordi are on a promotion tour in Europe & today morning they were shown on Finnish TV news, walking on the pedestrian crossing at London's famous Abbey Road.

..."Lordi in the footsteps of The Beatles", was the title of the story...

John - :D

manmangler

06-02-2006, 5:18am

If ANYONE in Finland deserves boycotting the papers them for, it is poor Matti&Mervi. I mean if everybody stopped buying any magazine where they are mentioned, it would soon stop.

I know that they are doing it to themselves also, but still it should be stopped somehow. Show that much of a mercy - not to make movies and hundreds of thousands people running to watch. Jeez. :uhh:

is anyone really buying those magzines for matti & Mervi news. Some of those papers have best TV-catalogues. For Seiska i read only TV-guide not tabloid section.

I just cant undestand peoples tha buy papers becuase news from Matti & Mervi and run to watch that movie. I have my own life, no need read from other peoples lifes. Well I don't even watch Reality-TV...

But now I go watch Wievs in Tampere (Less clothes, better wievs :D ).

Just read article finnish who burn Porvoo Churh. Quess what, He's idol is Varg Vikernäs from Burzum. Fandom sucks :shocked:
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/uutiset_tulostus.asp?id=1182523&osasto=Kotimaa

FinnFreak

06-02-2006, 5:43am

Just read article finnish who burn Porvoo Churh. Quess what, He's idol is Varg Vikernäs from Burzum. Fandom sucks :shocked:
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/uutiset_tulostus.asp?id=1182523&osasto=Kotimaa

...it's going to take a very very long time before that guy's gonna get to play them drums again... :mad:

idiot.

John - :scowl:

Troll

06-02-2006, 9:06am

Thanks for the article John.

FinnFreak

06-05-2006, 4:14am

STT - 5.6.2006

Finnish defence chief stresses importance of conscription

http://www.mil.fi/maavoimat/joukot/vaasle/lippu.jpg

http://www.vbl.fi/bilder/2006/0605/stor/MH_060604_108.jpg

http://www.ilkka.fi/uploaded/image/2006/6/2/print_00355208.jpg

http://www.ilkka.fi/uploaded/image/2006/6/4/print_00357661.jpg

[VAASA] - Admiral Juhani Kaskeala, the chief of the Finnish Defence Forces, said in his Flag Day speech (http://www.mil.fi/puolustusvoimainkomentaja/2139.dsp) in Vaasa (as a part of the city's 400th birthday) on Sunday that selective conscription would be a possibility only in the older age groups.

A credible defence of Finland can be organised only on the basis of compulsory military service - irrespective of the country's security-political decisions, the country's top soldier said.

Adm Kaskeala added that Finland undoubtedly needed a young and highly trained reserve and that the way to create it was to summon into military service all individuals fit for service in a given age group.

"I regard general conscription as a peerlessly efficient way to produce high-quality forces for our defence, to support other authorities and for international crisis management. Professional armies can only dream of such a high-standard recruitment pool that conscription guarantees for the Finnish Defence Forces," Adm Kaskeala said.

However, considering Finland's security environment is stable, it would in principle be possible to free some of the older age groups of the liability, the commander said.

The Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces is celebrated on 4 June, the birthday of Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867-1951), the head of the Defence Forces during the second world war.

http://filebank.visualweb.fi/_FileRoot/7/1544/liput.jpg

http://www.vbl.fi/bilder/2006/0605/stor/fanfest.jpg

http://www.vbl.fi/bilder/2006/0605/stor/MH_060604_97.jpg

http://www.vbl.fi/bilder/2006/0605/stor/MH_060604_149.jpg

http://www.vbl.fi/bilder/2006/0605/stor/MH_060604_54.jpg

http://www.vbl.fi/bilder/2006/0605/stor/MH_060604_103.jpg

http://www.mil.fi/english/

John - ;)

FinnFreak

06-05-2006, 5:03am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Monday 5.6.2006

Polar bear twins migrate north from Rostock Zoo to Ranua

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135220119312.jpeg
Polar bear sisters Valeska and Venus enjoy
swimming in the new pool at Ranua Zoo.

A cool dip in their new pool was the first thing that two female polar bears had when they reached the Ranua Zoo in the north of Finland on Thursday. At the age of just over one year, the twin sisters Valeska and Venus immigrated to Ranua from a zoo in the German city of Rostock. The polar bears travelled to Hanko by boat and from there to Ranua in an air-conditioned lorry designed specifically for animal transport.

The bears were kept in separate cages for the duration of the two-day trip. "During the trip the smaller of the sisters, Venus, rattled the bars of her transport cage nervously, since the two have never been separated before", animal attendant Miia Varanka explained.

The staff of the Ranua Zoo had been asking zoos around Europe for females to be companions for Manasse a 16-year-old male, whose previous partner, Martika, died three years ago. The new bears are much smaller and more playful than the ageing Manasse.

The twins were moved into a large enclosure with a recently-renovated three-metre-deep pool, next to Manasse.

"The excellent conditions were why we were selected when they were searching for a home for the polar bears", says Tommi Hinno, the curator of Ranua Zoo.

The animals do not need to be bought, since European zoos trade animals. Each species has its own coordinator, approved by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). The coordinators keep track of the animals and plans the exchanges.

"We recently gave two elk and five reindeer to the Prague zoo. We are also expecting some musk oxen from Tallinn in the autumn", Hinno says.

The 28-year-old mother of the polar bear cubs was left in Rostock, the home of four polar bears. The cubs’ grandmother was also born in the zoo. Polar bears in captivity can live to the age of about 30.

The zoo’s management hopes that Ranua might eventually get polar bear cubs of its own. A female polar bear becomes fertile around the age of five.

"We cannot let Manasse frolic with the females now, since the large male might kill them. In a few years we will look for a male of roughly the same age as the girls", says Varanka.

Manasse sniffed and inspected the newcomers from behind its fence on Thursday. Among the people on the viewing platform were the eighth-grade pupils of the Ounasrinne School in Rovaniemi. The bears will be kept indoors for the weekend, but will be let out again on Monday.

"We hope that the polar bears would bring the attendance figures of the zoo to a new rise", says Kimmo Sarapää, the Municipal Mayor of Ranua. Last year the zoo had 78,000 visitors - 4,000 fewer than in the previous year.

John - :)

FinnFreak

06-05-2006, 5:12am

STT - 5.6.2006 at 11:46

Elk takes motorway to central Helsinki

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135220158606.jpeg

Three elk caused headaches to commuters and Finnish police on the Länsiväylä motorway, the busy western approach to central Helsinki, and in the very centre of the capital on Monday morning.

An adult elk was spotted plodding along the motorway early in the morning. It then crossed the Hietaniemi cemetery onto Mechelininkatu in the west of the city and carried on to Kaisaniemi park, which is located right behind the Central Railway station, where the police shot the huge animal at about 7.30am (GMT+3).

At about 9.15am another adult and a fawn again caused havoc on Länsiväylä when one of the animals attempted to cross the motorway.

Police had to suspend traffic at Koivusaari. Traffic started to flow normally at about 10am once both elk had been shot.

John - :uhh:

FinnFreak

06-05-2006, 8:06am

STT - 5.6.2006 at 14:53

De Villepin applauds Finland's pro-nuclear energy policy

Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, said during his visit to Finland on Monday that the Nordic country had taken a dispassionate energy decision by ordering its fifth nuclear power station, the Franco-German European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

Finland's Olkiluoto 3 is the first EPR under construction, with the second to be built in Flamanville in France.

Mr de Villepin met Matti Vanhanen (centre), the Finnish counterpart, President Tarja Halonen, Speaker Paavo Lipponen (soc dem) and Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the new chief executive of mobile telecommunications giant Nokia.

The overriding theme of the talks between the prime ministers was Finland's second EU presidency, which begins 1 July.

The French delegation and Mr de Villepin concluded their visit with a tour of the Olkiluoto 3 building site in southwest Finland.

In the morning, Greenpeace greeted Mr de Villepin with a demonstration against nuclear power.

:smirk: ...but our food still sucks... right..?

John - :p

Troll

06-05-2006, 9:20am

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

06-05-2006, 9:51am

STT - 5.6.2006 at 15:02

Agnico-Eagle to build EUR 104 mln goldmine in Finnish Lapland

Canadian mining firm Agnico-Eagle said in a statement Monday it would build a goldmine in Kittilä in Finnish Lapland for 135 million US dollars, or about 104 million euros.

Construction is to begin at once and the mine is to begin production by the middle of 2008.

Agnico-Eagle expects to extract an average of 150,000 ounces of gold annually from the Suurikuusikko deposit.

...pretty amazing: they are soon opening a nickel mine some 100 kilometers north from here & there are about half a dozen companies looking around for uranium...

...huhhuh...

John - :)

aFinn

06-05-2006, 11:47am

[SIZE=1]build a goldmine in Kittilä in Finnish Lapland for 135 million US dollars, or about 104 million euros.
Agnico-Eagle expects to extract an average of 150,000 ounces of gold annually from the Suurikuusikko deposit.How much is that 150,000 ounces worth?

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 2:17am

How much is that 150,000 ounces worth?

What's the price of gold nowadays..? :dunno:

hmm...

Within the last year the value has gone up from $418.35/oz to peak value of $725.00 last month... so, the average annual worth would be somewhere around $85,000,000...

...and it's going to be the largest gold mine in Europe...

...producing annually over 4 tons of gold...

...and creating about 200 jobs - should do wonders for the economy up there..!

John - :D:up:

aFinn

06-06-2006, 2:38am

I saw in the morning news they expect the gold to last for 13 years.

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 2:40am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - FOREIGN - Tuesday 6.6.2006

Finnish-flagged ships rated as being in the best condition

Ships sailing under the Finnish flag have been rated as being in the best condition of all commercial fleets.

Finland tops the list drawn up by Paris MOU, an organisation comprising 22 national maritime administrations. The organisation covers the waters of European coastal states, and the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe.

The annual report of the organisation has put all harbour states into ranking order on the basis of Port State Control (PSD) inspections.

In the survey, each Paris MOU member makes random inspections of foreign vessels at its harbours, and lists their shortcomings.

If shortcomings in safety are serious enough, the ship is stopped in the harbour.

The results of the inspections have given the countries involved a risk classification. Those with the greatest risks - countries whose vessels are in poorest shape - are put on a "black list", and their ships are not even allowed into harbours of European Union countries.

A "grey list" is for maritime states with some risk, and a "white list, with 36 countries" have the best safety features.

Finland currently heads the white list, followed by France, Britain, the Isle of Man, and Sweden.

A year earlier, the best country was Germany. Then came the Isle of Man, Britain, the Untied States, and Sweden.

The black list has 18 countries, eight of which are assessed as very risky.

The grey list includes a few countries along the shoreline of the Baltic Sea.

The Finnish Maritime Administration partly attributes Finland’s good placement on the list to the work that has been done on behalf of maritime safety in Finland, and to safety thinking on the part of shipping lines.

Finland has previously been near the top of the Paris MOU white list.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finnish-flagged+ships+rated+as+being+in+the+best+condition/1135220159921

John - ;)

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 2:45am

I saw in the morning news they expect the gold to last for 13 years.

So, it's easily going to produce over a billion dollars worth of gold...

...the worth of the brand name 'Lapin Kulta' is probably going up too...

...Karjala takaisin... - ja heti..!

John - :p

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 3:02am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Tuesday 6.6.2006

Finland - almost too good to be true

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1059379411794.jpeg
Among the most bizarre examples of Finland in the world's media in 2005 was a
request from a Serbian magazine for the recipe for liver casserole as made by
the Sydney shot-put gold medallist Arsi Harju.

By Ritva Liisa Snellman

It's almost enough to make one blush. Reading the 2005 annual report on Finland in the foreign media put out by the Department of Communications and Culture of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that is.

I mean, boy, are we good, or what?

Finland has become a model country in the eyes of the world's media, with foreign journalists chasing their tails trying to find out what it is that makes us tick and succeed.

Why does Finland come out so well in all these international barometric studies, whether it is a question of the skills and smarts of comrehensive school kids, the incorruptibility of our civil servants, our competitiveness, the way we adopt new technologies, construction of small family dwellings, innovation, the quality of kindergarten care, our wonderful pre- and post-natal clinic system, or even the relative lack of caries in our teeth?

"Finland is an Arctic Economic Tiger", headlined one Belgian newspaper. In this promised land of reindeer and engineers, social changes can be implemented without inertia or resistance.

The press sections of the Finnish embassies and consulates abroad have kept a broad-ranging eye on what the foreign media have been saying about us. Even advertisements have been pored over at carefully. They, too, help to form part of the Suomi-image.

Spanish readers and TV-viewers get to see a car advertisement in which a 4x4 Audi drives up a snow-covered ski-jumping hill in Jämsä.

The viewers are clearly told that the location for the dramatic bit of "don't try this at home" film was in Finland.

Italians got a glimpse of Finnishness in a chewing gum commercial. Wild savages dressed in animal skins are chased through the Finnish forests by hunters carrying tranquiliser-dart rifles, in order that the creatures can be captured alive to determine why their teeth are so good. The reason: so many people in Finland chew Xylitol gum.

One new development is journalists' blogs. A BBC News reporter visited Finland in October and noted in his blog that Finland - or at least the schoolchildren - was "almost too good to be true" and, in the next sentence, "Just too goody-goody to be believable". The kids behaved themselves impeccably and were full of positive energy - and the same went for the country as a whole.

The Observer regarded the secrets of the schools' success as resting in efficiency, equality, and a sort of cosy, homely quality. This part was demonstrated by the strange habit the pupils have of taking off their shoes as they go into the classroom.

Finland's biggest media bang for its buck came last year from the United States. In the spring, a Washington Post special correspondent went the length and breadth of the country, accompanied by a photographer, and captured life here as lived in school graduation ceremonies, kindergartens, saunas, pubs, out Nordic walking, and in hi-tech factories. In the 24-part series, Finland was lauded to the skies.

The U.S. image of Finland was given a further shot in the arm by the late-night talkshow host and comedian Conan O'Brien, who made a habit in his programme of laughing at and badmouthing different countries. Some others were less than amused by the comic's nightly mickey-taking, but the Finns positively basked in it, and gave back as good as they got. Postcards, banknotes, pickled herring, and odd birch-bark artefacts rained down on the NBC studio host, and the Finland gag and O'Brien's alleged likeness to President Tarja Halonen were a source of entertainment for the educated West Coast and East Coast audience throughout the year.

The motormouth host seemed to have been looking for an authentic and primitive life to go alongside his pampered celebrity existence - and he found it in Finland. O'Brien visited the country with great success and delivered a (relatively kind) report on his travels - but that will all show up in the 2006 report.

Finnish heroes abroad have included bands such as HIM, The Rasmus, and Nightwish, and of course the novelist Arto Paasilinna, who is "very big in France".

Sportsmen who have crossed the recognition threshold include the taciturn ski-jumper and "Flying Finnish Enigma" Janne Ahonen, the "Finnish javelin deity" Tero Pitkämäki, and Formula One's "Iceman" Kimi Räikkönen, who is known simply as Kimi over in India.

The former Olympic and World Champion ski-jumper Matti Nykänen is also a familiar figure around the world. In Croatia he manages to be a hero and a criminal in the same physical shape, while in Norway he is an object of pity.

The old 1970s German pejorative Finnlandisierung (Finlandisation) has changed its meaning. It no longer refers to brown-tonguing or grovelling appeasement of a greater power, but skilful diplomatic moves.

In the Turkish media, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn is a familiar figure, known as "Mustafa Olli", who plays football in his spare time. In the Balkans, for obvious reasons, they wrote a lot about former President Martti Ahtisaari, who was described by the leading Slovenian daily as an excellent negotiator and so stubborn he would rather die than back down.

Nearly everyone knows who Ahtisaari is, at least after his high-profile appointment to mediate the final status of Kosovo, but Piritta Sorsa is a less famous name. And yet this lady, the IMF's Chief of Mission for Serbia & Montenegro, was listed last year as the seventh most-influential female in Serbia. She is described as a tough but fair woman who is also able to listen to the other side's views.

Amidst all this, we should not forget that Finland and the Finns were also roundly laughed at during 2005. There were, for instance, the little wire-service stories about the alleged shortage of toilet rolls in the country arising out of the summer strikes and lock-out in the pulp & paper industry.

In the Czech Republic, they grinned at the news that Finns would now have to rely on Estonian toilet paper, the post-socialist qualities of which they had previously sneered and sniffed at.

Then there were those remarks by the Italian Prime Minister and the French President about the poor state of Finnish cuisine. However, the news items as such did not ruin the reputation of Finnish gastronomy.

British journalists even felt a need to visit Finland to determine whether - as was claimed - we really could have worse food than the United Kingdom.

In an editorial piece, The Times of London came to the defence of Finnish cuisine, declaring it was so good that it really ought to be served in British pubs.

A South Korean television programme examined the health benefits of blueberries, and two staffers from the Finnish Embassy in Seoul were invited to make blueberry pie and blueberry soup for the viewers. Meanwhile, in Singapore, Finland was declared to be the "Silicon Valley of functional nutrition".

Even this pales beside the fact that the Serbian Sport Supplement tendered a request that the recipe for liver casserole by the Sydney shot-put gold medallist Arsi Harju be translated for its readers.

Finns are now seen as sensible but nonetheless still "exotic". A Lithuanian journalist, Laima Lavaste, took her analysis a stage further: "If I had to portray Finland, I would describe it as a giant iceberg, from which large heads are poking out and looking at the world through childlike eyes. The Finns are even now naively decent people, modest and sensitive. Finland is the country where the world's childhood lives."

Down on the island of Cyprus, they recalled the arrival of Finnish UN peacekeepers 41 years earlier.

"Suddenly they were everywhere. They had the palest of complexions, they were frendly, good-looking, and they smiled a lot. These youngsters with their bicycles had arrived from their cheery homeland in the midst of our country's problems."

Things may come and things may go, but one subject never goes out of style: you cannot have a year without foreign journalists writing about Finnish drinking.

Estonian newspapers continued to sigh and tut-tut about male binge-drinking and the consequences, and about the ugly, fat Finnish women.

In the Serbian and Montenegran papers, Finnish drinking habits continue to prompt amazement. What is it that makes a nation turn to drink when things are so good at home?

In Slovenia they wrote that it is no shame to be seen drunk in Finland. Because alcohol is expensive, people produce home-made white lightning on stills. Readers were also generously given a recipe for the moonshine.

:funny: - ...now THAT was funny..!

John - :p

aFinn

06-06-2006, 4:50am

"If I had to portray Finland, I would describe it as a giant iceberg, from which large heads are poking out and looking at the world through childlike eyes. The Finns are even now naively decent people, modest and sensitive. Finland is the country where the world's childhood lives." Oooh, now I understand why I feel like a 16-year old all the time :p

EilleenTwain88

06-06-2006, 5:08am

...and creating about 200 jobs - should do wonders for the economy up there..!
Well it depends how much they destroy the environment... which is the main source of income in a form of a tourism nowadays. If 200 jobs are lost there in the meantime, it is only tie situation.

Hard battle in which I find it hard to choose my side, actually.

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 5:16am

Oooh, now I understand why I feel like a 16-year old all the time :p

I didn't quite get the "large heads poking out from a giant iceberg" -part... :uhh:

...one of the strangest metaphors I've heared in a while...

John - :p

aFinn

06-06-2006, 5:19am

I didn't quite get the "large heads poking out from a giant iceberg" -part... :uhh:I didn't get that either. But perhaps it's because we're so cool? :cool:

:funny:

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 5:21am

Well it depends how much they destroy the environment... which is the main source of income in a form of a tourism nowadays. If 200 jobs are lost there in the meantime, it is only tie situation.

Hard battle in which I find it hard to choose my side, actually.

Well, they did say that the locals will not be able to fill all the vacancies - they'll have to recruit from a larger area... :smirk:

...the environmental issue is a tough one - that's true... :uhh:

http://www.kittila.fi/web/index.php?id=456

...but why not look at it this way: after the open cast mining is over, there'll be a huge need of people to fill up that 2 kilometer wide pit...

John - ;)

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 5:23am

I didn't get that either. But perhaps it's because we're so cool? :cool:

:funny:

cool - yes :cool:

:uhh: ...but...

large heads - :huh: - since when..?!? :dunno:

John - :p

aFinn

06-06-2006, 5:27am

You need to ask Laima Lavaste :p

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 5:32am

You need to ask Laima Lavaste :p

Didn't she write that Lithuania's song for this year's Eurovisions..? :huh:

:shocked: - ...I'm not that sure I really want to talk with a person like that..!

John - :p

EilleenTwain88

06-06-2006, 5:36am

Well, they did say that the locals will not be able to fill all the vacancies - they'll have to recruit from a larger area... :smirk:
Well I think at least some mining experts must come from outside the area. But that is not what I meant. I am concerned that if they ruin the environment completely, more than 200 fishing guides and people taking care of hikers' infra etc. will be unemployed. I don't think Gold Mine will attract that many Nature Lovers... do you?!?
...but why not look at it this way: after the open cast mining is over, there'll be a huge need of people to fill up that 2 kilometer wide pit...
Actually I think THEN it can be useful again (if cleaned up properly) - as a mine diving resort... :D

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 5:51am

Well I think at least some mining experts must come from outside the area. But that is not what I meant. I am concerned that if they ruin the environment completely, more than 200 fishing guides and people taking care of hikers' infra etc. will be unemployed. I don't think Gold Mine will attract that many Nature Lovers... do you?!?
:uhh: - err... nope..!

Actually I think THEN it can be useful again (if cleaned up properly) - as a mine diving resort... :D

...now how deep did they say they were intending to go..? - :huh: - 700 meters, I believe... heh... ja plumpsis...

:uhh: ...I don't think that company would dare ruin the environment up there - the German Greenpeace is way too keen on demonstrating in Lapland..!

John - ;)

EilleenTwain88

06-06-2006, 6:23am

:uhh: ...I don't think that company would dare ruin the environment up there - the German Greenpeace is way too keen on demonstrating in Lapland..!
Is it POSSIBLE to run a Gold Mine without ruining the waters and environment?!?! :shocked: I wonder...

As for Greenpeace.. they are not much help either way. They are much too busy to go after some reindeer farmers and private Forrest Owners than up to some real challenge of international mining corporation. Phah. No way.

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 6:41am

Is it POSSIBLE to run a Gold Mine without ruining the waters and environment?!?! :shocked: I wonder...

As for Greenpeace.. they are not much help either way. They are much too busy to go after some reindeer farmers and private Forrest Owners than up to some real challenge of international mining corporation. Phah. No way.

Where there's a will, there's a way...

yeh, Greenpeace went demonstrating to De Villepin's visit at the Olkiluoto 3 construction site yesterday... heh, why not applaud France for producing 76% of their electricity with no CO2 emissions or other toxic spills..? - and would importing power from Russia really be a more environmentally sound decision for Finland..? :huh:

Muahahaa.

John - :)

EilleenTwain88

06-06-2006, 7:32am

yeh, Greenpeace went demonstrating to De Villepin's visit at the Olkiluoto 3 construction site yesterday... heh, why not applaud France for producing 76% of their electricity with no CO2 emissions or other toxic spills..? - and would importing power from Russia really be a more environmentally sound decision for Finland..? :huh:

Muahahaa.
The matter with Greenpeace is, that they they are much too busy to point the problems (I mean who cannot), but not to find any win-win and long-term solutions. By doing that they gain nobody's respect and are not listened.

And this nonsense of people from central Europe as well as southern Finland coming to tell laplanders how to protect the Nature... heh. Looking at what they have done to their OWN environment, I wouldn't trust their knowhow that much... and their solutions and advice DO sound rather silly many times; not thought thru at all.

But of course some people up here has learned to USE these guys to their own advantage as well. Fool's errand boys... I mean if Ministry of Forrest in Finland put some areas on hold (toimenpidekielto) for too many decades, the easiest way to get that canceled is to call you buddies in Greenpeace and get them to organize a demonstration with TV cameras... soon after the settlement is arranged and you get your compensation from the Government... etc.

canoilers

06-06-2006, 7:46am

Well I think at least some mining experts must come from outside the area. But that is not what I meant. I am concerned that if they ruin the environment completely, more than 200 fishing guides and people taking care of hikers' infra etc. will be unemployed. I don't think Gold Mine will attract that many Nature Lovers... do you?!?

Actually I think THEN it can be useful again (if cleaned up properly) - as a mine diving resort... :DIs that like bobing for apples, what happens when you get a mine, do you win? :p

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 7:59am

But of course some people up here has learned to USE these guys to their own advantage as well. Fool's errand boys... I mean if Ministry of Forrest in Finland put some areas on hold (toimenpidekielto) for too many decades, the easiest way to get that canceled is to call you buddies in Greenpeace and get them to organize a demonstration with TV cameras... soon after the settlement is arranged and you get your compensation from the Government... etc.

Say no more - I agree completely with what you said. :uhh:

Over here, there's *only one* instance that can overstep *absolutely* anyone: the flying squirrel.

Those little nocturnal critters just have to (well, nobody needs to even witness it) leave some of their droppings in an area planned for development - and that's it.

It happened with the forthcoming (2008) housing fair here - nobody had even seen the squirrels, but their cr@p is all over the place: so, had to find another area... I've got absolutely nothing against preserving areas which are habited by endangered species, but when there begins to be that many so called sightings... the species doesn't seem that endangered at all anymore... and some suspect fraud... (deliberately planted poo)

heck, we're environmentally aware alright... höhöö.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

06-06-2006, 9:09am

STT - 6.6.2006

Finland to promote innovation during EU presidency

The Finnish trade and industry minister, Mauri Pekkarinen (centre), unveiling the ministry's aims for the Finnish EU presidency on Tuesday, said increasing the innovativeness and competitiveness of the union would be a leading principle during the six-month term that starts on 1 July.

The innovation theme is to be highlighted at the informal ministerial meeting on competitiveness in Jyväskylä on 10-11 July.

Mr Pekkarinen said Finland had asked a few top names from Finland and abroad to speak at the meeting.

:shocked: - ...please... NOT Kimi Räikkönen..!

...mumble... mumble...

John - :p

EilleenTwain88

06-06-2006, 11:13am

:shocked: - ...please... NOT Kimi Räikkönen..!
What an earth gave you that idea?!?

What would Kimi know about innovativeness, for heaven's sake?? "Should I drive this car this way or the other way... no wait! :shocked: somebody's telling it to me over the headphones.. :nod: " !!

He *might' give speach about dicipline and remote&cool behaviour... but nobody would understand a word :funny: ?!?

FinnFreak

06-07-2006, 2:04am

hmm...

Perhaps Kimi could do a duo demonstration with Matti Nykänen, how to party hardy...

...innovative..? - yeppers.

John - :p

FinnFreak

06-08-2006, 4:21am

STT - 08.06.2006

Finnish MPs grill Vanhanen over ratification of "dead" EU charter

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (centre) of Finland was forced onto the defensive on Thursday when MPs questioned the sense of ratifying the EU's draft constitutional treaty.

EU sceptics in Parliament underscored that the current wording of the treaty was unlikely to ever enter into force and also faulted the union in general.

"Riding with the dead EU constitution is the silliest undertaking in Finnish parliamentary history," said Timo Soini of the True Finns party.

A majority of MPs had however already backed ratification in the earlier reading of the government's report on the matter.

But the critics made reference to a recent poll, which indicates that only 22 per cent of Finns support ratification.

Esko-Juhani Tennilä (left) feared that steamrolling with ratification in the current situation would only feed anti-EU sentiments.

Mikko Elo (soc dem) predicted that the treaty, rejected in the French and Dutch referendums, would never come into force in its present or indeed any form.

He added that it was futile for Finland, suffering from "EU euphoria", to imagine it could promote ratification in other member states simply through its own action.

"One cannot bring back the dead," Mr Elo said.

Kimmo Kiljunen (soc dem) said the EU's constitutional process was not dead as the problems lying behind it had not disappeared.

Annika Lapintie (left) argued for a year's pause to see how the treaty dispute could be solved. She also reiterated the Left Alliance's demand for a referendum.

Jaakko Laakso (left) and Bjarne Kallis (cd) said that the government, instead of busying itself with the ratification matter, should start suggesting changes in the draft.

Mr Vanhanen responded by saying that by ratifying the current draft Finland would not undermine its standing in future renegotiations. He added that the current compromise would be the stronger the more member states had ratified it.

:uhh: - ...this is beginning to sound like the debate around the NATO membership question...

John - :p

FinnFreak

06-13-2006, 5:56am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - 13.6.2006

Free concert in the park draws crowd of 55,000

Warm summer weather expected to last at least until Wednesday

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135220246762.jpeghttp://www.radionova.fi/lib/img/Kaivopuisto2006/IMG_2425web.jpghttp://www.radionova.fi/lib/img/Kaivopuisto2006/IMG_2570web.jpg

Tens of thousands of people gathered last weekend in Helsinki's Kaivopuisto Park to enjoy a free concert in perfect summer weather. A hot sunny day attracted an estimated crowd of 55,000 into the park, where a sea of blankets and picnic baskets and drinks and sweaty happy people covered the grassy hills and dells in front of the stage.

A row of ethnic food-stands of various sorts decorated one side of the stage, with everything from spring rolls to grilled sausages and fries on offer.

A small supermarket on wheels had also found its way to the edge of the festival area.

Various Finnish music acts, such as Neljä Ruusua, Poets of the Fall, Kwan, Don Johnson Big Band, Uniklubi, Indica, Suurlähettiläät, Ninja, and a couple of surprise guests (Marie Serneholt) perfected the sun-worshippers' day with their performances.

The event started at one o'clock and lasted until seven in the evening.

According to the police, the entire happening went off without major incidents or disturbances.

The concert was organised by the Radio Nova radio station.

An aerobatics show was also seen in the sky just before the concert. The Red Bull Air Race planes were piloted by Sami Kontio of Finland, Kirby Chambliss of the USA, and Klaus Schrodt of Germany.

The concert itself has become one of the must-do traditions of the Helsinki summer. It has been organised on the second weekend of June every summer since 1985. This year it fortunately coincided with the first really warm day of the summer.

The weather forecast for this week promises more of the same, with the official "hot" barrier of 25 degrees Celsius expected to be broken up and down the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

John - ;)

canoilers

06-13-2006, 7:18am

Looks like a blast, not only that but lots of fun too. Thanks for the pictures too, I think I could get into that too. :D

FinnFreak

06-13-2006, 7:49am

pr-inside.com - 2006-06-13

EUROVISION WINNERS A HIT AT HAMMER AWARDS

Surprise Eurovision champions LORDI have snatched another accolade for their masked music, winning the Spirit of Hammer award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods prize-giving in London last night (12JUN06).

The flamboyant monster rockers were an unexpected success at the annual televised music contest last month (20MAY06) with their song HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH, but seemed less out of place at the Koko club venue in the British capital.

Heavy rock act TRIVIUM stole the show, picking up three gongs for Best Live Band, Best Drummer (TRAVIS SMITH) and a Golden God award for the group's MATT HEAFY.

Controversial SLAYER album REIGN IN BLOOD - which last week hit headlines when it was scrawled by fans over a New York seminary to mark devilish date 6 June (06) - picked up Best Album of the Past 20 Years.

* * *

Evening Standard - 13 June 2006

Good Lordi, they're so heavy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Lordi.jpg
Lordi hot-footed it down to the Koko club for the Metal Hammer Golden Gods
Awards later in the night.

By Ed Harris, Evening Standard

At least Lordi, the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest, made the effort to dress appropriately for the heaviest of heavy metal parties.

The band from Finland turned up at the 25th birthday party of Kerrang!, the hard-rocking weekly magazine, in trademark monster costumes and very high heels, looking very like extras from the Lord Of The Rings films.

But many of the celebrities at Sin nightclub in Charing Cross Road appeared to have forgotten that Kerrang! is the bible of the heavy metal community and looked as if they had not even tried.

Men In Black actor Will Smith wore a white T-shirt and red baseball cap, looking more like the rapper he also is.

He was accompanied by his wife of seven years, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who wore a denim waistcoat - a bit more like it. But Tina Barrett, formerly of S-Club 7, looked like she had wandered into the wrong showbusiness party.

Kerrang! has plenty to celebrate. This year, with sales of the rock magazine rising, it reportedly overtook the New Musical Express in UK-only sales.

Last night it was almost impossible to escape heavy metal in London: across town, in Camden, Koko nightclub was hosting the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.

John - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/ROCKON.gif

FinnFreak

06-13-2006, 8:21am

STT - 13.6.2006

At 5.28 million, Finnish mobile phone subscription count exceeds population

Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications said Tuesday that there were about 5.28 million mobile phone subscriptions in Finland - about 20,000 more than the country's population.

Just over one billion mobile phone calls were made and 727 million text messages sent in the first quarter of the year.

John - ;):up:

canoilers

06-13-2006, 8:21am

Troll

06-13-2006, 9:06am

FinnFreak

06-13-2006, 9:10am

Finland is a small country... with a HUGE phone bill...

John - :p

canoilers

06-13-2006, 9:52am

apparently you guys have more than one conversation on the go too. That must be alot of people with two or more phones. They must not like that annoying link button or something. :p

FinnFreak

06-15-2006, 4:01am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - BUSINESS & FINANCE

Finnish inventions - going cheap

Matti Makkonen, the father of SMS messaging, didn't earn a cent for his idea

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135218784126.jpeg

By Tuomo Pietiläinen

Engineer Matti Makkonen, 54, got a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider Sonera two years ago. Sonera wanted to know his bank account number so they might send him a royalty payment.

Woah!

Had the day finally arrived when Makkonen would get compensation for his idea that changed the lives of hundreds of millions of people? After all, Makkonen has been called the father of the text message. Because of his idea, more than 500 billion SMS messages are sent by mobile phone users around the world.

Sonera deposited EUR 300 on Makkonen's account.

The payment from Sonera had nothing to do with text messages. It involved a telephone exchange innovation that he had already forgotten. Makkonen had been part of a group that developed the operations of a mobile telephone exchange.

Makkonen ultimately did not get a cent for developing text messages. He also got no money from his idea for changing phone numbers of the old NMT mobile standard to GSM, even though the innovation helped Sonera get a large number of customers for its new digital mobile phone network.

"The 300 euro royalty was actually kind of funny", Makkonen says.

However, during the past decade Makkonen has actually been anything but amused.

"At the turn of the millennium I tried to forget that I could have been a millionaire. Now there is enough distance for me to concede: I am upset that I got such paltry compensation", Makkonen says.

Makkonen's disappointment is understandable. If he were to get only one tenth of a percent of the financial yield of all of the text messages sent in the world, he would earn EUR 50 million a year.

So how can such a trailblazer of mobile telephony to be treated so unfairly?

In principle, Makkonen's affairs should be in order: under the law on job-related inventions, he is entitled to a "reasonable compensation" for ideas and inventions that have been beneficial for the company he works for. The statute even has a mathematical formula for calculating the royalty.

It does not go that way in practice. Even if an employee produces a significant invention, he or she usually has to make do with a basic fee of a few thousand euros, and possibly about ten thousand in licencing royalties.

The paper and paperboard manufacturer M-real pays lump sums of EUR 5,000, EUR 15,000, or EUR 30,000 in return for a waiver of royalties. If the inventor prefers an annual royalty payment, it has to be negotiated separately.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile telephone manufacturer, actually pays a mandatory fee of EUR 100,000 for "very useful inventions".

Fees paid to inventors are meagre compared to the millions that corporate executives are able to take home each year. Stock option profits can appear on an executive's bank account as a result of good luck, - not directly linked with any effort on the part of the executive who is cashing in. On the other hand, the value of a patented invention is usually easy to calculate.

One executive in a large listed company can earn more in a year than all of the inventors combined. This is the case also with Nokia, which pays "millions of euros" a year for all of the inventions developed by people on its payroll. These can number up to 1,200 a year.

In other listed companies, the sums in question are smaller. The paper manufacturer UPM-Kymmene pays its employees an annual fee of EUR 56,000 for patented inventions. Stora Enso pays EUR 15,000 and Kone pays about EUR 100,000, in addition to bonuses for particularly significant innovations.

Yrjö Rinta-Jouppi, chairman of the Central Organisation of Finnish Inventors sees clear reasons for this "bargain sale of intellectual property".

"The compensation level has not been stabilised, and employers want to maintain the impression that all is well. The consultants who draw up the incentive arrangements do not want to reward inventors, because they do not decide on the introduction of incentive systems", Rinta-Jouppi says.

"Often people say that they do not want to invent anything any more", he adds.

Eero Lohikoski, chairman of the association of hired inventors feels that the problem is that not all large companies even have systems that support inventiveness.

"Only the most tenacious have the energy to promote their ideas and their inventions to the point of getting a patent", Lohikoski says.

Juha Jutila, executive director of the Foundation for Finnish Inventions, points out that without inventors, all business activities will come to an end sooner or later.

"Inventiveness in a company is the alpha and omega of everything. There really is a certain imbalance between payments for inventions and millions earned from stock options", Jutila says.

Among employers, the issue of rewards for inventions and patents is viewed somewhat differently. Patent agent Christer Sundman points out that a patented invention is often something that is completely unfinished, and has a long way to go before it reaches the market.

"An invention can look promising, but it might not amount to anything. In addition to the costs of product development, there are the patent maintenance fees - that is, the employer carries the risk", says Sundman, who represents large listed companies.

Sundman says that the same employee can come up with as many as ten inventions in a year.

"That amounts to quite a reasonable compensation for one's work", Sundman says, adding that the situation of inventors working for an employer is weaker in other European countries than it is in Finland. For instance, in Britain, there is no recompense.

Finnish inventors would not appear to have much reason to expect major increases in their earnings from a harmonisation with the rest of the EU.

The only hope would seem to be for inventiveness to get as much respect as corporate management.

"Inventors simply have not crossed the minds of incentive consultants", says Yrjö Rinta-Jouppi.

But what would Matti Makkonen do to get ideas and inventions the value they deserve?

He feels that present legislation on inventions does not work, and that rewarding people for ideas and inventions should be made part of labour contracts.

"In this way, ideas and inventions would be rewarded automatically. At the same time it would be worth paying more than a few hundred euros for a useful invention", Makkonen says with a somewhat forced laugh.

...this is sooo typical...

John - :smirk:

Troll

06-15-2006, 8:45am

That is interesting.

canoilers

06-15-2006, 3:06pm

Thanks for the article. :D

FinnFreak

06-19-2006, 8:38am

STT - 19.6.2006 at 15:02

Nokia confirms Siemens networks merger

Finnish mobile telecommunications group Nokia said in a statement Monday, confirming earlier reports by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, that it and Germany's Siemens would merge their network businesses.

The new, Finland-based company is to be called Nokia Siemens Networks.

"The 50-50 joint venture will create a global leader with strong positions in important growth segments of fixed and mobile network infrastructure and services," the statement added.

Nokia expects to see annual cost synergies of 1.5 billion euros by 2010.

Based on last year's figures, the joint venture had pro forma revenues of 15.8 billion euros and is expected to start with about 60,000 employees. The headcount is to fall by 6,000-9,000 over the next few years.

Simon Beresford-Wylie, the head of Nokia's current networks arm, is to lead the new unit.

John - :)

FinnFreak

06-19-2006, 8:42am

THE TIMES OF INDIA - Sunday, June 18, 2006

Finns furiously build largest N-reactor

by RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL

HELSINKI: In a heavily-forested bay, 400 km west of the Finnish capital, the world's biggest nuclear reactor is being built fast and furiously.

Just three years from completion, the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power station is the first to be built anywhere in Europe in a decade. It marks an emerging European consensus about the clean and green benefits of nuclear energy generation, exactly 20 years after Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident.

More important, for a post-9/11 world, it is the first to declare an in-built protection from the threat of terrorists crashing a Boeing 747 into the installation.

Olkiluoto could not be more remote - or more different -from Tarapore, Kakrapar, Kaiga or Narora, some of India's existing nuclear plants. But the Finns are uneasily conscious their hard-won nuclear consensus could be blown apart by one single event in faraway India.

"Just one accident in a nuclear power plant in India or China - and both countries plan to build so many now - and Finland and Europe will turn away from nuclear energy generation for at least another decade," warns Rauno Rintamaa, who heads the energy department of Finland's key, government-owned research and technical organisation, VTT.

Adds Jorma Aurela, director-general of Finland's nuclear energy department in the ministry for trade and industry, "in Finland, we have already decisioned where to store the highly radioactive spent fuel from our nuclear reactors.

But that decision has not yet been taken in India or China". Finland fears the possible consequences of this Indian and Chinese lethargy.

Rintamaa, who worked on VTT's authoritative research finally to persuade the Finnish parliament, government and people in 2003 controversially to back the nuclear option, told TOI, "We know that there is an official agreement between India and the US on civilian nuclear technology.

We want to have a closer collaboration with India in the nuclear energy area". Adds Aurela, in a sign Helsinki is watching developments in New Delhi and Beijing with close attention, "India is building so many reactors at the same time".

The sub-text of Finnish watchfulness, Rintamaa admits, has everything to do with its and Europe's future energy security.

If India and China neglect nuclear safety procedures, Finland's nuclear power consensus is imperiled because public opinion will turn hostile to the nuclear option.

So far, it has been an impressive consensus. Finland, says Rintamaa, is the "first country in the world officially to back nuclear power as the fuel of tomorrow".

It is also, uniquely, the first country to put to bed the controversial issue of radioactive waste disposal. Finland's four existing reactors and the fifth, Olkiluoto 3, are expected to produce 5,500 tonnes of highly radioactive uranium oxide over a 50-year period.

To store this, the Finns have opted literally to tunnel 500 metres into the bedrock of the earth, where they will bury the spent fuel rods double-packed into thick steel caskets surrounded by copper.

"It will be there for eternity," admits Aurela, adding on a self-congratulatory note, "but the point is it cannot be spread".

So great is Finland's relief and jubilation at leading the world in nuclear waste disposal that the Olkiluoto authorities are allowing thousands of tourists and curious Finns to stream into the vast underground disposal sites.

This, says Rintamaa, provides Finns, Europeans and everyone with crucial reassurance that going nuclear does not automatically mean an unsafe planet literally sickened by radiation.

Unusually for a nuclear reactor anywhere in the world, the Finnish government boasts that Olkiluoto has become "one of the most attractive tourist sights on the west coast", overlooking the picturesque Gulf of Bothnia, with some 12,000 visitors in 2004.

John - :)

FinnFreak

06-19-2006, 9:16am

;)

Finland For Thought.net - 19.6.2006

Why the Swedish welfare state works in Sweden

Johan Norberg gives three reasons (http://www.nationalinterest.org/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=1ABA92EFCD8348688A4EBEB3D69D33EF&tier=4&id=467A023F1D434471A3996995DEA0A05B) why the welfare state may “work” in Sweden [and Finland] but not in other countries…

TO SAY that other countries should emulate the Swedish social model is about as helpful as telling an average-looking person to look like a Swedish supermodel. There are special circumstances and a certain background that limit the ability to imitate. In the case of the supermodel, it is about genetics. In the context of economical and political models, it is about the historical and cultural background.

Gunnar and Alva Myrdal were the intellectual parents of the Swedish welfare state. In the 1930s they came to believe that Sweden was the ideal candidate for a cradle-to-grave welfare state. First of all, the Swedish population was small and homogeneous, with high levels of trust in one another and the government. Because Sweden never had a feudal period and the government always allowed some sort of popular representation, the land-owning farmers got used to seeing authorities and the government more as part of their own people and society than as external enemies. Second, the civil service was efficient and free from corruption. Third, a Protestant work-ethic–and strong social pressures from family, friends and neighbors to conform to that ethic–meant that people would work hard, even as taxes rose and social assistance expanded. Finally, that work would be very productive, given Sweden’s well-educated population and strong export sector. If the welfare state couldn’t work in Sweden, the Myrdals concluded, it wouldn’t work anywhere.

http://www.finlandforthought.net/2006/06/19/why-the-swedish-welfare-state-works-in-sweden/#comments

John - ;)

FinnFreak

06-26-2006, 6:28am

:cool:

Äänestä kaikkien aikojen ihanin suomineito!

Cast your vote on who is the most beautiful Finnish summer-maiden of all time!

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kyselyt/vvpuffiuusTM_410_ky.jpg

Osallistu Iltalehden VV-liitteen suureen Ihanat naiset rannalla -äänestykseen. Kuka 20 ehdokkaasta on kaikkien aikojen ihanin, kesäisin suomineito? Klassinen Armi Kuusela, takavuosien Tanja Vienonen vai uhkea Janina Frostell tai Elina Nurmi (kuvassa).

Katso kuvat oheisessa kuvagalleriassa ja anna sen jälkeen äänesi. Äänestysaika päättyy juhannuksen jälkeisenä tiistaina 27.6. klo 8. Muista myös perustella valintasi.

Osallistuneiden kesken arvotaan 10 kpl Marimekon iloisen värisiä raitakylpypyyhesettejä. Muista jättää yhteystietosi, mikäli haluat osallistua arvontaan.

...one Miss Universe, several former Miss Finlands, one Miss Europe, plenty of models, one current Minister of Culture, and plenty of otherwise famous television/actor/media figures...

The Iltalehti contestants are:

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4062.jpg
1. Janina Frostell

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4063.jpg
2. Tanja Saarela

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4064.jpg
3. Anu Saagim

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4065.jpg
4. Lola Wallinkoski

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4066.jpg
5. Elina Nurmi

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4067.jpg
6. Johanna Raunio

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4068.jpg
7. Hanna Ek

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4069.jpg
8. Hannele Lauri

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4070.jpg
9. Riitta Väisänen

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4071.jpg
10. Helena Lindgren

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4072.jpg
11. Karita Tuomola

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4073.jpg
12. Susanna Penttilä

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4074.jpg
13. Tarja Smura

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4075.jpg
14. Armi Kuusela

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4076.jpg
15. Linda Lampenius

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4077.jpg
16. Viivi Avellan

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4078.jpg
17. Satu Silvo

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4079.jpg
18. Carmen Mäkinen

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4080.jpg
19. Jenni Ahola

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kuvagalleria/img/yleinen/4081.jpg
20. Suvi Tiilikainen

Vote at: http://www.iltalehti.fi/kyselyt/200606200155312_ky.shtml ...or just leave your comments here... results will be announced later this week...

:huh: ...mutta eikös Anu Saagim ole virolainen..? :really:

John - :p

manmangler

06-26-2006, 7:00am

:cool:
:huh: ...mutta eikös Anu Saagim ole virolainen..? :really:
John - :p
Näin muistelisin ja joskushan ledissä oli Anu Saagim solvas soome naisi eli arvosteli myös itseään jos olisi suomalainen. TOsin olihan hän naimisissa soomelaisen kanssa.

Well Karita Or Viivi, must say not best pictures from ladies. They should dig little older pictures from certain ladies. :D

FinnFreak

06-26-2006, 7:58am

Well Karita Or Viivi, must say not best pictures from ladies. They should dig little older pictures from certain ladies. :D

...I think the same would go for Janina and Tanja as well...

...and those mentioned would be in my top 4, methinks...

John - ;)

manmangler

06-26-2006, 8:09am

Yep

I think that Google found much better pictures from Riitta Väisänen , Satu Silvo etc..

Just looking Riitta Väisänen (The Country Girl) (http://www.riittavaisanen.net/kuva_10.html) , Well Dogs (http://www.riittavaisanen.net/kuva_4.html) , Horses (http://www.riittavaisanen.net/kuva_8.html), sounds anything familiar

FinnFreak

06-26-2006, 8:28am

...many of those above are HUGE nuts about dogs & horses...

John - :)

manmangler

06-26-2006, 8:50am

...many of those above are HUGE nuts about dogs & horses...

John - :)

That must be something in womens genes. Well like more womens than animals.

FinnFreak

06-26-2006, 9:03am

It's their nurturing instincts - works in our favour too.

John - :]

Myyde

06-26-2006, 9:07am

:huh: ...mutta eikös Anu Saagim ole virolainen..? :really:

John - :p
No jos voittajan kunniaksi soitetaan kansallislaulu, niin sentään edes se osuu kohdilleen, menköö tän kerran... :p

Näin muistelisin ja joskushan ledissä oli Anu Saagim solvas soome naisi eli arvosteli myös itseään jos olisi suomalainen. TOsin olihan hän naimisissa soomelaisen kanssa.

Well Karita Or Viivi, must say not best pictures from ladies. They should dig little older pictures from certain ladies. :D

Well, if you have some super duper pics of these ladies, please post em.;) :p

:hmmm: quite difficult to choose, although they missed some nice ladies from that list.:huh:

manmangler

06-26-2006, 9:20am

It's their nurturing instincts - works in our favour too.

John - :]

I have noticed that. I'm always wondering why some of them like me.

T: Vanha, Hidas ja Iso Ärrinmmurri Hämeestä.

manmangler

06-26-2006, 9:23am

:hmmm: quite difficult to choose, although they missed some nice ladies from that list.:huh:

Yep

There is at least three ladies whose I would not listed in this competion. Not giving any names because I'm gentleman.

Myyde

06-26-2006, 9:49am

Yep, no names, but how about numbers. :p ..just kidding..;)

There should be at least one Jaana in each list.:uhh:..or what Jussi says about that? Jaana rules.;)

Troll

06-26-2006, 1:52pm

Some hot women John.

tower

06-26-2006, 8:24pm

I have just died and gone to Heaven.. Oh not I was just looking at the pictures :D

FinnFreak

06-27-2006, 5:39am

;)

There should be at least one Jaana in each list.:uhh:..or what Jussi says about that? Jaana rules.;)

...sure - as all Finnish women do... ;)

hmm... let's see... ladies called Jaana...

Jaana Aho:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/JaanaAho001.jpg

...and how about the Finnish Eurovision hostess, Jaana Pelkonen..?

http://www.satakunnanmessut.fi/html/ws_jutut/jaana.jpg

..and previously, as we were talking about better pictures of the ladies...

This is probably one of Karita Tuomola's better pictures:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/KaritaTuomola179.jpg

Tanja Saarela (Finland's Minister of Culture - previously Karpela/Vienonen) has pretty much cleaned up the net of her older pictures... but there are still a few going around...

This old one's cute:

http://www.sunpoint.net/~mavijo/img0014.jpg

...and this newer one is simply beautiful:

http://www.sunpoint.net/~mavijo/beautiful.jpg

What else..?

Viivi Avellan, became famous for being the first female TV sports anchor on channel 4:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/ViiviAvellan008.jpg

...and she can fix my car anyday... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/ViiviAvellan016.jpg

...and today she hosts the MTV3's entertainment news:

http://www.charmi.fi/arkisto/kuvat/viivi_avellan/102-0275_img.jpg http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/helmi/6viikonvaihde/treffit/viivi/345570.jpg

...and then - Janina Frostell. She's the modelling pro of them all - absolutely beautiful poses & expressions:

http://www.lucire.com/2002/0623fe11.jpg http://www.lucire.com/2002/0623fe9.jpg http://www.kotiposti.net/jucs5001/sp/jf/panosmix/janina258.jpg

http://www.kotiposti.net/jucs5001/sp/jf/panosrace/b_DSC_3107.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/1441-janina-frostell.jpg

Suvi Miinala also has better pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/SuviMiinala013.jpg

...and then, I would've added Susanna Laine to that list:

http://www.johannesromppanen.com/photo/commissions/trendi/susanna/susanna_laine_01.jpg

http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/5189_susanna_laine.jpg http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/3942_susanna_laine2.jpg

http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/3375_susanna_laine3.jpg http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/9348_susanna_laine4.jpg

:huh: ...do I hear the guys buying flight tickets to Finland..? :funny:

John - ;)

Troll

06-27-2006, 9:03am

More hot women. :D

tower

06-27-2006, 9:12am

For some strange reason I seem to be enjoying this part of the thread ;)

Myyde

06-27-2006, 1:54pm

;)

...sure - as all Finnish women do... ;)

hmm... let's see... ladies called Jaana...

Jaana Aho:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/JaanaAho001.jpg

Very nice try, but not right.:p
...and how about the Finnish Eurovision hostess, Jaana Pelkonen..?

http://www.satakunnanmessut.fi/html/ws_jutut/jaana.jpg

Yep yep, how about her, there we have a winner.http://chat.yle.fi/ylex/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/woohoo.gif
..and previously, as we were talking about better pictures of the ladies...

This is probably one of Karita Tuomola's better pictures:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/KaritaTuomola179.jpg

:shocked: *going to watch Ponterosa* Best finnish movie ever.:funny:

What else..?

Viivi Avellan, became famous for being the first female TV sports anchor on channel 4:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/ViiviAvellan008.jpg

...and she can fix my car anyday... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/ViiviAvellan016.jpg

...and today she hosts the MTV3's entertainment news:

http://www.charmi.fi/arkisto/kuvat/viivi_avellan/102-0275_img.jpg http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/helmi/6viikonvaihde/treffit/viivi/345570.jpg

..she could drive my car anyday. Oops, did i promise too much now...:uhh: :p

...and then, I would've added Susanna Laine to that list:

http://www.johannesromppanen.com/photo/commissions/trendi/susanna/susanna_laine_01.jpg

http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/5189_susanna_laine.jpg http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/3942_susanna_laine2.jpg

http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/3375_susanna_laine3.jpg http://www.oho.fi/c/6008/9348_susanna_laine4.jpg

Good taste there sir. ;):up:

:huh: ...do I hear the guys buying flight tickets to Finland..? :funny:

John - ;)

Hopefully not, we/i don`t need anymore competition.;) Hush hush, go away, don`t come here...:p

FinnFreak

06-28-2006, 5:31am

Good taste there sir. ;):up:

Thanks, that's what my wife usually says..! :D

:uhh: - ...but where are the Forums' females, with their witty comments..? :huh: ;)

Sooo... who's gonna win..? - I'm a Tanja supporter myself, but I'm pretty certain Janina's gonna win... again... :p

...as Tanja is nowadays known to do photoshoots like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/TanjaKarpela008.jpg

...while Janina is still widely known for these:

http://sivut.koti.soon.fi/jucs5001/cafe/6.jpg

...but they're ALL gorgeous - each in their own way...

John - :]

EilleenTwain88

06-28-2006, 6:07am

:uhh: - ...but where are the Forums' females, with their witty comments..? :huh: ;)
We ain't that uptight, you know ... :D
And if these ladies lure more nice guys to Finland... I have nothing against that either :great: !!

...as Tanja is nowadays known to do photoshoots like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/TanjaKarpela008.jpg

This one doesn't show to me... cencored?

FinnFreak

06-28-2006, 6:20am

We ain't that uptight, you know ... :D
And if these ladies lure more nice guys to Finland... I have nothing against that either :great: !!

This one doesn't show to me... cencored?

heh... no, seems like the server is a bit overloaded... ;)

...it's this one: (I've now fixed a few links)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/TanjaKarpela008.jpg

John - :D

Myyde

06-28-2006, 7:17am

Thanks, that's what my wife usually says..! :D
Good for you.:p

Sooo... who's gonna win..? - I'm a Tanja supporter myself, but I'm pretty certain Janina's gonna win... again... :p

...as Tanja is nowadays known to do photoshoots like this:

http://suomi.colinsfreehost.com/ft/01/TanjaKarpela008.jpg

...while Janina is still widely known for these:

http://sivut.koti.soon.fi/jucs5001/cafe/6.jpg

Heh, it`s not easy to forget those Janina pics. :p

Yeppers, Janina will win this one, although she has not been too much in the publicity lately. Ooooops, lets see who is on the cover this week Seura magazine...;)
http://www.seura.fi/var/kannet/SE_2006_25_t.jpg

Well, if she wins, i`m not gonna be the 1st one who says that she didn`t deserved it. :]
...but they're ALL gorgeous - each in their own way...

John - :]
You got that right.:)

FinnFreak

06-28-2006, 7:47am

Heh, it`s not easy to forget those Janina pics. :p

Yeppers, Janina will win this one, although she has not been too much in the publicity lately. Ooooops, lets see who is on the cover this week Seura magazine...;)
http://www.seura.fi/var/kannet/SE_2006_25_t.jpg

Well, if she wins, i`m not gonna be the 1st one who says that she didn`t deserved it. :]
yep, she deserves it... she's without any doubt, the most photographed celebrity in Finland... and for a very good reason... ;)

heh, she has already won a similar poll this year in Iltasanomat..! :p

ahaa... she's already plugging her upcoming Lifestyle TV show, with the beautycare/femininity concept...

...it's better to stick with what one's good at... good thing she gave up the "singing" career... :p:up:

...click the album cover pic to listen:

http://www.janinafrostell.net/pics/music_record_impossiblelove.jpg (http://www.click2music.se/jukebox/janina_jukebox/jukebox.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/JaninaFrostell041.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/JaninaFrostell123.jpg

Posing with a guitar or piano doesn't mean you're musically gifted... :uhh:

...naturally, image & looks are important... but you just can't build a lasting/credible music career on that alone... :smirk:

John - ;)

Troll

06-28-2006, 9:01am

More awesome pics John.

aFinn

06-28-2006, 1:03pm

:uhh: - ...but where are the Forums' females, with their witty comments..? :huh: ;)*something witty*

:p

Nah, just not that interested in women in bikinis :p

Troll

06-28-2006, 1:20pm

*something witty*

:p

Nah, just not that interested in women in bikinis :p

At least you are being honest. :p

Myyde

06-28-2006, 3:08pm

yep, she deserves it... she's without any doubt, the most photographed celebrity in Finland... and for a very good reason... ;)

heh, she has already won a similar poll this year in Iltasanomat..! :p

ahaa... she's already plugging her upcoming Lifestyle TV show, with the beautycare/femininity concept...
One can see some good reasons.:D

What a surprise. :shocked:

That`s for sure that i will NOT ever gonna watch that show...or maybe second or two.:p :hide:

...it's better to stick with what one's good at... good thing she gave up the "singing" career... :p:up:

...click the album cover pic to listen:

http://www.janinafrostell.net/pics/music_record_impossiblelove.jpg (http://www.click2music.se/jukebox/janina_jukebox/jukebox.html)

Hö! Kyllähän maailmaan ääntä mahtuu...:scowl:

Not so fast mister, she not done/gone yet.;) :p

Someone can hear something, doesn`t work for me.:uhh:

Troll

06-28-2006, 4:08pm

She sings pretty good.

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 2:04am

Nah, just not that interested in women in bikinis :p
...and the ones with *NO* bikinis..? :p

Hö! Kyllähän maailmaan ääntä mahtuu...:scowl:

Not so fast mister, she not done/gone yet.;) :p

Someone can hear something, doesn`t work for me.:uhh:
...her voice is a turn-off for me... :sad:

...happens with a lot of singers, who might be "gifted", and even have the technical abilities... ;)

...but if the sound of the voice doesn't appeal - it just doesn't.

The BMG Jukebox doesn't work for you..? - You need the Flash Player (http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&P5_Language=English)

She sings pretty good.

You are very kind.

John - ;)

EilleenTwain88

06-29-2006, 2:33am

I haven't heard her singing before... the music ain't my type but I didn't find her voice that bad !?!

But with her voice the life performances must be a nightmare to the mixer... I mean in studio you can add as much echo and edge as you want; on stage thin and high-pitched voice ends up sounding just ... well ... thin and highpitched.

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 2:40am

I haven't heard her singing before... the music ain't my type but I didn't find her voice that bad !?!
She reminds me of Jennifer Lopez a bit... (she's not my cup of tea either - at least, musically) :smirk:

But with her voice the life performances must be a nightmare to the mixer... I mean in studio you can add as much echo and edge as you want; on stage thin and high-pitched voice ends up sounding just ... well ... thin and highpitched.
höö... who says performers like her ever have to sing live..?

John - :p

EilleenTwain88

06-29-2006, 2:48am

höö... who says performers like her ever have to sing live..?
Well... hmmm... the guys do??

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 2:57am

What guys..?

John - :funny:

Myyde

06-29-2006, 3:02am

...and the ones with *NO* bikinis..? :p
...or maybe she just likes more men in bikinis.:p

...her voice is a turn-off for me... :sad:

...happens with a lot of singers, who might be "gifted", and even have the technical abilities... ;)

...but if the sound of the voice doesn't appeal - it just doesn't.
OK, i`ll buy that one.

The BMG Jukebox doesn't work for you..? - You need the Flash Player (http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&P5_Language=English)
Yep, i have the newest version, but it doesn`t work. (Ei anna valita kappeletta, tuo palkki vaan rullailee omaa tahtia ylhäälta alas. Mutta olkoo, jos muilla toimii, niin eiköhän se vika löydy jostain täältä kompuutterin romusta.)

EilleenTwain88

06-29-2006, 3:04am

What guys..?
The ones who want see her LIVE?? I mean she cannot just go up on the stage and POSE for 1-2 hours, can she? She has to DO something there also... sing, say poems, act... something.

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 3:11am

heh, that's what playback equipment is for...

John - :p

aFinn

06-29-2006, 3:45am

...and the ones with *NO* bikinis..? :p:uhh: Errr, you mean in swimsuits? :huh: Evening gowns? :huh:

...or maybe she just likes more men in bikinis.:p :funny: Maybe :p

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 3:51am

:uhh: Errr, you mean in swimsuits? :huh: Evening gowns? :huh:
Something like that, yes. :)

...or maybe she just likes more men in bikinis. :p
:funny: Maybe :p
:uhh: - shouldn't that read: firemen..? ;)

John - :p

aFinn

06-29-2006, 4:53am

Something like that, yes. :)

:uhh: - shouldn't that read: firemen..? ;)

John - :pIt looks like you know my interests :rolleyes: :p, so why'd you ask in the first place? :p

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 5:04am

It looks like you know my interests :rolleyes: :p, so why'd you ask in the first place? :p
oh... just to lower the levels of confusion in these parts... ;)

hmmm... :uhh: ...I wonder if it will be possible to visit the local hospital in Timmins during the Fan Convention... ;)

...those nurses do a heck of a great job too..! :D:up:

John - :p

aFinn

06-29-2006, 6:14am

Hoh-hoijaa :p

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 7:10am

...that's exactly what they usually say, when I again ask them to take my temperature... not to mention: pulse..! ;)

John - :p

FinnFreak

06-29-2006, 8:35am

:uhh: Errr, you mean in swimsuits? :huh: Evening gowns? :huh:

ahhh... if it were about gowns... ;)

Pics from the Presidential Palace 1999 - 2005

http://www.yle.fi/linna99/kuvat/karpela.jpg http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2000/kuvat/kansanedustaja_tanja_karpela.jpg
http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2001/kuvagalleria/kuvat/tanja_karpela.jpg http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2002/kuvat/juhlakuvat/tanja_karpela2.jpg
http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2003/galleria/isot/036.jpg http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2004/galleria/ci/out/163.jpg http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2005/galleria/ci/out/1010.jpg

John - :]

EilleenTwain88

06-29-2006, 10:44am

...those nurses do a heck of a great job too..! :D:up:
:nono:
That is too embarrasing... having another interview in newspapers... they start to suspect in Timmins that Finns have no rescue forces of our own, you know??? We ARE a civilized western nation, after all.

aFinn

06-29-2006, 4:39pm

Sorry Jussi, I am still not interested :p

:nono:
That is too embarrasing... having another interview in newspapers... they start to suspect in Timmins that Finns have no rescue forces of our own, you know??? We ARE a civilized western nation, after all.:funny: :funny: :funny:

FinnFreak

06-30-2006, 1:30am

:nono:
That is too embarrasing... having another interview in newspapers... they start to suspect in Timmins that Finns have no rescue forces of our own, you know??? We ARE a civilized western nation, after all.
I think it's about time we set the record straight: how we, as a small northern nation, hold the upmost respect towards authorities & really appreciate the devotion they put into their work.

...what the heck did you think I meant..?!? :p

John - ;)

tower

06-30-2006, 1:57am

This thread needs more pictures of TIMMINS Nurses, I will see what I can come up with.... Canada day soon, so I will be on the lookout for them ;)

FinnFreak

06-30-2006, 2:39am

:D:up:

John - ;)

FinnFreak

06-30-2006, 2:43am

STT - 30.6.2006 at 9:03

Finns keen to help developing countries

According to a new survey conducted by Finnish market research company Taloustutkimus, Finns regard development aid particularly positively. The results of the survey released in Helsinki on Thursday showed that as much as 86 per cent of Finns considers development aid to be either very important or quite important.

Finns also emerged very well-informed on the amount of taxpayers' money that is used to fund development aid. Two-thirds of respondents estimated that 0.3-0.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) was spent on development aid. The correct figure is 0.4 per cent of GDP.

61 per cent of respondents hoped to see Finland's share of development aid increase further.

The head of the Finnish foreign ministry's department for development policy, Ritva Koukku-Ronde, praised the attitude of Finns.

"It is pleasing to hear that the majority of Finns support development work, and that the majority would be willing to increase the funds appropriated for aid," she said.

Ms Koukku-Ronde was also glad that citizens clearly understand the connection between security and development cooperation. The survey results showed that 85 per cent of respondents were either completely in agreement or somewhat in agreement with the statement that development cooperation increases global security.

The greatest concern raised by the survey results was over the effectiveness of development cooperation. 25 per cent of those surveyed expressed doubt over the effectiveness of Finland's development activity. Respondents were concerned over whether aid does in fact reach its destination, as well as the effects of corruption in developing countries.

good..!

John - :]

Troll

06-30-2006, 9:11am

Thanks for the great article.

FinnFreak

07-02-2006, 8:09am

Iltalehti - 1.7.2006 8:44

http://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/kansirantatyttokisa_410_vi.gif

Kaikkien aikojen ihanin!

Iltalehden lukijat äänestivät Elina Nurmen kaikkien aikojen Ihanimmaksi Naiseksi Rannalla.

http://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/elinanurmi2_410_vi.jpg

TOP 20

1. Elina Nurmi 25,8 %, 6 005 ääntä
2. Janina Frostell 23,5%, 5 472 ääntä
3. Karita Tuomola 8,1%, 1 896 ääntä
4. Tanja Saarela 7,3%, 1 702 ääntä
5. Hanna Ek 6,7%, 1 556 ääntä
6. Viivi Avellan 5,6%, 1 296 ääntä
7. Johanna Raunio 4,2%, 988 ääntä
8. Satu Silvo 3,7%, 873 ääntä
9. Suvi Tiilikainen 2,9%, 685 ääntä
10. Armi Kuusela 2,8%, 652 ääntä
11. Lola Wallinkoski 1,9%, 452 ääntä
12. Tarja Smura 1,3%, 297 ääntä
13. Susanna Penttilä 1,2%, 287 ääntä
14. Anu Saagim 1,2%, 278 ääntä
15. Riitta Väisänen 0,9%, 203 ääntä
16. Helena Lindgren 0,8%, 197 ääntä
17. Jenni Ahola 0,8%, 179 ääntä
18. Linda Lampenius 0,5%, 111 ääntä
19. Hannele Lauri 0,4%, 84 ääntä
20. Carmen Mäkinen 0,4%, 83 ääntä

Ääniä annettiin yhteensä 19 788
Äänestäjistä 14 717 oli miehiä ja 5 071 naisia

Iltalehden lukijat äänestivät sinut kaikkien aikojen ihanimmaksi rantakaunottareksi uskomattomalla äänivyöryllä. Sait yli neljänneksen kaikista annetuista 20 000 äänestä.

- Ei voi olla totta. Hei mä voitin sen äänestyksen (huutaa jollekin)! Me veikattiin kotona itsekin miten sijoittuisin. Uskoin yltäväni jonnekin puolenvälin tienoille. Olen ihan puulla päähän lyöty. Kiitos hirveesti kaikille äänestäjille!

Miltä nyt tuntuu olla Suomen kaikkien aikojen ihanin?

Olen ihan hämilläni. Tää oli tosi iso yllätys ja hieno juttu.

Yli 70 prosenttia vastaajista oli miehiä. Miltä tuntuu olla myös seksisymboli?

- En ajattele sitä. Tää on mun työtä, ja se mitä kuvauksissa tehdään, on näyttelemistä. Oikeasti ole tosi tavallinen tyttö, joka elää tavallista elämää. Siviilissä ole ihan eri näköinen kuin kuvissa. En meikkaa enkä pukeudu seksikkäästi. Nytkin olen ollut kuukauden ilman meikkiä.

Onko seksisybmbolina olemisessa kiusallisia piirteitä?

- Jos olen seksisymboli, olen sitä kuvien perusteella. Oma elämäni on niin erilaista, ettei tämä haittaa minua.

Entä ajatus siitä, että joku peräkamarin poika verhoaa vessan seinän kuvillasi?

- Siitä vaan. Se on jokaisen oma päätös (naurua).

Millaisia naisia sinä ihailet?

- Sellaisia, jotka ovat sinut itsensä kanssa. Minulla ei ole koskaan ollut varsinaisia esikuvia. En halua matkia ketään, vaan tehdä asiat niin kuin itsestä tuntuu hyvältä.
Kuka olisi ihanin mies rannalla?

- Hmm.. tää on vaikea. Ei ainakaan sellainen, joka kulkee jalkapallot kainalossa. Inhoan hormonihirmuja, joiden pään täyttää "kaikki haluaa meitsin" -ajatus. Yäk!

Mikä kesässä on parasta?

- Aurinko tietysti. Ja se, että saa viilettää ilman varpaita. Apua, sanoin taas noin! Kaverit nauraa tästä aina mulle. Siis palajain jaloin. On myös siistiä, ettei tarvitse pukea hirveästi vaatekerroksia päälle. Toisaalta talvella rakastan kerrospukeutumista. Olen tässä suhteess aika ristiriitainen.

...Elina Nurmi..? - no jopas...

19 788 votes, of which 14 717 came from men & 5 071 from women... heh.

John - :cool:

Troll

07-02-2006, 10:02am

Thanks for the article John.

FinnFreak

07-03-2006, 4:23am

BBC News -Sunday, 2 July 2006

Finland quiz

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41828000/jpg/_41828888_santa_ap_203.jpg
Santa's village in Rovaniemi, home
town of singer Mr Lordi...

Finland took over the presidency of the European Union on Saturday 1 July.

Until the end of the year, when it hands over to Germany, it will be appearing in the news more than usual.

What better time to find out more about the country of 5.2 million in the EU's far north-east!

Take our quiz (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5130944.stm) to brush up on your knowledge of Finnish geography, history, culture and trivia. (and find out the right answers) ;)

Question 1

Finland joined the EU at the same time as which one of these countries?

A: Austria

B: Spain

C: Denmark

Question 2

Finnish company Nokia makes one in three of the world’s mobile telephones. What is the origin of the word Nokia?

A: It is the Finnish for "telephone"

B: It is the name of a Finnish town

C: It is formed from the initials of the children of the company's founder

Question 3

The Finnish rock group Lordi set a number of records when it won the Eurovision song contest in 2006. Which of the following is false?

A: It was the first Finnish group to win

B: It was the first heavy metal group to win

C: It was the first winning group with a singer over the age of 30

Question 4

About 6% of Finland’s energy production comes from peat. Which of these European countries is even more dependent on it?

A: Denmark

B: Ireland

C: Malta

Question 5

As Italy and Finland battled for the right to host the European Food Standards Agency, the then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi made disparaging comments about Finland. Which of the following statements was made by another European leader?

A: The Finns don't even know what prosciutto is

B: After Finland, (the UK) is the country with the worst food

C: There is absolutely no comparison between Parma ham and smoked reindeer

Question 6

What is meant by the term "Finlandisation"?

A: Afforestation of large areas of land with spruce or larch

B: A plan to populate empty Nordic territories with Finns

C: The influence of the Soviet Union on Finland during the Cold War

Question 7

Finnish is renowned for being tough to learn, for English-speakers anyway. Which of the following is not a feature of the language?

A: No verb for "to have"

B: No separate words for "he" and "she" (just one personal pronoun)

C: Multiple words for "a" and "the"

Question 8

Finland briefly had a King in 1918. From which country’s royal family was he taken?

A: Sweden

B: Germany

C: Portugal

Question 9

Finland is a Nordic country, but is not, strictly speaking, one of the Scandinavian group of countries. Which if the following groups is it also not a member of?

A: Nato

B: The eurozone

C: The Schengen group

Question 10

Which of the following is not true of Finland?

A: The country with the largest lake in Europe

B: The country with the largest island archipelago in Europe

C: Europe’s most densely forested country

John - ;)

FinnFreak

07-03-2006, 5:03am

EUobserver - 30.06.2006

An excellent analysis, but can Finland deliver?

http://www.eu2006.fi/en_GB/frontpage/_files/75475249755783334/default/logo_200.jpg (http://www.eu2006.fi)
Meanwhile, we shall swap Mozart
for Sibelius on the gramophone

By Peter Sain ley Berry

EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - To paraphrase an oft-quoted saying*:

"all European Union presidencies ultimately end in failure."

The expectations at the outset, whether of players or spectators, are too high; the timescale of six months is absurdly short and even shorter during the second semester when holidays, winter and summer, and preparations for those holidays serve as major distractions. Even the great Irish Presidency of 2004, which rescued the collapsed constitutional treaty, has seen its heroic efforts eventually run into the sand.

The Austrians can therefore be excused some of the harsher comments on their own Spring term. Certainly, the Austrian chancellor, Mr Schussel, was in no mood to be modest when he spoke at a press conference this week. "A year ago the EU was in deep crisis with serious communication deficits and existential problems. These have now been overcome," he stated flatly.

If you say so, sir; but others may disagree.

Mr Schussel had some support in the European Parliament. The British conservative MEP, Malcolm Harbour, praised the presidency even saying that it had been one of "real substance and achievement," others damned with faint praise, pointing to the progress the Austrians had made towards greater openness in the union's decision-making, while regretting the lack of more tangible results.

Of course much went on, successfully, under the Austrian administration in the usual way. The future budget was (almost) finally settled and so was the amended services directive; energy began to take up an increasing number of column inches on the agenda.

But such developments would in probability have taken place whichever country had been in charge; nevertheless they serve to fill out the record. Tolstoy's description of leaders as merely the people who happen to be in front at the time, is apt here.

But what no amount of filling out will obscure is the absence of progress, during the Austrian term, on the vexed question of the constitution and institutional reform.

Finding the magic key

No one expected that Austria would produce some kind of magic key, but we did expect, after a year of "reflection," to have been fairly sure of why the wheels had come off the wagon, what needed to be done to put them back on, and which alternative routes might be open to take us to the destination.

Instead this remains a task for the future with only a deadline set (2009) for the grand works somehow to be finished. And so, with open air musical festivities in the gardens of Vienna's Schonnbrunn Palace and with Mozart inevitably to the fore, the Austrian presidency ends. Not with a bang, it might be said, but with a concert.

The Finns, who take over the presidency the following day, have different ideas about music, commencing their term of office not so much with a concert as with a bang - for the pop group...

http://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/apocalMN_vi.jpg
Apocalyptica

...will be rattling the windows of the Grand Place in Brussels that very evening.

No doubt the mournful strains of Sibelius, shaking the ancient bars of his Nordic cage, will also be heard at some point for the Finns have let it be known that this will be a nationalist presidency, culturally at least.

Politically, they are determined to hit the ground running and their approach to the presidency has been heavily trailed. The Finns pride themselves on an open, direct way of going about things and an alternative, Nordic, vision.

Penetrating analysis

Their astute prime minister, Marti Vanhanen, has already put forward a most excellent and penetrating analysis, in clear and simple language, not just of Finland's priorities for the presidency, but, even more important, for the reasons why the European Union is currently stalled with so very little residual momentum.

In a longish speech to the Finnish parliament on 21 June he outlined the union's potential for global success and influence, emphasising, "It is high time we considered what kind of a union we want to have in 10 or 20 years time and how we can achieve this."

That indeed is the question on which all others hang and to which there are few clear answers. It is the question that demands leadership to find the right compromise between what is desirable, what is possible and what is popular.

It is not the sort of question to be answered through the sort of consultation exercise now very much in vogue. The question of democratic legitimacy is a key part of the analysis, however.

Trapped in a vicious circle

Mr Vanhanen argues that the EU is currently trapped in a vicious circle: "Citizens do not consider the Union useful because they cannot see it influencing their own lives for the better. This translates into low popularity, faltering legitimacy and a situation in which citizens demand that their national governments defend their countries' interests in Brussels more strongly.

Faced with this state of affairs, the leaders of Member States have not been willing to formulate sufficiently bold solutions for the future, since this would mean compromising their national position. The consequence of this is a union that cannot deliver and citizens who cannot see the impact of the union on their own lives."

We all have our opinions, but for me that is a most compelling piece of analysis and provides a clear pointer to the way forward.

Although in the absence of some common external threat it is difficult to see how certain key national figures will change their spots if this means being pilloried at home. Difficult, but let us hope not impossible.

Mr Vanhanen anyway has only a few short months at his disposal in which to galvanise our jaded summer minds with a clear blast of Arctic air. Something, some vision for the future, is needed to give substance to the Grand Declaration intended for next March commemorating 50 years of the Treaty of Rome.

Whether he and his fellow Finns can force a change in the mindset in the EU council to bring this about is the question of the moment. Unless they can the Finns will serve only to act as the political equivalent of 'le trou Norman' - the icy Calvados and sorbet refreshment that clears the palate - in this case before Mrs Merkel's much heralded future German essay of Spring 2007.

Only time will tell, but we wish them luck. Meanwhile, we shall swap Mozart for Sibelius on the gramophone.

* The saying was that of the British eurosceptic politician Enoch Powell who observed that ultimately all political careers ended in failure.

http://euobserver.com/9/21989

John - ;)

Troll

07-03-2006, 9:26am

Cool quiz John.

aFinn

07-03-2006, 4:16pm

Take our quiz (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5130944.stm) to brush up on your knowledge of Finnish geography, history, culture and trivia. (and find out the right answers) ;)I got 9/10. Ooopsie? :uhh: :p

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 2:10am

I got 9/10. Ooopsie? :uhh: :p

Did you miss on the peat question..?

John - ;)

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 4:14am

STT - 4.7.2006

In Finland, first sighting of humpback whale since 1978

http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/4830606_uu.jpg

Juha Mäkelä, a teacher from Ylivieska in Finland, on Sunday spotted what was later confirmed as a young humpback whale measuring seven to eight metres in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia.

"We were mightily surprised when such an awesome creature whose length was truly about 10m swam toward us spraying seawater high into the air," Mr Mäkelä told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on Monday.

Mr Mäkelä's boat tracked the animal for about half and hour until a coastguard vessel arrived.

"We are quite certain that we are dealing with a humpback whale. Just before midnight we were still examining humpback whale pictures on the net - it was the same animal all right," said Jyrki Lahti, the commander of the Raahe coastguard station. He was alerted to the scene by Mr Mäkelä and, together with another coast guard, took pictures of the whale.

Markku Lahtinen, a whale expert at the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, told STT that while one photo pointed to a Minke whale (lesser rorqual), the description of the tail had convinced him that a humpback, which is rarer than the Minke whale, had ventured into the Gulf of Bothnia.

Mr Lahtinen, thrilled about the spotting, is vexed that owing to the angle of the shot given to him for analysis, the telltale flippers or tail of the animal are not visible.

There is at least one previous sighting of a humpback whale in Finland. In 1978, a humpback, christened Valpuri in Finland, crisscrossed the Baltic Sea for more than six months before dying, supposedly of hunger.

Although threatened by whaling, pollution and other human activity, humpbacks have a worldwide distribution. All whale species are protected in Finnish waters.

John - :)

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 4:38am

;)

...and here are some thoughts of Johan Norberg, a Swedish blog writer ( http://www.johannorberg.net ) devoted to globalisation and individual liberty:

Many ask me what I think about copyrights in general and the activity of The Pirate Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay) in particular, and recently, Joel Malmqvist (http://malmqvist.blogspot.com/2006/06/johan-norberg-bli-sveriges-captain.html), a young Swedish social democrat, urged me to become Sweden’s Captain Copyright, who explains the benefit of intellectual property rights for the kids.

The reason why I have not been much engaged in this discussion is that it’s a difficult one, where I think that both sides make mistakes, and since I try to learn more about it before I become involved, at least as a dressed-up super hero in defence of IPRs. In fact this is a big discussion in liberal/libertarian circles, where the whole spectrum of opinions exists, and where a small, but well-articulated minority does not see any similarities between physical and intellectual property rights, and wants to abolish the latter.

Here is a sketch of my own view so far:

I am in favour of intellectual property rights for both moral and practical reasons, just like physical property rights. Morally it is a way to recognize and the creator of new values and protect his rights to it, practically it is an incentive for more production and creativity. With patents and copyrights there are more shades of grey, it’s not easy to say exactly what deserves protection and for how long. But a grey area does not rule out that there is black and white on both sides of it.

If someone sells me a DVD or a CD on a specific condition – for example that I am not allowed to distribute it to others – then this restriction is a result of freedom of contract. If I don’t agree to those terms, I shouldn’t buy them, I don’t have a right to pretend that I agree and then break the conditions afterwards.

And I don’t agree at all with the idea that this is suddenly less interesting and legitimate because technology makes it easier to spread and use ideas and creations of others, quite the opposite. As the cost of physical production keeps approaching zero, the ideas, science and knowledge that goes into them become the important and valuable aspect of our economy. A system that does not protect rights to that will not do well.

I also think that some of the arguments against musical copyrights are worthless unless you are an opponent of capitalism generally:

“It is just a protection of the big record company and not the musician” – even if that was the case it’s up to the musician to make that decision and not for outsiders. After all he goes there voluntarily because he thinks that deal is better than any alternative. (And it doesn’t seem to be the case, as I understand the Swedish experience where record sales have been halved in five years – the big ones don’t lose too much, because they have alternatives, but individual musicians and independent labels do.)

“When I spread their music they gain a bigger audience, might sell more records and more people go to their live shows.”– even if that was the case it’s up to the musicians to make the decision to distribute it that way, not for others to do it for them. You wouldn’t accept stealing and distributing Volvos, even if you could make the case that Volvo would gain more from brand recognition, selling extra features, repairs and spare parts.

At the same time, there has been abuse of the patent and copyright system. For example we see how strong industry interests have successfully lobbied for constantly longer protection. Now artistic copyrights are protected 75 years after the death of the creator. Why should that be so much longer than the protection of patents in for example robots and drugs (20 years)? There is no specific moral legitimacy, it is just a Mickey Mouse law (the day Disney’s copyrights would expire, 50 years after his death in 1966, approached rapidly – ironic since this particular mouse (http://reason.com/links/links011703.shtml) borrowed liberally from other sources).

And when it comes to patents we see that many companies seek and receive protection for tons of tiny discoveries that are not related to products, but do this only to sue other companies when they use something that comes close in one of their products.

The lack of a moral basis and the aggressive, self-interested lobbying from the industry has hurt their case, and fuels distrust and opposition to the IPR system. But on the other hand, that is a reason to fix the system, not to dismantle it. And it is a reason for the industry to initiate a serious debate about these issues and really explain their case in a moral, principled fashion, and not just support short-term interests in a legalistic framework. It’s a big task. As long as physical property rights aren’t well understood in our society, how can we expect intellectual property rights to be?

But on the other hand, nothing I have said can be used to support the kind of activities the authorities have used against the Pirate Bay and file sharers. Just because it’s illegal and wrong to stab someone doesn’t mean that knives should be outlawed. Just because it’s illegal and wrong to distribute others’ music doesn’t mean that the technology that makes it possible is wrong (it’s also used for legitimate purposes) or that it is legitimate with harsh repression and surveillance to stop it.

And to me the raid on the Pirate Bay looks like an overreaction. You might make the case that the pirates not only enabled, but also encouraged and were complicit in the activities. We’ll have to wait and see, but anyway it’s bizarre when the police in this raid take about 200 servers from other IT-companies that had nothing to do with the Pirate Bay – and so far haven’t returned them. It definitely gives the pirates a PR boost.

It might be that something should be illegal, but that new technologies make it impossible to stop it with legitimate means. Therefore it’s essential for the industry to develop new business models, adapted to the new technologies. One of the biggest problems is that they have been far too slow to use the opportunities of digital communications and the internet, partly because they thought they would fuel illegal file sharing. But of course, it was the other way around. Simple and free or difficult and expensive? Just saying that it is illegal doesn’t help much when legislation changes so rapidly that people don’t know what is and should be illegal.

But when legal and easy-to-use alternatives have been developed, for example via iTunes, it’s extremely popular (one billion songs sold). And iTunes’ FairPlay encryption scheme makes it possible to sell songs that can be played only on iPods and on a limited number of music machines, to stop uncontrolled distribution. But here comes the really absurd part, French legislators (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1833) and the Swedish Consumer Agency (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060609/tc_afp/swedennorwaydenmark) have shown an unhealthy interest in outlawing that business model, because they think it is proprietary and monopolist. They want to force Apple to sell a format that can be played on all mp3-players and can be played on any number of machines.

In other words, they want to outlaw an excellent technological solution to a difficult problem, and instead the government would be left with the option to harass young file sharers and raid IT-companies to try and stop the pirates.

As I mentioned, this is a difficult subject and it’s not easy to know exactly what to think, but whatever happens and whatever position turns out to be the right one, one thing remains constant: French lawmakers and the Swedish Consumer Agency will be on the wrong side.

yep... nobody said it was an easy subject...

John - :smirk:

aFinn

07-04-2006, 6:51am

Did you miss on the peat question?Nopers, it was one of 'em grammar ones, he/she, a/the.

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 6:54am

So, you didn't bother to read the question properly..?

John - :p

aFinn

07-04-2006, 6:57am

So, you didn't bother to read the question properly..?

John - :pSumfin' like that :p

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 7:40am

Iltasanomat - 4.7.2006

Prince ei olekaan sukua Romppaisille

http://kuvat2.iltasanomat.fi/iltasanomat/iDoc/1198166-GJTLOPSK.jpg

IS kertoi viime keskiviikkona, että poptähti Princen isoisän äiti oli Finnish American Reporter (http://www.finnishamericanreporter.com) -lehden mukaan Utsjoen Näätämöstä lähtenyt Hilda Romppainen. Useiden amerikansuomalaisten lehtien julkaisema ja Minnesotan suomalaisen sukututkimusseurankin uskoma väite on kuitenkin paljastunut vääräksi.

- Pyydän anteeksi julkaisemaamme väärää tietoa. Me ja muut suomalaiset järjestöt ja sukuseurat olimme huijauksen uhreja, Finnish American Reporter -lehden päätoimittaja James N. Kurtti toteaa.

Yllättävästä käänteestä on erityisen harmissaan Romppaisten sukuseura.

- Harmillinen uutinen. Täällä oltiin jo asialla hykerrelty, voivottelee sukuseuran puheenjohtaja, kirjailija ja rantaneuvos Eero Seppänen.

http://www.finnishamericanreporter.com/links.html

John - :biglaugh:

Troll

07-04-2006, 9:03am

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 9:22am

FINNISH VOCABULARY QUIZ

http://www.touchoffinland.com/images/quiz-man.jpg

TEST YOUR SKILLS –

ANSWERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE - DON'T PEEK!

1. äiti
2. hauskaa joulua
3. kahvi
4. kala
5. kiitos
6. kirja
7. koti
8. kulho
9. lautanen
10. lisää loylyä
11. mitä kuuluu
12. mojakka
13. mummu
14. päivää
15. poika
16. saippua
17. sauna-aika
18. tervetuloa
19. tyttö
20. voi kauhea

1. mom
2. Merry Christmas
3. coffee
4. fish
5. thank you
6. book
7. house
8. bowl
9. plate
10. more steam
11. What's new?
12. stew
13. grandma
14. good day
15. boy
16. soap
17. sauna time
18. welcome
19. girl
20. oh my gosh

Score Results

15 + You love kala keitto
10-14 You go sauna lots
5-10 Yer last name might be Maki
under 5 Finnish Wannabe

John - :p

FinnFreak

07-04-2006, 9:44am

http://www.learningplaceonline.com/living/diversions/Yooper%20technology.jpg

John - :p

Troll

07-04-2006, 1:36pm

That is cool John.

FinnFreak

07-05-2006, 6:47am

Michigan Tech:

Linguist revels in and respects UP dialect

By John Gagnon

Writing in 1944, the UP’s own Robert Traver said of north country Finns: “Their brogue is inherently the funniest I have ever heard.”

He then gives an example, a no-hunting sign posted by a Finn landowner. It read:

NOTIS YOU
WHOS TO GIVE IT YOU PROMISS FOR
HUNT IT MY LAN? BETTER YOU LOOK OUT ELSE
I SOOT IT YOU WIIT DA 2 PIPE SOT GUN.
AND DATS TO BE NO PULLSIT.

Traver continues: “But it would be a distortion for me to present a picture of the Finns in the false role of mere New World comedians, unwitting or otherwise. They are so much more than that, a fine people, a deep people....”

Traver wrote several books set in the UP, including Anatomy of a Murder. His writing is peppered with the linguistic patterns of UP immigrants. Some of his message about the Finnish brogue and the Finnish people concerns Vicky Bergvall, associate professor of linguistics, who has lived in the UP for twelve years. As a scholar, Bergvall sees the regional language as distinctive and the people speaking the language as resilient. But she is especially attuned to Traver’s warnings about dialect as humor. “To have somebody denigrate you because of the way you talk is really unfortunate,” she says. “I try to train people not to laugh at the way others speak.”

Bergvall has been interested in variations in dialect for years and has regularly incorporated the topic in her teaching. Language death—the decline of dialect and language variation—impels her work. She views language as a story of a people, “a story we would be the poorer for losing,” Bergvall says.

Bergvall, who considers herself “an outlander,” has an ear for language, but she doesn’t like what she’s hearing these days: uniformity. She says language and dialect, like the Finnish brogue, are disappearing, which, to a linguist, is like a mathematician without numbers.

Worldwide, Bergvall says, even major languages are giving way to English exclusively, which troubles her. “Imagine if we stopped speaking English,” she says. “What would happen to Shakespeare?”

Similarly with dialect, she says. “One of the joys we see in the world is linguistic variation.”

Linguists like Bergvall worry about dialect and the possibility of a gradual “wearing down of distinctiveness.” Linguistic variations can be lost—“mashed by the steamroller of standardized English,” she says. The result could be “terribly, terribly bland.”

Bergvall is from high plains of central Montana, what she calls “the dusty part” of the state. She has been teaching at Michigan Tech since 1989. Always interested in “what marks our voices as being different,” she has both a master’s and doctorate in linguistics from Harvard University. “I am incompetent in eight languages,” she jests. “I don’t even speak English well.”

Language endemic to Upper Michigan, she says, results from a score of languages spoken by immigrants who arrived during the area’s mining boom. The diversity forged the dialect. Words are telltale, as are other UP regionalisms:

intonation (“the musicality of your voice”)
accent, or the pronunciation of vowels and consonants (“Accents make richness”)
substituting d or t for the th sound (da for the, dis for this, tink for think, tree for three). This characteristic is common to UP Finns, but Bergvall says a lot of languages don’t have what in English is the th sound. She has heard the exact same story depicting this feature of the language (tirdy-tree and a tird) for Finns in the UP, Italians in Brooklyn, and Cajuns in Louisiana.
grammatical structure, such as ending sentences with eh
unique expressions

The strong Finnish influence in Upper Michigan is partly an outgrowth of what Bergvall calls a “dense network”—by which she means cohesiveness—whereby some Finns purposely set themselves apart from the wider culture. She sees that inclination as a good thing for the dialect. “It helps keep the UP local,” she says. She approaches the subject from the standpoint of both a detached observer and a unabashed champion of linguistic diversity.

Variety in language remains a wonderment to her. She calls it a “playground,” and she values it because she believes it is an expression of human variation and is thus worth preserving. “When I go to Louisiana,” she says, “I like to have Louisiana food and hear a Louisiana accent—and not just because it’s picturesque and quaint and touristy. I think there are things that express the heritage and history of people, and language is one of them. I like the variations. I don’t want all this to turn out to be vanilla.”

There is that flip side to dialect, however. Use of Nonstandard English often gives rise to stereotyping. “People who don’t speak what's assumed to be standard English,” she says “are assumed to be stupid or generally less capable.” Other people poke fun. “Language prejudice is rampant,” she says. And deplorable.

A better attitude, she avows, is a respect for diversity that “acknowledges the richness and variety of the locale, its language, and its people.“

“You’ve got to love the UP,” she says.

John - :p

aFinn

07-07-2006, 2:52pm

Something wrong with this picture? :p

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Finn55/misc/karu_pohjola.jpg

Myyde

07-07-2006, 3:18pm

:funny:

That is the best map i`ve ever seen.:D:up:

:p

manmangler

07-07-2006, 3:59pm

Something wrong with this picture? :p

It's quite good but Turku is still there

Don't worry, our german friends will borrow us a proper tool like this
http://www.lakata.org/arch/bagger288.jpg
Kaietahan se turku irti suomesta

Troll

07-07-2006, 4:42pm

That thing looks cool.

aFinn

07-07-2006, 5:22pm

It's quite good but Turku is still there:funny: ...Oooops, sorry :sad:

Didn't know Turku was such a big 'hit' up there too, I thought only Helsinki area and Turku had this rival thing going?!

Troll

07-07-2006, 9:58pm

Something wrong with this picture? :p

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Finn55/misc/karu_pohjola.jpg

An interesting map.

Myyde

07-08-2006, 6:46am

:funny: ...Oooops, sorry :sad:

Didn't know Turku was such a big 'hit' up there too, I thought only Helsinki area and Turku had this rival thing going?!

I guess that it is as global thing as that all hates Swedes.:p

Ja eikös ne Tamperelaiset käyny joskus pomppimassa Turussa ja yritti upottaa sen mereen? Ei tainnu ikävä kyllä onnistua, enskerralla pitää mennä auttamaa Tampesterilaisia. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: ...kyllä se kohta uppoaa... :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Myyde

07-08-2006, 6:53am

It's quite good but Turku is still there

Don't worry, our german friends will borrow us a proper tool like this
http://www.lakata.org/arch/bagger288.jpg
Kaietahan se turku irti suomesta

And that is what happens when boys have too much time and mechanos. :p

"Ooops, was that your house we just rolled over, sooorryyy" :uhh:

FinnFreak

07-13-2006, 9:36am

STT - 13.07.2006

Finland's Gulf of Bothnia archipelago makes UNESCO's World Heritage list

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Valassaaret.jpg
The earth has been rising 1 cm/year since the last ice age

Convening in Lithuania, the Unesco World Heritage committee decided Wednesday to place the Finnish archipelago in Merenkurkku, the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia, on its list of protected sites.

Pertti Sevola, the head of the Uusimaa regional environment centre, told the Finnish News Agency (STT) that the archipelago had been unanimously accepted as Finland's first World Heritage natural site.

The decision is to be officially confirmed on Sunday when the 30th session of the committee concludes in Vilnius.

Five Finnish cultural sites are on the World Heritage list. Further, the Struve Geodetic Arc, a World Heritage site, runs through Finland.

The Kvarken Archipelago (added in 2006 as an extension to the World Heritage site of the High Coast) numbers 5,600 islands and islets and covers a total of 194,400 ha (15% land and 85% sea). It features unusual ridged washboard moraines, "De Greer moraines", formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Archipelago is continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence of the advancing shoreline, islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. This property is essentially a "type area" for research on isostacy; the phenomenon having been first recognized and studied here.

More pictures (http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=192945&lan=en)

John - ;)

FinnFreak

07-19-2006, 4:34am

Phil, the always entertaining maintainer of the blog Finland For Thought (http://www.finlandforthought.net), has been re-reading a book this summer... and has made some interesting observations (quotes from the book & comments from Phil):

Summertime in Finland is not a good time for newsworthy stories, so the next few weeks I plan to do regular blog posts on Finnish culture. Before I moved to Finland in 2002, I read “Culture Shock! Finland: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette” by Deborah Swallow of the UK. It’s an *excellent* primer to anyone thinking or planning on moving to Finland (this is NOT a tourist guide), however, the author had never actually lived in Finland, so i’ve always wondered how her thoughts and experiences compare with my own.

So throughout the summer I’ll be re-reading the book and discussing some topics on here. I’ve also picked up a similar but less comprehensive, “Finland - Culture Smart!” by Terttu Leney and will discuss in that book as well.

I hope everyone enjoys it and I look forward to the discussion!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1857332830.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1071600207_.jpg

Something will stirke the visitor to Finland as peculiarly odd - the Finns’ attitude to customer care. They haven’t got any, or so it seems. This may sound very harsh but, in truth, the Finns address customer care in a completely different way from the approach British, Asians, or Americans would be used to. Herin lies the first real culture shock that most visitors to Finland will experiences.Finnish customer service may be different from American customer service, but I certainly prefer the Finnish way. You don’t have annoying sales agents jumping on you at the door or disrupting you why you shop. Finns are rarely if ever paid on commission, they’re less likely to hound you and more likely to be honest with you. Finnish stores seem to give their employees power over the price, so you don’t have to hunt down the manager if you want 10% off an item. When I shop, I like to be left alone, so Finland is perfect. But yeah, if you’re the type who thinks you need to be waited on hand and foot, Finland is not your place.

One evening, I was sitting with a colleague of mine in a hotel restaurant. I had ordered my evening meal from the menu, and she had decided that she wanted just a plain ham sandwich. She went into some detail to explain to the waitress that all she required was two slices of bread, plain, with plain ham in the middle. She stipulated that she wanted “no gree stuff, no read stuff, no fruity bits either,” just a plain ham sandwich. My dinner arrived, her sandwich didn’t. I had almost finished my meal when her sandwich eventually arrived. In all its glory, with all the greenery, the red bits and the fruity bits, came her ‘plain’ ham sandwich. When my colleague quizzed the waitress, she was told this was how the sandwich was served, and if she didn’t want all the other bits and pieces, my colleague could take them out’ they wouldn’t mind.

[…]These incidents might lead the reader to think that the Finns really don’t care about the customer, buth nothing could be further from the truth. You have to understand the Finns’ psyche in order to understand that they really do care. The first incident with the ham sandwich demonstrates the Finns’ desire to genuinely give you what they think you really out to have - not what you ordered.Nah. Sounds like the waitress just didn’t understand your request in English, or she didn’t care, or forgot. I’m sure if a “plain ham sandwich” was conveyed in Finnish, everything would have been fine. When you’re going to use a foreign language in a country, things like this are bound to get messed up.

It’s also very difficult to get served in a Finnish restaurant, once your initial order is received. You can never seem to catch the waitress’s eye, so you might well have t resort to gesticulating madly…Then there’s the U.S. which is the complete opposite, there’s like one waiter for every three tables (I find Finnish restaurants often understaffed), and every two minutes they ask you “Is everything okay?”. Finnish waiters don’t care cause they don’t get a tip, and American waiters care too much because they do get a tip.

I recall a time I called a waitress over to complain that my soup was not hot She commiserated with me, said, “Shame.” and ran away quickly.

[…]The Finns don’t normally complain and they find it very difficult to handle a complaint. Therefore, when I complained about the soup, the waitress really didn’t know what to do about it. I have since found that if I have cold coup, I have to say, “Excuse me my soup is only warm. Would you please take it away and make it hot.” This allows them to understand what I want. The Finns are not used to pushing themselves forward, and in a very egalitarian society, they are not used t obeing subservient. It is therefore, up to you as the customer, to make your wishes clear. I can’t imagine a Finnish waitress saying “Shame” to a customer because they complained the soup is too cold. Sounds to me like another conversation that got lost in translation or something. Although, I’m not one to complain about my food in a restaurant.

Finns do normally complain, just not to the right people. They’ll instead come home and complain about their job/boss/day to their families. I witness lots of talk, but often very little action in Finland. Americans on the otherhand are just the opposite, they’re are always quick to take action, probably too quick. They’ll take fast action over the littlest things - we’re very reactionary people. Soups cold? Complain up the restaurant’s food chain until you get a free meal, even if that means calling the CEO of the franchise on the telephone. Enjoying the sight of a pissed off middle-aged white women “creating a scene” at a mall store is like a national pastime for Americans. (I’ve often heard these women say to the managers, “If you don’t __________, I’ll create a scene!”)

And I’m not sure that Finns have trouble dealing with “complaints”, but rather “conflict”. (for foreigners, Finns might have trouble dealing with your complaints in English - it’s difficult talking to a pissed off customer in a second language). Finns don’t like conflict, and they’d rather put up with poor performance from a service/human-being than do something to fix it - because that would cause conflict. Of course, being an American, I don’t mind conflict, and I don’t like putting up with poor performance - this has gotten me in trouble at work on occasion. People did not react well to my “frankness”. For months I was unhappy with a particular person in another company we work with, the straw finally broke the camel’s back and I sent out a mass e-mail with the words “lazy” and “incompetent” in them. Everyone agreed that this person was lazy and incompetent but that kind of blunt communication was frowned upon because it created conflict. Finns are much more tolerant of lazy and incompetent workers than Americans.

On the occasion when I was trying to buy boots, it became obvious that my feet were too wide for the narrow fitting Finnish shoes. The assistant told me that lots of pepole have the same problem and she wondered why there had not yet been devised an operation to cure wide feet. Never did it occur to her that they could make the shoes wider rather than have customers suffer the painful machinations a surgical operationn. Often I find the Finns coming at a situation from the opposite direction from me. Some foreigners regard this attitude as a form of arrogance but I prefer to think of it as reverse logic - I do find it funny at times.And I think it’s funny that the Finnish salesperson made fun of your fat-*** feet and you didn’t get the joke. Or maybe it was just another “lost in translation” moment.

John - :p

aFinn

07-19-2006, 5:20am

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/travel/16helsinki.html

Helsinki’s Shining Season

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/07/16/travel/16helsinki_senatesq_span.jpg

By R.W. APPLE Jr.
Published: July 16, 2006

“THIS reminds me of ‘La Grande Jatte,’ ” my wife, Betsey, said one sunny day, watching the blondes, male and female, soaking up the rays on the grassy, flower-flecked central strip that divides the Esplanade, Helsinki’s smartest shopping street. “The only thing missing is the parasols.”

Don’t try Helsinki in the off season, no matter what the brochures say. The Finnish capital’s time is now, right now, high summer, when daylight lasts for 20 giddy hours out of 24, when the sidewalk cafes and the waterside markets are thronged by handsome, hardy people, when the procession of crayfish feasts builds toward a climax, and when the pale blue waters of the lakes and the harbor and the white bark of the birch trees match the national flag.

Seen at its radiant best, Helsinki can be hypnotic. It has held me in its thrall for decades with its genius for modern design, displayed in textiles by Marimekko, ceramics by Arabia and glassware by Iittala, created by the likes of Kaj Franck, Timo Sarpaneva, Tapio Wirkkala, Alvar Aalto and Eliel Saarinen, to say nothing of those nifty orange-handled scissors made by Fiskars. Some names are less familiar than they should be — Aalto stands, in my view at least, with Wright, Mies and Le Corbusier at the apex of 20th-century architecture — but certainly not through any fault of their own.

For a time, the tradition seemed moribund, but it proved to be only dormant. Marimekko, whose chic, simple frocks Jacqueline Kennedy prized, has found a fresh new streak of creativity; the work of young and not-so-young designers from around the world (like the witty Briton Tom Dixon at Artek) can be seen in Finnish cutlery and furniture; and a sparkling new design district has come into being to show it off.

A nation of barely 5,250,000 souls (compare Wisconsin, with 5,536,000), where most people speak a language that is a distant cousin of Hungarian and largely incomprehensible to other Europeans, Finland — and Helsinki, its cultural, commercial and political center — has had to work hard to make its mark. It has succeeded beyond any rational expectations, not in a single sphere but in many.

The Finnish sauna has conquered the world, as have Finnish athletes from the distance runner Paavo Nurmi to the hockey star Teemu Selanne to the Formula One driver Mika Hakkinen. Nokia mobile phones are used in every corner of the globe. Grasping the classical torch from the great composer Jean Sibelius, Finnish musicians have ranged far from their remote Nordic base — Esa-Pekka Salonen reigning as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Karita Mattila as a prima donna in the great opera houses of New York, London, San Francisco, Paris and Vienna.

Yet the Finns have a not wholly undeserved reputation as a silent, humorless and melancholy people. Their outlook on life is often summed up in the word “sisu,” which denotes a grim determination to do what must be done, regardless of circumstances — the kind of gritty perseverance that helped Finland survive for decades beneath the dark cloud of the Soviet Union. The Finns’ psychic isolation is especially marked during the long, gloomy winters, when tens of thousands of them seek solace in a peculiarly Finnish kind of tango — not “the groin-grinding, passionate Latin American version,” as Morley Safer once wrote, “but a sad shuffle in a minor key.”

The sun burns all that away. Helsinki may be the world’s second most northerly capital city, after Reykjavik, and it may be lapped by the Baltic, but it can feel almost Mediterranean on a fine August day, with soft, golden light bathing the pastel-colored Italianate buildings around Senate Square, a legacy from Russian rule in the 19th century, and ferries, cruise ships and trawlers filling in a lively marine backdrop.

History may be changing the national character as well. My old friend Max Jacobson, one of Europe’s most distinguished diplomats, thinks so. For many years, he told me, Finns themselves and the rest of the world tended to define their country in relation to the Soviets. But now, he said, “we have stepped out of the shadow of the Russian bear and into a more cosmopolitan role as mainstream Europeans.”

Not that the rest of Europe has entirely caught on. For some unfathomable reason, the leaders of larger countries have taken to demeaning Finnish food; Jacques Chirac said it was the worst in Europe except for England’s, and Silvio Berlusconi sneered that the Finns didn’t know what prosciutto was.

What are those guys smoking? Maybe they don’t like Finnish coffee. The Finns drink more java per capita than anyone else in the world (almost 25 pounds of beans every year), but it’s not espresso and it’s not really very good. Too bad; the cafes, like bustling Café Strindberg, on the Esplanade, Café Fazer, known for ice cream, and Café Ekberg, founded in 1852 (Café Greco, Rome, 1760), are quite delightful.

But I doubt that you’ll take the politicians’ animadversions very seriously after a visit to the Kauppatori, or Market Square, which lies at the foot of the Esplanade, where it meets the harbor. Stallholders sell a dizzying array of luscious berries — bilberries, lingonberries, amber-colored cloudberries — which in Finland as in Sweden and Scotland and other northern climes ripen slowly to an extraordinary sweetness. And fishermen sell fresh and smoked fish straight from their boats, as well as delicate roe from vendace (a kind of whitefish), trout, herring and salmon.

Next step across to the Kauppahalli, the red-and-yellow-brick covered market built in 1888 and packed with artistically displayed things to eat, including cheeses from France and olives from Italy — listen up, Mr. Chirac and Mr. Berlusconi — lemon sole, plaice, char and other prized fish, silky gravlax, bear salami and reindeer kebabs. Plus discs of the ubiquitous and much-loved crispbread and irresistible big loaves of rye. I was specially impressed by the Tuula Paalanen cheese shop, the Hongisto bakery and the immaculate fish at E. Eriksson.

Fish is the thing in the Finnish diet, and few cook it better than Hans Valimaki, who serves brandade of cod with balsam syrup and lobster poached in vanilla-scented beurre monté at Chez Dominique, to say nothing of his pigeon stuffed with foie gras and garnished with flavor-packed parsley purée. Of the last, my notes say, “this is the sort of dish you go to great restaurants for.” Pared-down, gray-walled, tiny (10 tables) and shatteringly expensive, Chez Dominique lies just a block off the Esplanade.

The Michelin guide gives it two stars, but Michelin looks fondly on all things French, and I find some other Helsinki tables nearly as good, including G. W. Sundmans, housed in a magnificent old ship captain’s house, which serves improbably delicious tar-flavored ice cream; the unobtrusive George, which features a delectable scallop and artichoke tartlet with hollandaise sauce; and the clubby Mecca, where Mr. Valimaki himself offers whimsies like shrimp dumplings with a lime and pineapple dip and gamy tapenade-spiced red mullet with salami risotto and watermelon dressing.

If you like that sort of thing. If you don’t, you might be happier at Bellevue, a stronghold of traditional Russian cooking and soulful Russian music. This is the place to get your herring fix (pickled, in mustard, in sour cream) and to sample spectacularly tart Russian pickles with sour cream and honey, heartbreakingly authentic borscht, and properly made chicken Kiev, bursting with hazelnut-flavored butter, served with fresh spring peas. The fringe benefits are generous: sunflowers in a big vase, warm-hearted service, slabs of black, fabulously rich bread studded with currants, and ample tots of Russky Standard Platinum, one of the very finest vodkas on the planet.

The Savoy, founded in 1937 and designed by Aalto, is Helsinki’s much lower-key counterpart to Manhattan’s Four Seasons, founded in 1959 and designed by Mies and Philip Johnson — playpen of the powerful, defender of the local culinary faith, temple of classic form. Perched on the eighth floor of an office building, amid the Esplanade treetops, it is furnished with chairs, light fixtures and even coat racks by the master and filled with his trademark free-form vases, whose shape is echoed in a serving table.

This was the favorite restaurant of Finland’s national hero, Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim, and his favorite dish, vorschmack, a mixture of ground beef, mutton and minced herring, is always on the menu. Too folkloric for me, I’m afraid, and I confess that I wasn’t thrilled to see an “orange tart with Sri Lankan cinnamon foam” on the menu recently. Catalonia has a lot to answer for. But there are always lots of things Betsey and I love to eat in this ever-fresh setting, with bright blue and white pansies in its window boxes: white asparagus in season, partridge mousse, grilled herrings with dill butter, pikeperch with horseradish butter and salmon with creamed morels (game and wild mushrooms from the all but limitless forests are Finnish passions, and on June 20, the first day of wild duck season, you’ll find the duck on many restaurants’ menus).

In late July and August, many of the movers and shakers who eat lunch at the Savoy eat dinner at crayfish parties, often at the NJK Yacht Club on Blekholmen Island. Through the intervention of Jukka Valtasaari, then Finland’s ambassador to Washington, we did likewise one balmy night a couple of years ago, dispatching great heaps of the little red critters, which had been boiled for just 10 or 12 minutes with salt, a couple of lumps of sugar and dill — potently flavored crown dill, harvested after flowering, not the more familiar feathery type — then allowed to cool for hours, so they could absorb all of the flavor in the cooking liquid.

Naturally, such parties have an established ritual, which includes bibs, special knives, paper lanterns and lots of slurping sounds, made by greedy diners as they suck the juices from the crayfish before shelling them. The meat goes onto buttered toast with more dill and perhaps a touch of lemon juice, either piled on at random or arranged in perfect alignment by fastidious spirits like Etel, the ambassador’s wife.

As I recall, large quantities of schnapps — vodka and aquavit — were consumed before the revels ended, but nothing like the proverbial “one drink for every claw.” The only time I tried that, I failed to stay the course. I had lots of company.

It all seems far removed from the mainstream Western experience, but that can be misleading. Turning back to the world of architecture and design, consider Eliel Saarinen’s Helsinki train station (1919), with its four forbidding stone guardians, strange and giant figures bearing illuminated globes, straight from Nordic myth.

It led to Saarinen’s entry for the Chicago Tribune Tower competition in 1922, in which he finished second, and that in turn led to his appointment to head the Cranbrook Academy of Art, near Detroit. There he trained a whole generation of quintessentially American designers, including Florence Schust Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Ray and Charles Eames and his own illustrious son, Eero, the creator of such soaring, optimistic structures as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Dulles airport near Washington.

Or consider the silver-skinned Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki’s current favorite, so Finnish in its spirit, glowing at night like a sheet of ice or a piece of glass by Sarpaneva or Wirkkala, yet designed by Steven Holl of New York, previously best known, perhaps, for the jewel-like Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle.

Aalto’s Finlandia Hall, completed in 1971, may be his masterwork — it is certainly one of the few contemporary concert chambers where the acoustics have worked perfectly from the start — and his cube-shaped, glacier-white Enzo-Gutzeit building (1962) forms an invaluable part of the vista across the harbor. His house can be visited. But the defining quality of the man, his sheer humanity, may best be appreciated at the Academic Bookstore, one of the biggest in Europe, with more than 500,000 titles in stock in a half-dozen languages.

The bookstore is tucked into a relatively anonymous office building, yet the observant will notice at once the elegantly sculptural and superbly ergonomic bronze door handles — three on each door, for people of varying heights. Inside, the three-story space, with two balconies, is illuminated by three gigantic prismatic skylights embedded in the ceiling; neither banal nor grandiose, it is a perfect environment, scaled to human proportions, in which to browse.

But then, Helsinki is a feast for the architecture and design buff, with its neo-Classical and Art Nouveau buildings setting the stage for its modern gems. Museums mount exhibitions of the work of favorite sons and daughters, like the fabric designer Maija Isola (1927-2001), who created the colorful Poppy textiles for Marimekko, printed with bold, oversized flowers, beloved in the 1960’s and now back in vogue. The Esplanade, of course, is lined with the seductive boutiques of Marimekko (four of them), Iittala, Arabia and Artek, where you can admire not only Aalto’s familiar bentwood three-legged stools but much more.

The truly keen will be rewarded by exploring the streets north of Senate Square, where dealers like Kaunus Arki and Vanhaa ja Kaunista sell objects from the golden age of Finnish design.

So much for the past. The present is on offer not only along the Esplanade, where designs by the Italian Renzo Piano and the young Finn Stefan Lindfors catch the eye, but also in the design district, with museums, shops and restaurants. At its center is Design Forum Finland, a showcase for the products of newer firms and younger talents, like Tonfisk and Saara Renvall. Clustered nearby are shops like Ivana Helsinki and Limbo and Lux, selling hip, youthful fashion, and many others, like Secco, which deals in products made from recycled tires and other items, plus AERO Design and Ameba Design, specialists in classic furniture.

And both Chez Dominique and Mecca are right around the corner.

VISITOR INFORMATION

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Kamp, Pohjoisesplanadi 29, (358-9) 576-111, www.hotelkamp.fi/en. This is Helsinki’s Crillon or Connaught, built in 1887 and brought lovingly back to life in 1999. Ideally located in the very heart of the city, skillfully managed and opulent in every detail, from its saunas (including a few in luxury suites) to its shopping gallery to its four restaurants. The obvious first choice, if you can afford it. From 280 euros (about $370 at $1.31 to the euro).

Klaus K Hotel, Bulevardi 2, (358-20) 770-4700, www.klauskhotel.com. Finland’s first design hotel is in the new design district, with 137 snug contemporary rooms in shades of white, brown and gold, equipped with the latest electronic toys. Several good restaurants, including Toscanini (Italian) and Ilmatar, where the Ethiopian-born Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit in New York consults. From 115 euros.

WHERE TO EAT

Chez Dominique, which is relocating to Rikhardinkatu 4; (358-9) 612-7393; www.chezdominique.fi.

Mecca, Korkeavuorenkatu 34; (358-9) 1345-6200; www.mecca.fi. Dinner for two with wine, 175 euros.

Bellevue, Rahapajankatu 3; (358-9) 179-560; www.restaurantbellevue.com. Dinner for two with wine, 130 euros.

Savoy, Etelaesplanadi 14; (358-9) 684-4020; www.royalravintolat.com/savoy/index_eng.asp. Dinner for two with wine, 250 euros.

G. W. Sundmans, Etelaranta 16; (358-9) 622-6410; www.royalravintolat.com/sundmans/index_eng.asp. Dinner for two with wine, 250 euros.

George, Kalevankatu 17; (358-9) 647-662; www.george.fi. Dinner for two with wine, 150 euros.

EilleenTwain88

07-19-2006, 5:24am

... And I think it’s funny that the Finnish salesperson made fun of your fat-*** feet and you didn’t get the joke. Or maybe it was just another “lost in translation” moment.
Finns ARE sarcastic by nature... I don't know where that comes from but it is quite common here. And that is rather hard to foreigners to recognise... mostly because the poker-faced impressions we use when saying these "jokes"?

The ham sandwich story was funny too... having this person explaining in detail what she wants... waiter listening or not... undestanding 85% or not... and then thinking that it is easier to bring her a sandwich where she can take stuff off than having her calling the waiter back time after time to bring something MORE (which the waiter didn't understand in the first time). That is like Finnish efficiency to you... heh.

And the story about tolerance of the lazy people at work... maybe the Americans haven't noticed that lazy and incompenent persons won't get any better at their job no matter how many times they are told to be such?!?! Somehow they get lazier and slower every time instead? :funny:

aFinn

07-19-2006, 5:27am

Yet the Finns have a not wholly undeserved reputation as a silent, humorless and melancholy people.Yepyep, we're sad people :sad:

FinnFreak

07-19-2006, 5:54am

Yepyep, we're sad people :sad:

:D - I'm not..!

Helsinki’s Shining Season

:smirk: - ...Helsinki... nåjåå... heh, why not, if one's into "city"-vacations... but it gets boring quickly... it's what's outside Helsinki, they should write about...

...like Vantaa. :p

svt.se

Publikrekord när monstren rockade loss

http://svt.se/content/1/c6/61/54/88/mrlordi_stor.jpg

Finsk monsterrock funkar suveränt som allsång. Det bevisade Lordi tillsammans med den enorma publiken på minst 28 000 personer. En rekorsiffra för i sommar! Sven-Ingvars bjöd på ösiga gitarrer, kvällen till ära uppbackade av Kenny Bräck. Patrik Isaksson bjöd upp till allsång och Miriam Aïda bjöd på skönt sväng. Kvällens överasskningsgäst var komikern Nisti Stêrk.

Vilken artist vill du absolut inte missa i årets Allsång?

Tomas Ledin 5% (463)
Carola 18% (1778)
Håkan Hellström 16% (1602)
Lordi 42% (4140)
Andreas Johnson 5% (529)
Någon annan 14% (1378)

Totalt antal röster: 9890

:shocked: - Jösses..!

...skrattar som helvete...

John - :p

aFinn

07-19-2006, 10:32am

:D - I'm not..!Well... ;)
I guess I am very silent, humorless and melancholy :funny:

it's what's outside Helsinki, they should write about...

...like Vantaa. :pErr, no foreigner should ever see Vantaa :shocked: :p

FinnFreak

07-19-2006, 10:52am

Err, no foreigner should ever see Vantaa :shocked: :p

Korso vs. Jakomäki - there is no contest..?

John - :p

07-19-2006, 11:49am

FinnFreak

07-19-2006, 12:03pm

Enjoyed the personal commentary here very much, John. I can see there's been a lot of good stuff in this thread, much of which I've not had time to read.

Even accidently saw a sizeable entry higher up on this page, about Finns in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan (my state). I've toyed with the idea of moving to such an area in this state with more elbow room and more considerate attitudes. I should go back and read that post about Michigan's U.P. more carefully.

ahaa... so, you would be what the Yoopers (Upper Peninsula residents) call a Troll..? (Lower Peninsula resident)

John - :D

07-19-2006, 12:17pm

Michigan Tech:

Linguist revels in and respects UP dialect

...,
Bergvall is from high plains of central Montana, what she calls “the dusty part” of the state. She has been teaching at Michigan Tech since 1989. Always interested in “what marks our voices as being different,” she has both a master’s and doctorate in linguistics from Harvard University. “I am incompetent in eight languages,” she jests. “I don’t even speak English well.”

Language endemic to Upper Michigan, she says, results from a score of languages spoken by immigrants who arrived during the area’s mining boom. The diversity forged the dialect. Words are telltale, as are other UP regionalisms:

intonation (“the musicality of your voice”)
accent, or the pronunciation of vowels and consonants (“Accents make richness”)
substituting d or t for the th sound (da for the, dis for this, tink for think, tree for three). This characteristic is common to UP Finns, but Bergvall says a lot of languages don’t have what in English is the th sound. She has heard the exact same story depicting this feature of the language (tirdy-tree and a tird) for Finns in the UP, Italians in Brooklyn, and Cajuns in Louisiana.
grammatical structure, such as ending sentences with eh
unique expressions

...,
“You’ve got to love the UP,” she says.

John - :p

These dialects were also commonplace in northern Wisconsin where I grew up in the 1950's.

One day, I was riding home from school in town (first grade), to our farm in the country, with a neighboring farm family. Tony Sczygelski was a classmate of mine, though much bigger, because he'd flunked first grade at least once before. He was talking about something that used the word "third." Well, with the local dialect, that came out sounding like "turd." At first I kind of chuckled, because the substitution of meaning made for a funny context. It was a bit similar to saying he didn't like the "turd" grade because of all the smelly people in that class.

Well, as it turns out, most of the third graders were townfolk, while Tony and I were farmers. So we had lots more experience cleaning out the cow stables, and had residual proof in the scent of some of our clothes and hair.

Ever the honest one, no matter whether others could tolerate it, I felt compelled to speak up and tell Tony that "third" is pronounced with a soft "th." Much to my chagrin, he insisted that no, "third" is pronounced with a hard "th" as in "turd!" Then he got mad, and when I wouldn't cave in, he almost came to blows.

Meanwhile my older brother by 1.5 yrs, sat quietly by, waiting to see if I was going to get pounded, by someone other than him, for my impudent (if accurate) ways.

At the time, I probably had a hunch that Tony's pronunciation was from his family's Polish culture. I thought the official language we were learning in school, plus my own family culture, should hold sway on this point. One thing I overlooked in the fray, was that Tony had already been held back two years
in school, and any challenge to his intelligence, risked a blown fuse in his emotions and perceived need for self defense. Another thing I definitely overlooked, is that I was on his cultural and linguistic turf, not mine. We were in his family's car, his Polish father was driving, and his older sister and maybe another sibling or two were in the front of the car.

07-19-2006, 12:18pm

ahaa... so, you would be what the Yoopers (Upper Peninsula residents) call a Troll..? (Lower Peninsula resident)

John - :D
Really?

You've got one on me there. I had no idea.

I guess it does fit in recent decades though, since the 5 mile long Mackinac suspension bridge connected my lower peninsula with the Upper Peninsula. In the children's story about Trolls, such as Billy Goats Gruff; the trolls were under the bridge. The Mackinac Bridge was built in 1957. Before that, we had to take a railroad car ferry across. Tracy at the STC finds those high bridges, most exciting. Especially the part, where you look down through the open, metal grating under the car tires, and see the water and waves some 150 feet below. She's not the only one, however. The bridge has volunteer drivers at the bridge to help you get your car across if you feel too much stress trying to drive across. Although I'm not a big fan of trolls either, I too, have felt the pressure of the forces below the bridge. One of those forces even blew a Volkswagon Beetle over the railing some years ago in a high wind. The poor lady driver perished. Winds are recorded up to 120 miles per hour at the bridge. But usually the bridge authority closes it to traffic at wind much over 50 mph. That's the reason for the open grating in the center two (of 4) lanes - so the air can go right through, without making a giant sail out of the bridge. A previous bridge of similar construction, but with all solid concrete lanes, started swaying in the wind too much and collapsed. I think that was out in the state of Washington on the US West coast, some years before the Mackinac Bridge was built.

FinnFreak

07-19-2006, 1:16pm

Lexicon - Upper Peninsula (http://www.alumnac.com/lexicon.php?r=1)

John - ;)

07-19-2006, 1:26pm

Lexicon - Upper Peninsula (http://www.alumnac.com/lexicon.php?r=1)

John - ;)
Ah, my interpretive guess was correct.

Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it. May come in handy next time I go thru the U.P. The boat across Lake Michigan stops running in mid October each year. And it's easier to drive thru the U.P. to Wisconsin for November Thanksgiving holiday with relatives, than down around Chicago, so long as there's no snow storms on the northern route. I haven't gone that (northern) way for a dozen yrs or more.

Big Swede

07-20-2006, 11:41am

svt.se

Publikrekord när monstren rockade loss

http://svt.se/content/1/c6/61/54/88/mrlordi_stor.jpg

John - :p

I missed it, will watch the rerun tonight! :p

Troll

07-20-2006, 10:40pm

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

07-27-2006, 2:12am

TV1 27.7.2006 klo 20:00 - 20:30

Satusuomalainen: Kapteeni Pirk

Esittelyssä James B. Pirk, kiukutteleva ja vallanhimoinen avaruusaluksen kapteeni, jonka seikkailut 4 miljoonaa fania eri puolilla maailmaa halusi ladata tietokoneeseensa. Nettielokuvan nimi on esikuvaa Star Trekiä mukaillen Star Wreck. Stereo. Tekstitys Teksti-tv:n s. 333.

John - :D

FinnFreak

07-31-2006, 3:29am

Ilkka - maanantai 31.07.2006

Gary Moore kepitti kitarasankarin elkein

http://www.ilkka.fi/uploaded/image/2006/7/31/print_00427269.jpg

KONSERTTI

Gary Moore Seinäjoen Vauhtiajoissa 29.7. - Tero Hautamäki

Gary Moore on paha setä soittamaan. 54-vuotias kitaristi näytti Vauhtiajoissa olevansa kaukana jäähdyttelijästä. Väittäisin, ettei Moore kepittänyt näin vimmatusti edes viime visiitillään, vuoden 1990 Provinssirockissa.

Puoli yhdeltä aloittanut bändi soitti hyvin yhteen, aina kahteen saakka. Asetelma vain oli liian mustavalkoinen: Moore hallitsi lavaa, jonka oikeaan reunaan oli tiiviisti tungettu rumpali, basisti ja urkuri.

Bändin tehtävä oli säestää maestronsa sooloja eikä improvisoida ylimääräistä. Kävi selväksi, että nyt kuunnellaan Gary Moorea ja vain häntä.

Moorea kyllä kuunteli. Les Paul ja puoliakustinen jazzkeppi saivat soolokierroksilla kovaa kyytiä. Moore on musikaalinen kitaristi ja hyvin sisäistänyt "siniset sävelet".

Bluesperinteitä kunnioittaen Moore osasi nauttia pitkään yhdestäkin äänestä. Toisaalla sooloissa saattoi kuulla kaikuja runsasnuottiselta hevikaudelta. Hetkittäin Moore tunnelmoi myös lyyrisillä jazzsävyillä.

Monia vanhoja bluescovereita soittanut Moore oli parhaimmillaan oman tuotantonsa parissa. Illan kohokohdat olivatkin balladeja. Paras oli Empty Rooms, jonka pitkän version Moore tulkitsi sydänverellään: hän pisti kitaransa itkemään ja kirkumaan kuin vain rakkaudessa pettynyt bluesukko voi.

Maailmanlaajuinen superhitti, Still got the Blues, sen sijaan tuli kuin pakkopullana ja ohimennen tarjoiltuna. Moore soitti lyhyen singleversion eikä innostunut turhia improvisoimaan.

Legendaarisista nuoruusvuosista muistutti Don't Believe a Word. Moore aloitti biisin soololevyltään tuttuna balladina. Puolivälissä hän käänsi särön täysille ja laski bändille tuplatempon: yleisön riemuksi loppuun ajettiin hyvin kulkeneella rockvaihteella tyyliin Thin Lizzy.

Tällaisia nopeita rytmitykityksiä yleisöön olisi uponnut vaikka millä mitalla. Artisti piti kuitenkin blueskonseptistaan kiinni.

Moorea ei yleensä mainita kovien laulajien listalla. Vahvat vokaaliosuudet olivatkin yllätys. Vuodet ovat lisänneet ääneen sielukkuutta, joka pääsi hyvin esiin slovareissa.

Tavanomaiselta näyttävä kaveri piti kaksitoistatuhatta kuulijaansa ihmeellisesti näpeissään, vain soittamalla. Encorea vaadittiin äänekkäästi. Sellaisena kuultiin hieman korni mutta tilanteeseen sopiva ränttätänttä Blues is allright, every day, every night.

Moisiin sanoihin olisi varmaan ollut hauska lopettaa. Moore huudettiin kuitenkin lavalle vielä kerran.

Suosiostaan otettu muusikko rauhoitti tilanteen ja soitti yhden hiteistään, Parisienne Walkwaysin.

Kaunis instrumentaali oli tyylikäs päätös kitarasankarin keikalle.

John - :]

Troll

08-10-2006, 1:36pm

http://hornyoyster.com/?p=410

manmangler

08-10-2006, 2:22pm

http://hornyoyster.com/?p=410

How sweet that you share to us this masterpiece :D

(Universal Truth start) Best song for ever (Universal Truth end) And I mean it.

EilleenTwain88

08-10-2006, 2:29pm

How sweet that you share to us this masterpiece :D
I didn't last 45 secs... :D... :cry:

manmangler

08-10-2006, 2:49pm

Now days youngsters think that theyre tough, but cant watch a music video :D

Silloin ku mie olin nuori piti kattoa kaikkea valittamatta.

FinnFreak

08-22-2006, 6:25am

http://hornyoyster.com/?p=410

:shocked: - Ei perkele, taas tätä. :biglaugh:

heh... haven't had time to check what Phil's been up to lately with his "Finland For Thought" blog... but now I have... :p

Stupid American tourists (http://www.finlandforthought.net)

American tourists always get busted on in Hesari and other Finnish newspapers for asking dumb questions. Now, assuming half those stories aren’t simply fabricated - We Americans love to ask questions and we’re not afraid to ask dumb ones. You’d think the natives would be delighted that others are taking an interest in their country and city, especially a place that’s not a traditional tourist attraction. (”…a poor second to Belgium, when going abroad. Finland, Finland, Finland…”) Maybe Finns would ask stupid questions in foreign places but, they’re too afraid to ask.

Quick - what’s the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? (no cheating) You should know, it’s a nation of 55 million people. What’s that? You don’t have a f**king clue? Yeah well Europeans’ knowledge of continents other than their own are just as good as Americans’ knowledge of continents other than their own.

Knowledge of languages, geography, and foreign cultures is actually looked down upon in the U.S. unless you’re some wealthy left-wing tree-hugging vegetarian. Seriously, going around bragging about your six-month stay in Europe and your French skills will get you beat up, in fact I think there’s a law against it in Wyoming. The word “abroad” is a derogatory term used by men in American English meaning, “a female”.

Here’s a funny story for you: When I arrived back in the states in late May, the customs agent asked me, “What are you doing in Finland?” and I said, “I work there and have a Finnish girlfriend”. She looked confused and asked, “Finnish….um….is that what people from Finland are called?” and I very non-snobishly replied, “Yes, people from Finland are called Finnish.” And she said in her typical-Baltimorian-nasally accent (and I quote), “Oh, I didn’t know that, I’m not very worldly.” …You’re not very “worldly”??? You’re an international customs agent!! You have devoted your life to staring at foreign passports!! You are probably the most “worldly” person I’ve met that year!! Amazing.

The answer to the Congo question above is: Whogivesas**t - and by the time you read this bottom text, the population of the Congo is now at 54.7 million

:uhh: - ...funny, Phil... very funny...

John - ;)

Troll

08-22-2006, 1:56pm

An interesting story John.

FinnFreak

08-23-2006, 3:15am

Helsingin Sanomat - 23.8.2006

Smoke from Russian fires covers Helsinki on Monday afternoon

Environment officials fear toxins from burning landfills and dumps

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221150552.jpeg
Visibility in Helsinki suddenly plummeted on Monday afternoon when winds from
the east again brought smoke from wildfires burning in Russia. Many regarded
Monday's conditions as the worst yet experienced, and calls are growing for a
stiffer political response.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221150247.jpeg
From the roof of the Sanomatalo building it was still possible in mid-afternoon
to make out the outlines of Finlandia Hall, but the Olympic Stadium Tower and
the Opera House were lost in the grey smoke.

Smoke from forest fires burning in Russia drifted into Southern Finland once again on Monday afternoon. In the Helsinki region the air suddenly turned grey and the smell of the smoke was noticeable indoors as well.

The small particle content of the air in Helsinki reached record levels - about 20 times the normal figure.

"The last time that there were readings like this at the monitoring station on Mannerheimintie was during the fire at the railway warehouses", says Maria Myllynen, air quality expert for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council.

The small particle content got back to normal by half past five in the afternoon.

At 3:45 PM the cloud of smoke greatly reduced visibility at sea. Witnesses in boats and ships off Helsinki said that the city disappeared completely into the smoke for a few minutes.

When the smoke was at its thickest, visibility was down to about one kilometre.

The smoke was also seen and felt in the south-east of the country, close to the border.

"The situation was worse compared with a few previous days, and is now about the same as it was just over a week ago", said Harri Majander of the Southeast Finland Environment Centre in Kotka.

Meteorologist Marjo Hippi of the Finnish Meteorological Institute said that the smoke was brought into Finland by air currents coming in from the east and southeast.

"There will probably be smoke in the coming days, because the winds will stay in the same direction. Showers can weaken the smoke somewhat", Hippi notes.

In addition to forest fires, a burning landfill outside Vyborg is contributing to the smoke. According to Markku Haranne, the Director of Provincial Rescue Services at the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland, the dump in question covers about ten square kilometres, and is seen as medium-sized by Finnish standards. Haranne notes that such fires are difficult to put out, especially under the present weather conditions.

Haranne is prepared to send two experts in putting out fires if a request were to come from Russia.

Tapio Lindholm, an expert working for the Finnish Environment Institute, notes that there are many illegal rubbish dumps in the Karelian Isthmus.

"Some of them have certainly caught fire in connection with the forest fires. It is possible for just about anything to be burning there: junk, car batteries, industrial waste", he says.

"It is likely that a large landfill fire will be reflected in Finland in the form of a deviant particle profile."

Folke Rask of the rescue service of East Uusimaa will not speculate on what kinds of toxins may form at the Vyborg landfill.

"There can be toxic waste, and just about anything. I had a start when I heard that a landfill is on fire over there. The wind is blowing from the east, and the smoke comes here quickly."

The largest wildfires in Russia are in the areas of Vyborg, and in Kingisepp on the Russian-Estonian border. Fires have also been reported in the Kaliningrad area.

"Microparticle content is worst in the incomplete combustion phase", says Pentti Partanen of the Ministry of the Interior. He says that the thickness of the smoke is probably linked with efforts to put the fires out.

Finland has repeatedly offered assistance with extinguishing the fires, but Russian authorities have still not seen any need to take up the offers. Monday's greyout seems likely to increase calls for a stiffer response by Finnish political leaders.

John - :uhh:

Troll

08-23-2006, 10:08am

Very interesting.

aFinn

08-23-2006, 10:45am

Smoke from Russian fires covers Helsinki on Monday afternoonIt was really weird. Suddenly I smelled smoke and looked outside and everything was all grey. I looked around to see if there was a fire somewhere, but didn't see anything closeby.
Later learned what it was, and also read that fire department was very busy, as all automatic alarms went wild from the smoke. :uhh:

FinnFreak

08-23-2006, 11:10am

It was really weird. Suddenly I smelled smoke and looked outside and everything was all grey. I looked around to see if there was a fire somewhere, but didn't see anything closeby.
Later learned what it was, and also read that fire department was very busy, as all automatic alarms went wild from the smoke. :uhh:

;) - hmmm...

So, which was more alarming for you:

The fact, that there was smoke everywhere...

or

...the panic, caused by the firemen not answering your calls..?

John - :p

canoilers

08-23-2006, 1:06pm

It was really weird. Suddenly I smelled smoke and looked outside and everything was all grey. I looked around to see if there was a fire somewhere, but didn't see anything closeby.
Later learned what it was, and also read that fire department was very busy, as all automatic alarms went wild from the smoke. :uhh:Thats better than me, I think have brain damage....... well more than usual. I smelt mashed potatoes. :huh:

aFinn

08-23-2006, 1:31pm

So, which was more alarming for you:
The fact, that there was smoke everywhere...
or
...the panic, caused by the firemen not answering your calls..?:biglaugh:

Thats better than me, I think have brain damage....... well more than usual. I smelt mashed potatoes. :huh:But you weren't in Finland at the time, eh? :p

canoilers

08-23-2006, 1:47pm

Oh no I figured maybe since there was a fire you started cooking potatoes, darn its my brain all along, maybe I should take the pencil out of my nose....... yep thats it. Maybe pencils in the nose might not be the brighest thing to do. Oh well back to the pens, I can make my leg twitch when I click it in that sweet spot. :p

Troll

08-23-2006, 4:40pm

canoilers

08-24-2006, 1:56am

I'm what they call "normal"....... wait, maybe that was abnormal.

FinnFreak

08-24-2006, 6:49am

...from www.engrish.com

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/caution-drop-down.jpg

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/milk-chocolat.jpg

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/mobile_phone.jpg

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/sony-terror.jpg
Panasonic would never protect terrorists...

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/banana.jpg

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/beware-of-safety.jpg

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/salon-de-poo.jpg

http://engrish.com/image/engrish/CDCover.jpg

"...She don't rie, she don't rie, she don't rie..."

John - :p

Troll

08-24-2006, 10:11am

Those are funny.

canoilers

08-24-2006, 12:18pm

Yes they are, I laughed. :D

Troll

08-28-2006, 4:02pm

Finn takes gold at mobile phone throwing contest

SAVONLINNA, Finland (Reuters) - Anyone wanting to throw away their mobile phone can do it in style and may even win a medal -- at the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship, Finland's latest contribution to offbeat athleticism.

Originally a local event in this small town close to the Russian border, the seventh annual contest Saturday drew some 100 throwers from as far afield as Canada, Russia and Belgium.

Founder Christine Lund describes the event as a good source of light exercise with an environmentally friendly twist. "There are a lot of mobile phones on the second-hand market, and we are recycling them (before they become toxic waste)," she said.

The inventive Finns had already given the world the Sauna World Championships and the Wife Carrying Competition before coming up with a new way to make mobile phones even more mobile.

This year's gold medal went to Finland's Lassi Etelatalo, who flung a scrapped Nokia unit a forceful 89.00 meters. "I prepared by javelin throwing, I haven't really practiced throwing mobile phones," Etelatalo told Reuters.

In the freestyle event, Dutchman Elie Rugthoven's phone landed outside the designated area, but he still won silver thanks to a phone juggling performance that impressed the judges.

Lund says competitors all have their favorite throwing brand. "People choose by size, by color or by how it fits in the hand ... Some believe a heavy model will ensure a long throw, some want a light one."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060828/od_nm/finland_phones1_dc

FinnFreak

08-29-2006, 1:24am

Ericsson models fly really well. Motorola & Siemens come next. Samsung's mostly plastic, so if the wind is right, it might fly out of the throwing sector.

John - :p

FinnFreak

08-29-2006, 3:30am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - SPORT - Tuesday 29.8.2006

Finns take almost all medals in mobile phone throwing world championships

World record stays in Finnish hands

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221242626.jpeg
Peter Siepen set a Swedish record of 39.37 metres and helped the Swedish
team to victory in the freestyle team event.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221242628.jpeg
Paavo Kolari, 6, won the individual
freestyle event, largely thanks to
an impressive wig.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221242630.jpeg
Eija Laakso is the new mobile phone throwing world champion, with a
women's world record heave of 50.83 metres.

Summer in Finland is the time of year when wives are carried, saunas are endured, and mobile phones are thrown with main force as far as possible. We may have missed the wife-carrying (in Sonkajärvi at the beginning of July), and the sauna endurance world championships (in Heinola earlier this month), but the mobile phone tossers will not be denied.

Unlike the wife-carrying, where Estonians seem to be invincible these days, and sitting in the sauna, where Finnish hegemony has recently been threatened by sweat-meisters from Belarus, the Finns cleaned up in almost every category at Saturday's mobile phone throwing worlds, held in Savonlinna.

The men's traditional event was won by Lasse Etelätalo with a throw of 89.00 metres. In the women's traditional competition Eija Laakso not only secured victory but also set a new Finnish and world record mark of 50.83.

The most international category was the freestyle team competition, where the throwing technique was perhaps less important than originality, style, aesthetics, and convincing the panel of judges.

Victory here went to Team Sweden. The team's Peter Siepen also hurled the mobile nearly 40 metres in the individual men's event, setting a new Swedish record. Even though this distance pales somewhat beside the other throws, it was enough for the national best - mobiles have not previously been thrown in Sweden under strict competition conditions.

This was the seventh holding of the championships, and there were around 70 competitors, hailing from Finland, Sweden, Russia, Holland, Belgium, and Canada. The Dutch and Belgian national champions were also represented, but they did not figure on the podium in Savonlinna.

However much one might have wished at some point to hurl one's own malfunctioning Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, or Samsung, this was not possible in Savonlinna. The organisers provided the official phones, with all kinds of models and brands to choose from.

Perhaps the weekend's happiest winner was 6-year-old Paavo Kolari, who took top honours in the individual freestyle event with his heavy-metal outfit, throwing the mobile with vigour and style despite being hampered by a guitar and a long black wig.

Paavo had charmed spectators a year ago as a phone-throwing Captain Hook, but the 2005 jury had relegated him to the silver medal spot.

Links:

VIIth Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships, Savonlinna (http://www.savonlinnafestivals.com/en_index.htm)

Wife-Carrying World Championships, Sonkajärvi (http://www.sonkajarvi.fi/?deptid=15136)

Sauna World Championships 2006, Heinola (http://www.heinola.fi/FIN/Palvelut/Matkailu/Sauna_world_championships/)

...and like reported in previous years:

The 2006 Air Guitar World Championships, Oulu (http://www.airguitarworldchampionships.com/EN/home.html) ( in September - there's still time to sign up..! ) ;)

"The Purpose of the Air Guitar World Championships is to promote world peace. According to the ideology of the Air Guitar, wars would end and all the bad things would disappear, if all the people in the world played the Air Guitar. This is why the whole universe is invited to play the Air Guitar at the end of the competition."

John - :p

Troll

08-29-2006, 9:09am

Ericsson models fly really well. Motorola & Siemens come next. Samsung's mostly plastic, so if the wind is right, it might fly out of the throwing sector.

John - :p

Thanks for the info.

Big Swede

08-29-2006, 1:50pm

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221242626.jpeg
Peter Siepen set a Swedish record of 39.37 metres and helped the Swedish
team to victory in the freestyle team event.

Victory here went to Team Sweden. The team's Peter Siepen also hurled the mobile nearly 40 metres in the individual men's event, setting a new Swedish record. Even though this distance pales somewhat beside the other throws, it was enough for the national best - mobiles have not previously been thrown in Sweden under strict competition conditions.

Well for the first time in history that freak Peter Siepen did something useful other that annoy the Swedish population with his appearance everywhere. :funny:

Ericsson models fly really well.

See, Ericsson is the best! ;)

FinnFreak

08-30-2006, 2:30am

See, Ericsson is the best! ;)

Yep, I still got one model from them to throw around...

John - :p

FinnFreak

08-30-2006, 5:42am

TCS Daily - 28 Aug 2006

America: More Like Sweden Than You Thought

http://www.tcsdaily.com/images/Library/None/Swedish-US-Flag_edited-1.jpg

By Tim Worstall

One of the joys of my working life is that I get to read papers like "The State of Working America" (http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/swa06_ch08_international.pdf) from the Economic Policy Institute. They are, as you may know, the people who urge that the USA become more like the European countries, most especially the Scandinavian ones. Less income inequality, more leisure time, stronger unions and so on. All good stuff from a particular type of liberal and progressive mindset -- i.e. that society must be managed to produce the outcome that technocrats believe society really desires, rather than an outcome the actual members of society prove they desire by building it.

I will admit that I do find it odd the way that only certain parts of the, say, Swedish, "miracle" are held up as ideas for us to copy. Wouldn't it be interesting if we were urged to adopt some other Swedish policies? Abolish inheritance tax (Sweden doesn't have one), have a pure voucher scheme to pay for the education system (as Sweden does), do not have a national minimum wage (as Sweden does not) and most certainly do not run the health system as a national monolith (as Sweden again does not). But then those policies don't accord with the liberal and progressive ideas in the USA so perhaps their being glossed over is understandable, eh?

As part of their propagandizing, they produce the above cited reports each year. And this time it's being released chapter by chapter in the lead up to Labor Day. I can tell you that policy wonks are breathless with anticipation waiting for each part as it comes out (I myself was most excited to get chapter 8 linked above). For there is the great joy of seeing that what they think they're telling us isn't, in fact, quite what they are telling us.

To start with, they make some adjustments to the usual measures of the income of a nation, the GDP, by adjusting for different price levels. This gives us the so called Purchasing Power Parity numbers (PPP) and the USA is set as being 100 on the scale. Only one of the advanced industrial nations has a greater income per capita, Norway, at 105. Given that Norway gets some 20% of its GDP from pumping oil and gas out from beneath the North Sea and is, thus, almost a petro-state, it would be fair to say that the USA is, in fact, the large country with the highest income per head in the world without depleting its natural capital. Good, so far something we knew already.

We're also told on page 6 that if we look at the average of the countries studied without the USA and compare that to the USA's performance, that income growth rates are higher in the USA. 1.8% to 1.9% in 1989-2000, and 1.1% to 1.3% in 2000-2004. So not only richer but getting even richer faster, as well.

Furthermore:

"The U.S. average from 2000 to 2005 was 1.7%, well above the OECD average of 0.7% in real compensation growth. Four countries fared better than the United States, most notably Norway with 2.3% growth. Note also that Germany had negative real compensation growth from 2000-05."

Things are actually looking pretty good for the US economy, then -- wealthier to start with, getting richer faster and productivity growth is also highest in the USA, meaning that this trend is only likely to continue. Looking at all of that it's really rather difficult to see that there's anything wrong with the way things are being managed (or not).

Ah, but, we can always find something nasty in the woodpile. The US has the most unequal distribution of income of all the countries studied. Using the Gini coefficients (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient) as our measurement in America it was 0.338 in 1989 and 0.368 in 200, while in Finland on the same dates it was 0.210 and 0.247. Perhaps worth noting that this increasing inequality of income distribution is not exclusive to the US though, it appears to be a more international occurrence than that.

Now if the equality of income distribution is something you worry about this is of course a troubling fact. It is what leads to the statement that while the US might be richer, the poor do worse, that in fact the poor in America are worse off than the poor in Europe. Which leads us to this highly informative little picture.

http://www.tcsdaily.com/images/Library/None/082806.bmp

Now given all the adjustments that have been made to the figures this is actually showing us something very interesting indeed. The use of PPP means that we've adjusted for price differences, by using US median income as our measuring stick we've given ourselves a view of the actual incomes, not just the relative incomes, of the poor and the rich in each country.

How we're supposed to read this is that the USA has a very uneven income distribution, that the poorest 10% only get 39% of the median income, that the richest 10% get 210%. Compare and contrast that with the most egalitarian society amongst those studied, Finland, where the rich get 111% and the poor get 38%. Shown this undoubted fact we are therefore to don sackcloth and ashes, promise to do better and tax the heck out of everybody to rectify this appalling situation.

But hang on a minute, that's not quite what is being shown. In the USA the poor get 39% of the US median income and in Finland (and Sweden) the poor get 38% of the US median income. It's not worth quibbling over 1% so let's take it as read that the poor in America have exactly the same standard of living as the poor in Finland (and Sweden). Which is really a rather revealing number don't you think? All those punitive tax rates, all that redistribution, that blessed egalitarianism, the flatter distribution of income, leads to a change in the living standards of the poor of precisely ... nothing.

Such may lead us to a conclusion that the EPI probably wouldn't like:

If we accept (as I do) that we do, indeed, need to have a social safety net, and that we have a duty to provide for those incapable or unlucky enough to be unable to do so for themselves, we need to set some level at which such help is offered. The standard of living of the poor in a redistributionist paradise like Finland (or Sweden) seems a fair enough number to use and the USA provides exactly that. Good, the problem's solved. We've provided -- both through the structure of the economy and the various forms of taxation and benefits precisely what we should be -- an acceptable baseline income for the poor. No further redistribution is necessary and we can carry on with the current tax rates and policies which seem, as this report shows, to be increasing US incomes faster than those in other countries and boosting productivity faster as well.

As I said above I'm sure this isn't quite what the EPI actually wanted to tell us. But there it is, from their own report. Which is why I rather enjoy my working life -- sad case that I am -- because I get to read all those reports that really don't tell us what the authors think they are telling us.

Tim Worstall is a TCS Daily contributor living in Europe.

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=082806E

Interesting, isn't it..?

Though Finland (as the whole of Scandinavia) does offer it’s poorest 10% much nicer schools than America’s 10%, plus Finns get free higher education... and there's a major difference in the neighborhoods... in Finland the environment is much safer, cleaner and more integrated...

John - ;)

Big Swede

08-30-2006, 2:26pm

Though Finland (as the whole of Scandinavia) does offer it’s poorest 10% much nicer schools than America’s 10%, plus Finns get free higher education... and there's a major difference in the neighborhoods... in Finland the environment is much safer, cleaner and more integrated...

John - ;)

It´s the same every time I´ve been out traveling in the world, when I come home I always think: Thank God that I live in Sweden! ;)

aFinn

08-30-2006, 2:29pm

See, Ericsson is the best! ;)Yep, their old models weigh so much they are good to throw :p

FinnFreak

08-31-2006, 4:56am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Thursday 31.8.2006

The right to arm bears?

A moral tale of self-defence and bitten buttocks

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221242703.jpeg
Man meets bear. The bear is usually deceased at this stage.

By Jouni K. Kemppainen

Now you can more or less understand that in the case of the conflicts in the Middle East many people get a trifle confused about who the aggressor is, and who is the victim.

Someone attacks somebody, but that somebody has first shot a somebody, but then again this person who has been shot has previously mistreated the other somebody, who has on an earlier occasion given a whupping to someone, and so on and so on.

So much for the Middle East, but in the case that somebody shoots somebody with a rifle, and the one that has been shot manages to escape and then defends himself or herself against his or her persecutors by biting one of them in the buttocks, you would sort of imagine that there isn't that much in the way of ambiguity or room for confusion: the one with the rifle is the aggressor, and the bum-biter is the victim.

Wrong, apparently.

Last Monday, the late-edition tabloid Iltalehti ran the headline "Bear bites hunter", and the similar journal Ilta-Sanomat declared that "Dog escapes from bear".

When one actually troubled to read these articles, it became clear that on the preceding Sunday morning a group of hunters had shot a bear, wounding it. The bear fled. The hunting-party set off after the wounded female bear, and in the afternoon the escapee managed to bite one of the party in his fleshy nether regions.

Later the bear was despatched for good.

On Tuesday Ilta-Sanomat interviewed the hunter who had had the bear's jaws on his rump, and by Wednesday the deceased bruin had already been given a new monicker in the headline: "Attack-bear".

The piece reported that the two cubs belonging to the shot bear had also received a death sentence.

We were thus informed that the bum-biting animal was in fact a mother bear, who was in the woods with her cubs, born this year.

However, the article did not see fit to mention that shooting such a bear is against the law.

But self-defence is not against the law. And fortunately in this instance, as in nearly all cases, the bear that attacked a human chose as its victim specifically an armed human.

And not one of those untold numbers of innocent unarmed people wandering in the woods.

John - ;)

Troll

08-31-2006, 8:39am

Very interesting.

EilleenTwain88

08-31-2006, 9:24am

However, the article did not see fit to mention that shooting such a bear is against the law.

But self-defence is not against the law. And fortunately in this instance, as in nearly all cases, the bear that attacked a human chose as its victim specifically an armed human.

And not one of those untold numbers of innocent unarmed people wandering in the woods.
Smart bear, eh?

What I DID wonder when reading this story - how an earth was the man situated in the bushes to get ***-bitten??? What position? Lying on his stomach (even then the part should be exceptionally BIG?) or bending down to collect blue berries? Was he showing his bottom to this bear (like women have been instructed to do for ages here in Finland if meeting a bear), and if so did he have his pants up or down?

None of those newspapers gave me the details I was looking for... man! i'm disappppppointed! :eek:

Troll

08-31-2006, 9:56am

Smart bear, eh?

What I DID wonder when reading this story - how an earth was the man situated in the bushes to get ***-bitten??? What position? Lying on his stomach (even then the part should be exceptionally BIG?) or bending down to collect blue berries? Was he showing his bottom to this bear (like women have been instructed to do for ages here in Finland if meeting a bear), and if so did he have his pants up or down?

None of those newspapers gave me the details I was looking for... man! i'm disappppppointed! :eek:

That is a good question.

FinnFreak

09-01-2006, 3:04am

Independent Online, South Africa - August 29, 2006

Sauna is our national symbol, Finns say

Helsinki - The sauna is the national emblem of Finland, Finns said in an opinion poll conducted by a Finnish mint, Rahapaja Moneta, the results of which were released on Tuesday.

A popular pastime, tradition and method of relaxation and socialising, the sauna was chosen as the national symbol by one in five Finns, far ahead of other national icons.

There are some two million private and public saunas in Finland, a country of just 5,2 million inhabitants.

The Finnish national epic Kalevala, a collection of oral poems compiled by Elias Loennrot in 1835, came in second place.

Third place went to Finlandia, the symphony composed by Jean Sibelius and which is widely seen as the country's unofficial national anthem.

The poll surveyed 10 000 people on the internet and was published in the latest edition of the mint's magazine Moneta. The results will be used in future in the printing of collectors coins.

:D

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Friday 1.9.2006

New copyright law has done little to stop illegal downloading of music

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1076153663939.jpeg
Composer Tuomas Kallio has looked into the new copyright law's impact on the
attitudes of Internet users. Illegal downloading of music from file sharing
networks has remained virtually the same.

A new law on copyrights, which came into effect in Finland at the beginning of the year, has done little to cut down illegal downloading of music. Only just over ten per cent of respondents to a fresh survey published on Wednesday reported that they had reduced illegal downloading from file sharing networks. About one out of twenty said they had stopped using the peer-to-peer networks altogether.

According to composer Tuomas Kallio's Masters degree dissertation, the amendment to the copyright law is well known, and it has had a certain effect on the activities of the respondents. Nevertheless, this effect hardly qualifies as a major change in attitudes.

"At this stage, the use of file sharing networks is more common than downloading from legal sources", Kallio analyses the results of his study. "Half of the respondents announced they used peer-to-peer networks, and that is a lot."

Executive director Antti Kotilainen of the Anti-Piracy Centre in Finland, CIAPC, admits that illegal downloading from the Internet continues to be a problem.

"The problem is substantial. There are around 150,000 active users of peer-to-peer networks in Finland."

Kotilainen believes the new law will have long-term effects, though. One of its strong points is that it defines the terms for legal trading over the Internet. At the moment, there are 16 legal music dealers in Finland operating through the Net, and also films are gradually finding their way to online sales.

Kallio's study confirms that digital music retailing over the Internet has not yet established itself as a major form of music consumption in Finland.

"Currently, the problem is that the illegal products are identical to the genuine article", Kallio explains. "Some sort of additional bonus is needed to attract consumers to download their music from legal sources."

"There are still certain difficulties pertaining to the use of downloaded files. If the hard-drive crashes, a person may lose all of his files. Furthermore, the transfer of files from one operating system to another is also not without its hitches."

Links:

Copyright Information and Anti-piracy Centre in Finland (http://www.antipiracy.fi/inenglish/)

John - :)

Troll

09-05-2006, 9:38pm

Squirrel in spokes floors cycling opera singer
Finnish baritone knocked down, out; rodent hopes for Valhalla

HELSINKI, Finland - A squirrel scampered into the bicycle wheel of an unlucky Finnish opera singer, causing him to fall, knock himself out and break his nose just ahead of the world premiere of a new opera.

Esa Ruuttunen was pedaling his way to the Helsinki Opera House last month when the squirrel ran into his spokes.

The baritone ended up with a concussion and in a local hospital, rather than at his rehearsals for the Finnish opera “Kaarmeen hetki” (“Hour of the Serpent”), which opens Sept. 15.

He is not yet singing in rehearsals, but thinks he will be able to perform at the world premiere," Finnish National Opera spokeswoman Heidi Almi told Reuters.

The squirrel died in the accident.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14684662

FinnFreak

09-06-2006, 5:13am

The squirrel died in the accident.

awww... :sad:

I saw a headline yesterday, about a squirrel being in an accident... but as Finnish surnames are typically derived from nature: descriptions of places, plants... even animals... I really thought Orava (squirrel in Finnish) was a real person, whose name I just didn't recognize... (every animal we have in Finland, is used as a surname)

I had a lengthy conversation about this with Richard (shadowdancer) on the bus to Timmins... he was quite interested in finding out the meaning of Tracy's last name (Hautanen)... and Marika's... ;)

...and now, something completely different:

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 6.9.2006

British professor takes on Finnish national myths

Professor David Kirby says Finnish is an easy language, and women are eager to prepare coffee

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221278586.jpeg
Professor David Kirby feels at home when he
is in Finland. "Even Turku is nice, although a
drunk in that city once suspected that I had
killed [Swedish Prime Minister] Olof Palme,
because I was ‘foreign and suspicious-looking'".

By Annamari Sipilä in London

Professor David Kirby speaks excellent Finnish.

Best not to praise him much, though, and it's certainly not a good idea to wonder how a Brit has managed to master such a difficult language.

"Finnish is fairly easy. The grammar has clear rules. It is much more difficult to learn Swedish", Kirby confides.

Kirby feels that the emphasis that Finns put on the difficulty of their language is typical for a small nation. There is a need to find something unique in the nation's existence and history to distinguish it from the others.

Kirby knows what he is talking about. Before he retired from University College London, Professor Kirby was a researcher in Finnish history.

His first contact with Finland was in the early 1960s as an English teacher.

Kirby's recent book, A Concise History of Finland, is anything but the brief presentation that the name might suggest.

"Finnish history has been quite fascinating", Kirby says. He refers to the historical proximity of the great crises - the Civil War, and the Winter and Continuation Wars - as well as the interaction with the large neighbour.

However, Kirby will not sign on to the favourite beliefs that Finns have of themselves. For instance, he does not see Finnish women as particularly emancipated.

"Finnish women rarely take part in discussions as equal partners with men - not even in academia. Women have voluntarily taken on the role of preparing the coffee."

Finns also lack the desire to lead.

Kirby recalls how [former Social Democratic politician and Prime Minister] Kalevi Sorsa said in the early 1970s how he would have wanted to give up his work as Prime Minister and go back to study. The present Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, has also expressed public unhappiness at having ended up in his position.

In Kirby's view, only former President Urho Kekkonen and SDP politician Väinö Tanner have had the real fire of leadership inside them.

This general reticence in the face of leadership positions may have been a blessing for Finland. Cautious leadership makes it easier to avoid making the wrong moves.

"Finland seems to have always made the right decisions, although the Finnish Civil War might perhaps have been avoided", Kirby says.

The Finnish style of politics lacks an aggressive nationalism. Even the longing for the ceded areas of Karelia exists only on the emotional level.

However, Kirby believes that it will be a very long time before Finns will be able to have a normal attitude toward the Russians. This is partly due to history, and partly to Russia's present instability.

"Finns have a tendency to exaggerate perils linked with Russia, such as crime and AIDS", Kirby claims.

Kirby learned his practical Finnish on a hay field in the Savo region, on the farm of the family of his Finnish wife at the time.

He had actually met his wife earlier, on an English farm; his future spouse had travelled to Britain to learn the language.

"Finland still feels like home. It is most enjoyable to talk with Finnish friends over coffee."

However, Kirby maintains that he has yet to learn to understand "the Finnish soul".

The lack of small talk in Finland was difficult to get used to. Finns also take offence at the strangest things.

Finland, and especially Helsinki, has changed a great deal in the past 40 years.

Kirby's first impression of the Finnish capital was that of a grey city. The corpulent waitresses of large restaurants maintained strict discipline: "They were probably a distinct species of female."

In a park a drunk threatened to beat Kirby because the British visitor had the audacity to sit on his bench.

"Now everything is different. Of course Finland has its problems, but what country doesn't?"

Kirby summarises the story of Finland and the plot of his book in a single sentence: "It is the story of a small European country which becomes a success story in spite of its difficulties."

:funny:

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME

"Beware of the demon drink"

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135219798884.jpeg
The strong spirit Koskenkorva is a Finnish favourite.
Would there be room on a half-litre bottle for a warning label?

This causerie appeared shortly after calls by the Minister of Social Services, Liisa Hyssälä, to require health warning labels on containers of alcoholic beverages. This commentary by Toinen Mies appeared in Helsingin Sanomat last week.

They want to start putting alcoholic beverages in bigger bottles. And why? - So that all of the warning stickers will fit on them.

Do Finns drink too much because they are unaware of the harm caused by alcohol? - No, they do it because they want to forget all of the other harmful things out there.

Even without the stickers, every Finn knows that alcohol destroys the brain. - But if that's the case, why do they keep Einstein's brain preserved in alcohol?

Do you believe in temperance education? - Yes, I do. - So why are you against warning labels on bottles? - In this case, temperance education has been left a bit late.

Do you think that warning labels are completely useless? - Nobody reads them. I wouldn't put them on the side of a bottle. - Where then? - Inside the bottle.

It is touching that the government is taking such good care of us. - Naturally. The alcohol tax brings a nice sum of money into state coffers. - What does that have to do with warning labels? - Well, you can't say the government didn't warn you.

Can alcohol be used correctly? - Yes, for the external treatment of wounds.

What will they warn us about next? - Warning labels may be hazardous to your mental health.

:biglaugh: - !!!

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO

Are You Being Served (in Swedish, that is)?

Helsingin Sanomat tested whether Swedish-speakers really can get service in bilingual Helsinki

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221363124.jpeg
Lavdim Osmani serves customers in the Sampo Bank in Finnish and English.
He has not studied Swedish.

By Johanna Tikkanen

"You study Finland? Det är halv pris", replies the Finnish Railways counter-clerk at the main railway station in Helsinki when asked in Swedish for the cost of a student ticket to Hämeenlinna.

The VR official is a delightful Helsinki customer service representative, in that he throws his full linguistic skills into the ring and does not reply to the Swedish enquiry in Finnish. With a bit of an effort and some stumbles, he gives the ticket price, the departure time, and the platform number, all in Swedish.

According to a questionnaire study carried out by Åbo Akademi in the spring, the majority of those Swedish-speakers living in the Greater Helsinki area don't even bother trying to get service in their mother-tongue, because more often than not the replies come back in Finnish.

Let's put this to the test and take a tour around the city, seeing how one gets served in the minority language in this officially bilingual city.

We'll start with the post office. I tell the clerk that I have moved a couple of months ago (it is the truth, actually), and I would like my mail to be automatically redirected to my new address.

The post office worker listens fluently, but then asks if I speak Finnish. I do, and the business gets dealt with in Finnish.

Then it is off to a branch of the Sampo Bank. The same situation here. I order a new ATM card in Finnish.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221363128.jpeg
Despite the Swedish on the sign, at the lost property office in Helsinki's Kaarti
Police Station it was Finnish or nothing.

Things can go wrong and emergencies can come up in Swedish just as well as in Finnish, so the police ought to be bilingual. I go and ask if the set of keys I lost has been handed in to the lost property office at the Kaarti Police Station.

"I don't speak Swedish", says the official brusquely.

No surrender. There is a reception desk in the lobby, with two sympathetic-looking gents behind it. I ask if anyone here speaks Swedish.

"Jag pratar lite, men han är bättre" [I speak a bit, but he's better at it] claims Reijo Björklund modestly, and points to Juha-Matti Vesanto, who says - in very fluent Swedish - that his Swedish isn't very fluent.

Björklund explains that he seldom needs to use Swedish at work because very few demand to be served in the other national language.

It would be worthwhile demanding. It turns out that Björklund has experience of speaking in the language: his sister is a Swedish-speaker with no Finnish, his wife speaks Swedish after having been evacuated over the water as a child during the war, and the officer himself has only recently been brushing up his language skills at evening classes.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221363126.jpeg
Riitta Nurmi reports that Swedish-speakers visiting the Kallio public library try
to get hold of a Swedish-speaking librarian. Service worked perfectly in both languages.

Next stop is the health centre in Kallio. At the appointments desk I report (in Swedish) that I am suffering from recurring strange stomach pains, and that the normal painkillers don't seem to be working.

The person behind the counter does not understand, but is also not fazed. She says "födelsedag" and pushes a pen and a piece of paper in my direction. I duly write down my date of birth.

It soon transpires that I am at the wrong health centre. The clerk sends me in the right direction in a curious mixture of Finnish words and Swedish. Before I go, she asks me to write down on the paper what it is that is wrong with me. I put down that I am suffering from irregular sharp stomach pains, and I ask how long it normally takes to get an appointment.

The receptionist's language skills end here. She calls up a Swedish-speaking colleague, who arrives in a couple of minutes, asks my business and asks me to wait.

I get the details of the correct health centre and I call reception to book an appointment with a GP. I am put through to a Swedish service number. Everything gets done smoothly enough, though it would all have gone a sight faster in Finnish.

I still need some medicine. At the pharmacy in Punavuori the Swedish-speaker has no trouble getting served, as all the staff speak the language.

Next I go to Helsinki City Transport, where I seek - and get - information in Swedish on season-tickets.

After that it is across the road to the local office of the Social Insurance Institution (KELA).

I tell them in Swedish that I have received too much by way of student grant payments, and should I... The clerk gestures me to stop and goes to fetch a colleague who understands.

Finally, I head for the Kallio Public Library, where I receive flawless service in Swedish. I am brought exactly the volume I expected to get, a rather dry history opus in Swedish.

The most determined Swedish-speaker I encountered on the entire circuit, however, was rather predictably someone on point-duty in the square next to the railway station who wanted something from ME - an Amnesty International activist who would like me to sign up and pay my subscription.

He is prepared to stretch his language skills to the limit for a score.

:p

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE

Finnish is not really such a difficult language

Experts say myth of overwhelming difficulty of Finnish lacks scientific basis

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221339994.jpeg
Finnish language lessons for immigrants always start from the basics.
Here students learning the language are constructing sentences.

By Irma Stenbäck

It is time to break the myth that Finnish is a difficult language. Apologies to the Finnish nation, but your mother-tongue is not that tricky - not even for the Chinese.

British Professor David Kirby said in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat [see article above] that Finnish is fairly easy to learn, and that the rules of grammar are quite clear. Kirby, who has a good command of Finnish, feels that learning Swedish is much more difficult than Finnish.

Historian Kirby believes that the Finns' notion of the difficulty of their language stems from the desire of the Finns, as a small nation, to emphasise how their language differs from others.

Heikki Paunonen, Professor of Finnish, and a winner of the Tieto Finlandia Prize for non-fiction for his dictionary on Helsinki slang, offers a different reason for the perception of Finnish as an extraordinarily difficult language.

His explanation is a cultural one.

"The myth of Finnish as a difficult language is linked with the birth of a Finnish-language intelligentsia in the late 19th century. According to the ideas of J.V. Snellman, many Swedish, German, and even Russian-speaking families switched over to Finnish as the language to be spoken in the home."

Paunonen says that changing the home language also meant that many who spoke a different language had to learn Finnish with the help of grammar books and dictionaries.

Finnish author Arvid Järnefelt has described in one of his books the difficulties that his mother Elisabeth had in studying Finnish. Paunonen says that the myth of the difficulty of the Finnish language stems from this period, in around the 1920s.

The strength of the myth is reflected in Paunonen's view in his own memories from going to school in the 1950s, when he could imagine nothing more boring than lessons in Finnish sentence analysis.

"If you compare Finnish with other languages around the world, linguists will dismiss the myth out of hand. For instance, Chinese, with all of its characters, is genuinely difficult for a foreigner, as are the structures of pronunciation in Portuguese."

Sanni Heinzmann, who teaches Finnish for foreigners at the University of Helsinki, also wants to dispense with the notion of the great difficulty of Finnish.

She suspects that ordinary Finns on the street do not want to believe the facts of their own mother-tongue.

"Here at the university we do not nurture the myth of the awesome difficulty of Finnish. The Finnish language is not especially hard for foreigners - not even for Chinese. The myth might stem from the fact that studying Finnish might seem to be painstaking for foreigners at first, because it is part of a different language group", Heinzmann says.

Finnish, which is part of the Finno-Ugric family of languages, differs considerably from the Indo-European languages - the Germanic, Romance, and Slavic languages.

As a language teacher, Heinzmann describes a beginners' Finnish class as a pyramid. Once a foreigner learns the structures of the language and the foundations of its grammar, the rest is much easier. This differs from English, which is a pyramid standing on its tip, in which the basic skills are easy to master, after which studying the language to a higher level becomes considerably more difficult.

"Finnish is a logical and systematic language. Finnish has no articles, no irregular verbs, and no grammatical gender, as Swedish and German do."

Heinzmann feels that the Finnish vocabulary differs from those of Indo-European languages in a positive way.

When a student learns the basic word kirja , it is easy to derive words such as [B]kirjasto [library] or kirjain [letter, character] from it.

Elementary Finnish classes at the University of Helsinki have students from different parts of the world - including China, India, Africa, and South America. Heinzmann argues that the student's first language does not matter, as she uses the direct method and gives all of her instruction in Finnish - from the very beginning.

"The differing structure of Finnish always sparks amusement among foreigners. After the initial awkwardness, the students sigh with delight about how wonderfully systematic a language Finnish is."

So, there you have it - no reason NOT to learn Finnish.

Start today.

John - :p

Troll

09-06-2006, 8:58am

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

09-07-2006, 7:39am

...and here's a great opportunity for the Finns to broaden their musical horizons...

...by checking out one of my favorite lyricists & performers, who will be visiting us for the 3rd time:

Live at Tavastia Klubi (http://www.tavastiaklubi.fi/tavastia.php), Helsinki

To 28.9. klo 21-02 Fish (UK): Return To Childhood 22 € K-18

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/RTC.jpg

The 20th anniversary tour of Misplaced Childhood comes to Finland

Songs performed:

Big Wedge - Moving Targets - Brother 52 - Goldfish and Clowns - Raingods Dancing
Wake Up Call (Make it Happen) - Innocent Party - Long Cold Day - Credo

Misplaced Childhood

Pseudo Silk Kimono - Kayleigh - Lavender - Bitter Suite [ (i) Brief Encounter - (ii) Lost Weekend - (iii) Blue Angel ]
Heart of Lothian [ (i) Wide Boy - (ii) Curtain Call ] - Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) - Lords of the Backstage
Blind Curve [ (i) Vocal Under a Bloodlight - (ii) Passing Strangers - (iii) Mylo - (iv) Perimeter Walk - (v) Threshold ]
Childhoods End? - White Feather

Incommunicado - Market Square Heroes - Fugazi

...and a few other surprises... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Fishpic1.jpg

Derek William Dick, better known as Fish (born 25 April 1958 in Dalkeith, Midlothian), is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyric writer and occasional actor. After a patchy career as a gardener and forestry worker, he came to public attention in 1981 with the British group Marillion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marillion), which he left in 1988. It is widely believed that the name Fish arose from his drinking habits, however, according to Fish himself, the name originates from the amount of time he spent reading in the bath.

He is sometimes compared with Peter Gabriel (Genesis). He has a vaguely similar voice (not outstanding in terms of technical competence, but interesting, with a sinister edge). Both singers spent six or seven years with a prominent British progressive rock group, wearing full make-up and costume on stage, then left the group to pursue a solo career. In both cases, many fans of the groups consider the period in which the singer was present to represent a golden age in the group's history. One difference is that Gabriel has achieved greater critical and commercial success as a solo performer. Another comparison is Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator).

Perhaps Fish's greatest talent lies in his lyric writing. His introspective lyrics, often dealing with his own personal problems and addictions, can in some cases stand on their own merit as poetry, without music. Many of his later works contain lengthy spoken word passages with the music simply acting as background. Shorter examples of such passages can be found in his Marillion works.

"...was that love in your eye I saw or the reflection of mine..?" - Cinderella Search, 1984

http://www.the-company.com

John - :]

EilleenTwain88

09-07-2006, 10:06am

... he was quite interested in finding out the meaning of Tracy's last name (Hautanen)... and Marika's... ;)
A Little Grave and A Place with Heads, right??
This causerie appeared shortly after calls by the Minister of Social Services, Liisa Hyssälä, to require health warning labels on containers of alcoholic beverages. This commentary by Toinen Mies appeared in Helsingin Sanomat last week.
Oliko se sama juttu jossa kehotettiin laittamaan Jallu-pullon kylkeen varoitus "Yksi pullo Jallua neljään mieheen on yhtä tyhjän kanssa?"

FinnFreak

09-08-2006, 2:04am

A Little Grave and A Place with Heads, right??

:funny: - heh... not the exact phrases I used, but you know you're right... ;)

Oliko se sama juttu jossa kehotettiin laittamaan Jallu-pullon kylkeen varoitus "Yksi pullo Jallua neljään mieheen on yhtä tyhjän kanssa?"

Enpä nähäny sitä.

Mutta oottako kuullu sen jutun pohojalaasmiähestä joka meni Alakoon... silloon kunnei viälä ollu näitä ittepalavelumyymälöötä...

Noo, kaveri käveli tiskillen tuiman näköösenä ja tilas: "jallupullo!"

Myyjä kyselemään tarkennusta notta: "minkä tähären?"

Johon äijä tiuskaasi: "no ku vituttaa!"

Sorry. Can't be translated. It wouldn't be funny in English.

John - :p

aFinn

09-08-2006, 8:37am

:funny: - heh... not the exact phrases I usedHmm... what did you use then? :huh:

'Nomen est omen'?

:Noo, kaveri käveli tiskillen tuiman näköösenä ja tilas: "jallupullo!"
Myyjä kyselemään tarkennusta notta: "minkä tähären?"
Johon äijä tiuskaasi: "no ku vituttaa!":funny: :funny:

EilleenTwain88

09-08-2006, 1:02pm

'Nomen est omen'?
:hmmm: :really:
In Tracy's case it is true, but in that case we all could be called Hautanen ?!? Some of us will just need a bigger grave than others, I guess? :confused: :dunno:

aFinn

09-08-2006, 5:11pm

:funny: I actually meant me, ...short and 'latva' :funny:

EilleenTwain88

09-09-2006, 3:31am

:funny: I actually meant me, ...short and 'latva' :funny:
Yes? Well I sort of guessed that, but couldn't resist to tease you when noticing the funny connection with Tracy's name.

aFinn

09-09-2006, 7:00am

EilleenTwain88

09-09-2006, 7:56am

Tease away :p

Another Timmins connection and a Finnish name would be Will Saari (saari=island). I once spoke with him about his family name and he said it used to be Saarinen (if I remember correctly..) but they dropped the end from it to make it easier for Canadians to pronounce. Looking at the troubles people have spelling Hautanen, I can see why. But I also understand that their family did not shorten it :funny:
I have family friends in Canada whose name is Kärki. They changed it to Karki and when they are all together they are Karkis (Car-keys). Another Finnish family there (I know) is called Hyhkö... just imagine that pronounced by Canadians :shocked: !!?

My name (Outi) was pronounced in so many ways that usually in the crowd (or doctor's appointment and such) I soon learned that when nobody else responded, I stood up! Best way to teach people to say it even close was tell them that it is like two letters OT together. Like ET... (THAT I call a co-incidence ;) )?!?

aFinn

09-09-2006, 4:11pm

Karkis (Car-keys).
...Hyhkö...:biglaugh:

My name (Outi) .. pronounced OT together.Haha, I noticed a few times when introducing myself that people didn't have a clue...I then proceeded to say my name like an English would say it and I would see the light of understanding lit in their eyes :p

FinnFreak

09-12-2006, 9:13am

STT - 12.9.2006

Israel's report on death of Finnish officer to be submitted Thursday

The Finnish prime minister's office told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on Tuesday that Israel had said it would submit on Thursday its report on the death of a Finnish UN observer in southern Lebanon.

The report is to be handed to the Finnish embassy in Tel Aviv, the office added.

Lieutenant-Commander Jarno Mäkinen and three other UN observers died when Israeli jets attacked their observation post in Khiam on 25 July.

* * *

Finnish peacekeepers fired at in Afghanistan

Six Finnish peacekeepers were fired at in Afghanistan on Tuesday, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (centre) said at a news conference in Parliament on Tuesday.

The prime minister added that none of the Finnish soldiers was killed or wounded.

The incident happened in Balkh province near the Uzbekistan borer in the north of the country, where the Finns had been patrolling together with Swedish peacekeepers and local police.

The peacekeepers were not ambushed and the Finns did not open fire, Mr Vanhanen said.

About 100 Finnish peacekeepers currently serve in Afghanistan.

:shocked: - YIKES

The Guardian - Tuesday September 12, 2006

Finland's secret weapon

http://www.interet-general.info/IMG/matti-vanhanen-1.jpg
Matti Vanhanen, the Prime Minister of Finland

by Gwladys Fouché

'Let me introduce you to the sexiest man in Finland." With these words, the French president Jacques Chirac guided the Spanish leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero into a top-level international summit this weekend. The object of his remark was not a rock or sport star, not the lead singer of Eurovision winners Lordi, nor racing driver Kimi Raikkonen. It was Finland's 50-year-old prime minister, Matti Vanhanen. And Chirac was not lying.

He may dress like a bureaucrat - he wears boring two-piece suits, severe rectangular glasses and the straightest haircut in Christendom - but Vanhanen is a Finnish sex bomb. Voted the sexiest man of 2005 by readers of the women's weekly Eeva, his love life is a subject of speculation in the press. But Bill Clinton he ain't. "Our readers saw him as calm, safe, basic," says an editor at Eeva. "He's an ordinary Finnish man and that's something that is attractive to Finnish women."

It really seems that if you want to score in the land of Nokia and saunas, you have to be a regular Joe (or Jari). Despite rumours that he was dating a former Miss Finland - now, coincidentally, a member of his cabinet as culture minister - Vanhanen has always denied an affair.

Everything that is said about Vanhanen is that he is a safe, boring guy. "Vanhanen is honest and he takes his work seriously. People in Finland respect that a lot," says a journalist at a national daily. "Personally, he's not to my taste, but I guess attraction is in the eye of the beholder." Another writer, meanwhile, speaks more warmly (though off the record - Finland is a small place): "He's tall. He has dimples on his cheeks when he laughs. And I guess power makes men very sexy," she says.

A father of two, Vanhanen was divorced from his wife last year and is now going out with a single mother he met at Ikea. Apparently, Susan Kuronen was struggling to get a heavy item off a shelf, until the gentlemanly premier flew to her rescue. They appeared together for the first time this summer at a fair in a small rural town. In many ways, it seems, Vanhanen is living proof that it is always the quiet ones who get the girls.

Which brings us back to Chirac. Speculation suggests that he made his flattering observation in an attempt to make up for his past gaffes against the Finns. Last year, he said Finland had the worst food in the world and, just last week, he was reported as describing the Finnish foreign minister as incompetent (a comment Chirac's office denied). This week, when not describing Vanhanen as a stud, Chirac has been busy kissing the hand of the Finnish president, Tarja Halonen. But given the Finns' propensity for the down-to-earth, it seems unlikely to get him anywhere. "Finns don't like flashy personalities," says one of the journalists. "Chirac would never be successful here".

Helsingin Sanomat

President Chirac denies denigrating remarks towards Minister Tuomioja

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/pieni_webkuva/1135221554058.jpeg

French President Jacques Chirac commented for the first time on Monday on the allegations made by the French weekly L'Express last week.

According to Thursday's L'Express, Chirac had questioned the abilities of Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, saying that he is incompetent and "a zero", especially with respect to his handling of the crisis in Lebanon.

"The office of the French President immediately and categorically denied the alleged comments, giving this information without delay also to the Finnish government, including both the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister", said Chirac at a press conference shortly after the closing ceremony of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Monday.

"Hence there is no reason to say any more about this", Chirac added.

However, Chirac did go on to report his view of the cooperation with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen relating to the handling of the Lebanon crisis.

Chirac said that he has spoken several times with Finland's Prime Minister on the phone regarding the handling of the Lebanon crisis. "The relations between France and Finland are particularly good", he concluded.

The main purpose of the press conference was to give an account to the French media of Chirac's views regarding the ASEM summit.

As the representatives of the Finnish media were allowed only one question, there was no chance to hear Chirac's comments on the quality of the food served during the summit. However, the delegations of both France and Italy (now under new management) took along several books on Finnish cuisine from the site of the meeting.

John - :p

FinnFreak

09-12-2006, 9:58am

Iltalehti - 12.09.2006

Welcome back!

Royal visitors in Vaasa this week to celebrate the city's 400 years of history

http://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/ruotsinkuningaspari_vi.jpg
Tomorrow Sweden's King Carl Gustaf XVI and Queen Silvia
are to visit the city of Vaasa on it's 400th birthday

Sweden's royal couple will be in Vaasa on Wednesday and Thursday, the first time for a Swedish king to visit us in 200 years. The residents have been very patient. :p

Vaasa, or Vasa in Swedish, (Wasa in Latin), is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden. It is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 57,266 (2005), and is part of the administrative province of Western Finland and the regional capital of Ostrobothnia.

The city is bilingual with 71,5% of the population speaking Finnish as their first language and 24,9% speaking Swedish. The city is an important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.

The mainly wooden and densely built town was almost utterly destroyed in 1852.

The new town of Nikolainkaupunki (Nikolaistad in Swedish, after late Tsar Nicholas I) rose in 1862 about seven kilometres to the northwest from the old town. The town's coastal location offered good conditions for seafaring. The town plan was planned by Carl Axel Setterberg in the Empire style. In the master plan the disastrous consequences of the fire were considered. Main streets in the new town were five broad avenues which divided the town into sections. Each block was divided by alleys.

The town was promptly renamed Vaasa after the Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in 1917.

During the Finnish Civil War, Vaasa was the capital of Finland from January 29 to May 3, 1918. As a consequence of the occupation of central places and arresting of politicians in Helsinki the Senate decided to move the senators to Vaasa, where the White Guards that supported the Senate had a strong position and the contacts to the west were good.

The Senate of Finland began its work in Vaasa on February 1, 1918 and it had four members. The Senate held its sessions in the Town Hall. To express its gratitude to the town the senate gave Vaasa the right to add the cross of freedom, independent Finland's oldest mark of honour designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, to its coat of arms. Because of its role in the civil war Vaasa became known as 'The White City'.

http://wwwold.kuntaliitto.fi/ftp/vaakuna/vaakunat/Vaasa.jpg

www.vaasa.fi

John - ;)

FinnFreak

09-13-2006, 3:54am

Seems that the city has now got the webcams fixed.

Glimpses of King Carl Gustaf XVI and Queen Silvia of Sweden can be seen with the Vaasa Market Square webcam later today (1630 local time):

http://webcamera3.vaasa.fi:82/view/index.shtml

...another one to view the traffic:

http://www1.vaasa.fi/webcam/webcam2.html

John - ;)

aFinn

09-13-2006, 9:24am

'Let me introduce you to the sexiest man in Finland." With these words, the French president Jacques Chirac...:funny:

...Looks like M Chirac has something against Finns, snippy comments all the time :dunno:

FinnFreak

09-13-2006, 9:56am

:funny:

...Looks like M Chirac has something against Finns, snippy comments all the time :dunno:

...he's just jealous, because Finland's Minister of Culture is Tanja Saarela (http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Ministerioe_ja_hallinnonala/kulttuuriministeri/?lang=en)...

...and France has: Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaud_Donnedieu_de_Vabres)...

:uhh:

I'd be a bit upset too..!

John - :p

FinnFreak

09-14-2006, 4:27am

Here are some photographs from the royal visit:

The King and Queen of Sweden flew from Stockholm & these are their first glimpses of Vaasa...

...approaching over sea, they would first see the islands of Vaskiluoto, Hietasaari and then, the actual town centre...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/s02-16Vaasa.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/vaasailmak.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/vaasailmak2.jpg

...and soon the airport below...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/VaasaInternationalAirport.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_22.jpg

...where children carrying small flags of Finland & Sweden are to greet the royals...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_23.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_25.jpg

http://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/juttukunkkump_vi.jpg

...then, our visitors are rushed into town to a formal meeting at the court house, where crowds have been gathering all day...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_18.jpg

http://www.pohjalainen.fi/uploaded/image/2006/9/13/kaupunk.gif

http://www.pohjalainen.fi/uploaded/image/2006/9/13/kaupunk2_0.gif

To the crowds delight, the royal couple is driven to the market square, in the oldest taxi in Finland: a REO from 1909...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/REO1909.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_09.jpg

There was about 8000 people packed into the market square of the 400-year-old city of Vaasa to welcome the King and Queen of Sweden.

http://pohjalainen.fi/uploaded/image/2006/9/14/print_00527600.jpg

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221626381.jpeg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_32.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_31.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Vaasa400_03.jpg

http://www.pohjalainen.fi/uploaded/image/2006/9/13/kaupunk3.gif

To celebrate Vaasa's Quad Centennial, the crowd outside the town hall are greeted from the main balcony by the President's husband Dr Arajärvi, President Tarja Halonen, King Carl Gustaf XVI, Queen Silvia and the Mayor of Vaasa, Markku Lumio...

http://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/5116874_vi.jpg

Food, glorious food...

http://www.ilkka.fi/uploaded/image/2006/9/14/print_00486079.jpg

...more to follow, as the visit goes into day 2...

John - ;)

FinnFreak

09-14-2006, 6:05am

For now, more pictures from this link:

http://vaasa.moblog.fi/view.aspx?lang=2&cat=293

John - ;)

FinnFreak

09-14-2006, 7:45am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - FOREIGN - Thursday 14.9.2006

Thousands of Vaasa residents gather to welcome King and Queen of Sweden

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221622841.jpeg
The museum Reo from 1909 with its somewhat skimpy backseat served as a
ride for the royal visitors. "Hold on to your hat, dear." King Carl XVI Gustaf
looked a trifle concerned before climbing into the veteran car, which required
two turns of the crank before it started. However, once in motion, the elderly
vehicle purred along, giving the royal bodyguards a decent run for their money
as they struggled to keep up.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221622843.jpeg
You may be the King and Queen
of Sweden, but I am the Princess
of Vaasa!"

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135221622845.jpeg
Balconies along Rantakatu made excellent
box seats for admiring the royal procession.

According to a police estimate, up to 8,000 people gathered in the Vaasa market square on Wednesday, in hopes of catching a glimpse of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, the high profile guests visiting Vaasa as part of the city's celebrations on its 400th anniversary.

A large throng of people also lined the avenue known as Hovioikeudenpuistikko, along which the royal couple cruised in a classic open-top vehicle.

"People were applauding, good-humoured, and well-behaved. Nobody went into hysterics", reported Inspector Markku Mäntymaa of the Vaasa police.

Even a quiet demonstration was seen in the market square, at least by two or three people standing next to the waving well-wishers. Slogans such as "More power to the King" and "More Aristocracy, more Honesty" decorated a couple of A4 sheets of paper. For the benefit of the royal visitors, one of the slogans had been scribbled in Swedish.

In between the Swedish national anthem and the speeches, the King also managed to declare opened Vaasa's new car-free centre with its pedestrian concourses.

A classic open-topped Reo from 1909 served as the choice of ride for the royal visitors. Fortunately the weather was fine, and even the Queen's wide-brimmed hat stayed on during the changing of locations.

"What if the engine breaks down?" someone asked in the crowd. "Well, there's plenty of us to give it a push", was a quick answer.

Before their appearance in the market square, the royal couple acquainted themselves with the Vaasa Court of Appeal, established by King Gustaf III of Sweden (1746-1792), and attended a guided tour of the city.

A gala dinner at the City Hall concluded the evening. Before that the sympathetic visitors joined the President of the Republic Tarja Halonen and her husband Pentti Arajärvi to wave at the cheering crowd from the City Hall balcony.

The dinner guest-list of 150 consisted of ambassadors, professors, local clergy, and city leaders.

Today, Thursday, the royal couple will familiarise themselves with university life in Vaasa, the Swedish-language media, and the Ostrobothnian Museum. The King will also visit the Wärtsilä shipyard, while the Queen makes an appearance at the Mussori special school.

The Swedish royals' visit to Vaasa will be concluded in the afternoon.

John - :)

FinnFreak

09-14-2006, 8:49am

H.M. Konungens tal vid Jubileumsmiddag
i Vasa Stadshus den 13 september 2006

Republikens President,

Herr Ordförande,

Mina damer och herrar,

Efter en intensiv och intressant dag i Vasa är det en stor glädje för mig att få framföra Drottningens och mitt innerliga tack för det varma mottagande vi har fått och för denna strålande jubileumsbankett.

Vi har haft många tillfällen att uppleva de särskilda band som knyter Finland och Sverige samman. Vår långa gemensamma historia är i högsta grad levande på ömse sidor om Bottenhavet; vi känner inte enbart den geografiska närheten utan också den, som bygger på, i stora delar, samma kulturarv och likartade värderingar.

Det är klart att vi då har lättare att tala, att umgås och att samarbeta med varandra. Samtidigt får vi inte glömma bort att vårda vår gemenskap. Idag finns det så många andra kanaler och intressen som pockar på uppmärksamhet. Relationerna mellan Finland och Sverige är inte längre en självklarhet för många i de yngre generationerna på samma sätt som i min egen och mina föräldrars – för att inte tala om ännu längre tillbaka i tiden.

Men Finland och Sverige har mycket att ge varandra både nu och i framtiden. Vi känner båda ansvar för vår Östersjö, vi har likartade ståndpunkter i många grundläggande frågor inom FN och andra internationella organisationer och vi är båda medlemmar av EU.

En kväll som denna känns sådana tankar angelägna att framföra. Här i Finlands Österbotten lever det svenska arvet vidare. Drottningen och jag är glada och tacksamma över förmånen att få deltaga i jubileumsfirandet, som markerar Vasas grundande för 400 år sedan. Detta uppskattar vi alldeles särskilt.

Men vi har båda kunnat konstatera att Vasa inte enbart vilar på sina lagrar utan drivs framåt i en positiv utveckling. Här finns övertygande framtidstro och många dynamiska samhällsmedborgare.

Vi vill framföra Sveriges och våra egna varmaste lyckönskningar i samband med det 400-årsjubileum som Vasa idag högtidlighåller.

Solen har inte alltid lyst över staden på samma sätt som den gör idag. Hårda tider har drabbat också denna landsända och i mitten av 1800-talet förstördes staden av en våldsam eldsvåda.

Men staden reste sig ur askan och med sedvanlig finländsk ’sisu’ återuppbyggdes den. Vasa är idag en modern stad med internationell flygplats, färjeförbindelser till Sverige, flera företagsparker, universitet och högskolor, ett rikt kulturutbud och moderna idrottsfaciliteter.

En fantastisk natur kompletterar stadsbilden och dess omgivningar på ett harmoniskt sätt och gör Vasa till en inbjudande plats inte enbart för sina 57 000 invånare utan för alla besökare.

Dit hör idag Drottningen och jag. Vi vill, som sagt, tacka för dagens och för kvällens stora gästfrihet. Morgondagen bjuder på nya spännande äventyr. Därför vill vi tacka för oss och önska Vasa och dess invånare all lycka och framgång under kommande år.

Tack och lycka till!

H.M. Kuninkaan puhe Juhlaillallisella Vaasan kaupungintalossa
13. syyskuuta 2006

Tasavallan Presidentti,

Herra Puheenjohtaja,

Hyvät naiset ja herrat,

Vaasassa vietetyn intensiivisen ja mielenkiintoisen päivän jälkeen minulla on suuri ilo esittää Kuningattaren ja minun sydämelliset kiitoksemme saamastamme lämpimästä vastaanotosta ja tästä loistavasta juhla-ateriasta.

Meillä on ollut monta tilaisuutta saada kokea ne erityiset siteet, jotka yhdistävät Suomea ja Ruotsia. Pitkä yhteinen historiamme on erittäin elävä Pohjanlahden molemmin puolin; emme tunne ainoastaan maantieteellistä, vaan myös hyvin pitkälle samaan kulttuuriperintöön ja samankaltaisiin arvoihin pohjautuvaa läheisyyttä.

On selvää, että näin ollen puhuminen, kanssakäyminen ja yhteistyö toistemme kanssa on sujuvampaa. Samalla meidän on kuitenkin muistettava vaalia yhteenkuuluvuuttamme. Tänä päivänä on paljon muita kanavia ja intressejä, jotka vaativat huomiota. Suomen ja Ruotsin väliset suhteet eivät enää ole itsestäänselvyys monelle nuoremman sukupolven edustajalle samalla tavalla kuin minulle ja vanhemmilleni – puhumattakaan vielä kaukaisemmista ajoista.

Mutta Suomella ja Ruotsilla on paljon annettavaa toisilleen nyt ja tulevaisuudessa. Tunnemme molemmat vastuuta Itämerestä, meillä on samankaltaisia kannanottoja monessa olennaisessa asiassa YK:ssa ja muissa kansainvälisissä järjestöissä, ja olemme molemmat EU:n jäseniä.

Tällaisena iltana näiden ajatusten esille tuominen tuntuu tärkeältä. Täällä Suomen Pohjanmaalla Ruotsin perinne elää edelleen. Kuningatar ja minä olemme iloisia ja kiitollisia saadessamme osallistua Vaasan perustamisen 400-vuotisjuhlallisuuksien viettoon. Tätä arvostamme erityisesti.

Mutta olemme molemmat voineet todeta, ettei Vaasa lepää laakereillaan vaan sitä viedään eteenpäin positiivisen kehityksen merkeissä. Täältä löytyy vakuuttavaa tulevaisuudenuskoa ja dynaamisia yhteiskunnan jäseniä.

Haluamme Ruotsin sekä omasta puolestamme esittää lämpimimmät onnittelumme 400-vuotisjuhlien johdosta, joita tänään juhlitaan Vaasassa.

Aurinko ei ole aina paistanut kaupungin yllä samalla tavalla kuin tänään. Kovat ajat ovat koetelleet myös tätä maanosaa ja 1800-luvun puolivälissä kaupunki tuhoutui suuren tulipalon seurauksena.

Mutta kaupunki nousi tuhkasta ja perinteisellä suomalaisella sisulla se rakennettiin uudestaan. Vaasa on tänä päivänä moderni kaupunki, jossa on kansainvälinen lentokenttä, laivayhteys Ruotsiin, useita yrityspuistoja, yliopisto ja korkeakouluja, monipuolinen kulttuuritarjonta ja nykyaikaiset urheilutilat.

Kaupunkikuvaa täydentää suurenmoinen luonto, joka tasapainottaa ympäristöä ja tekee Vaasasta houkuttelevan paikan - ei ainoastaan sen 57 000 asukkaalleen - vaan myös kaikille kävijöille.

Näihin Kuningatar ja minä myös tänään lukeudumme. Haluamme vielä kerran kiittää tämän päivän ja illan suuresta vieraanvaraisuudesta. Huominen tuo tullessaan uusia jännittäviä seikkailuja. Täten haluamme kiittää omasta puolestamme sekä toivottaa Vaasan kaupungille ja sen asukkaille onnea ja menestystä tulevina vuosina.

Kiitos ja kaikkea hyvää!

John - :)