FINLAND for FOREIGNERS: an OUTSIDER'S VIEW

An aerial view from Eagle's Rock towards Juniper Ridge, Ferry Island, Helsinki, Finland

GLAMOUR-GIRL GOVERNMENT:  Prime Minster, SANNA MARIN has the looks of an A-list movie-star and brains to boot. When she and her four young female ministers came to power, Covid 19  was dumped in their laps. They got it under control better than most other countries. Today life isn't exactly normal, but Finland's caseload is low - at this writing, 22 new cases per 100,00.  Sanna delighted most Finns when she did a sexy glamour shoot for TRENDI magazine. All except the stuffy right-wing wags, who went berserk. 

Sanna Marin / TRENDI / Credit: Jonas Lundqvist/A-Lehdet Oy

FINLAND has two main official  LANGUAGES: FINNISH (SUOMI) and SWEDISH (SVENSKA). SAAMI is spoken in Lapland. When I told my husband I was stuck when I want to take a taxi home because I couldn't say the name of our street, He took a bunch of white copy paper and wrote the word  - one syllable on each page: KA-TA-JA-HAR-JUN-TIE.  And taped them to the wall. I practiced for a couple of days. Got into a taxi and said, "Minna haluaisin KATJAHARIJINTIA" (sic.). The driver looked around and said,  "Oh, you want to go to Juniper Ridge Road". I thought, why the hell am I learning this language.  But ended up in an excellent FINNISH for FOREIGNERS. class. Suomi is a FENNO-UGRIC language spoken by three countries: Finland, Estonia, Karelia (part of Russia). Its roots are 7,000 to 10,000 years old.

SVENSKA: approx. 230,00 natives are Swedish Speaking Finns*.  Finland has  Swedish TV,  radio, and newspapers.

ENGLISH: Finnish kids start learning English when they're seven. Little margie productions for the Finnish Broadcasting Co (YLE) are in English. YLE has English speaking news on the radio. Bookstores have big collections in English, as well as newspapers and magazines. So do newsstands. Most Finns, especially in the cities,  speak English. Tourists love to visit because it's so easy to navigate. TV programs and movies are shown in the original version, with subtitles Finnish and Swedish,

PUBL/PRIVATE:  A man I met in L.A. when he heard I lived in Finland said,
"you've got socialized healthcare".  Finland has Universal HC, but you've got a choice. Go to your local Healthcare center., take a number and wait to see a doctor. You'll get excellent care and it's free. Or call one of the private clinics and make an appointment. They are not over-the-moon expensive. For serious health problems, for example, a body-part transplant you have to go public (e.g. MEILAHTI - the university hospital). AAVA and  EIRA are good private options.

*A large part of FINLAND  was part of Sweden for approx. 750 year. In the early 19th C Sweden ceded it to Russia and it was a Russian Duchy. Finland declared independence in 1917.

Next week: TRUMPTY-DUMPTY had a GREAT FALL


Note:  I really like our current government - especially after the previous one, which attempted to run the country as if it was a company. That is NOT a good idea.

Finnish is spoken in mainly just in Finland - Estonians speak Estonian, which is close to Finnish, but not the same. We share many words, but the differences are large enough that when visiting Estonia, i revert to English rather than try to decipher Estonian.

I was about to correct the claim that Finns start learning English at 7 years old - when i was at school, we didn't strat English until 3rd grade. But starting 2020, on other words this year, the first foreign language indeed starts in the first grade, and for most Finns, it's English (it's an individual choice, other languages are available too).

CU

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Eki

The FIG: better than FUCK, more power than the FINGER

Figs. Image by RitaE from Pixabay

A friend in St. Louis, Mo sent me a message: Fed up. Would like to give everyone the FIG. I shot back: What the hell is the FIG? She filled me in. It's an ancient Roman obscene hand gesture. It got its name, MANO FICO, from the vulva (fica). You put your thumb between your index and middle finger and make a fist. BINGO. You`'re in business. 

I called Eki. Finally caught him - he didn't know what The FIG was. I taught him. Same thing with the Shark. And all the rest of my pals. Sharon sent lots of info. Raphael, in his Sistine chapel Madonna painting, one angel gives the other the Fig.  Can't verify this, but it's fun to speculate that they represent Michelangelo and Raphael.

With so much off-kilter and uncertain these days, we have plenty of reasons to use obscenities. Was surprised to see a German government commercial that shows an old woman wearing a face mask. She looks straight at the camera and gives the finger. The Fig would have had more punch. But obscenities can lose their power. Keep them for when if you don't do something, you'll split your gut.

Sources: Sharon Pettus, Symbol dictionary, net

Next week: FINLAND for FOREIGNERS: an outsider's VIEW 

Note: I have nothing smart to add to this topic, so i won't ;-)

CU

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Eki

EKI & his MOM go GEOCACHING

A geocache location in Espoo, in midst of an urban area.

When I asked Eki if he was getting exercise, he said he'd been GEOCACHING with his Mom, Liisa. They've been playing this game for a long time – Liisa has almost 1000 found its and Eki has a bit over 200.

When he first told me about GC, I was in Colorado. I searched online and found one about a block from my house, in a winery. Last Sunday they found their finds on a bridge rail and in a hard-to-get-to place on a rocky hill. They were out about two and hours and found three canisters, signed their names and the date. Eki said it was a good day.

Hard to pin down exact info about GC. But when I checked on the net found hide and seek game got started around 2000. There are caches in 193 countries, 641 million found. Its and about 950,000 players. 

It was first called Geostashing, but the organizers thought this name had a bad connotation. So they changed it to the French word 'cacher' – to hide. There are variations on the game. For ex, OPENCACHING and WAYMARKING. 

Liisa and Eki play the original. Helsinki is the perfect place to play. Surrounded by water, there are terrific unspoiled places to walk and to search for the canisters. If you're hot to hike and like games, GEOCACHING might get you hooked. Get out your cell phones. Find the coordinates and get moving. Good hunting. 

 Sources: Eki, the net 

 Next week: The FIG: worse than FUCK and better than the FINGER

Note: We try to go out Geocaching once a week, depending on the weather etc. Actually will go out today, again. It's supposed to be fun, so we do not go out in bad weather, or if tired, or too busy. Today it's beautiful fall weather outside, a great day for geocaching.

I don't really think of it as a game, but rather a great excuse to get out, to places i would never visit otherwise, and of course to spend some quality time with my mom. Finding the caches is a bonus, not a must.

The caches themselves come in many forms - some are simple, just a small container with a pen and some paper placed under a rock or something, in the coordinates described in the cache manifest. In these cases, the location is often the main thing. The caches are usually put in places worth a visit, be it a hidden pocket of nature within a city, or some culturally interesting landmark. 

Some caches are more clever and satisfying as puzzles. Disguising the cache is part of the charm, both for the one creating the cache and the ones trying to uncover it. A vent in the wall that looks different from the others, a sign on an electric box that does not belong there, a tree stump with the top sawn off to make a lid, an extra bolt in the bridge rail (pictured, with a small paper scroll inside)...

After doing this a while, one develops an eye for irregularities. The Geo-eye, as we tend to call it.

CU

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Eki

WAKE UP AMERICA; We've Been Invaded by MONSTERS

A monster in the wild
dfsym / Pixabay

COVID 19, with Trump at the helm, is cataclysmic and comic. His pandemic briefings are a grotesque reality show. He put infectious disease experts, like Dr. Anthony Faucci, out to pasture, told us to inject household bleach, insert a blue light to kill the virus, take medicines not recommended, blames China... He dumped the World Health Organization wrecked the Us Center for Disease Control, and threw in the towel."It will disappear like magic." "Take off your masks." "It is what it is."

What it is, is Over 190,000 dead, over 6,000,000,000 cases, with 4% of the world's population, 22 % of the world's victims. It's time to lower the lifeboats. Or send for the marines. The LINCOLN PROJECT, a Republican, anti-Trump group, posted WAKE UP.  Watch it. Trump may turn out to be a worse threat than the virus

The election is November 3. Be ready for trouble, The ECONOMIST reported that the Supreme Court might have the final vote – four liberals, five conservatives. Will the collision of Covid 19 / Black Lives Matters protesters/agitators - some killers/Trump/the election from hell make US fall off the cliff. Stay turned.

PS: Just out. Rage, Bob Woodward's new book, has transcripts of Trump saying that he knew in January that COVID19 was dealy.



Sources:  Economist, Washington Post, New YorkTimes, CNN

Next week: ELECTRONIC GADGETS:  Everything Your HEART DESIREs


Note: Well, not much to add here. Carry on and keep calm.

CU
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Eki

SPACEWHALE Grows Up: EKI, ERA, TEEMU make a BOLD MOVE

North Empire shoots Feat.fi News.

The rent was higher than their last studio, but the space was fantastic  -  200 square meters divided into two rooms. I imagine the three guys said, ’What the hell, let’s go for it.’ The green screen and their musical instruments are in one room and they built three office cubicles in the other. They’ve rented out two. Eki says something has been going on every week. Around 12 years ago they were in the same building, one room, in the basement. Then moved to a bigger space on Vattuniemenkatu (Raspberry Cape St.) Now they’re back in Lauttasaarentie (Ferry Island Dr.) on the 2nd floor instead of the basement, two doors from the canteen.

Greenscreen with a fresh coat of Rosco Chroma paint.

Love working with Eki on a video at the studio. It’s like invading a ‘guy’ place. A comfortable hangout.  Erkki and I  basically sit in front of a screen for about eight hours. When he needs a break, he bangs on his drums. We’ve worked o projects for about 25  years and he’s taught me a lot. Mostly to shut up when he’s concentrating. And I’ve learned that when something is rendering, nothing happens. Haven’t seen the new studio, but I know the three guys worked hard to get it in shape. I remember that they had a lot of stuff to move, plus they built the cubicles. I’ll be in Helsinki in October. And get my first look. 

The play area.

When we’re working on a project eating is important. When the studio was in the basement, we used to go to a small cafe where the owner made delicious fried strumming. But in the winter it meant going out. Now we can just walk down the hall. It seems a bit crazy to me. But when I first met Eki he was a 25-year-old long-haired hippy. Now he, Era and Teemu are businessmen. Jeezus. Eki thought I was some loony American who wanted to make videos. He was right. Now I’ll get to go to three guys’ upscale new digs and work on another. That’s going to be fun.

Sources: Eki, personal experience

Next week: WAKE UP AMERICA: We've Been Invaded by a MONSTER

Note: I'll keep this brief as I'm in a rush right now (sorry for the delay in publishing this, Maggy!!).

We're really happy with how the new place has turned out. The building is in good shape - the reason we left it 12 years ago was that they renovated it completely, tearing everything down to the concrete and rebuilding the interiors. It still feels like a new(ish) building.

It may look like a business, but it's a non-profit one. Literally. A nonprofit association to be more exact. We're happy just to have this amazing place for us and others to play in (in both senses of the word), we do not need to make money from it.

The place is pretty expensive, but luckily we cooperate with a few companies on an ongoing basis: Liveo, North Empire, and Pinesker all pay a fixed rent for the use of the facility every month, and the three make up for the bulk of our costs. We just need to rent out a few days each month to break even.

I'd have a ton more to say about SW5 studio, but I need to run. Gotta work for my bread you know ;-)

CU

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Eki

LIAR, LIAR, your pants are on FIRE: the FACT CHECKERS have got your NUMBER

Pinocchio.
Original photo by By Gage Skidmore
commons.wikimedia.org

Since he took office (Jan 2017) Trump has told 20,000 whoppers. His off the cuff, whatever comes out of his mouth, gets a lot of attention. The boss* of the Washington Post Fact checker team wrote a book that tells all: Donald Trump's Assault on Truth: Misleading Claims, False Statements, and Flat out LIES. 60% of his statements were awarded PINOCCHIOS - around 1000 total. How apt to use the long-nose, lying anti-hero - T and P go together like bread and butter.

Fans and foes are so used to Trump' s lying they often give it a pass - 'Just Trump being Trump'. Not the Washington Post the Fact-checkers. But T's mind-numbing blah-blah sometimes has consequences. When he promoted 'injecting disinfections ' (Clorox for one) as a possible cure Coronavirus, some idiots took him at his word. Now that he's behind in the polls (12% on Fox) his lies and exaggerations have escalated. It ain't pretty. Like watching a whale blimp lose altitude before it crashes.

Some high-ranking Republicans have advised him to claim that he created the strongest US economy ever (not true). Then quit the stage and  'fade away'.** Leave the scene before he cracks under the weight of almost four years as LIAR -in-CHIEF.

* Glen Kessler
** Like his hero, Gen. Douglas McArthur

factcheckingt@washpost.com: I sent a message asking how may Pinochios Trump  earned. Received a quick reply form Glen Kessler.

Sources: Washington Post, internet, cable news

Next week: HELSINKI SUMMER 2020

Note:

Not much to add here, the populist right-wing is still on the rise globally too, and our little birdland here in Finland is no exception. The first victim is the facts. Like Pinocchio would say, "sad".

Remember to vote.

CU
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Eki

NEVER TRUMP REPUBLICANS go to WAR

On 5 May, at 12;46 in the morning, Trump went on a twitter rampage. What set him on fire was the viral video made by Republicans; 'MOURNING in AMERICA*'. A  black-hole mirror-image of Ronald Reagan's famous, sunny 1984, MORNING in AMERICA.  The Never Trump Republicans  LINCOLN PROJECT  hit their target – Trump's shattered ego. The video scooped in 2 million from 25,000 donors.



Another group of Never Trump Republicans launched: REPUBLICAN VOTERS AGAINST TRUMP: a third-generation Republican opens with, 'I'd rather vote for a tuna sandwich' and then gets serious, why he can't vote for Trump in 2020. It packs a punch because it's up close and personal. With 10 million in their war chest there will be more Voters Against Trump videos. True. These Republican attacks are like shooting bee-bees at his huge re-election machine, but if they switch just a few votes in the battleground states** Trump would lose the electoral college vote.

More Rep T-bashing videos are in the works. The Never Trumps dead serious about defeating Trump. It's a shot in the arm to know there are Republicans ready to fight for the Republic. Joe Biden is not a first-rate candidate. But he's a decent guy, who knows the ropes and can attract the best people to work with him.  Members of the Lincoln Project came out and endorsed Biden. They know four more years of TRUMP and there might not be a REPUBLIC.***




*RICH MITCH:  The video shows how the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell got rich as a Senator from Kentucky, While the state he represents is at the bottom end of the US for health care, job opportunities and education.

**Battleground states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, No. Carolina

***When Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790) was asked after a session of the Constitutional Convention, "What kind of a government have you given us?" he replied, "A democracy, if you can keep it."

Sources: Washington Post, internet

Next week: LIAR, LIAR, your pants are on FIRE.  FACT CHECKERS have got your NUMBER



Note:

Well, not much to add to this. I just hope the good people of the U.S.A. are wiser in the coming elections than they were in 2016.

CU
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Eki