The most refreshing news of the week was to hear that old champion Janne Ahonen does a comeback. Ski jump may not be a sport known to everyone around the world, but here in the Nordic and Central European countries it's very popular. Also North-America and Japan has had skillful jumpers. During each turn of the year they compete in Germany and Austria, which is an especially respected contest. Janne has won it 5 times - like no other has done so far.
Janne is already a legend, only to be outrun by another flying Finn, Matti Nykänen - a true legend in many ways per se. He's only 31, so it's not too late to come back for Janne. I believe he could still achieve something worth adding to his CV. I'm even confident about it.
Michael Jordan made a comeback after a break. So did Muhammad Ali several times actually. Even Swedish icon, Peter Forsberg, keeps doing it, although I'm not sure if he's ever retired yet - just been injured. I don't hesitate to admit that Foppa is probably the best ice-hockey player ever, but from Finland's perspective I'd rather not see him wearing a 'tre kronor' shirt ever again. The same applies to Mats Sundin, LOL!
To me, Mr. Ahonen is a world class athlete (in Sweden, it has to be 'världsklass'; otherwise it's nothing), like the names above. On the other hand, I respect people who make a decision to quit and never come back. But if someone has hunger for success left and the body is fit to it, why not do it? And, this is just my speculation, he might be a good 'father figure' for other members of our ski jump team, especially for a promising Harri Olli.
The Finland Syndrome of Mr. 47
Is this 'Chinese democracy' in Finland? The prime minister Matti Vanhanen came up with an idea of changing the retiring age to 65 when he was skiing in Lapland. Just like our beloved former president Kekkonen who ruled Finland for 26 years. Those were the days of democracy, LOL!
Yesterday the infamous 'Lex Nokia' (which I also blogged about earlier) was accepted by the parliament: 96 pro and 56 against. Some people claim that Nokia was putting pressure on politicians although Nokia leaders deny it (how else?).
What strikes me bad, is the fact that as many as 47 members of the parliament were absent in voting. That many people had something better to do at the moment. Cheese, we have elected ALL of them to do their job. And, if those 47 were actually against the new law change but were afraid to drop by and vote against the will of the group decision in their party, they are real cowards. Hats off to two courageous members who did so. As we can calculate, the sum of 56 and 47 would have been enough to annul the Lex Nokia.
What makes me mad, is the fact that those 47 opportunists can later bark at both directions. If the law proves out to be succesful in retrospect, they can claim to have supported it all along. Then again, if it turns out to be a catastrophe, they can say they didn't like it in the first place. Man, I'm getting more and more sick and tired of politics, day by day!
Yesterday the infamous 'Lex Nokia' (which I also blogged about earlier) was accepted by the parliament: 96 pro and 56 against. Some people claim that Nokia was putting pressure on politicians although Nokia leaders deny it (how else?).
What strikes me bad, is the fact that as many as 47 members of the parliament were absent in voting. That many people had something better to do at the moment. Cheese, we have elected ALL of them to do their job. And, if those 47 were actually against the new law change but were afraid to drop by and vote against the will of the group decision in their party, they are real cowards. Hats off to two courageous members who did so. As we can calculate, the sum of 56 and 47 would have been enough to annul the Lex Nokia.
What makes me mad, is the fact that those 47 opportunists can later bark at both directions. If the law proves out to be succesful in retrospect, they can claim to have supported it all along. Then again, if it turns out to be a catastrophe, they can say they didn't like it in the first place. Man, I'm getting more and more sick and tired of politics, day by day!
Hell = kitchen?
Here's a joke I invented on my way to work. Enjoy and be warned:
Client: Can I have some ham, please?
GR: There's no fucking ham here.
Client: But... this is England and there is ham in every restaurant here.
GR: Hey, bloke, up yours! This is a bistro, not a fucking ham palace!
Client: Can I have some ham, please?
GR: There's no fucking ham here.
Client: But... this is England and there is ham in every restaurant here.
GR: Hey, bloke, up yours! This is a bistro, not a fucking ham palace!
Karma is as Karma does
Last Sunday was full of different television shows which I wouldn't even notice if I weren't married. Here's a brief introduction.
We got a new Miss Finland (Miss Suomi). She's Essi Pöysti and she looks good. Good enough to walk in the streets of Stockholm. Even in Östermalm. Personally I don't like that skinny women. They claim that it's fashionable for women to show their ribs. I strongly disagree. The whole show was basically waste of time. They said that this time women are more daring than ever, but actually they showed less than usual. And the people got to select Miss Finland for the first time. I'd rather remove this competition than Eurovision song contest. If I had to choose, that is.
Funny thing happened when the brand new Miss reported that "let's see how long my boyfriend stays with me". Talk about frank talk! Usually they promise that nothing will change their love towards their boy friends. And every time they will break up during one year. At least she's not shy about it, LOL!
Then we got a winner in a choir contest, Kuorosota ('Choir war'). I saw some similar ads in Sweden before I left there. Swedes got to it first once again. The group from Lappajärvi won deservedly. They had a heavy rock theme on all the time. There is a slogan in Finland: "Hevillä ei hävitä" which means 'we won't lose easily' AND 'you can't lose with heavy rock'. A double entendre that has been in heavy (pun intented) use lately. There was a lot of discussion about the choirs' pre-recorded performances, which kind of takes away the point of the contest. No wonder the band was never shown: it wasn't there at all! No need to 'lip sync' their playing this time.
Another funny thing happened. In the choir contest final we heard, among others, You shook me all night long by AC/DC. By coincidence, the same song was heard in Miss Finland contest. All over and over again in both shows, almost all night long, LOL!
And the last but usually the least: 'Tanssii tähtien kanssa' ('Dancing with the stars'; in Sweden it's called 'Let's dance'). The 4th season started with reminiscing. The show has bad karma in Finland. In the first season, an actress lost her son during the competition. In second, a famous singer (Kirka) died in days before the show was to begin. This year a former Miss Finland lost her dad and today it was reported in the news that another actress has lost her husband, Åke Lindman - a real old-class actor and director, soccer player and worthy of any respect a man can get. It's a strange coincidence, which may affect future seasons and the contenders' desire to accept the invitation. No-one claims to be superstitious but still... It starts to be a shitty job for the hosts to show a happy face in the show!
We got a new Miss Finland (Miss Suomi). She's Essi Pöysti and she looks good. Good enough to walk in the streets of Stockholm. Even in Östermalm. Personally I don't like that skinny women. They claim that it's fashionable for women to show their ribs. I strongly disagree. The whole show was basically waste of time. They said that this time women are more daring than ever, but actually they showed less than usual. And the people got to select Miss Finland for the first time. I'd rather remove this competition than Eurovision song contest. If I had to choose, that is.
Funny thing happened when the brand new Miss reported that "let's see how long my boyfriend stays with me". Talk about frank talk! Usually they promise that nothing will change their love towards their boy friends. And every time they will break up during one year. At least she's not shy about it, LOL!
Then we got a winner in a choir contest, Kuorosota ('Choir war'). I saw some similar ads in Sweden before I left there. Swedes got to it first once again. The group from Lappajärvi won deservedly. They had a heavy rock theme on all the time. There is a slogan in Finland: "Hevillä ei hävitä" which means 'we won't lose easily' AND 'you can't lose with heavy rock'. A double entendre that has been in heavy (pun intented) use lately. There was a lot of discussion about the choirs' pre-recorded performances, which kind of takes away the point of the contest. No wonder the band was never shown: it wasn't there at all! No need to 'lip sync' their playing this time.
Another funny thing happened. In the choir contest final we heard, among others, You shook me all night long by AC/DC. By coincidence, the same song was heard in Miss Finland contest. All over and over again in both shows, almost all night long, LOL!
And the last but usually the least: 'Tanssii tähtien kanssa' ('Dancing with the stars'; in Sweden it's called 'Let's dance'). The 4th season started with reminiscing. The show has bad karma in Finland. In the first season, an actress lost her son during the competition. In second, a famous singer (Kirka) died in days before the show was to begin. This year a former Miss Finland lost her dad and today it was reported in the news that another actress has lost her husband, Åke Lindman - a real old-class actor and director, soccer player and worthy of any respect a man can get. It's a strange coincidence, which may affect future seasons and the contenders' desire to accept the invitation. No-one claims to be superstitious but still... It starts to be a shitty job for the hosts to show a happy face in the show!
Times they are a-hardenin'
We are in recession in Finland, officially. That's how we call it (taantuma), although the term depression (lama) might be more appropriate. It may be so that the word 'lama' is still too painful for us to use; in the early 90's it was bad depression in Finland and we survived it with scars. Nokia's huge growth in the world helped some. However, they say that this time it'll be deeper and longer - and I think that people are not ready to accept it.
Last Autumn when the American banks went bankrupt, Finnish experts and politicians in particular said that we are prepared for this. We have a buffer to take care of nasty surprises of this kind. Buffer my ass! The economy is on its knees and most of the companies are firing people as much as they can. In fact, it feels like a good time to get rid of unwanted personnel. No one asks awkward questions. It's the recession you know.
Now good advice is gold's worth. Our prime minister Matti Vanhanen said that we must change the general retiring age from 63 back to 65. It should be done to avoid shortage of workers in near future. And to help us pay back the extra loan we must take now. Well well well, politicians may work effectively at 65, but not all the others. Let's give a politician, 65, a shovel in his/her hand and tell to dig a ditch 7,5 hours a day, 5 days a week. We can come back after a month to check how long and deep ditch the politician has dug. Just to see how much worth is a 65-year-old in physical work. Sure an old man/woman can press some buttons and move a mouse, but I guess not so many person in his/her 60's is even familiar with modern technology at the moment. Let alone they wanted to learn it. I'm sure Mr. Vanhanen himself could do physical work as well, but he's not anyone. Hell, he's 2 meters tall!
I have saved some money for my pension insurance trust (or something like that). It should give me a chance to retire at 60 and the insurance will give me money until I'm 63. Now, as the age limit may change, does it mean that I could retire not before than at 62 and get secured until 65? That is THE question. But the insurance company promised me I could retire at 60! Or... do they lower the amount of money they will give me? Either way, it sucks! I have a long way to get there still, but these things do matter to me.
Trade organizations have not been glad about Mr. Vanhanen's suggestion. As a matter of fact, they have even pointed out the possibility of general strike. I wonder what that would be like... It hasn't happened in Finland since 1956 and it's most unlikely to happen now, but who knows.
It was around the year 1980 when our biology teacher told his prophecy to us young students. He said: "Times are going to be hard on you, when we - the great post-war age-class - will retire. You are going to pay our pensions!" Harsh talk to teenagers, but times were different. Anyway, he was right already then. I have carried his truth with me all these years. It wasn't until the end of the 20th century that the first visionaires started to give comments like that. Hats off to my old teacher with weird sense of humor. I'm sure you are laughing by yourself now. Somewhere.
Last Autumn when the American banks went bankrupt, Finnish experts and politicians in particular said that we are prepared for this. We have a buffer to take care of nasty surprises of this kind. Buffer my ass! The economy is on its knees and most of the companies are firing people as much as they can. In fact, it feels like a good time to get rid of unwanted personnel. No one asks awkward questions. It's the recession you know.
Now good advice is gold's worth. Our prime minister Matti Vanhanen said that we must change the general retiring age from 63 back to 65. It should be done to avoid shortage of workers in near future. And to help us pay back the extra loan we must take now. Well well well, politicians may work effectively at 65, but not all the others. Let's give a politician, 65, a shovel in his/her hand and tell to dig a ditch 7,5 hours a day, 5 days a week. We can come back after a month to check how long and deep ditch the politician has dug. Just to see how much worth is a 65-year-old in physical work. Sure an old man/woman can press some buttons and move a mouse, but I guess not so many person in his/her 60's is even familiar with modern technology at the moment. Let alone they wanted to learn it. I'm sure Mr. Vanhanen himself could do physical work as well, but he's not anyone. Hell, he's 2 meters tall!
I have saved some money for my pension insurance trust (or something like that). It should give me a chance to retire at 60 and the insurance will give me money until I'm 63. Now, as the age limit may change, does it mean that I could retire not before than at 62 and get secured until 65? That is THE question. But the insurance company promised me I could retire at 60! Or... do they lower the amount of money they will give me? Either way, it sucks! I have a long way to get there still, but these things do matter to me.
Trade organizations have not been glad about Mr. Vanhanen's suggestion. As a matter of fact, they have even pointed out the possibility of general strike. I wonder what that would be like... It hasn't happened in Finland since 1956 and it's most unlikely to happen now, but who knows.
It was around the year 1980 when our biology teacher told his prophecy to us young students. He said: "Times are going to be hard on you, when we - the great post-war age-class - will retire. You are going to pay our pensions!" Harsh talk to teenagers, but times were different. Anyway, he was right already then. I have carried his truth with me all these years. It wasn't until the end of the 20th century that the first visionaires started to give comments like that. Hats off to my old teacher with weird sense of humor. I'm sure you are laughing by yourself now. Somewhere.
Slalom? No thanks, I stick to my brand...
Downhill skiing is fun. And scary. Like high places in general. When I was younger (so much younger than today), I was thinking I'd never even try downhill skiing. I was more than 30 before I tried it for the first time. It was worth trying! And the Hogan's slogan in the title became history...
When I mention slalom, I'm not talking about Alps or alike. My skiing history extends to small Finnish hills only. Even those are too steep for me sometimes. It's dangerous enough, and the speed is just right for me.
We were doing it last Sunday in Ellivuori which locates near Vammala city, about 40 km from Nokia. Our daughter loves downhill skiing too. She likes everything fast, it seems. We were in children's hillside all the time though. All of us were looking at the bigger hillside next to the children's with eagerness, but she has to learn to ski better first. We are not competent enough to guide her there.
I haven't ridden a motorbike ever in my life, but I can guess that it's the same feeling of freedom that gets you there. I've done some riding with skimobiles and jet skis in high speed (and without a helmet, I must confess. How stupid of me!) and the feel of living surfaces. It's like an injection of adrenaline.
When I mention slalom, I'm not talking about Alps or alike. My skiing history extends to small Finnish hills only. Even those are too steep for me sometimes. It's dangerous enough, and the speed is just right for me.
We were doing it last Sunday in Ellivuori which locates near Vammala city, about 40 km from Nokia. Our daughter loves downhill skiing too. She likes everything fast, it seems. We were in children's hillside all the time though. All of us were looking at the bigger hillside next to the children's with eagerness, but she has to learn to ski better first. We are not competent enough to guide her there.
I haven't ridden a motorbike ever in my life, but I can guess that it's the same feeling of freedom that gets you there. I've done some riding with skimobiles and jet skis in high speed (and without a helmet, I must confess. How stupid of me!) and the feel of living surfaces. It's like an injection of adrenaline.
Apostrophe (') Not now
Warning: don't read this, if you want to stay in good mood!
I have seen a couple of documents which deal with the end of the world (as we know it and I feel insecure). According to ancient prophecies, the world ends at 2012. December 22nd, to be precise. As a great follower of number combinations, I really hate it that it isn't 20.12.2012, LOL! Mayas had more patience than I apparently.
Since so many cultures have come up with the same date, it's troubling me. It really is. They had no idea of what the others had calculated for the apocalypse. Because nature can be arranged into mathematical forms (DNA's, Physical laws etc.), something like this might be able to be foreseen as well. If I like to speculate on conspiracy theories, why not on doomsdays too?
I'm not laughing. Neither was I when the new Millennium began. I thought to myself, "This is the century we all are going to die". Meaning those who testified the change of it. Young and old. I still didn't realise that the end would be this near.
You can google about it more, but what made me nervous was the news about the super volcano in the USA. It's been there forever and now showed some possible signs of activity in near future. That combined with the other news, it started to sound like the date in 2012 could be possible. If that super volcano erupted, it would remove Northern America totally and leave a thick ash cloud all around the world. Or something like that. That's how they evaluated the danger of eruption in the newspapers here. So the whole world would look like London 100 years ago.
End of the world wouldn't be fair to our children. We grown-ups may deserve to die because of our bad moves when it comes to control the climate changes, but the kids are innocent. If the danger of the super volcano is very well declared, why nothing has been done to avoid it. Because we don't believe in old mumbo-jumbo? Because it's more important to set democracy off in Iraq? At least I'm planning on to take a day off on the 22nd of December 2012 and spend it with my family. Just to be on the safe side. If there ever was one...
I have seen a couple of documents which deal with the end of the world (as we know it and I feel insecure). According to ancient prophecies, the world ends at 2012. December 22nd, to be precise. As a great follower of number combinations, I really hate it that it isn't 20.12.2012, LOL! Mayas had more patience than I apparently.
Since so many cultures have come up with the same date, it's troubling me. It really is. They had no idea of what the others had calculated for the apocalypse. Because nature can be arranged into mathematical forms (DNA's, Physical laws etc.), something like this might be able to be foreseen as well. If I like to speculate on conspiracy theories, why not on doomsdays too?
I'm not laughing. Neither was I when the new Millennium began. I thought to myself, "This is the century we all are going to die". Meaning those who testified the change of it. Young and old. I still didn't realise that the end would be this near.
You can google about it more, but what made me nervous was the news about the super volcano in the USA. It's been there forever and now showed some possible signs of activity in near future. That combined with the other news, it started to sound like the date in 2012 could be possible. If that super volcano erupted, it would remove Northern America totally and leave a thick ash cloud all around the world. Or something like that. That's how they evaluated the danger of eruption in the newspapers here. So the whole world would look like London 100 years ago.
End of the world wouldn't be fair to our children. We grown-ups may deserve to die because of our bad moves when it comes to control the climate changes, but the kids are innocent. If the danger of the super volcano is very well declared, why nothing has been done to avoid it. Because we don't believe in old mumbo-jumbo? Because it's more important to set democracy off in Iraq? At least I'm planning on to take a day off on the 22nd of December 2012 and spend it with my family. Just to be on the safe side. If there ever was one...
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