List of Things Which Have Happened
Archive
15 June 2008
I've recently enjoyed my second trip to Finland, a couple of weeks ago. I expected warmer weather, but not the 24-25 degree heat and sun that we got. Extra and wet weather gear in my case remained there untouched, while I regretted not bringing a floppy hat. My first excursion out of Helsinki, to the pretty little town of Porvoo, resulted in sunburn.
View back from the boat to Porvoo. This is an excellent way to do it (coming back by bus), I may even have enjoyed it more than tramping around Porvoo itself. Though the cathedral is definitely worth seeing.
The roof of the cathedral is simple in shape; it's when you see the figures of the repairers that you realise how big it is. It was burnt down by an arsonist two or three years ago, something of a tragedy since it's one of the oldest cathedrals in Finland.
What happened the next day... well, I was pickpocketed in the restaurant of Helsinki station while seeing off a friend. I hung around for a while, drinking my coffee, writing some cards. I didn't notice a thing. It was only when I went round the corner and opened my wallet and stared stupefied at the empty space that I knew. Trust me, who's wandered around Manhattan and all sorts of even dodgier places with nary a problem, to go to one of the least crime ridden places in the world and have my cash nicked. It did make me fall out of love with Finland for the afternoon, but the truth is I got off lightly; I also had a money belt, and I didn't lose my cards or passport. Or my Helsinki card. So, shopping was off, and maxing the value of that was on. I visited as many galleries and other stuff as I could in the time, even the zoo (Why so few actual Finnish animals? I have a burning ambition now to see a liito-orava and a supikoira!). Finishing off with a visit to Suomenlinna, which is sort of a must for any trip to Helsinki. Then, it was off on a mini road trip to see Indica. Very glad I did; I like to see any band I get into play live, but now I think they really ought to be on my list of bands I've seen more than once.
Don't you think this is a nice and very clear example of the way glaciers carve rock? This is on the shore of Pyhäjärvi, a large lake in the South East of Finland, and the site of the Sieravuori holiday centre. A bit out of the way, it made going to see Indica a bit of an adventure. And it was great to see the Finnish countryside for the first time. Forests, large grassy fields, wooden farm buildings, long dead straight roads... I managed to pack quite a lot into four days, all things considered. Some of those things I could happily have done without, but I'm already looking forward to my next visit in August. For that intensive language course! :)
4 May 2008
I had fun yesterday afternoon, at a Vappu picnic with some of the Finns from the School in Manchester. Though I'm suffering for it today, because while the forecast had been for rain and 14C temperatures, we got bright sun and 22C. Today I'm sunburnt and still not a little wiped out.
And aching, because I was introduced to pesäpallo, Finnish baseball, a vital ingredient of the Vappu picnic. I wasn't too sure about this, since my hand-eye co-ordination has never been anything to shout about. Quite apart from the rules, which seemed typically convoluted, like all these stick and ball games (yes, I am thinking of American baseball). And I couldn't really get the hang of the use of the very unfamiliar glove for catching. When we were fielding I made sure I stood at a base no balls were being aimed at. However, it turned out to be very entertaining. I'm sure it made it much easier, that in pesäpallo the ball is gently lobbed up and drops down in front of you. So to my great surprise I did manage to hit the ball, and some distance. And I scored a run, too. I won't claim that I completely knew what was going on, but I'd play it again. Especially if I was a little less unfit. And I won't forget my sun cream next time.
23 April 2008
St.George's Day. Though I prefer to think of it as Shakespeare's Birthday, it seems much worthier. And definitely more English. That's what's always bothered me about St. George - apart from the mythological element of killing a dragon - that he had no connection with England at all, he came from Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. What's more, we share him with a very random variety of other countries, eg. Georgia.
I gather that as a patron saint St. George was foisted on us by the Normans, replacing St. Edmund. One can understand that politically they might not want a genuinely English patron saint for us to focus on. But there were other factors: the flag of St. George seems to have come into use with early English sailors, because it was also the flag of Genoa, a powerful trading nation in the Mediterranean at the time, and therefore likely to be respected.
Anyway, I've felt for a long time the frustration of seeing St. George sidelined while so much fuss was made about St. David in Wales, St. Andrew in Scotland, and of course St. Patrick in the U.S.A., sorry, I mean Ireland. That seems to be changing a little; but now, quite recently, I've learnt about St. Edmund. There's been a campaign on his behalf - read about it here. Frankly, his claim seems rock solid and if the serious opportunity arose, I'd vote for his establishment as our patron saint. He was a real person, a worthy subject, genuinely English, and we have his shrine on our soil, once the object of holy pilgrimage here. I imagine that's what the Normans might have been keen to downplay. I know nothing will change while we continue to have a foreign Royal Family, and while most people don't know the true story of all this, but for me St. Edmund is rightfully England's patron saint. If you're curious, you can read more on Wikipedia and also here. I see his bones are supposed to be hidden away in a chapel at Arundel: come on, if this is the case, let's honour them properly.
Lastly, his saint's day is 20th November. Bet I forget when that comes round.
7 April 2008
Okay. This is about Microsoft Hearts, and I promise I won't mention it again. Because it's somewhat mind eroding. 'Casual gaming', ha ha. And ha. I've wasted hours, days on it probably, over the last few years. It's a good challenge, of its own masochistic kind, but I've cursed it to high heaven, because I like the real card game, and despite resembling it, this isn't it. It cheats. I resent the fact that not only is it set up so that every other player behaves as one player with three hands, but that it gets 'better' as the game goes on, as you creep remorselessly towards 100. Recently, for whatever reason, I've been playing worse, and in the middle of this rubbishness, I've suddenly come up with two unusual scores.
This first one here is what a lot of people regard as a perfect score. I've managed 1 or 2 before, but never 0, because that isn't what I play for. I've always regarded it as an accidental result of easy early hands. I wouldn't show it off except for the fact that when I've seen other people's zero scores they've usually included 'shooting the moon' a few times. Which this did without. I'll tell you what would really impress me, and that's a 0 score after a dozen or so rounds, because that's when the game is pulling every **** cheating trick in the book.
But this, a little while ago, pleased me much more. I have very rarely managed to win with every other 'player' over 100. Try it, it isn't easy. It's one of my game targets, along with trying to win over the maximum number of rounds, 16 I believe. Probably near impossible; but I've managed 15 rounds a few times. Remember what I said about the game getting tougher as the rounds go by.
.......Yeah, I know. I need to get a life. I wouldn't argue with that.