Sunday, March 25, 2012

Fantastic Sunday!

What a day... Out already before 10 am - not to forget that the night was 1 hour shorter as we transferred to the summer time - to notice we got about 3 cm fresh new snow last night. Well, the ground was pretty, but it meant at the same time again some more slid, loskapaska.

Two junior football games and one basketball game as a spectator and one b-ball game playing to finish off the day. 3 wins, one loss so not a bad result. One of the games - as a spectator - was a final of the winter series and the guys got the biggest trophy! Congrats guys!!!

Also important was to have a nice sunday afternoon meal together. Hats off to the kids too, as they were able to do some school work on top of it all - as well as to chill out by the tv.

It was also funny to see part of the Blues team - yep, THE ice hockey team I've been talking about and am a fan of - playing football at the indoor arena between the junior guys games. Otherwise I would not have noticed them, but one can not miss Camilo Miettinen - or what do you say...?
He scored a nice goal in their game - and was happy to give autographs and let some fans to take pictures. Hope they can make some magic tomorrow against the season # 1 Kalpa.

The end of the day - just before writing this while watching the sports news - we had a great sanck meal with cheeses, bread, paté, pink bubbles (kts Ric...) so a good feeling with a full belly.

Sorry, I didnt have the energy to take up any additional work for today. Perhaps tomorrow nigh I need to take it back in order to secure all tasks are completed during next week.

Buenos noches - God natt - Good night - Hyvää yötä!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

C'mon Blues!

The day started with some more snow, that turned into a rain shower later on. That means the snow piles are getting smaller day by day. Patio still partly covered with a 1 meter high pile, thanks to the snow from the roof...

The sun was shining at one point, which is naturally a sign for THE ice hockey game tonight. The Blues is going head-to-head with Kalpa from Kuopio in the play offs. Kalpa won the first game after a good fight and I naturally expect the roles to change tonight. My kids will be in the arena but I will pass this one.

What a moment, my son put AC/DC's Highway to Hell on the player - not bad at all - and that song I dedicate to Kalpa's game performance tonight ;o)

Hyvä Blues!


PS I was just made aware of this song below. Not my favorite, but still I decided to share it with you for the lyrics - eli parasta biisissä on sanoitus. Ja niisäkin kiehtoi se tietty koomisuus...
PPS I bought some brickets for the bbq today so the season start is getting closer. Need to do some snow shoveling though at the patio as you can imagine.

Monday, March 19, 2012

I thought the winter was over

It is snowing.
While we all have been preparing for the spring, this morning we woke up with more snow coming down. Thinking of the spring, we have a saying that "the new snow kills the old one".

Hope so, as we still have somewhat 30 cm snow on the backyard and on the spots where we have cleard the paths & yard - or with the snow that has come down from the roof - we have +/-1 meter of snow.

Let it snow - let it snow - let it snow...

Sunday, March 18, 2012

20.000 Thank You's!

For some reason, there has been 20.000 pageviews on my blog since I added the Visitor Map. Thank you for each of the visits - I guess it has had some positive impact also to myself.

Another milestones - as I like to keep an eye on them too - are 3.000 visitors from Finland and 10.000 "unique visitors" from 130 countries.

I guess this means that I should say something now and then also in the future...

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Terveisiä Paskatunturilta!

Törmäsin tähän mielenkiintoiseen juttuun, jossa on elämää kuvastavia paikannimiä. Omilta retkiltä yksi parhaista on kiipeäminen Paskatunturin naapuritunturin huipulle...

I came across with this funny article, that is impossible to translate - I can't explain it further than to tell you there is for example an island calle "Tits".

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/matkat/suomi-havyttomien-nimien-luvattu-maa---katso-erikoiset-paikkojen-nimet/art-1288447883108.html


Julkaistu: 09.02.2012 07:00 Suomen paikannimistö on monipuolinen ja rikas.


Kolmen miljoonan nimen joukkoon mahtuu myös monta nyppylää ja notkelmaa, joiden lausuminen saa punan karehtimaan siveyden sipulien poskilla.

Suomen maasto on täynnä palleja, perseitä ja pimppejä, mutta taustalla ei ole useinkaan tietoinen hävyttömyys.

- Paskalampi-nimisten lampien vesi on saattanut olla mutaista, mutta sillä viitataan myös lammen pieneen kokoon. Ihan kuin Vittulampi-nimissäkin. Esimerkiksi Vittujärviä ei Suomesta löydy, Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen erikoistutkija Sirkka Paikkala selittää.

Monissa tapauksissa sanan alkuperäinen merkitys on muuttanut muotoaan niin, ettei sitä enää tunnista.

Esimerkkinä vaikkapa Siitinselkä. Saamelaisten talvikylää merkitsevä sana siida on muuttunut aikojen saatossa siitin-muotoon.

- Tissinpohja-nimessä pohja merkitsee lahden perää, perukkaa. Tissi voi olla puolestaan lyhennys Matias-nimestä. Samoin perse tarkoittaa usein perää eli perukkaa.

Suomesta löytyy myös nykykorvalle sangen epäkorrekteja nimiä kuten Liperin Neekerisaari ja Kalajoen Homosaari. Paikkala muistaa ainakin Alvar Aallon suunnitteleman Vaasan Neekerikylän (Negerby), jonka nimi tuli tummasävyisistä taloista. Alueen nimi on nykyisin Aaltopuisto (Aaltoparken).

- Kalajoen Homosaari voi liittyä sukunimeen. Kalajoella asui 1700-luvun lopulla jonkin aikaa Homosia. Nimi saattaa olla samaa kantaa kuin Homanen, johon sisältyy karjalainen ristimänimi Foma, Thomas-nimen kansanomainen muunnos.

Toisinaan nimen takana on tarina, joko tosi tai keksitty. Paikkala ei ole kuitenkaan kuullut, että luonnonpaikkoja olisi nimetty alatyylisillä nimillä erityisesti Pohjois-Suomessa sen takia, että niillä olisi haluttu jekuttaa saksalaisia sotilaita jatkosodan aikana.

Paikannimeä ei muuteta, vaikka ihmiset kokisivat nimen kiusalliseksi. Kyse on kuitenkin kulttuuri- ja kieliperinnöstä.

Listan nimet ovat esimerkkejä, jotka on poimittu Maanmittauslaitoksen ylläpitämästä Kansalaisen karttapaikasta.
####
•Pallinsaari, Utajärvi, saari
•Pallivaha, Turku, kohouma
•Pallisilmä, Uurainen, vakavesi
•Pallipuro, Rautavaara, virtavesi
•Hevonperse, Kuusamo, koski
•Hevonperseenmäki, Kuopio, kohouma
•Hevonperseenmutka, Suomussalmi, virtaveden osa
•Mulkkuset, Vesilahti, saari
•Mulkkusaari, Sotkamo, saari
•Mulkkuvuori, Keuruu, kohouma
•Tissi, Punkaharju, saari
•Tissinpohja, Heinola, vakaveden osa
•Tissikukkulat, Suomussalmi, kohouma
•Pimppiniemi, Laukaa
•Pillulampi, Posio, vakaveden osa
•Pissisaari, Kolari, saari
•Pervonkallio, Sastamala, kohouma
•Pervonoja, Pori, virtavesi
•Pervonmaa, Loimaa, metsäalue
•Homonlampi, Lapinlahti, vakavesi
•Homosaari, Kalajoki, saari
•Neekerisaari, Liperi, saari
•Perssilmänlammit, Kuhmo, vakavesi
•Persesilmänlampi, Ranua, vakavesi
•Perseenpaistama, Suomussalmi, metsäalue
•Tussusaari, Orivesi, saari
•Tussut, Luvia, saari
•Runkunneva, Vähäkyrö, pelto tai niitty
•Runkausjoki, Tervola, virtavesi
•Runkausvaara, Simo, kohouma
•Terskanperä, Siikalatva, kylä tai kaupunginosa
•Terskanlahti, Rantasalmi, Vakaveden osa

Ja lisäksi muutama erikoinen, ei niinkään hävytön paikannimi:

•Peräpukama, Nurmes, pelto tai niitty
•Kusipää, Sodankylä, kohouma
•Satiainen, Isojoki, pelto tai niitty
•Lesta, Ikaalinen, saari
•Nahkahousut, Helsinki, saari

IS:n lukijoiden bongaamia hauskoja kylttejä ja paikannimiä pääset katselemaan tästä.
http://lukijat.iltasanomat.fi/1/0/6/


Artikkelin oli kirjoittanut toimittaja Simo Holopainen

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Thoughts for Belgium!

So sad, so unnecessary. So many things left undone. So many things unsaid. So many people missing them...
...who knows, if I have come across with one of the children some years ago in Lommel...

Saturday, March 10, 2012

More Finland Numbers

What about getting into - or getting out of Finland? Easy or not, how long does it take? And the few of you who are in the redneck-states wonder at this point in which state is Finland in...

Well, I can tell you fools we are on the other side of the BIG ocean. Do your homework and get smarter ;o)

Flight hours from Helsinki Airport are as follows:

Frankfurt 2 hours 40 minutes
London 3 10
Rome 3 35
Shangai 8 55
Tokyo 9 25
New York 8 40

Yep, we are not in the middle of it. We've got an extra length vs most of the world to get to where ever we wanna go.

Bon voyage - Hyvää matkaa!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Happy International Women's Day - Hyvää Naisten Päivää!

Woops, the picture was missing from the post - sorry - here it is included...!
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Happy Women's Day - Hyvää Naisten Päivää!


Someone would  be ready to award that guy with the "Man of the Year" -title...

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Finland in Numbers

Here are few numbers facts about Finland;
  • 5,4 Million people
  • 338 424 km2, which of ~10% is covered with water
  • Official languages Finnish and Swedish
  • Time zone: GMT +2
  • Money: Euro
  • Capital: Helsinki
  • 108 cities, the biggest ones being Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, and Turku
Some temperature figures;
  • Lowest measured temperature: -51,5 C, Kittilä (where I was 2 years ago for the ski trip) 28.1.1999
  • Lowest monthly average temperature: -29,7 C, Kuusamo (where I just was for the ski trip) January 1985
  • Highest temperature rise in a day: 36,5 C, Kuusamo 2.1.1989
  • Biggest snow depth: 190 cm, Kilpisjärvi 19.4.1997
  • Biggest increase of snow depth in a day: 48 cm Kilpisjärvi 29.1.1981
And more Lapland to come later on...