Snow & BBQ in Finland - Shame in Holland!

Oh boy, it's snowing again, flakes size of a stamp. The temp is a bit above zero celsius - the freezing point - so it is not likely to make the ground more white, but I can tell you it doesn't help the 20 cm of snow melting away from the patio. On the other side of the house the lawn is already clear from snow, as it gets a bit more sun during the day.

So the spring is coming. I guess. At some point. Somewhere.

By the way, if someone is wondering on the other side of the big water how much is 0 Celsius in Farenhait, check it out from here;
http://www.metric-conversions.org/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm

As we are in Finland with a bit shorter winter than in some other places, we can't be too picky with for example bbq weather. Therefor last weekend at Easter the bbq was on! Many times.

It was good. Very good!!!

...now the few uptight Dutch reading this are already thinking "Duivel, vertellen!"...
And I will.

Finnish top newpaper Helsingin Sanomat had an article on Wed 11 Apr about a drug league that had been busted in cooperation with Finnish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish authorities. At some point in the process they decided that all of the busted ones would be taken to the court in Finland.

As part of the pack was decided, that all sentenced ones - the convicted drug criminals - would be handed over to Holland for re-evaluation of the sentences. I bet no-one, and I really mean no-one, thought the outcome would be what it was. Here are the numbers and reasons behind the sentences;

• Organization leader "M1", 1560 kilos of hashish
• In Finland centenced for 13 years in prison
• In Holland the conviction was milded into 4 years in prison
• Organization leader "M2", 500 kilos (assisting)
• In Finland 13 years
• In Holland the judge evaluated that 6 months of prison already taken in Finland is adequate = he was released upon hand over
• Practical organizor "D", 1560 kilos (assisting)
• In Finland 8 years 6 months
• In Holland the judge evaluated 1 year 9 months already taken in Finland was adequate
• Practical organizor "J", 500 kilos
• Was not brought to Finland due to illness
• Dummy organizor "A", 910 kilos
• 4 years in Finland
• Recently convicted, still open what will happen in Holland
• Dummy organizor "W", 647 kilos
• 2 years in Finland
• Same as "A", let's see what happens
• Courier = truck driver "E", 225 kilos
• 9 years 6 months in Finland
• Will not be handed over to Holland as he was captured in Finland. This makes him the BIGGEST loser of the whole chain, as he will not get the much, much milder conviction based on the Dutch courtroom evaluations.
• Receiver & main operator in Finland "P", 225 kilos
• 9 years 6 months in Finland
• Same as "E", will stay in Finland and can & should not expect any change as a Finn

 I don't know if this is fair or not, but that's the system - like it or not.

Still, have a great weekend!!!

PS I still need to get you some stuff from the long gone Lapland trip.
PSS I was in the movies recently, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and picked a fantastic line from there;
"If I want your opinion, I will give it to you!"

The Blues is HOT!!!

Wow, the Blues went for over time in tonight's game against the Pelicans from Lahti. Game was 1-1 after 60 minutes and the 2nd generation Blues man - or actually a Blues boy - Juuso Ikonen with barely 17 years of age scored the winning goal and Blues is chasing the Pelicans 1-2 in wins. It is best out of 7 games.

I think I said already earlier, that it is the semifinals of the Finnish ice hockey league. The other pair is Jokerit - Jokers - from Helsinki and JYP from Jyväskylä. They soon have 80 minutes played and still continue. Next games are on Monday and before today's game, JYP leads 2-0 in wins.

Here is a goal he scored few weeks ago.

HYVÄ BLUES!!!.

I missed Anne Frank

I hope you all know the story about Anne Frank. We are starting to collect a history, as it has been almost 3 years since I wrote about Anne Frank and other stuff in Amsterdam. Today it is a bit more difficult for me to go for a visit in Amsterdam. Or Paris. Or Brussels. Or Monschau. Or Oostende.

Yesterday I spoke with a colleague who spent a weekend in Brussels and I gotta admit I started to miss Brussels spring. There is nothing wrong in having the yeard covered with 50 cm of snow, but now and then I remember that there are also other options than winter. As we speak, it is snowing and the temperature has been around 0 celcius for days.

I remember an April during Brussels years when we went to a beach for sunbathing. Yep, the water was still cold but it was warm enough to sunbathe on the sand and enjoy. Not this year in Helsinki, but if you are interested in skiing, that is perfectly fine.

This is a live pic from a road camera next to Helsinki, 5 km from where I am rightnow. And we have the snowflakes size of about 1 cm coming down. Click the pic to enlarge it.

To see other cameras, go here.

Back to Anne.

There is a road show exhibition about Anne Frank going around Finland this year. It was in Helsinki - I missed that - and moved on to Hämeenlinna. There was an article in HS earlier this year, in Finnish, and you can check out the dates and places for the other places at Finland-Israel -organization's pages at http://www.suomi-israel.fi/uusi/tapahtumia.php .

It is back in capitol area in Espoo in December, but if you wish to check it out now, Hämeenlinna is only an hour from Helsinki.

Let's talk some ice hockey.

The Blues made again Finnish ice hockey history. From 0-3 situation in quarter final wins they made impossible possible and went to game 7 and won Kalpa, the winner of the season.

The heart of the fighing spirit, Camilo Miettinen, was injured and is out for the rest of the season. Perhaps he should not have cut his hair as it was a good protection for his head...

Anyways, the Blues is now playing the semifinals against the Pelicans from Lahti and are 0-2 at wins but perhaps they can again come back to the series. You can follow the series from here.

Happy Easter - Hyvää Pääsiäistä!!!