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!"

Hot, hot, hot - in Finland scale

As we speak it's getting close to midnight - 1130'ish - and it is pretty warm outside for Finland scale. Normally we celebrate the few daytime tempratures of +25, but I guess many people who have a bit warm inside their houses are not happy.

Yep, it is half past 11 pm and it is +25C outside, the heat level, and soooo far away from the winter time.

There are many options for online weather forecast, here is one Finnish option with Iltasanomat.fi.

Today was a great day getting towards the end of the first holiday week. After yesterday's fabulous lake house afternoon and evening, completed with wooden heated sauna, swim in the lake, bbq, and particularly good time with friends, I got myself to the gym for a morning exercise. Naturally at summer time I - whenever possible - do the warm-up and cool down afterwards outside. What could be better than do a short bicycle ride and minimize the time used indoors.

Yeah, someone there thinks why I don't do all the exercise outdoors, for example by swimming in the sea? Yesterday I did combine the sauna and swim with putting a bit effort for the swim and getting the pulse up but that just is not enough. I can't get similar impact to the core muscle or full body exercises outside the gym.

Same thing is stopping me to put in the hours for golf - instead of for example basketball and gym: I could not get the exercise I need! I would not be able to feel myself exhausted, and I can tell you it feels gooooood!!!

Hmmm, back to the day; After getting some things done at home we went to Helsinki City Centre for a leisure day out. Nothing special, hanging out, eating some good stuff and enjoying the city in a great weather. 

Or there was actually one thing to do - almost a ritual I'd say: I sold all of my LP records to a second hand shop. I didn't have many of them left but still, it was not easy to let them go and at the same time say goodbye to the LP player as part of the old, traditional stereo set. But now it's done and I already regret that I didn't save for example 5 of them. Perkele!

After a fantastic trout BBQ, again with herring, fresh season potatoes and as an additional dish for the gents a bit sausage, Spanish Chorizo and German Bratwurst.

The it was time for a movie: The teacher was in one sense BAD but on the other hand she was something else. Well, in my mind it is not easy to make Cameron Diaz bad... Check out the trailer from here. I'd say it is pretty handy to have the movie theatre one kilometer away as you can either walk, cycle or drive there.

Well, I know one couple who lives across the street from Kino Tapiola so that's a LOT closer. He even checked out for me one Saturday if the book store next to the movie theatre was open.

And after a chill out after movie evening I'm finishing off by writing to you some thoughts - just for the sake of it. Not sure if anyone is really interested but still. I would have shared some pics with you but I gotta do it with the other PC so that I can use the bluetooth from the phone. But that is now for later.

Take it easy and enjoy the summer as long as it is where you are! I've made sure my summer continues with fantastic weather - and food and culture and so on - as I'll be heading to Spain soon!!!

Hasta la proxima amigos!

PS Regards from Aruba! I guess that was in mind of the person who just recently visited the site from Aruba. Perhaps I should check out more about the country. Info available from the flag list, then clicking the country and so on...

Next movie in plans

Before the King's Speech -movie I wrote about, it had been perhaps a year from the previous time.

Why?
Can't say - perhaps too much other things to do. Or what ever excuse you wanna hear...

We have now and then had movie night at home, but even if we do it properly and have a good movie to watch, you just can't make it even close to the real thing. There are always some interruptions, someone getting more drinks, sweets or going to the toilet. And the focus is not there enough. ...not to talk about the screen size, quality of the picture and the sounds.

The downside in the movies is that I seldom get a seat with a proper leg space (I am still close to 2 meters tall) but there seems to be also a way to guarantee the space;
I can book the seats myself in advance online and - based on this single experience - it showed properly the back row seats that were on top of the stairs.

So, gotta plan a proper movie to book a good seat - or make sure the event at home is arranged so that we have had a loo break and reserved a cooler next to us. No beer though to avoid another visit to the loo.

Let's see when is the next movie time, the King's Speech got 4 Oscars and also other movies we awarded so well that perhaps they are worth seeing.

But now I will have - instead of a moment of culture of mind - a set of culture of body.
Gym time!

Movies with Mrs - Do it!

I am lucky enough to have a wife who activated me to go to the movies with her!

We booked the tickets online, took care of some things and went to collect the reserved tickets. Then we had time for a good salad lunch and a shop visit for the candy. The loose candy is something we have in Finland and Sweden with a good selection.

The movie we went to was "The King's Speech". It is based on a true story, connected to historical events and has many elements along the way that I loved. Let's see if Hollywood movie machine will award them with Oscar's tomorrow. They have my vote for one or several, I guess they will get some out of the 12 nominations...

I guess I've been brainwashed by BBC during the Brussels years hence I nowadays can enjoy a bit the British humour. There were moments when we were the only ones in the movie laughing to the fantastic situational comedy, comments that one just can't translate into Finnish subtitles. Or Swedish, as we have both Finnish and Swedish subtitles - this is a bilingual country.

Actually we have also 3rd official language, Sami.
Anyways, the movie was great, wonderful company, fantastic things before and after the movie so I am happy to recommend you something similar! On the other hand you can't reach the same level as us since you won't have as good company as we had ;o)

The official movie site is here and you can check out the trailer from here.

I must say the movie left me with a good feeling - main message could be "You can do it!"... And friends can and should challenge each others!

You can do it!!!