Unclear
I was today in Utrecht giving a presentation on theoneminutesjr to people doing youth media projects. Inspiring event as I realised once again how strong the Netherlands seems to be in this field. While sipping my coffee on the brake, a girl came to me:"Sorry but are you Tommi?" I answered positively but had no idea whatsoever who she was. She told me that she had been filming an event where I spoke some time back. She had been asked to do appr. one minute edits of all the speakers. She told me that I became sort of a celebrity within her group of friends as she was constantly complaining that I was switching subjects in the middle of the sentence. I know I have that habit. She did not mean the comment in a bad way - I guess the frankness was just an example of a Dutch way of telling things to your face. Respect.
Clear
Another person with an in your face tactique is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She has now been away from the Netherlands for some time promoting her book in the US. Her interview was today in a Dutch free magazine called Ted. She stated with her old style:"I think people are now finally starting to understand that the problem is not a small group of terrorists but islam itself." Come on. Ayaan, where does that comment take us? I really don't feel that comments such as this are in any way constructive, helpful or brave. But I guess her sensationalism is over here in the Netherlands which makes it very wise to move to bigger markets.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
K.I.S.S.
Went to dinner with a friend tonight. The menu of the café was rather meat-oriented so decided to go for stampot, traditional Dutch food.
Stampot is the thing in the picture on the left. It's sort of baby food fed to adults. Mashed potatoes and maybe other vegetables. Rather nice if you want food that goes down without thinking.
In this café they had pimped it with cashew nuts and cheese. Come on. Let's keep them basic and leave the fusion kitchen out of this. Only thing missing from this portion was rucola and balsamico which find their way on the plates of most "trendy" restaurants.
Good example of the changes in times. We were playing Alias (explain a word to your team) with the family during Christmas. I think it was my brother who said something like:"You have it in every fridge." His girlfriend shouted enthusiastically:"I know, I know. Pesto!"
Stampot is the thing in the picture on the left. It's sort of baby food fed to adults. Mashed potatoes and maybe other vegetables. Rather nice if you want food that goes down without thinking.
In this café they had pimped it with cashew nuts and cheese. Come on. Let's keep them basic and leave the fusion kitchen out of this. Only thing missing from this portion was rucola and balsamico which find their way on the plates of most "trendy" restaurants.
Good example of the changes in times. We were playing Alias (explain a word to your team) with the family during Christmas. I think it was my brother who said something like:"You have it in every fridge." His girlfriend shouted enthusiastically:"I know, I know. Pesto!"
Sunday, February 25, 2007
All together now
"Why does this guy have gloves on?" We spent time in a café with a friend of mine on Friday going through election material. It took me time to realise that the Swedish Folk Party had photoshopped all the candidate pictures so that the body was black and white (see pic). I really do not understand the message. To me it looks like they have all put gloves on before they go and shake hands with the people. Not the wisest choice for a party struggling with an elitist image.
Well, not to slander only one party, I must say that I am not too convinced by the campaigns as a whole. My personal favourites are the slogans of the ruling Centre Party:
- A bit like you would vote yourself (how depoliticising can you be?)
- We're also born from the middle (and...)
The Coalition Party (Conservatives) has an ear campaign copied from the big world. They basically have opened cafés all over the country for listening. Reminds me a bit of the Segolene Royal campaign in France. The big thing is how much this listening actually influences the policies.
The Social Democrats have a campaign with a big red Us and a smaller blue Me or a big red bus and a smaller blue limousine. It is once again an example of the problems of the Social Democrats. Their campaign relies on putting the others down, not presenting any new visions.
The most amusing campaign from the Social Democrats is the advertisement for the young candidates. The slogan is Demand Better News.
Both actions rom the Social Democrats have logical failures - first of all the current government's (Centre-Social Democrats) policy to cut taxes went further than the Coalition Party ever strived for. It has gone for individuals rather than the services for us all. And I find it difficult to understand how the young Social Democrats can campaign for change when they have been the ruling party in the country for ages.
I heard an amusing anecdote from the Green campaign. One of the suggestions for a slogan from the ad agency had been Party for All of Us. This would have been very much in line with the Centre Party but a bit twisted from a party with support of less than 10 %.
All and all the election seem to be quite boring as most people expect that the current coalition will continue as the economy is in good swing and the Coalition Party has been more or less teethless.
Well, not to slander only one party, I must say that I am not too convinced by the campaigns as a whole. My personal favourites are the slogans of the ruling Centre Party:
- A bit like you would vote yourself (how depoliticising can you be?)
- We're also born from the middle (and...)
The Coalition Party (Conservatives) has an ear campaign copied from the big world. They basically have opened cafés all over the country for listening. Reminds me a bit of the Segolene Royal campaign in France. The big thing is how much this listening actually influences the policies.
The Social Democrats have a campaign with a big red Us and a smaller blue Me or a big red bus and a smaller blue limousine. It is once again an example of the problems of the Social Democrats. Their campaign relies on putting the others down, not presenting any new visions.
The most amusing campaign from the Social Democrats is the advertisement for the young candidates. The slogan is Demand Better News.
Both actions rom the Social Democrats have logical failures - first of all the current government's (Centre-Social Democrats) policy to cut taxes went further than the Coalition Party ever strived for. It has gone for individuals rather than the services for us all. And I find it difficult to understand how the young Social Democrats can campaign for change when they have been the ruling party in the country for ages.
I heard an amusing anecdote from the Green campaign. One of the suggestions for a slogan from the ad agency had been Party for All of Us. This would have been very much in line with the Centre Party but a bit twisted from a party with support of less than 10 %.
All and all the election seem to be quite boring as most people expect that the current coalition will continue as the economy is in good swing and the Coalition Party has been more or less teethless.
Friday, February 23, 2007
The attraction of London
I was in London some weeks back for work. I cannot help it. Although the city is so dirty, overcrowded, smelly and totally out of proportion considering prizes, I still find it highly attractive. The more i visit London, the more I want to move there for some time. To make it there.
Although most of Londoners are doing socio-economically miserably, it is still one of the few places where all possibilities are within reach. And a city where the default option of a white man is really disappearing. I also find it wonderful how people stay alone in the same space, i.e. how everyone creates their own bubble in an overpacked underground cart. The modernism idea of my freedom ending only when it starts interfearing with the freedom of others.
My London addiction got another boost yesterday due to Anthony Minghella's new film Breaking and Entering. It tells a story of an architect Will (the talented Jude Law who gets only better as the years go by) who moves his office to the turmoil area of King's Cross. As someone breaks into the office twice, Will gets obsessed with catching the thieves and one night follows young Bosnian Miro home only to fall in love with Miro's mother Amira (Juliette Binoche).
The film is one of the rare pieces where dialogue is believable, where happy ending is only relative, where sadness is written on everyone's face and where the roughness of London is portrayed honestly. Juliette Binoche does an astonishing performance as an immigrant mother losing control of her son and willing to do all it takes to keep the young juvenile on the right tracks.
As I sit constantly in an office with three people from the Balkans, I paid a lot of attention to Binoche's accent. She has had a good coach. That mixture of warmth and clear articulation is exactly how a lot of them sound.
Although most of Londoners are doing socio-economically miserably, it is still one of the few places where all possibilities are within reach. And a city where the default option of a white man is really disappearing. I also find it wonderful how people stay alone in the same space, i.e. how everyone creates their own bubble in an overpacked underground cart. The modernism idea of my freedom ending only when it starts interfearing with the freedom of others.
My London addiction got another boost yesterday due to Anthony Minghella's new film Breaking and Entering. It tells a story of an architect Will (the talented Jude Law who gets only better as the years go by) who moves his office to the turmoil area of King's Cross. As someone breaks into the office twice, Will gets obsessed with catching the thieves and one night follows young Bosnian Miro home only to fall in love with Miro's mother Amira (Juliette Binoche).
The film is one of the rare pieces where dialogue is believable, where happy ending is only relative, where sadness is written on everyone's face and where the roughness of London is portrayed honestly. Juliette Binoche does an astonishing performance as an immigrant mother losing control of her son and willing to do all it takes to keep the young juvenile on the right tracks.
As I sit constantly in an office with three people from the Balkans, I paid a lot of attention to Binoche's accent. She has had a good coach. That mixture of warmth and clear articulation is exactly how a lot of them sound.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Uhm....is it OK if I say this in English?
Just got to Helsinki from my two-day visit to Stockholm. This miniature St. Petersburg is freezing: slight wind, snow and approximately 20 degrees minus. Will work a bit on some text for work and see family. Looking forward.
I stayed with my Finnish friend in Stockholm. As we met at the Central Station, she had a big smile on her face:"I am SOOO glad you are here. I have been feeling very small and going by the walls in public places."
First I thought she was exaggerating but after strolling through the beautiful old city and the trendy shops of Södermalm, I really understood what she meant. I felt ashamed for speaking Finnish, my "so last season" clothing, having a Finnish accent in my Swedish and not being able to complete a conversation without some English. I seldom feel as second rate as in Sweden. And not to mention that they are all so bloody tall, pleasant and good-looking.
The biggest literature prize of Sweden was recently awarded to an author called Susanna Alakoski. Her novel Svinalängorna tells a story of a Finnish family moving to Sweden. As my friend started reading the book, I heard her gasping and commenting the book constantly. "This is so awful. I cannot handle these feelings in the book. I want to go to Helsinki" She was also waiting for me to start reading it so we could talk about some parts of the book.
I have it in my bag as well but hesitate a bit with starting it. The reason of hesitation is not the subject - it is the language. I am not sure if I am able to complete a book about Finns as second-rate people in Sweden in Swedish. And if the answer is no, I am sure it does wonders to my self-esteem. We shall see.
I stayed with my Finnish friend in Stockholm. As we met at the Central Station, she had a big smile on her face:"I am SOOO glad you are here. I have been feeling very small and going by the walls in public places."
First I thought she was exaggerating but after strolling through the beautiful old city and the trendy shops of Södermalm, I really understood what she meant. I felt ashamed for speaking Finnish, my "so last season" clothing, having a Finnish accent in my Swedish and not being able to complete a conversation without some English. I seldom feel as second rate as in Sweden. And not to mention that they are all so bloody tall, pleasant and good-looking.
The biggest literature prize of Sweden was recently awarded to an author called Susanna Alakoski. Her novel Svinalängorna tells a story of a Finnish family moving to Sweden. As my friend started reading the book, I heard her gasping and commenting the book constantly. "This is so awful. I cannot handle these feelings in the book. I want to go to Helsinki" She was also waiting for me to start reading it so we could talk about some parts of the book.
I have it in my bag as well but hesitate a bit with starting it. The reason of hesitation is not the subject - it is the language. I am not sure if I am able to complete a book about Finns as second-rate people in Sweden in Swedish. And if the answer is no, I am sure it does wonders to my self-esteem. We shall see.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Pop-ti-pop
As our work email system is down this morning (the first morning in two years when I actually made it to the office before nine in the morning), I have a few minutes for writing my blog. It has been a hectic week which is the reason for the silence during the past few days.
Another declaration of love coming up. There´s the Swedish glam-o-rama band The Ark (which is strongly on the way of representing Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest). There´s is the over-the-top pop of Scissor Sisters. There´s the analytical, flamboyant, complex and vain Rufus Wainwright. And then there is Mika.
I found Mika last week. A day after I started playing his music a friend of mine called me. The phone discussion went as follows:
- Hey.
- Hey.
- I have found an artist for you.
- You mean Mika?
- Damn! You heard of him already. I heard his music this week and my first thought was: this is Tommi´s music.
He was right. Mika is my cycling soundtrack to the office. I am trying to control myself at the moment because on the first Mika day I was so excited and energised about the music that I started speeding and speeding up which resulted to nearly being hit by a car and nearly running over a woman jogging in the park. Music is dangerous.
And if you have no idea what I am talking about, check the video of the song Grace Kelly on YouTube. I love the lyrics:
"I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I´ve gone identity mad!"
Another declaration of love coming up. There´s the Swedish glam-o-rama band The Ark (which is strongly on the way of representing Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest). There´s is the over-the-top pop of Scissor Sisters. There´s the analytical, flamboyant, complex and vain Rufus Wainwright. And then there is Mika.
I found Mika last week. A day after I started playing his music a friend of mine called me. The phone discussion went as follows:
- Hey.
- Hey.
- I have found an artist for you.
- You mean Mika?
- Damn! You heard of him already. I heard his music this week and my first thought was: this is Tommi´s music.
He was right. Mika is my cycling soundtrack to the office. I am trying to control myself at the moment because on the first Mika day I was so excited and energised about the music that I started speeding and speeding up which resulted to nearly being hit by a car and nearly running over a woman jogging in the park. Music is dangerous.
And if you have no idea what I am talking about, check the video of the song Grace Kelly on YouTube. I love the lyrics:
"I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I´ve gone identity mad!"
Sunday, February 11, 2007
End of idealism
Beauty. Idealism. End of optimism. Moving forward from dichotomies. Better future. New sort of leadership. Hope. Dreams killed with one simple gunshot. All those things popped into my mind yesterday when watching Emilio Estevez's new film Bobby. Estevez shows the hope that Robert F. Kennedy managed to generate in the United States of 1968. The film concentrates on the guests and staff of the Californian Ambassador Hotel which was the campaign headquarters of Kennedy's presidential bid and also the place where Kennedy was shot. The cast is amazing ranging from Elijah Wood and (in this role) fantastic Demi Moore to Laurence Fishburne and Anthony Hopkins.
I must confess that I did not know too much of Robert F. Kennedy. To put it bluntly, I knew that he was the younger brother of JFK and was assassinated in 1968.
Some weeks back ago I read an article from The Guardian on the film with a headline stating that in Bobby Kennedy we all saw ourselves at our best. Now I understand what the editor meant.
Estevez has selected a popular methodology in today's film, i.e. rolling in a gigantic amount of characters which together build a picture of the main person who is only shown by using archive footage. And although the film has Democratic Party and anti-Bush straight-forwardly stapled all over it, it is worth seeing. Comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam are very obvious. One of the characters describes Kennedy's importance beautifully in an America tangled in Vietnam:"After Dr King (Martin Luther King Jr just killed shortly before) there is only Bobby. There is no one else." It leaves one thinking who nowadays could grow into such a role. I don't see that happening with Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
The film made me cry. It reminds one of what political leadership is at its best. It mobilises people, it creates a "Can Do" culture and - as the The Guardian wrote - it brings out of the best in all of us. Leaders are needed to convince us that we need to change but still the work needs to be done by us.
I must confess that I did not know too much of Robert F. Kennedy. To put it bluntly, I knew that he was the younger brother of JFK and was assassinated in 1968.
Some weeks back ago I read an article from The Guardian on the film with a headline stating that in Bobby Kennedy we all saw ourselves at our best. Now I understand what the editor meant.
Estevez has selected a popular methodology in today's film, i.e. rolling in a gigantic amount of characters which together build a picture of the main person who is only shown by using archive footage. And although the film has Democratic Party and anti-Bush straight-forwardly stapled all over it, it is worth seeing. Comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam are very obvious. One of the characters describes Kennedy's importance beautifully in an America tangled in Vietnam:"After Dr King (Martin Luther King Jr just killed shortly before) there is only Bobby. There is no one else." It leaves one thinking who nowadays could grow into such a role. I don't see that happening with Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
The film made me cry. It reminds one of what political leadership is at its best. It mobilises people, it creates a "Can Do" culture and - as the The Guardian wrote - it brings out of the best in all of us. Leaders are needed to convince us that we need to change but still the work needs to be done by us.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Did we go to the same event?
"We hope this evening will be a start for a lively debate on..." Men on the stage talk about culture. Women are allowed into the debate when they address emotions (and when they are pretty and young). Women are asked to talk about personal things, middle-aged men talk about facts and politics.
The debate goes on and on and suddenly there is not really time for discussion (which actually means questions). The moderator asks questions starting mostly with "isn´t it so" or questions without a question.
This is what we in Europe call public debate.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Masculine revisited
I am writing this on the flight from Amman to Paris. Would be nice to have the skill of sleeping on the plane. My colleague is totally passed out with her mouth open. But as that was not provided into my toolbox. writing my blog is a relatively good alternative. Once again my iTunes somehow knew my mood. It is playing The Cardigans’ 03:45 No Sleep.
There is a lot to say about Jordan. One could write individual posts over food, landscapes, moonlight and so forth. But as my great interest has always been in the behaviour of people, I will focus on that.
I find the Middle Eastern concept of masculinity immensely interesting. For someone coming from the ultimate north, the Middle Eastern way of touching and showing emotions is completely exotic. In the theoneminutesjr workshop with the teenagers many of the male participants expressed warmth, tendency for romance and friendship in ways that would completely confuse peers in Scandinavia. They talked about their emotions or older relatives in ways that would rarely happen among teenager guys in Finland. One could at the same time have a young man saying that his favourite film is Titanic and some minutes later the same boy would be listening to hard core death metal. Masculinity seems to be defined on a different scale than in up north.
Same could be seen among the bedouins we met during our desert visit. Group of men around a campfire just started dancing – not to impress the women but just to have fun. They also talked about each other with a kindness which would be ridiculed as wimpy in the West.
As I was sharing my confusion with a local woman, she commented with the following:”You have to take into account that most of the men here grow up in a 100 % male environment and they only start interacting with girls or women seriously when they get married. This leads also to sexist remarks to women on the streets and channelling some of the emotions to male friendships.”
Her point is extremely important. At the same time as men are free to express soft emotions on a maybe wider scale than in the north, Jordan is still a country where respectable single women need to keep living with their family or where homes are divided into shared and gender-restricted areas.
There is a lot to say about Jordan. One could write individual posts over food, landscapes, moonlight and so forth. But as my great interest has always been in the behaviour of people, I will focus on that.
I find the Middle Eastern concept of masculinity immensely interesting. For someone coming from the ultimate north, the Middle Eastern way of touching and showing emotions is completely exotic. In the theoneminutesjr workshop with the teenagers many of the male participants expressed warmth, tendency for romance and friendship in ways that would completely confuse peers in Scandinavia. They talked about their emotions or older relatives in ways that would rarely happen among teenager guys in Finland. One could at the same time have a young man saying that his favourite film is Titanic and some minutes later the same boy would be listening to hard core death metal. Masculinity seems to be defined on a different scale than in up north.
Same could be seen among the bedouins we met during our desert visit. Group of men around a campfire just started dancing – not to impress the women but just to have fun. They also talked about each other with a kindness which would be ridiculed as wimpy in the West.
As I was sharing my confusion with a local woman, she commented with the following:”You have to take into account that most of the men here grow up in a 100 % male environment and they only start interacting with girls or women seriously when they get married. This leads also to sexist remarks to women on the streets and channelling some of the emotions to male friendships.”
Her point is extremely important. At the same time as men are free to express soft emotions on a maybe wider scale than in the north, Jordan is still a country where respectable single women need to keep living with their family or where homes are divided into shared and gender-restricted areas.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Abu Dager goes sandrolling
Rocky roads, snow-like sand dunes, tripping donkeys, jogging camels. Jordan is quite amazing. It is a country that seems like another planet for someone coming from the north. It is also a place where you really see what erosion means. When one watches news about climate change, they are quite easy to make concrete over here. The whole landscape is sculpted harshly by winds, water and the sand.
"It's like being in a Windows screensaver", a friend of mine said as we bounced up and down in the open back of the jeep, sand scrubbing our skin. "A bit corny to take pictures which all look like postcards", he continued. We all had our sunglasses on and our red and white Jordanian scarves tightly around our necks.
Oh yes, scrubbing. In addition to the landscapes and among other things a night in a tent in the desert, it has also been a genuine feelgood holiday. From eating kilos of hoummous, plates and plates of tabbouleh, dozens of falafels and chicken cooked on an open fire in the middle of the desert to covering ourselves with the mud of the Dead Sea and sweating the dirt away in a Turkish bath, we have genuinely experienced Jordan in the full. "How is it", asked the Egyptian masseur as he was crunching my back with his knuckles after a day in the ancient city Petra. "Out of this world", could have been my conclusive response over the last few days.
And yes, that is me, Abu Dager (Arabic name given by a Jordanian student on our desert excursion) rolling down a soft dune.
"It's like being in a Windows screensaver", a friend of mine said as we bounced up and down in the open back of the jeep, sand scrubbing our skin. "A bit corny to take pictures which all look like postcards", he continued. We all had our sunglasses on and our red and white Jordanian scarves tightly around our necks.
Oh yes, scrubbing. In addition to the landscapes and among other things a night in a tent in the desert, it has also been a genuine feelgood holiday. From eating kilos of hoummous, plates and plates of tabbouleh, dozens of falafels and chicken cooked on an open fire in the middle of the desert to covering ourselves with the mud of the Dead Sea and sweating the dirt away in a Turkish bath, we have genuinely experienced Jordan in the full. "How is it", asked the Egyptian masseur as he was crunching my back with his knuckles after a day in the ancient city Petra. "Out of this world", could have been my conclusive response over the last few days.
And yes, that is me, Abu Dager (Arabic name given by a Jordanian student on our desert excursion) rolling down a soft dune.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
(BEEP) save the queen
As my colleagues are importing youngsters' video material to the computers, I and a colleague of mine had time to go through blogs. She found the explanation to the censorship of the words 'God' and 'homosexual' from the film The Queen. As I posted some days back, I complained on the same issue to Air France. Here is the AP piece news from Yahoo found through indiewire.com.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Welcome
Second day in Amman, Jordan. I did not really know what to expect. I have never been in this region. We all raised our eyebrows when we saw the road signs near the airport, one saying Iraq and one saying Jerusalem. We really are in the Middle East.
The sun has been shining the entire day as we have been walking around the city with our cameras. I expect to come back with a tan - and a Jordanian scarf. The city has somewhat the same chaotic excitement that you experience in Istanbul.
The best things by now are food and the hospitality of the people. I am once again struck by the warmth that you see in people´s eyes when they insist that the foreigner takes food first, enters from the door first and gets a seat. Same thing that I love in Turkey: people are sincere and kind.
And the food. Humus, fresh salads, tasty olive oil, dried fruit and nuts, fruit juices, tabbouleh, pita bread, falafels. I do not want to go back to the pre-sliced and pre-packed Albert Heijn domain.
The sun has been shining the entire day as we have been walking around the city with our cameras. I expect to come back with a tan - and a Jordanian scarf. The city has somewhat the same chaotic excitement that you experience in Istanbul.
The best things by now are food and the hospitality of the people. I am once again struck by the warmth that you see in people´s eyes when they insist that the foreigner takes food first, enters from the door first and gets a seat. Same thing that I love in Turkey: people are sincere and kind.
And the food. Humus, fresh salads, tasty olive oil, dried fruit and nuts, fruit juices, tabbouleh, pita bread, falafels. I do not want to go back to the pre-sliced and pre-packed Albert Heijn domain.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Email sent today to Air France
(answer will be published in this blog as well)
Dear recipient,
I flew yesterday on Air France from Paris CDG to Amman in Jordan. I was very pleased with the quality of service ranging from excellent food to good quality blankets. I was very positively surprised when I was offered Stephen Frears' Oscar-nominee film The Queen as an in-flight film.
I have seen the film before and was quite surprised when I noticed that words 'God' and 'homosexual' were silenced from the film.
I would be very curious to know what is the reason for this as this for instance destroyed the following piece of dialogue completely:
Queen's Private Secretary:"But you have to realise that she has been brought up to believe that it is God's will that she is in the position."
Tony Blair:"I think we should leave God out of this."
As a frequent passenger of Flying Blue/KLM-Air France, I would highly appreciate an answer indicating the reason for this policy.
With kind regards,
Tommi Laitio
Amsterdam
Dear recipient,
I flew yesterday on Air France from Paris CDG to Amman in Jordan. I was very pleased with the quality of service ranging from excellent food to good quality blankets. I was very positively surprised when I was offered Stephen Frears' Oscar-nominee film The Queen as an in-flight film.
I have seen the film before and was quite surprised when I noticed that words 'God' and 'homosexual' were silenced from the film.
I would be very curious to know what is the reason for this as this for instance destroyed the following piece of dialogue completely:
Queen's Private Secretary:"But you have to realise that she has been brought up to believe that it is God's will that she is in the position."
Tony Blair:"I think we should leave God out of this."
As a frequent passenger of Flying Blue/KLM-Air France, I would highly appreciate an answer indicating the reason for this policy.
With kind regards,
Tommi Laitio
Amsterdam
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Lights out, the film is about to begin
The Oscar nominations were published today. As I should be concentrating on the on-going presentation in this seminar, I will just run through them shortly. There are still a number of films to see but just based on the films I have seen it is easy to do the following remarks:
- Americans are very easy to shock. Nothing else explains the Best Picture nomination of the quasiprovocative Little Miss Sunshine.
- Dreamgirls is a must-see film. I have been listening already to the soundtrack for weeks. Comeback of good music.
- A scriptwriter friend of mine told me that it is wonderful to see a film like The Last King of Scotland - a film on Africa where the blacks are not only sidekicks to a Caucasian hero.
- Meryl Streep deserves the nomination although the Oscar ought to go for Helen Mirren for her stunning performance in The Queen - even before seeing Judi Dench in Notes on A Scandal.
- Winner of Best Documentary is a tough competition and I must say that I hope it is not An Inconvenient Truth. I would favour Jesus Camp.
- I think I need to go and see Babel. The Guardian's main critic Peter Bradshaw found it superficial, scattered and simplified whereas some of my friends have praised it.
- Americans are very easy to shock. Nothing else explains the Best Picture nomination of the quasiprovocative Little Miss Sunshine.
- Dreamgirls is a must-see film. I have been listening already to the soundtrack for weeks. Comeback of good music.
- A scriptwriter friend of mine told me that it is wonderful to see a film like The Last King of Scotland - a film on Africa where the blacks are not only sidekicks to a Caucasian hero.
- Meryl Streep deserves the nomination although the Oscar ought to go for Helen Mirren for her stunning performance in The Queen - even before seeing Judi Dench in Notes on A Scandal.
- Winner of Best Documentary is a tough competition and I must say that I hope it is not An Inconvenient Truth. I would favour Jesus Camp.
- I think I need to go and see Babel. The Guardian's main critic Peter Bradshaw found it superficial, scattered and simplified whereas some of my friends have praised it.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Glimpse on reality (TV)
Prime Minister in-waiting makes a statement on whom people should evict from Big Brother. ”A vote for Shilpa is a vote for Britain”, Gordon Brown declares on his visit to a Bollywood studio in India. The Guardian writes five articles in one issue over the programme. Indian demonstrators burn pictures of one the participants of the British Celebrity Big Brother. Big Brother is discussed simultaneously on BBC1 and BBC2. Channel 4 loses a 3 million pound sponsorship. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell gets questions on the show in House of Commons. ”Jade Goody has run the United Kingdom into an international crisis”, says Big Brother host Davina McCall.
Are you thinking the same as I am: has this country gone totally mad or don’t they just have any real problems?
The Big Brother drama escalated this week when three of the participants (Goody as the leader of the pack) were persistently bullying the Indian film star who was in the house. Most of the viewers were disgusted when Goody said that she does not want to eat the food Shilpa cooked because she doesn’t know where her hands have been. Goody’s mother renamed Shilpa Shetty Princess because she found her name too difficult to pronounce. The issue started getting more and more attention as it was seen as an alarming example of pure racism.
On first thought I found this a typical example of overdeveloped British political correctness. ”It was just one comment”, I ironically stated. But my opinion changed yesterday.
I met a British friend of mine for a drink in Soho. Her parents moved from Bangladesh to the UK before her birth. She is an award-winning playwright and has done several scripts on issues that could maybe be defined as multicultural. As we were sipping our white wine, she mentioned that her two children have been watching the show with full attention and been very upset. She was quite calm on the issue but sighed:”All of us have had those comments for instance of our names being two difficult to pronounce.”
Her comment made me ponder. As she pointed out, the people who have been in the media asking people to calm down have been with without exception Caucasian. In that sense it was not just one simple comment by a non-educated young woman. It was an example of something far bigger. The difficulty was also shown when white editors of quality newspapers put all the blame on Jade Goody’s working class background. ”Maybe she should have invested some of her 8 million pounds on education instead of a boob job”, The Guardian snobbishly stated of the woman who has made a fortune with a fragrance and a diet programme.
For me the Big Brother fuss showed how we still have a lot to do before cultural diversity actually comes a non-issue. We still have a lot to do when non-Europeans need to change their names so that they would be ”pronouncable” for Europeans or when stating one’s nationality is followed with a remark:”But I mean really, where do you COME FROM?”
P.S. Someone should have told Brown that on Big Brother you actually vote for the person you wish to evict. But then again, he is the same guy who said that he listens to Arctic Monkeys every morning but could not name one single song on a radio interview. Hip to be square.
Are you thinking the same as I am: has this country gone totally mad or don’t they just have any real problems?
The Big Brother drama escalated this week when three of the participants (Goody as the leader of the pack) were persistently bullying the Indian film star who was in the house. Most of the viewers were disgusted when Goody said that she does not want to eat the food Shilpa cooked because she doesn’t know where her hands have been. Goody’s mother renamed Shilpa Shetty Princess because she found her name too difficult to pronounce. The issue started getting more and more attention as it was seen as an alarming example of pure racism.
On first thought I found this a typical example of overdeveloped British political correctness. ”It was just one comment”, I ironically stated. But my opinion changed yesterday.
I met a British friend of mine for a drink in Soho. Her parents moved from Bangladesh to the UK before her birth. She is an award-winning playwright and has done several scripts on issues that could maybe be defined as multicultural. As we were sipping our white wine, she mentioned that her two children have been watching the show with full attention and been very upset. She was quite calm on the issue but sighed:”All of us have had those comments for instance of our names being two difficult to pronounce.”
Her comment made me ponder. As she pointed out, the people who have been in the media asking people to calm down have been with without exception Caucasian. In that sense it was not just one simple comment by a non-educated young woman. It was an example of something far bigger. The difficulty was also shown when white editors of quality newspapers put all the blame on Jade Goody’s working class background. ”Maybe she should have invested some of her 8 million pounds on education instead of a boob job”, The Guardian snobbishly stated of the woman who has made a fortune with a fragrance and a diet programme.
For me the Big Brother fuss showed how we still have a lot to do before cultural diversity actually comes a non-issue. We still have a lot to do when non-Europeans need to change their names so that they would be ”pronouncable” for Europeans or when stating one’s nationality is followed with a remark:”But I mean really, where do you COME FROM?”
P.S. Someone should have told Brown that on Big Brother you actually vote for the person you wish to evict. But then again, he is the same guy who said that he listens to Arctic Monkeys every morning but could not name one single song on a radio interview. Hip to be square.
Friday, January 19, 2007
A high probability of wind in the Netherlands
It has been ridiculously windy in the Netherlands during the last weeks. In these circumstances one realises what it means to live next to the Atlantic. I have seen people falling down with their bikes only due to the wind.
Yesterday it got totally out of hand. In the morning we were laughing with colleagues as it was difficult to make way to the nearby cafe. Towards the afternoon the mood changed as the news started coming in. Flights were cancelled. Two people were killed when a tree fell on a car. The railway station of Amsterdam was closed because of the risk of the roof falling down. All train traffic was cancelled. Sound blocks on the motorway fell on the street.
Colleagues started checking that their children were OK and packed their bags early to head home. Reception checked whether there is still room in the nearby hotel. Meetings were cancelled. Taxi traffic was stopped for several hours.
I had to fly yesterday evening to Heathrow, London. Around four it became clear that the flight was cancelled but they still advised to head to the airport for rescheduling. I texted my mother and got a worried SMS back in half a minute. I asked her not to worry.
At the airport things were surprisingly calm and they put me on an earlier flight to London. With my friend we spent the evening eating pasta and watching the extended debate on the racist comments on Celebrity Big Brother. Now I am having a late breakfast in a cafe on the sunny South Bank. All good and well in the end.
It was interesting following people's reactions yesterday. I am not used to being scared of nature and found myself being rather calm. Some of my colleagues reacted panicky to every single loud sound - one caused by me when my backpack fell down from a chair and knocked down a lamp. I was wondering why I stayed so calm. I guess it is the Finnish trust on the state to fix things and belief that strategies for situations like these have been planned. I don't even know if that is the case.
Have to go. 30 mins in an Internet cafe is over.
Yesterday it got totally out of hand. In the morning we were laughing with colleagues as it was difficult to make way to the nearby cafe. Towards the afternoon the mood changed as the news started coming in. Flights were cancelled. Two people were killed when a tree fell on a car. The railway station of Amsterdam was closed because of the risk of the roof falling down. All train traffic was cancelled. Sound blocks on the motorway fell on the street.
Colleagues started checking that their children were OK and packed their bags early to head home. Reception checked whether there is still room in the nearby hotel. Meetings were cancelled. Taxi traffic was stopped for several hours.
I had to fly yesterday evening to Heathrow, London. Around four it became clear that the flight was cancelled but they still advised to head to the airport for rescheduling. I texted my mother and got a worried SMS back in half a minute. I asked her not to worry.
At the airport things were surprisingly calm and they put me on an earlier flight to London. With my friend we spent the evening eating pasta and watching the extended debate on the racist comments on Celebrity Big Brother. Now I am having a late breakfast in a cafe on the sunny South Bank. All good and well in the end.
It was interesting following people's reactions yesterday. I am not used to being scared of nature and found myself being rather calm. Some of my colleagues reacted panicky to every single loud sound - one caused by me when my backpack fell down from a chair and knocked down a lamp. I was wondering why I stayed so calm. I guess it is the Finnish trust on the state to fix things and belief that strategies for situations like these have been planned. I don't even know if that is the case.
Have to go. 30 mins in an Internet cafe is over.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Spill Over
Today is a good day. Finished a decent Finnish collection of short stories and finally plunged into Kjell Westö's ode to Helsinki, his Finlandia literature prize winner novel Missä kuljimme kerran. Only read 60 pages by now but loving it already. The way he describes Helsinki in the beginning of 1900s is thrilling as he writes about the district where I used to live. Originally written in Swedish but the translation is also very good.
The biggest reason for joy today is www.pandora.com. It is a product of the Music Genome Project and basically a free on-demand radio. You put in an artist and it plays - FOR FREE - music of similar kind. So you put in an artist you like and you are able to find great new artists you will probably like. My artist of today has been Jackson 5 so it is a Motown day with The Temptations and so forth. The only thing on the site is that you need to register with a US zip code but with some innovativity that can be overcome. Just think of Brandon Walsh, as my friend Bettina kindly advised.
The other reason for joy is that I have discovered great cartoon blogs from Finland. I keep checking Hilloa kansalle and Jupu daily. They are fantastic, especially Hilloa kansalle which is done by a young guy presumably doing his non-military service. It is very straight-forward which I find thrilling.
The biggest reason for joy today is www.pandora.com. It is a product of the Music Genome Project and basically a free on-demand radio. You put in an artist and it plays - FOR FREE - music of similar kind. So you put in an artist you like and you are able to find great new artists you will probably like. My artist of today has been Jackson 5 so it is a Motown day with The Temptations and so forth. The only thing on the site is that you need to register with a US zip code but with some innovativity that can be overcome. Just think of Brandon Walsh, as my friend Bettina kindly advised.
The other reason for joy is that I have discovered great cartoon blogs from Finland. I keep checking Hilloa kansalle and Jupu daily. They are fantastic, especially Hilloa kansalle which is done by a young guy presumably doing his non-military service. It is very straight-forward which I find thrilling.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Learning with entertainment
Due to my work I attended last year a session where TV professionals discussed the role of humour when showing minorities. They showed clips from different successful programmes from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany that deal with ethnic minorities.
I knew most of the examples from the UK and have been watching and enjoying shows such as the BBC production Kumars at 42. But I was quite appalled by the German and Dutch programmes. The worst one I saw was a German producion called Turkish for Beginners. As a British playwright Tanika Gupta pointed out in the panel discussion, in the German case one saw that white people were making fun of immigrants where as in the other examples the humour came from within the minority group or was done with people from the minority group. In that sense I think there is no difference whether one deals with gays or ethnic minorities.
A new show has started in Canada which sounds very promising. Little Mosque on the Prairie is a comedy series of a little village where the Muslim community lives side by side with the Christian community. The writer of the series, Zarqa Nawaz said this week to Reuters:"It is important to win the prejudice that Muslims are not funny or that they have they no sense of humour or that they do not have similar relations like others." The CBC series has been a success both among critics and the audience gathering 2,1 million viewers on first screening.
The few clips on the site seem funny and I am looking forward to the serries starting in Europe. I believe in the power over non-preaching entertainment in overcoming stereotypes. I just remember the huge impract of soap operas in Finland in issues relating to gays, handicapped people or teenager boys' style.
I knew most of the examples from the UK and have been watching and enjoying shows such as the BBC production Kumars at 42. But I was quite appalled by the German and Dutch programmes. The worst one I saw was a German producion called Turkish for Beginners. As a British playwright Tanika Gupta pointed out in the panel discussion, in the German case one saw that white people were making fun of immigrants where as in the other examples the humour came from within the minority group or was done with people from the minority group. In that sense I think there is no difference whether one deals with gays or ethnic minorities.
A new show has started in Canada which sounds very promising. Little Mosque on the Prairie is a comedy series of a little village where the Muslim community lives side by side with the Christian community. The writer of the series, Zarqa Nawaz said this week to Reuters:"It is important to win the prejudice that Muslims are not funny or that they have they no sense of humour or that they do not have similar relations like others." The CBC series has been a success both among critics and the audience gathering 2,1 million viewers on first screening.
The few clips on the site seem funny and I am looking forward to the serries starting in Europe. I believe in the power over non-preaching entertainment in overcoming stereotypes. I just remember the huge impract of soap operas in Finland in issues relating to gays, handicapped people or teenager boys' style.
Shake that thing, shake it!
Hmm....I have developed during the last few weeks with a friend of mine this habit of sending bizarre YouTube videos back and forth by email. I sent her some time ago the video (in this blog) from Jerry Springer The Opera. She tops it with this I believe Japanese music video.
I just had a discussion about Japan with a friend of mine last week. I really want rto go there as I feel I need to see a culture where modernity takes completely different forms and shapes.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Banging the ugly one
'The Thames Sprite' (From The Series: Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful)
Originally uploaded by doublevelvet.
This question stems from reading two recently published Finnish novels. Both are praised by critics as brave and what have you. I am talking about the winner of the Helsingin Sanomat literature prize, Armas Alvari's Varmat tapaukset and rockstar-gone-novelist Kauko Röyhkä's Avec.
I don't know whether the problem is the topic or their skills. I have been reading these two books page after page and find myself thinking: I have read this before and this is so quasi-brave. Röyhkä builds on sensationalism while Alvari trusts on describing the boring life most of us live. Describing spanking or watching your daughter having sex in full detail has all been done before. And most importantly: better.
Or maybe my standards are just a bit higher after reading Finland's Charles Bukowski, Henrik Tikkanen over the holidays. Tikkanen goes through his neglecting alcoholic parents, failed marriages, sex adventures with prostitutes and his own love affairs and alcoholism in a way which is at the same time witty, sad and funny. This is one of those few books which I plan to read a couple of times. Just a short quote (sorry for the poor translation):
"Was I able to suffer? Every time I had tried suffering, I had fallen out of the role and the whole suffering had started to feel silly. My sense of humour failed me. It was difficult for me to get going the sentimental feeling, which is the basis in Finland for creating art, oppressing the women and declaring patriotism. I lacked the purity of the feeling which is the foundation of all greatness."
- Henrik Tikkanen (1976): Majavatie 11
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