Thursday 8 November 2012
Dem photes ain't workn'
So I took a peep at this ole rag again today and noticed that most of the photos no longer work. Posibly because most of them are linked to a friend's facebook, possibly not. Either way I can't be bothered to fix it since aproximately one Carl actually looks at this thing. HI CARL!
Friday 7 September 2012
Combatting the Poo Brain
More than one post in a month! I must have come down with a brain fever!
As I said in my previous post, I feel to be suffering from the poo brain, an affliction where in my brain does basically nothing and my facial expression is similar to the posted picture of everyone's second favourite Batman (because lets face it, those two movies with George Clooney as Batman are pretty fantastic). In light of this, lately I have been trying to work my brain muscle in some way or another and you know what? I feel like writing could be a fun thing so here I go on another rambling gallivant through my cranial spaces in search of some sort of coherent thought. Oddly enough I'd like to say a quick little thanks to Team Petootz and one C. Doom-Hammer for providing enough thought provoking blog material between the three of them to actually motivate me to do something, which is something teachers have been trying to do for close to 20 years. Good on 'em.
Otherwise, let try and unclog some of this poo from my brain. One would think that starting a project would be a good way to do such a thing and being a manual labour kinda guy that would generally entail making something. Sadly in my current circumstances I can't do that because I have no access to tools and I'm moving in less than 2 weeks so I'd like as little stuff as possible (but I'd still really like to try may hand at some blacksmithing) so that leaves me with trying to pump the old mind muscle with some other endeavors such as the ramble you're reading (or at least skimming), drawing and attempting to learn Finnish whilst skateboarding. Now writing is pretty self explanatory, what with this blog being the form it's taking and all that jazz so I shan't go into that and I'm guessing a majority of my readership (do I even have a readership or am I just writing to no one?) already know that I have spent 4+ years doing drawing as part of my industrial design education so I feel I'd really just be telling you junk you already know there as well. Which leaves me with the interesting field of learning Finnish and skateboarding at the same time.
Now I should probably point out that this isn't some hilarious concept for learning a difficult Finno-Uralic language with enough variations for each word to make your head spin. Mercy me no, not at all. I just happen to have made friends with a local group of skateboarders and curiously enough they tend to speak to each other in Finnish swapping to English when something important comes up. As a result I don't have much to do while they're talking (other than skateboarding) but listen to them and try and figure out what's going on and the result of that is me slowly gaining an understanding of this rather mind boggling language. I certainly wouldn't understand a full conversation and I certainly can't say much but I have been very proud to confuse the hell out of various Finnish people by commenting on conversations that they had assumed I wouldn't understand. So far I can only really do this while talking about skateboards and a few other basic subjects but hey, that's a start.
Now one would think it would make logical sense to take this chance to listen to Finnish all the time by supplementing it with some book learning and you'd be right. However that's not how I roll, preferring instead to piece together an understanding of the language through reading whatever I can get my hands on (I've become quite good at deciphering fast food menus) and asking questions because sadly I'm not a guy that can be trusted to study on his own. Which is something I should really work on because I'm probably missing out on a whole range of educational benefits. But I am really finding that in the last month or two that I have been hanging with these cool cats, my understanding of the language has drastically improved. It probably has a lot to do with Finnish borrowing a lot of words from English when it comes to skateboards but whatever. I find it quite irritating that in all my months prior to meeting these guys, I had made very little head way with my linguistics simply because Finns are so accepting of the fact that their language is so god damned difficult. When they meet someone for the first time they'll talk to you in Finnish and the second you don't react they automatically switch to English and it's very hard to get them to change back, thus throwing away any chance you had to practice your Finnish. I have literally had Finnish people tell me to not bother learning Finnish because its too hard if you're not raised with it and everyone speaks English anyway. Which is a shame because its a pretty cool language with a lot of letters that most folks can't pronounce. Here's an example for you from my favourite internet famous Finn.
P.S. Some of the controls for this blog are in Finnish, how neat is that!
Otherwise, let try and unclog some of this poo from my brain. One would think that starting a project would be a good way to do such a thing and being a manual labour kinda guy that would generally entail making something. Sadly in my current circumstances I can't do that because I have no access to tools and I'm moving in less than 2 weeks so I'd like as little stuff as possible (but I'd still really like to try may hand at some blacksmithing) so that leaves me with trying to pump the old mind muscle with some other endeavors such as the ramble you're reading (or at least skimming), drawing and attempting to learn Finnish whilst skateboarding. Now writing is pretty self explanatory, what with this blog being the form it's taking and all that jazz so I shan't go into that and I'm guessing a majority of my readership (do I even have a readership or am I just writing to no one?) already know that I have spent 4+ years doing drawing as part of my industrial design education so I feel I'd really just be telling you junk you already know there as well. Which leaves me with the interesting field of learning Finnish and skateboarding at the same time.
Now I should probably point out that this isn't some hilarious concept for learning a difficult Finno-Uralic language with enough variations for each word to make your head spin. Mercy me no, not at all. I just happen to have made friends with a local group of skateboarders and curiously enough they tend to speak to each other in Finnish swapping to English when something important comes up. As a result I don't have much to do while they're talking (other than skateboarding) but listen to them and try and figure out what's going on and the result of that is me slowly gaining an understanding of this rather mind boggling language. I certainly wouldn't understand a full conversation and I certainly can't say much but I have been very proud to confuse the hell out of various Finnish people by commenting on conversations that they had assumed I wouldn't understand. So far I can only really do this while talking about skateboards and a few other basic subjects but hey, that's a start.
Now one would think it would make logical sense to take this chance to listen to Finnish all the time by supplementing it with some book learning and you'd be right. However that's not how I roll, preferring instead to piece together an understanding of the language through reading whatever I can get my hands on (I've become quite good at deciphering fast food menus) and asking questions because sadly I'm not a guy that can be trusted to study on his own. Which is something I should really work on because I'm probably missing out on a whole range of educational benefits. But I am really finding that in the last month or two that I have been hanging with these cool cats, my understanding of the language has drastically improved. It probably has a lot to do with Finnish borrowing a lot of words from English when it comes to skateboards but whatever. I find it quite irritating that in all my months prior to meeting these guys, I had made very little head way with my linguistics simply because Finns are so accepting of the fact that their language is so god damned difficult. When they meet someone for the first time they'll talk to you in Finnish and the second you don't react they automatically switch to English and it's very hard to get them to change back, thus throwing away any chance you had to practice your Finnish. I have literally had Finnish people tell me to not bother learning Finnish because its too hard if you're not raised with it and everyone speaks English anyway. Which is a shame because its a pretty cool language with a lot of letters that most folks can't pronounce. Here's an example for you from my favourite internet famous Finn.
P.S. Some of the controls for this blog are in Finnish, how neat is that!
Thursday 6 September 2012
Gettn' the Poo Brain
I think it is possible that 9 months of living a life of comfort and leisure in Finland may have made my brain space into naught but a mush used to process nothing more than "what should I have for dinner?", "what TV show or movie should I watch?" and occasionally "what do I want to drink?". I think it may be a lack of intellectual stimulation that may have bought around the rather severe case of the Poo Brain that I am now suffering. I can tell you, its not so great. I think the best way to combat this would be to craft something. I am strongly considering taking some sort of knife making course when I return to the land of Australia. That'd be cool. I think the best possible career path would be that of a blacksmith. Think about it, working all day in a forge hammering steel and in the evening I'd be the one that the local tavern would call to settle ruckuses due to my burly strength attained behind the anvil. I can't really imagine any real conceivable down side to that. Just think, I could make armor!
Sunday 2 September 2012
"KORKOKENKÄKUKKAMEKKOSUOHIIHTO 2012" an excercise report
This is a post at the request of one C. Doomantle and is a study of the video KORKOKENKÄKUKKAMEKKOSUOHIIHTO 2012 and the quality of workout achieved by such an activity. There is also a smaller report as to whether this sport is as fun to do as it is to watch that will be addressed in a different article.
Korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto 2012 or "high-heels-flower-dress-cross-country-skiing" is a video depicting the act of several Finnish ladies taking part in an event where they race across marsh land in the Pudasjärvi region of Finland on modified skis, whilst wearing summer dresses with flower prints on them. This paper will endeavor to analyze the benefits and level of physical activity created by taking part in the activity.
Despite minor differences in the equipment used, it would stand to reason that many of the health benefits found in cross-country skiing would also be found in korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto. These health benefits are many for cross-country skiing offering a workout that works a majority of the muscles in the body, burns calories quickly, increases cardio-vascular fitness and due to its low impact nature provides a good base to build strong joints. A majority of these benefits could easily be applied to the activity depicted in the video above to a lesser extent than that of traditional cross country skiing. Many of the same muscles would still be worked during this activity as they would be in cross-country skiing. That is except for the lower legs. Due to the nature of the skis using high heeled shoes rather than traditional ski bindings that allow for free movement of the heels, more emphasis is placed on the calf muscles and many of those in the posterior chain of the individuals taking part, thusly giving them a fine set of pins and some nice butts to boot. Calorie burning is a field that it would be said that korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto is not as effective as traditional cross-country skiing for two reasons. Firstly the activity of korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto is not as vigorous as that of cross-country skiing due to participants having to move slowly in order to negotiate the difficult marsh land terrain (this would however create a stronger workout for the muscles being utilized). Secondly the temperature in which the athletes are working plays a roll in the amount of calories burnt, one simply burns more calories in a cold environment that they do in a warm one, so simply because of the fact that this activity takes place in summer it can be said that less calories are burnt. Similar points can also be made in relation to the aerobic nature of the activity as well. The low impact nature of traditional cross country skiing along with the sustained high heart rate it creates allows the participant to keep their heart and lungs working at a consistent rate for an extended period. However in the case of korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto this is not as evident. As previously mentioned the slower nature of this activity puts more strain on the muscles and as a result they will fatigue faster and as a result a sustained cardio work out is harder to achive. This in-ability to keep a sustained low impact workout also has an effect on the joint health promoted by cross-country skiing as the joints, which while still be moved to a full range of motion, may have un-necessary stresses placed upon them that could prove detrimental to their health due to skis becoming stuck in the mud and other such mishaps.
In closing one could conclude that there is a decent workout to be had whilst partaking in korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto but in doing so one would want to pay great attention to what is going on in front of you.
Korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto 2012 or "high-heels-flower-dress-cross-country-skiing" is a video depicting the act of several Finnish ladies taking part in an event where they race across marsh land in the Pudasjärvi region of Finland on modified skis, whilst wearing summer dresses with flower prints on them. This paper will endeavor to analyze the benefits and level of physical activity created by taking part in the activity.
Despite minor differences in the equipment used, it would stand to reason that many of the health benefits found in cross-country skiing would also be found in korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto. These health benefits are many for cross-country skiing offering a workout that works a majority of the muscles in the body, burns calories quickly, increases cardio-vascular fitness and due to its low impact nature provides a good base to build strong joints. A majority of these benefits could easily be applied to the activity depicted in the video above to a lesser extent than that of traditional cross country skiing. Many of the same muscles would still be worked during this activity as they would be in cross-country skiing. That is except for the lower legs. Due to the nature of the skis using high heeled shoes rather than traditional ski bindings that allow for free movement of the heels, more emphasis is placed on the calf muscles and many of those in the posterior chain of the individuals taking part, thusly giving them a fine set of pins and some nice butts to boot. Calorie burning is a field that it would be said that korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto is not as effective as traditional cross-country skiing for two reasons. Firstly the activity of korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto is not as vigorous as that of cross-country skiing due to participants having to move slowly in order to negotiate the difficult marsh land terrain (this would however create a stronger workout for the muscles being utilized). Secondly the temperature in which the athletes are working plays a roll in the amount of calories burnt, one simply burns more calories in a cold environment that they do in a warm one, so simply because of the fact that this activity takes place in summer it can be said that less calories are burnt. Similar points can also be made in relation to the aerobic nature of the activity as well. The low impact nature of traditional cross country skiing along with the sustained high heart rate it creates allows the participant to keep their heart and lungs working at a consistent rate for an extended period. However in the case of korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto this is not as evident. As previously mentioned the slower nature of this activity puts more strain on the muscles and as a result they will fatigue faster and as a result a sustained cardio work out is harder to achive. This in-ability to keep a sustained low impact workout also has an effect on the joint health promoted by cross-country skiing as the joints, which while still be moved to a full range of motion, may have un-necessary stresses placed upon them that could prove detrimental to their health due to skis becoming stuck in the mud and other such mishaps.
In closing one could conclude that there is a decent workout to be had whilst partaking in korkokenkäkukkamekkosuohiihto but in doing so one would want to pay great attention to what is going on in front of you.
Monday 27 August 2012
A just funkn' around
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| Fresh picked flavour capsules |
There is however a lot of messin' about involved in shooting back to the home land and that is mostly concerned with getting all my junk home. It would seem that I have acquired far more stuff than I had thought while I was here and getting it all back is proving to be an expensive exercise as I have spent almost 150 euro on postage so far and there is more to come. I am getting good at packing boxes though. I sometimes wish I was strong enough to just throw all my belongings back to Australia but I don't think that will be happening anytime soon.
I don't really have anything interesting to say here I just felt like having a bit of a ramble. Oh did you know I went to the Czech republic and waited in a bunch of lines? I also made friends with some Danish dudes. That was a swell time. I sure hope a cat rubs its self on you at some point in the future. Cats are nice. I like cats, do you?
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Oh yeah, this old thing
Not that I think anyone really reads my non-proof read, poorly spelled and punctuated mindless rants but I figured just in case I'd give the low down on what's been going down in the old Finland. The answer to that is not really that much for the last week or so. Prior to that though I have been on several super cool skate trips which have seen me heading into the lappish wilderness and going down some big hills quite fast on a skateboard. It was quite the surreal experience as we did a majority of our skating between the hours of 6pm and 5am because there are no cars and the sun doesn't set. There were several times where we would have to stop in the middle of a run because a family of reindeer would run over the road, get scared and then start running in every direction and falling over which made things interesting. I even got to do some driving which was interesting considering that everything about it was the opposite to what I'm used to. All in all those were some swell times that can be viewed in this here video.
A week or so after that I had the pleasure to visit my good friend Sampo and his family at their summer cabin in southern Finland. This has been something on my to do list since I first came to Finland and I must say it did not disappoint. The basic idea of a summer cabin in Finland is that it is a somewhat basic house that you go to during the summer to have a relaxing time without all the hassles of modern living. They are usually in a lovely and picturesque location next to a lake or the ocean or some such. Many of them don't have electricity or running wanter, however the one I was at had electricity and bore water (you couldn't drink it but it was good for washing things and the like. It is also common for them to have a composting toilet rather than a flushing one and oddly enough they don't really smell and they have a nice little window in the side so you can observe the wilderness while you take care of your business. And of course there is a lovely wood fired sauna. Basically what we got up to at the cabin was help out with some yard work, play lots of games (Mölkky is a game worth investigating), eat well, have sauna (which involves and invigorating jump into the sea), picking berries and mushrooms and go traveling around the area in a boat (Once we even took the boat to the store). All in all a most relaxing time indeed.
But now that that exciting stuff has happened I've mostly been hanging out in Rovaniemi. I fixed up a bike the other day that I hope to sell it and I created a delicious egg custard type bake thing using some blueberries I picked in the forest near my house (which is delicious). I have also become a favorite snack stop for the local mosquito population which kinda sucks.
Also you should look at this http://teddytourslapland.com/catalog/etusivu.php
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| The cabin in question |
But now that that exciting stuff has happened I've mostly been hanging out in Rovaniemi. I fixed up a bike the other day that I hope to sell it and I created a delicious egg custard type bake thing using some blueberries I picked in the forest near my house (which is delicious). I have also become a favorite snack stop for the local mosquito population which kinda sucks.
Also you should look at this http://teddytourslapland.com/catalog/etusivu.php
Thursday 5 July 2012
In the summer time...
So after the merriment of traveling around various parts of Europe (namely Estonia, Lativia for a few hours, Germany and Ireland) I have arrived back in sleepy old Rovaniemi. It was certainly nice to get back here after spending something like a month and a half sharing a room with someone every night, sleeping with ear plugs in and occasionally sleeping in some very uncomfortable beds. The internet access was nice too. I do however miss the lovely people I was staying with for a majority of the time. I'll say this about the Irish, they are VERY welcoming and do quite like to feed people when the come to visit. I was feel quite awkward a lot of the time as I was being fussed over and practically waited on and having things paid for for me. You should go to Ireland because its cool. You should also seriously consider going to Estonia too, because Estonia is a jewel in the Baltic that too few have seen. For more details on my lovely adventures feel free to stalk my facebook.
Now that I'm back in Finland I have resolved to try and lose a bunch of the fat and laziness that I gained in Ireland from living the good life. As a result I'm getting really good at making omlettes and I now make a real nice chilli. This week has been all sun and I was recently put in contact with the local longboarding community and thusly I have spent the last few days skateboarding, losing skin and generally having a merry old time. I can see my self almost being good at it by the end of the month. Sadly though, this town is the most uninspiring and depressing place to try and train parkour which has lead me to not do it much, which is a real shame because I love doing that silly leaping about and all that. So the net result of summer up here looks like it will be I get good at longboarding but worse at parkour. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
In other news I'll be jetting down to a friend's summer island later in the month where I will be having sauna and lounging around on a beach like a casual gent. I'll report back in that later.
Now that I'm back in Finland I have resolved to try and lose a bunch of the fat and laziness that I gained in Ireland from living the good life. As a result I'm getting really good at making omlettes and I now make a real nice chilli. This week has been all sun and I was recently put in contact with the local longboarding community and thusly I have spent the last few days skateboarding, losing skin and generally having a merry old time. I can see my self almost being good at it by the end of the month. Sadly though, this town is the most uninspiring and depressing place to try and train parkour which has lead me to not do it much, which is a real shame because I love doing that silly leaping about and all that. So the net result of summer up here looks like it will be I get good at longboarding but worse at parkour. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
In other news I'll be jetting down to a friend's summer island later in the month where I will be having sauna and lounging around on a beach like a casual gent. I'll report back in that later.
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