Relight My Fire... and Burn That Fat Goddamit :-)

Tuomo writes: Just got back from the gym - it was the third time this week. So what's so special about that, you might ask? Well, the last time was in... hmm... August, I believe, and my clothes are showing the signs of mysterious tightening around the waist... On a positive note, I didn't weigh more than 215lbs/98kgs, which is still about 5lbs more than when I arrived in Canada.

And that, my dear readers, makes me certifiably fah-eh-at, or so fat that it affects the pronunciation of a perfectly good monosyllabic word making it into a trisyllabic word. I practically jiggle when I breathe...

Ok enough with the wallowing in self-pity. As I mentioned, I've been three times to the gym this week, AND on top of that, last night I even went to a Step class with Angie at the community centre. I haven't been going for the past three months or so due to my schedule. Then there were some personality issues with an instructor who played the music so loud that you could barely hear her instrutions, and words like knee and vee would sound alike (quite important if you've ever been to a step class). Most of all, I didn't think her workout was very organized: not only did she not bother to repeat the instructions after the first set but she didn't seem to have much symmetry either. In one word, her choreography sucked.

Anyway, there's this other lady; she must be in her late 50s or so, and we refer to her affectionately as the Pretzel Lady. She's fun, her music is fun, and her workouts are fun, yet delightfully challenging. So last night, at one point the following song came up, another song I hadn't heard in a long time. Ah the memories...



It's Lulu, sweetie darling, Lulu! :-)

Anyway, I hope to hear expressions like V step, repeater, and straddle in the near future. And hopefully I'll be back to 200lbs by the holidays, i.e. starting weight, before we rejoin Weight Watchers...

(Cute) Things That Dave Says

Tuomo writes: As Dave was getting ready to go to work (and I lay in bed because I don't have to be at Kwantlen until 2PM), a Kinder Egg commercial came on. Dave, in his ultimate sense of things to say exclaimed, "That's a fabulous idea to put two things together: chocolate and toys. That's worth a Nobel Prize!"

Kinder Eggs... Available all over the world - except in the US where children automatically choke on them :-)

Wet Wednesday - and the Cute Mascots

Tuomo writes: It snowed on Monday, and man was the commute home a drag. It wasn't as if it was downright perilous to drive home, but there were stretches where there were no lights other than those of on-coming traffic. With my increasingly (?!) limited nightvision, I found this annoying to say the least...

It snowed some more in the Downtown Vancouver area whereas here in Langley it just rained, and it was otherwise just chilly and nasty. Tomorrow's not supposed to be that much better. Interestingly though, the forecast for tomorrow this morning promised sunshine, but as of a couple of hours ago, it'll be raining from now on till March (only kiddin'!)

Apart from the weather, people have been talking about the mascots for the Vancouver Winter 2010 Winter Olympics: Quatchi, Miga, Sumi, and the fourth, honourary member Mukmuk. I personally find the anime-inspired characters adorable. But that's just li'l ole me who loves anime and other cute cartoon-y creatures (as Dave can attest!)... What about you? Have a look at the following clip and discuss :-)






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnSncdPP8VY

What's going on? (Part 2)

Tuomo writes: As I mentioned earlier, I've been taking this class at Kwantlen University College. By now we've reached the stage where we are ready to start working on how to write resumes and cover letters. We were asked to find a job announcement that we could see ourselves applying for; then the past two weeks we worked on creating fabulous resumes and even more fabulous cover letters. All of this culminated in a mock interview that was videotaped and stuff....

In my case, I happened to come across an announcement for an assistant opening at the international admissions office at Kwantlen. The best aspect of this was that the actual deadline for this opening would be at the end of the two week period, i.e. the day after the mock interview! My old, three-page resume was definitely in need of updating, and thanks to all the brainstorming and drafting we did in class, I now have a spiffy two-page kick-ass resume. Moreover, writing a cover letter was not that challenging either. However, all of this did take two weeks to develop and fine-tune, and last Thursday, after the mock interview (and having actually submitted the application!) I was quite exhausted. During that time, no time or energy for me to blog although I did have plenty of ideas to blog about...

Oh and the most interesting outcome from the whole process so far: one of the two interviewers at the interview actually works in international students' admissions!!! Whoohooo!!!!

Anyway, I called the Human Resources office this morning to check if they had received my application... and according to the person I talked to, it was still there. Meaning that it had made it beyond the first screening and that it hasn't been shredded yet... Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

In the meantime, I've been volunteering in ESL and Linguistics at the Learning Centre on Richmond campus where I've been taking the Career Choices and Life Success class. I'm hopeful that this experience will also lead to an interview and subsequently a job... This one would be a parttime/on-call position though, but that's still a bazillion times better than what I'm doing now... You gotta start somewhere... At the same time, the admissions office position is a fulltime position though only for a limited time.

Decisions, decisions...!

Bawling My Eyes out on the Highway

Tuomo writes: Sorry for the break; I'll get to it momentarily. But first this...

So I'm driving on the highway, listening to a CD I had bought at the Finnish Craft Fair. The counter for Finn Fun, the program through which I teach Finnish to adults, had a set of CDs of children's music for sale, five bucks each. As a teacher constantly on the prowl for fun stuff to use in class - and as an uncle to Mika - I had to get all of them, so I became $40 poorer :-)

The particular CD I was listening to had the theme of birds. For all kinds of reasons, Finns are fond of birds and their well-being. In fact, one of the most important things we do is make sure that birds have food to eat at Christmas (unfortunately we don't always carry over beyond the holidays...). At any rate I was listening to these songs about birds, mother birds taking care of their chicks, birds being hungry, birds being threatened by predators, etc. With the music set in the minor scale, it was quite up-lifting to listen to... NOT!

Then this song about a finch came along (Koivun oksan korkealle teki peippo pesän, tiri-tiri-teijaa... "On the highest branch of a birch the finch built her nest, tweedle-tweedle-tee..."). My readers have to understand that, when I was five, this song was my favorite one, and I would ask my parents to play it on the record player over and over again. Then when I started going to the English School and when we were asked to request for our favorite songs, I would of course request for this one. Unfortunately, the teachers had to specify that the song had to be in English; my poor five-year-old mind could not wrap itself around the fact why my favorite song couldn't be requested for while every body else's requests were met. Disappointed I lost interest in that song, and I guess that as a move to fit in, I didn't want to hear this song again.

Until today...

So there I was, driving 60 km/h during the rsuh hour trying to sing along for the first time in like 35 years. It didn't work out - the bittersweet memories made me burst out in tears.

How butch is that...

Bagels for Stereotypes

It's been a rough 24 hours. I know it sounds selfish, but due to the sad news from Finland, I've experienced some problems focusing on every-day things. Like yesterday, I was supposed to prepare my Finnish class in the morning; I was all excited because I'd be introducing my three gentlemen to the joys of the partitive: I love the the partitive case, and I just love loving the partitive :-) However, I so saddened that rather than work on the material, handouts, and lesson plan, I went on surfing and surfing for more news knowing damn well that I wouldn't find anything that would reverse and remove the events. So I kept procrastinating and procrastinating until it was time to go - with no activities planned or material chosen. Indeed, I'm surprised how well last night went in the end.

Today, I'm starting to feel much better - except having read a moment ago on how The Times of UK had reported on the massacre just made me upset again. In true British fashion, the journalist claims that the tragedy was to be expected in a sparsely-populated country where it's dark all the time and where the Internet is thus the Finns's best friend. Consequently, since Finns have very few friends - making the Internet useless - suicides are common in Finland. Oh how I wish I had been there to inform the writer on the importance of pinecones on the Finnish psyche...

Well, I guess this line of thinking might then help provide a scientific explanation to British football hooliganism: it rains too much, and they boil their beef. How's that for a stereotype?! :-)

This Simply Can't Have Happened in Finland :-(

In the context of my entry the other day on the 18th homicide of the year in Vancouver (it's up to 19 now), I feel extremely saddened by the news from back home in Finland: 8 dead in a school shooting in Jokela (35km/25mi) north of Helsinki.

From the Washington Post:

TUUSULA, Finland -- An 18-year-old gunman killed eight people at a high
school in southern Finland on Wednesday, then shot himself but survived, police
said.

They said the high school's principal was among the dead.

Police said the gunman, who used a .22-caliber pistol, was taken to
hospital with serious wounds and the situation was "under control" after
officers surrounded Jokela High School in Tuusula, some 30 miles north of the
capital, Helsinki.

It was the first known school shooting in Finland, where gun ownership is fairly common by European standards, but shootings are rare.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the victims' families and friends...

Can a Bagel Be a... Bridge?!

Tuomo writes: Here's a song that has been playing in my head for a couple of weeks now: Ein Lied Kann ein Brücke Sein "A Song Can Be a Bridge" by Joy Fleming. This song was the German entry to the 1975 Eurovision Song Competition held that year in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the context where ABBA made their big breakthrough with Waterloo (the winning country hosts the competition the following year), and as they say the rest is history...

Anyway, Ein Lied didn't place higher than third from the end, and as such was lost to me - until our most recent visit to Helsinki in May. We had arrived early on a Sunday morning, and consequently totally jet-lagged. However that didn't deter us from from going on a pub crawl. What was supposed to be the last stop on the tour was probably the most depressing Irish pub EVER, so we were really tempted to live it up a bit by having "just one more, the tiniest of drinks" at Hercules, or better known as Herkku ("Deli"). Eurovision mania was running high in town, Helsinki being the host this year - finally after 41 years of ups and down (mostly miserable downs); as a result, the club was playing classics from years and the dance floor was PACKED! We got on the floor and didn't get off until like 2AM. After a sequence of Turkish entries and having probably embarrassed myself at attempting to belly dance (but who cares, I was just visiting) came Ein Lied, and our friend Pekka went hysterical. Pekka ("Honestly..."), my other source of life wisdom - as in WWPS, or What Would Pekka Say - has been a role model to me in many ways, Eurovision trivia being one of the areas that I admire him in. He rattled off the year and other vital stats and then went on dancing his butt off...

In sum as this song has been playing in my head for the past couple of days, I haven't been able not to think about him and his partner Timo, who we both miss very much. We go back like to the academic sand box, i.e. our freshman year in college. Sigh... Anyway here's the YouTube clip; be sure to pay attention to Joy Fleming's funky moss green (velour?) outfit and her hairdo, then the must have style :-) But most importantly, enjoy the song! Pekka, tää on sulle!

Eighteen 27

Tuomo writes: my entries are not in chronological order, so sue me! :-)

On Friday night, we were in the mood for some booze and entertainment. We were heading up to Fort Langley where Dave had his 7PM haircut appointment, so we decided to dress up a bit, which for me meant putting on my gray peacoat instead of the usual leather bomber jacket, and go to Eighteen 27, the piano and martini bistro across the street from the hair salon.

We were greeted by a nice gentleman (owner/bouncer?) who, after a short wait, guided us over to the piano to enjoy some drinks and music until a table would come up. The first impression was that the bistro was hopping, the music was enjoyable and appropriate - no Miss American Pie sing-alongs going on! The crowd appeared local, casually dressed (making us feel a little over-dressed but what the hey!). The staff was young, well-dressed, and easy on the eyes.

The drinks menu consisted of an impressive array of martinis, all of which seemed juicy and delicious, just as we like 'em. I ordered a Crantini (gotta love these names, called blends in linguistics!): smooth and delicious, yet strong without giving you the sensation that the drink is scraping the brain cells off the lining of your skull, like so many martinis, prepared by bartenders who appear to think that more is more. In fact, had we been in Rehoboth Beach and in our favourite watering hole there, the Blue Moon, I would have downed five of them by the end of happy hour and been delightfully tipsy the rest of the evening. However, this was not the case, and I was also the designated driver du jour, so I had to drink responsibly, i.e. abstain from further sampling. Oh well... Angie ordered an 1827, a Chinese pear and lychee based martini: simply delicious with a capital LISH! I gotta have one of those the next time! Dave's Cosmo was just as consistently delicisious, giving us that we had arrived in the right place. Oh and most importantly, the drinks were also served appropriately filled in big glasses, an aspect we learned to pay attention to - the hard way - when a recently opened tapas restaurant in Baltimore failed to do so.

While I continued to nurse my Crantini, Dave and Angie went for a second round of drinks. I can't remember what Dave ordered, but Angie, who loves her Bellinis, got a Bellinitini (another blend there!): peach juice, champagne, and vodka (I believe). Lemme tell ya: that was just as delicious! Bartender, I'll have one these too... next time!

Right when we had placed our third round of orders, we got seated at the window. This time, something happened to our drinks. We suspect that Angie's choice, an Orangesicle, was missing Cointreau, the key element without which her drink tasted only like half-and-half with orange rind. This was remedied somewhat when our waiter brought her the orange liqeur though unfortunately the result of adding the Cointreau at this point gave her cocktail a visually unpleasant look. I had ordered a mocktini (yet another blend!) of pear juice and non-alcoholic champage; the drink, though served visually pleasingly in a fabulous tall glass, did not quite live up to the expectation. Although I could both see and feel the bubbles, the c... mocktail was not served chilled enough to get over the fact that I had ordered a non-alcoholic drink. Yummy and faboo looking, but not faboo on the palate.

As for the food, we ordered the Italian fondue, beef Wellington, and phyllo. The waiter pointed out that the dishes were sharesies for two, which we three (!) were OK with. The fondue was to die for as was the beef Wellington: excellent quantity/quality ratio. The phyllo was a bit of a disappointment being as pricey as the beef, yet the portion size and flavors did not quite justify it in our opinion. In addition, having been hungry when we walked in, once we had polished off our plates we were still hungry! With martinis at $7 a pop (the mocktinis were $4), our final tab ran underrstandably quite high (we paid the first three rounds separately).

In sum:
Service at the door: Welcoming and chummy; the doorman was attentive to us while we had to deal with the inconvenient but unavoidable wait.
Service at the piano: Very prompt, professional, and very friendly.
Service at the table: Professional and very friendly; could have been more prompt.
Drinks: With the exception of the Orangesicle and mocktinis, juicy, smooth, and delicious. Mm-mm-mmm!
Food: Appetizer-sized, delicious though possibly pricey at times .

So, on a scale of one to ten, we give Eighteen 27 a solid eight... plus. It was our mistake not to eat something before going there : it's a piano bar, for crying out loud :-) The next time we feel we want to indulge ourselves in something more classy without driving all the way to Vancouver, we'll definitely consider Eighteen 27. Definitely recommended; just don't arrive hungry :-)

Laughing Our Asses Off

Oh... My... God...

We're big fans of Family Guy. Sunday's episode, the 100th one, was the preceded by a "best of" compilation. The 45 first seconds of the following clip, part of last night's show, had us laughing our asses off for what seemed like hours. Angie could hardly breathe, and Dave and I both almost peed ourselves - it was so funny in an absurd way.



Or we just have a depraved sense of humour... A very depraved one indeed...

Bagels? What Bagels? :-)

So yesterday's and today's big local news item has been the 18th homicide of the year in Vancouver City.

The 18th. And it's like November...

Back in Maryland in Prince George's County, that figure was probably achieved way back by January 18th! And right next door in Washington DC a day or two before that...

The scary part though is that a lot of these homicides have been gang related; just a week or so ago six men - of whom two just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - were found killed execution style in an appartment. God bless their souls. Generally speaking though I have still felt so much safer in the Lower Mainland than I ever felt in good ole Hyattsville. Even with unhindered daily access to the comfort of delicious, plump, yummy bagels...