Tuomo writes: The following clip was brought to our attention by our friend Doug in Baltimore:
We have our fair share of juvenile criminals here in Canada, but this young boy serves as a warning of what bad parenting leads to, no matter where you are...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Oh No... Now Tasha ;-(
Tuomo writes: I couldn't believe it when I heard yesterday morning on BT that Tasha Chiu was leaving, too... So Tasha as well as Dave and Simi may have been faces on TV... But it was the TV in our bedroom and they were there every morning in our bedroom to wake us up and entertain us while we got dressed.
Now it feels as if we've lost close friends. And we had so many to begin with in our new living environment :-(
I have to admit I got teary eyed when it was time to say goodbye...
Good luck, Tasha (and Dave and Simi)! You (all) will be missed dearly in this household.
Now it feels as if we've lost close friends. And we had so many to begin with in our new living environment :-(
I have to admit I got teary eyed when it was time to say goodbye...
Good luck, Tasha (and Dave and Simi)! You (all) will be missed dearly in this household.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Dave & Simi - Fired??
Tuomo writes: I've been wondering about this for a couple of mornings: what has happened to Dave and Simi on Breakfast Television/Vancouver? Last Monday morning expecting to be greeted by the beaming faces of the regular BT cast, I was surprised to see Kyle and Tasha. Not that there's anything wrong with these two, but they were there on every morning last week... yesterday... and today. How bizarre... Util this morning I found out (like a week after everybody else it appears...) that... gasp... Dave and Simi have been fired! :-(
Dave
Simi
Dave
Simi
When we moved to Canada a year ago, GlobalTV drew our attention. Soo enought though, I got irritated by the stiff presentation style and by the not-so-informative traffic news (there would always be a helicopter shot of a bridge I wasn't going to use followed by the sponsor pitch). I would occasionally switch to other channels, especially during commercial breaks, and that's how I discovered Dave and Simi. At first their style came across as useless bickering, but gradually I came to appreciate their style of hosting the show: professionals who know each other and who know how to entertain the morning viewers with their witty banter.
I read that the format of BT is going to be changed. Why? I switched from GlobalTV to BT; doesn't that count as something? I hope I will be greeted by Kyle and Tasha from now on; I don't know if I ever want to wake up to anything else :-)
Kyle & Tasha, the current hosts of BT
Monday, August 18, 2008
RetroPop: Pieni ja ihmeellinen
Tuomo writes: One thing I love about travelling abroad is coming across music you wouldn't otherwise. Finnish pop music is popular... well, in Finland, so whenever I go visit my parents, I have the radio and tv on to catch a hit or two.
In April, I came across this clip by a new group (well, at least to me; they may have been around a while...) called RetroPop. I liked the le petit prince-esque visuals as well as the song, Pieni ja ihmeellinen itself ("Small and amazing"). The soundscape took me back to the early 80s, the era of Neo-Romantics, and the lyrics were delightfully angstridden. The Neo-Romantics were all obsessed by technology taking over our emotions; Pieni ja ihmeellinen is all about taking care of our "small and amazing" planet:
My brother recently returned from Finland, and I had asked him to bring me the album because when I was in Finland, it nor the single (!) hadn't been released yet. I still love the lush and Neo-Romantic soundscape of the hit single. The rest of the album has unfortunately been a bit of a disappointment: underneath the 80s soundscape lies more teenage angstscape (is that even a word?) - defying authorities and coping with peer pressure - than a 42 year old man can stomach at one listening.
I wonder if I should be learning something from this... :-)
In April, I came across this clip by a new group (well, at least to me; they may have been around a while...) called RetroPop. I liked the le petit prince-esque visuals as well as the song, Pieni ja ihmeellinen itself ("Small and amazing"). The soundscape took me back to the early 80s, the era of Neo-Romantics, and the lyrics were delightfully angstridden. The Neo-Romantics were all obsessed by technology taking over our emotions; Pieni ja ihmeellinen is all about taking care of our "small and amazing" planet:
My brother recently returned from Finland, and I had asked him to bring me the album because when I was in Finland, it nor the single (!) hadn't been released yet. I still love the lush and Neo-Romantic soundscape of the hit single. The rest of the album has unfortunately been a bit of a disappointment: underneath the 80s soundscape lies more teenage angstscape (is that even a word?) - defying authorities and coping with peer pressure - than a 42 year old man can stomach at one listening.
I wonder if I should be learning something from this... :-)
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Philadelphia, or How to Waste a Perfect Opportunity to Visit a Major US City
Tuomo writes: Don't you love it when your flight gets cancelled...?
You wake up in a room you don't recognise. Ah yes, your flight got cancelled due to ATC congestions caused by a massive thunderstorm. Things could have been worse: sit in a plane on the tarmac for hours waiting for take-off and then (a) take off in the middle of a thunderstorm or (b) return to your gate. The hotel turns out not to be even in the same state as the airport you were flying out of: Gloucester City, New Jersey rather than Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No wonder the ride from the airport had taken so long the night before.
The hotel the airline put you up in is a Comfort Inn, which it is neither. Rather no comfort and a Dump de Dump. The staff at check-in had been grumpy and totally incapable of cracking a smile. Hmmm having to deal with a customer base consisting mainly of passengers with cancelled flights makes you forget how to smile... The fear of scabies doesn't disspiate after a shower in a slimy tub. Check out and deal with the same unfriendly staff; is it really that difficult to smile -even if you have to work somewhere in 'burbs of Philly in New Jersey?
You find the shuttle bus you want to take back to the airport idling in front of the hotel. For 15 minutes. Now how much was the price of gas again? The bus seats 14 - legally - but there are 16 of you; the 20+ minute drive is just as long and uncomfortably bumpy as the the night before.
The train from the airport to the city centre runs every 30 minutes. Except that the one you are waiting for is more than 10 minutes late. No announcements. Are we even on the right track? The 25 minute long ride lasts longer than that, and the fare is quite steep: US$7. Beats hanging around the airport all day...
Finally in downtown Philly. What to do, especially when one does not have a map or any other forms of information on the city. Ah yes, the Liberty Bell. Thank goodness the storm last night ahs cooled down the air a bit, so the ten block walk feels good. At the intersection before the museum, you notice a group of tourists heading the same way as you. What else do you do, but put on some speed and beat them to the line. After all you want to have your belongings checked by the security staff before theirs.
You learn a lot about American liberty. How everyone loves and wants it. Except that you learn that the Bell had cracked well before July 4, 1776, and contrary to popular myth, it was not rung on that day at all. Aha, so what else about American history is a myth, you wonder? The exhibition is farily small as is the Bell itself. You have your picture taken in front of it, like the dozens of other tourists who have made it there so early in the day. You wonder how many of them were on cancelled flights, too.
Lunch time! You want a real Philly chesse steak sandwich. You've had those before at food courts, all claiming to be authentic. Except the mall nor the HQ of the chain have ever been anywhere near Philly. Suprisingly difficult to find a decent place for lunch. You locate a diner (God bless America) where you order one with buffalo chicken wings as an appie. The sandwiches - meh! - come before the wings. The wings look delightfully meaty but turn out to be lukewarm (frozen again!), and the sauce is nowhere as spicy as you want them...
Two more hours to go before it's time to return to the airport. Mindless roaming around with a surprisingly high number of Italian tourists, who are just as lost and baffled in the city as you are. Except they have maps, and you don't. What's this square again? Ah JFK Square, with a magnificent water fountain. Check out the passers-by while digesting your food. You come to realise that there's a big and famous museum that you could have visited too. You realise that you could have seen and done a bazillion of other interesting things during the six hours you're in town. Bah...
Go for a cup of coffee and a treat at Borders. Say hi to your "friends," i.e. the wider and less expensive selection of books than in Canada.
Go back to the railway station. Run to the platform from which the train to the airport is about to leave any minute now according to the schedule. Except by the time you get to the platform, panting and wheezing, you find out that the train is 16 minutes late. Nice. You pay US$ 7 again for the 25 minute ride to the airport.
With boarding passes ready since last night and the luggage checked in, proceed to the security check. Have your bottle of soda confiscated because you hadn't finished it in the morning and you thought you'd finish it later.
So yeah, Philly must be a fantastic travel destination :-)
You wake up in a room you don't recognise. Ah yes, your flight got cancelled due to ATC congestions caused by a massive thunderstorm. Things could have been worse: sit in a plane on the tarmac for hours waiting for take-off and then (a) take off in the middle of a thunderstorm or (b) return to your gate. The hotel turns out not to be even in the same state as the airport you were flying out of: Gloucester City, New Jersey rather than Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No wonder the ride from the airport had taken so long the night before.
The hotel the airline put you up in is a Comfort Inn, which it is neither. Rather no comfort and a Dump de Dump. The staff at check-in had been grumpy and totally incapable of cracking a smile. Hmmm having to deal with a customer base consisting mainly of passengers with cancelled flights makes you forget how to smile... The fear of scabies doesn't disspiate after a shower in a slimy tub. Check out and deal with the same unfriendly staff; is it really that difficult to smile -even if you have to work somewhere in 'burbs of Philly in New Jersey?
You find the shuttle bus you want to take back to the airport idling in front of the hotel. For 15 minutes. Now how much was the price of gas again? The bus seats 14 - legally - but there are 16 of you; the 20+ minute drive is just as long and uncomfortably bumpy as the the night before.
The train from the airport to the city centre runs every 30 minutes. Except that the one you are waiting for is more than 10 minutes late. No announcements. Are we even on the right track? The 25 minute long ride lasts longer than that, and the fare is quite steep: US$7. Beats hanging around the airport all day...
Finally in downtown Philly. What to do, especially when one does not have a map or any other forms of information on the city. Ah yes, the Liberty Bell. Thank goodness the storm last night ahs cooled down the air a bit, so the ten block walk feels good. At the intersection before the museum, you notice a group of tourists heading the same way as you. What else do you do, but put on some speed and beat them to the line. After all you want to have your belongings checked by the security staff before theirs.
You learn a lot about American liberty. How everyone loves and wants it. Except that you learn that the Bell had cracked well before July 4, 1776, and contrary to popular myth, it was not rung on that day at all. Aha, so what else about American history is a myth, you wonder? The exhibition is farily small as is the Bell itself. You have your picture taken in front of it, like the dozens of other tourists who have made it there so early in the day. You wonder how many of them were on cancelled flights, too.
Lunch time! You want a real Philly chesse steak sandwich. You've had those before at food courts, all claiming to be authentic. Except the mall nor the HQ of the chain have ever been anywhere near Philly. Suprisingly difficult to find a decent place for lunch. You locate a diner (God bless America) where you order one with buffalo chicken wings as an appie. The sandwiches - meh! - come before the wings. The wings look delightfully meaty but turn out to be lukewarm (frozen again!), and the sauce is nowhere as spicy as you want them...
Two more hours to go before it's time to return to the airport. Mindless roaming around with a surprisingly high number of Italian tourists, who are just as lost and baffled in the city as you are. Except they have maps, and you don't. What's this square again? Ah JFK Square, with a magnificent water fountain. Check out the passers-by while digesting your food. You come to realise that there's a big and famous museum that you could have visited too. You realise that you could have seen and done a bazillion of other interesting things during the six hours you're in town. Bah...
Go for a cup of coffee and a treat at Borders. Say hi to your "friends," i.e. the wider and less expensive selection of books than in Canada.
Go back to the railway station. Run to the platform from which the train to the airport is about to leave any minute now according to the schedule. Except by the time you get to the platform, panting and wheezing, you find out that the train is 16 minutes late. Nice. You pay US$ 7 again for the 25 minute ride to the airport.
With boarding passes ready since last night and the luggage checked in, proceed to the security check. Have your bottle of soda confiscated because you hadn't finished it in the morning and you thought you'd finish it later.
So yeah, Philly must be a fantastic travel destination :-)
Another Testimonial on Why Flying These Days Deserves a Boo and a Hiss
Tuomo writes: To be fair, we have a friend who works as a flight attendant on US Air and who was on our recent flight to the east coast. It was a red eye flight, so needless to say, without him, it would have been quite uneventful and otherwise dreary as red eye flights go.
We understand that airlines are struggling with soaring fuel costs, and as a result, the paying customer gets to bear the brunt and deal with the nickling and diming of every aspect of the flying experience, such as pay US$15 for every checked in luggage...
However what we experienced on our way back goes beyond any sympathy. As my brother pointed it out quite approriately, we don't fly to get a good meal. Therefore if you want a meal, bring one on board on your own or pay for one provided by the airline - or their caterer - at least in North America.
Before our flight boarded, there were announcements that US Air had started charging for freshments (US$ 2 for a can of soda, which I think is quite preposterous when I pay CA$ 1.25 on campus, and even that is expensive) and that meal and snack boxes were available on the flight. Fair enough: a meal box for US$7 sounded like a deal.
By the time the flight attendants made it to row 15 where we were sitting, we were told that they were all out of the meal boxes. In fact, there had been only three (3!) for sale, meaning that they were all sold out by the time the attendants had made it to the second row of economy class. Basically, this means that the caterer (NOT US Air!) has calculated that an A319, that seats over a 100 passengers, has on average only three passengers on board interested in a meal. This means technically that the 12 passengers sitting on the first two rows of economy class are in first class; the rest of us is just chopped liver. As a result, a lot of grumbling was heard...
We settled for a snack box, which, in a not very untypical North American fashion, contained mainly sweet rather than savoury items with the exception of a small can of chicken salad. After 12 years in North America, I still have an issue with snacks mostly entailing something sweet, so here I'll just throw my hands in the air and deal with it :-)
Let me also point it out that this was a 5+ hour long flight! Admittedly, one could (and clearly should) have stocked up prior to departure, but where oh where does one find such a meal for 7 dollars at airports these days?!
We understand that airlines are struggling with soaring fuel costs, and as a result, the paying customer gets to bear the brunt and deal with the nickling and diming of every aspect of the flying experience, such as pay US$15 for every checked in luggage...
However what we experienced on our way back goes beyond any sympathy. As my brother pointed it out quite approriately, we don't fly to get a good meal. Therefore if you want a meal, bring one on board on your own or pay for one provided by the airline - or their caterer - at least in North America.
Before our flight boarded, there were announcements that US Air had started charging for freshments (US$ 2 for a can of soda, which I think is quite preposterous when I pay CA$ 1.25 on campus, and even that is expensive) and that meal and snack boxes were available on the flight. Fair enough: a meal box for US$7 sounded like a deal.
By the time the flight attendants made it to row 15 where we were sitting, we were told that they were all out of the meal boxes. In fact, there had been only three (3!) for sale, meaning that they were all sold out by the time the attendants had made it to the second row of economy class. Basically, this means that the caterer (NOT US Air!) has calculated that an A319, that seats over a 100 passengers, has on average only three passengers on board interested in a meal. This means technically that the 12 passengers sitting on the first two rows of economy class are in first class; the rest of us is just chopped liver. As a result, a lot of grumbling was heard...
We settled for a snack box, which, in a not very untypical North American fashion, contained mainly sweet rather than savoury items with the exception of a small can of chicken salad. After 12 years in North America, I still have an issue with snacks mostly entailing something sweet, so here I'll just throw my hands in the air and deal with it :-)
Let me also point it out that this was a 5+ hour long flight! Admittedly, one could (and clearly should) have stocked up prior to departure, but where oh where does one find such a meal for 7 dollars at airports these days?!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Holiday, It Would Be SO Nice
Tuomo writes: Greetings from the beach, or more precisely Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. The weather is fabulously warm (25 C/80 F), the humidity is tolerable, and the drinks have been deliciously cool and juicy.
The red-eye flight to Philly was a blast! Our fellow Champagne Lady R. was one of the flight attendants on the flight, so instead of little sleep, we little sleep BUT free cocktails at the back of the A319!
Connecting with the rest of the Champagne Ladies has been a fun, but at the same time a poignant reminder of the fact that we have been utterly unsuccessful at establishing ANY kind of a circle of friends in our new environment :-(
Dave and I were subjected to a Champagne Lady Tribunal for crimes against Champanity and Champanicide (don't ask...). We were found guilty of crimes against Champanity (the issue of Champanicide was left either deliberately or undeliberately open... hmm...), but all charges were dropped because, out of mercy, the members of the Tribunal unanimously had missed us too. Awwww :-)
Now something disturbing has emerged: the fact that I'm available for the latest news both on this blig ("What on earth is a blog?!?") and Facebook ("Face what?!") has been considered not effort enough of keeping in touch... I mean, didn't I start this blog with the express goal of having and providing the opportunity to keep in touch with my friends back home, wherever "home" is...? Hmm, clearly gotta work on this...
The red-eye flight to Philly was a blast! Our fellow Champagne Lady R. was one of the flight attendants on the flight, so instead of little sleep, we little sleep BUT free cocktails at the back of the A319!
Connecting with the rest of the Champagne Ladies has been a fun, but at the same time a poignant reminder of the fact that we have been utterly unsuccessful at establishing ANY kind of a circle of friends in our new environment :-(
Dave and I were subjected to a Champagne Lady Tribunal for crimes against Champanity and Champanicide (don't ask...). We were found guilty of crimes against Champanity (the issue of Champanicide was left either deliberately or undeliberately open... hmm...), but all charges were dropped because, out of mercy, the members of the Tribunal unanimously had missed us too. Awwww :-)
Now something disturbing has emerged: the fact that I'm available for the latest news both on this blig ("What on earth is a blog?!?") and Facebook ("Face what?!") has been considered not effort enough of keeping in touch... I mean, didn't I start this blog with the express goal of having and providing the opportunity to keep in touch with my friends back home, wherever "home" is...? Hmm, clearly gotta work on this...
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