HB COLD

We are approaching the Dog Days here. It is not cold enough to snow, the sun makes very rare appearances and when it does show its face it lasts for only a few fleeting moments, and I think K and I are both going a little stir-crazy. However, all is not lost. This weekend K has a friend coming in and I will be out and about with some of my basketball buddies. The following weekend we will head to Turku for Bjorn's 30th birthday. I must say that I am really looking forward to having almost all of our friends in one place - albeit for one night only. And then the following weekend we will be joining some work colleagues for a night of theatre, J-town style. I have no idea what theatre J-town style is exactly, but it should prove quite entertaining, even though the performance of "Mobile Horror" will be in Finnish. But with a title like "Mobile Horror" it shouldn't be too hard to follow along. After that we settle in for a month of Holiday parties and then make our way to Texas for 3 weeks of Texas.

I was talking about this 3 weeks in Texas thing with someone recently and they brought up a good point that I will choose to ignore from this point onward. I was telling of my excitement to go from the Finnish winter to the Texas winter and how wonderful that will be, but I neglected to think about the inevitable return to the Finnish winter, 3 weeks further into its freeze. And I realized that upon our return, the winter here will seem all the more painful, even if we are a little numb with delight from our time in Texas. But truthfully, when we do return we will have a good 4 months of frost and this is something I refuse to think about. Sure I can write about it, but if you were to look at me right now you would see a zombie with a blank stare, a lifeless face, but curiously quick moving fingers.

Onto other topics. Ok that's about it.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I have been asked to have English discussions with "Finland's greatest living director" - some people call him the Francis Ford Coppola of Finland - who has moved to J-town to start a television series. He is friends with my boss, Jenni and asked her if I wouldn't mind meeting with him once a week, beginning next year to talk in English about movies and what not. Apparently he would like to improve his skills so that he would be comfortable speaking English in public, but doesn't want to have to go to classes with other people who would be quite startled to see him in their class. So I will become his private tutor. Pretty nuts, huh?

Happy Anniversary to the newest members of the 5 year club - and faithful founders of the Texas Longhorns delivery service - Congratulations Jen and Mark.

Last night was pretty interesting. It was the second Kataja basketball game here in J-town and the locals were putting up a poor showing, lifeless, they needed a boost from the crowd, which is where I come in. So I was back to my normal routine of being the loudest person (and the only one anyone could hear) in an arena filled with 1,000 people. As the opposing team took their free-throws I began to tell them that they were no good and so on. Well, I was particularly hard on one guy from Lithuania who was playing as dirty a game as I have witnessed in this league and I let him hear it while he was shooting, and I had the right effect. He missed his shots. But soon after that, he fouled out of the game and spent the rest of the game on the bench, where he could easily spot me out of the crowd.

As the game was winding down I increased my efforts and the home team wound up winning. But after the game I was greeted by the, much larger than he looked, Lithuanian who proceeded to lecture me on how good he was and that if I wanted to say something bad about him to say it to his face. This was plain ridiculous and I told him so. I showed him my ticket and he said that that didn't matter and how would I like it if he came to my job and yelled at me. So I told him about home-court advantage and what not, but he didn't seem to understand what I was talking about, even though his English was fluent, and man this dude was big. So I said if he had made his shots and they had won the game we wouldn't be having this conversation and then he was called back to his team. Sure I should have just said sorry and whatever, but there is no way he should have approached me after the game. I wasn't worried or anything, but I wasn't prepared to be confronted by this guy who was easily 7 inches taller than me and definitely 40 pounds heavier. Oh well, home team won and the crowd - after hearing me yell so loud and so often - finally got into the game. All in all, it was an interesting night and in a town like J-town, that is all a guy like me can ask for.

Lots of love to Jen and Mark.

hb getting a lot colder - the first small snow happened today.

Uh oh. That was what I thought as soon as I woke up this morning. It was so dark outside that I thought that my clock was wrong, or that I had missed daylight savings or something like that. 7:30 am and it was damn near pitch black outside - and it is only going to get worse. I was also perusing my previous posts from this time last year and as it turns out, the first snow is on its way. Last year it came to be on the 25th of October and I have a feeling that it will be even sooner this year and that this winter will be darker and colder than last winter. And that seems to be just what the J-town locals want. They want more snow and more cold, these people are crazy.

Something has been driving me absolutely crazy here lately, and no it's not the cold, or the shorter and shorter days, or the fact that there is very little to do here. I am talking about the rules of traffic. I guess it has something to do with a small town mentality, and J-town is a very small town, that makes people forget that they are not alone, that there are other people using the same paths and therefore, the rules of traffic must be obeyed. Too many times I will be riding my bike and there will be a group of people riding their bike in the opposite direction. Well I get as far over to the right as possible and I expect the same from the other people. Instead, these other people see the fact that I have cleared the way for them and rather than doing the same, they move even closer to me.

Now I used to have this problem in New York, when I first got there and people never moved out of my way. And so, after time I decided to increase my speed and "stay the course" rather than doing the polite thing and move slightly. This strategy worked and I began to feel more and more like a New Yorker because of it. But, now that I am riding a bike, the collision factor would have much more impact and because of this, I must still get out of the way. I think that I might invest in body armor and play crash test dummy with any idiot who refuses to obey the rules.

Last night, some fool was riding by himself on the left side of the road and almost ran straight into me. I couldn't believe it. My light was on, it was at a well lit intersection and he didn't seem to have a cane or anything. But on he came, until I finally shouted at him. And let me tell you something, for however much I would like to shout at all of these people, I never do. That's how close this guy was to hitting me. I hate this guy. I to make matters worse, my bell is now broken. I have to go out and buy one today so I can tell people that I am coming and that they need to move over. OK, so how was your day?

So the fish festival is in town this weekend - not the phish festival, which would have been unbelievable, but the the fish festival which is, well, a bunch of fish - and Karoliina and I had to go, even though I was in the middle of the film festival. Who knew there could be this many festivals at one time in little ol' J-town? Well, I had a couple hours to meet with K and to check out the scene, which was remarkably identical to the scene last year. I really think nothing changed at all, except the 2003 changed to 2004 and that's about all.

So we met in front of the library, because K needed to check out a couple of books. She was still inside and so I waited by her bicycle. Only, it wasn't her bicycle. It looked like it, except for the red fuzz on the handles. At first we thought that a red gloved person had moved her bicycle, because she had parked it in a not so great place and it had been moved. But when K tried to unlock it, she couldn't and neither could I. After closer inspection we realized that this was, in fact, not her bicycle. That someone had mistaken K's bicycle for their own and this person had red gloves and very powerful hands, since she was able to unlock K's bike with the wrong key. Either that, or a thief, working in broad daylight grabbed her bike in front of the library and made of like the bandit that he is.

We thought it to be the former and so I had my first stake-out. Watching the library bike racks for a large-armed, red gloved girl looking for her own bike. But when the library closed and no such freak appeared, it was time to go to the police. They recommended that we take the bike that was still there and bring it to the police station, just in case our theory proved correct. And so in addition to our first stake out, we also stole our first bike. Lifting the back tire off the ground we wheeled the bike a few blocks over to the police station and then developed our plan of action for Monday. We would go to all the bike stores and find out if someone with Popeye-like forearms recently purchased a red, Crescent City 7 speed. Then we would case the bike racks of the student houses and posts signs at the library, all the while waiting for the police to call with an update. And wouldn't you know, early this morning, just before our plan went into action, Popeye's father brought K's bike to the police and our little drama was over. Damn shame to tell you the truth. In a town like this, a little drama can go a long way.

Happy Anniversary! Today marks my first year in J-town. 52 weeks in the nether regions of Finland - 2 of which resembling anything that I would call summer. 50 weeks of winter or winter-like conditions have not been able to dampen or freeze my spirits. Dampen my clothing and freeze my nose off? Sure, but the spirit is warm and cozy.

The festival is in full swing - although you would never know it if you were in Joensuu at this time. The marketing effort was non-existent and I have no explanation for this. The filmmakers are locked in the auditorium and have a full slate of films - Three 10 hour days of anthropological and ethnographic documentaries. And this is not 30 hours of the Discovery Channel where one can be entertained with animals killing and eating other animals. These films cover such topics as: A Russian homosexual forced to flee Russia and finding himself in Helsinki; or the effects on Taiwanese farmers when Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization. I am taking a break now because I have seen the films already and I choose not to watch them again.

I'm feeling pretty good now. I just tested a picture posting site and the results have been pretty good, as you can see from the first photo that is now on my blog.

This was the only picture I took in Vegas. I guess I was a little lazy.

I'm a little tired today, stayed up late last night watching the Texas - Arkansas game courtesy of Mark and Jen and their good friend (and now mine) TiVo. Sure I knew all about the game, sure it was several weeks old, but it was the first Texas game I was able to watch in over a year and it felt good. I can only hope that the delivery service will be functioning a couple more times throughout the year.

I don't know if she would want me writing about this, but I'll do it anyway because it's kind of funny. K has had some difficulty getting her writing students motivated - this is mostly because her writing students are a pathetic bunch of lazy, yet surprisingly non-creative, brats - and has resorted to some unconventional, if not downright desperate measures. She has said that if they continue to keep silent and not speak about their work or that of their classmates, she is going to throw something at them. Well, this morning she brought along our Nerf football for just that purpose. We were in her office before the class working on her throwing style. If they don't talk this time, she is going to soak the football in water and make it really messy.

On to another topic. I sent my absentee ballot off in the mail last week and it came back to me on Monday. Obviously the postman is a closet Republican (although 71% of Finns want Kerry to win in November). So I asked K if she would take it to the post office this time and make it clear that I am not sending my voting ballot to myself. I think she was persuasive enough, but only time will tell if that pesky closet Republican postman will continue his sabotage. The vast right-wing conspiracy has extended its reach all the way to J-town. No place is safe.

I am about to leave for the airport to pick up the second batch of arrivals for the Festival of Visual Culture that will take place this weekend. www.viscult.net for all those interested.

I am particularly excited about the arrival of an American filmmaker, Ms. Chen, because she is a resident of my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, Park Slope. Have I told you about Park Slope? About all the restaurants that were within 5 blocks of my apartment? About the Wonton Soup and Steamed Veggie Dumplings that K and I used to eat twice a week? About the nice Asian ladies who would do our laundry while I was at work? Or about the Bagel place that was right next to our door? Oh, and what about our satellite television dish that could pick up 275 channels? Huh, what about that?

You see, now I'm mad. Are you happy now?

I've decided against playing the game that begins this time of year in Finland. On this frosty morning, I threw in the towel and turned in my baseball hat for my winter wool cap. Who needs the competition? Not me. I'm sick of these Finns trying to outlast each other as the cold, cold, really, really cold, cold winter approaches. Who will be the first to break? Yours truly, thank you very much. Although, as I took to the main bike route through the forest, I noticed others had proclaimed this day, Mannantai, Lokakuu 4, as the day that they too would throw in the towel.

I also brought out all of my winter clothes and put my summer clothes back into storage and do you wanna know something? I don't have much clothing. I suppose it could be because here in J-town I don't really need to have a diversified wardrobe - save an ample supply of long underwear and wool socks - since I wear about two outfits per week. On a recent trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and later in Helsinki, I was in the fitting room trying on some pieces here and there and then it hit me...I have no need for this crap in J-town. It is both depressing and invigorating at the same time, since I get to save money, but with the realization that there is no need to look nice, so to speak. Let's face it, I look nice, but can do so in the same clothes that I have had since 2000.

What else is going on in J-town? The film festival wll begin this week, with the guests due to arrive as early as today. I am very curious how this whole thing will turn out as the organization and communication has been, to put it nicely, less than enthusiastic. It's unfortunate that this pissy weather is due to continue, because if you can't go outside and enjoy the natural beauty here, there is really nothing left to do.

Speaking of this pissy weather, it has totally ruined the fall flavor. Last year K was telling me how at this time the forest was vibrant as the leaves were changing from green to yellow and red. Well, because of the wet weather the leaves fell off the trees well before they were able to change color. So the ground looks pretty, but who spends their time looking at the ground? This makes two falls in a row that I have missed out on completely.

That reminds me, this Friday will mark my 52nd week here in J-town. I don't think that there is anything else to say after that. Except for the fact that this will be the second UT-OU match that I will miss. I would really love it if someone would record the game for me and send it to me here in Finland, provided that it is not a disgusting blow out.

Now that my mind is on sports, the basketball season picks up again next week and the J-town locals have added two new Americans to the team. I have met them on two occasions and they are nice enough guys. They asked me what it was like here in the winter and I told them. They asked me what there was to do here for fun and I told them. They asked me where the clubs were that played hip-hop and I told them. They asked me how I have been able to live here for one year and I told them. They asked me for my phone number and I hope that they will call.