HB COLD

So we got there. The flights from Helsinki were ok. Food and drink both cost money, so I went hungry. Karoliina was flying business class and so she did not go hungry. I spent the first leg of the trip - Helsinki to Copenhagen - speaking with a US reservist who spoke quite honestly about his time in Iraq as well as in Guantanamo. He had some very enlightening things to say about recruiting and competency levels among the reservists, especially those involved in Abu Ghraib, whom he knew professionally. This was a quick trip to be sure.

We had a layover in Denmark and the airport there has probably the best selection of fresh juice that I have ever come across at an airport. Orange, Guava, Pineapple, with a nice brie sandwhich and a banana muffin easily made up for no meal on the plane.

The second leg of the trip - Copenhagen to Nice - started nicely. I had an aisle seat (K was again in business class), I was reading the paper when Jenni came up the aisle and said hello. The man sitting next to her then asked if I wouldn't mind switching places since I was sitting next to his wife. I said ok. The plane finished boarding and Jenni and I had a row of 3 to ourselves which made the seat comfortable. Until, the last person to board told us that she and her baby had the middle seat and would I mind switching. I glanced back at the guy in my original seat, then moved to the middle seat which had to have been the most cramped seat on the plane. I tried to sleep but the baby kept hitting me and releasing my tray so it would smack me in the legs.

We arrived in Cannes only to realize that there was a mix up with our return tickets and K and I would not be on the same flight. In a crowded airport, our nerves got a little frazzled, but once we were in the car and on our way to Cannes, things were looking up.

We checked in, but our room wasn't ready and so we waited by the pool, had some lunch and waited for our room. When I checked in an hour later the front desk had lost the paper I had given them and told me that I never gave it to them. I got a little agitated and everything settled down after that.

I had a meeting in Cannes - on a yacht - and had to leave a little earlier than K and Jenni. Once I got on the train everything became quite familiar. I remembered where everything was and quickly got my badge and found the boat for my first meeting. I think the setting was a little better than the content - Québec Tax Incentives. I met K and Jenni an hour later and we made our way to the Croissette for dinner.

K had done a lot of restaurant research and we found a seafood place that was packed. We waited 30 minutes and were seated outside on the patio. K and I decided to order the house specialty - a raw platter (clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp and snails). I don't think we thought too much about it until we saw the platter up close and realized what we had done. But the delicious house white wine gave us some courage and we proceeded to do our best. Eventually, I went for a snail. It was steamed, so it wasn't extremely gross, although it did bring out an element of Fear Factor. I grabbed the little fork, stabbed the snail, turned the shell so it all came out and popped it in my mouth. Without breathing, I chewed rapidly until it was down and, as it turns out, it was pretty tasty. So I ate a couple more.

We were at dinner for a couple of hours and were sitting next to a celebrity. We only realized that he was a celeb when a flock of Asian cameramen and tourist rushed to him and begged him for a photo. I think he was a Korean director, but beats me really.

We had a couple of more late night drinks and made our way to the last train of the night. We were staying in Juan les Pins, which is 2 stops away. We got on the train and waited for 30 minutes before it left. Thirty minutes is a long time to wait at night, when we thought that the ride would take 10 and we decided not to use the toilet beforehand.

Finally we arrive at the hotel. I had to get to bed because I had a morning meeting aboard the same yacht for more talk of tax incentives. Got to bed at 1 and woke up at 4 with the blaring of the fire alarm. Now I had seen a printout stating that the hotel would be testing the fire alarm between 2 and 6 pm that day. Except the test never happened. At least not yet. The alarm kept going off until finally, we decided that we would indeed leave the building. We got downstairs to find other confused guests and an employee who spoke no English, but tried to convince us that it was a false alarm. Eventually we returned to the room and at 5 got back to bed.

The next morning (Sat) my lack of sleep showed a little on the rocking boat. The weather was turning sour. It was hot and clear when I woke up and made my way to the festival, but an hour later it was cold and raining. We were stuck on the boat until the rain relented which it eventually did. I bought an umbrella from a dude on the street and started the other mission of the festival - find invitations to as many parties as possible.

Saturday night we had a party on the same boat and met some Finnish filmmakers and other industry professionals. It was a great night. The weather cleared and we really enjoyed ourselves.

The next day - Sunday - I had another meeting and got to really enjoy the sunshine. We walked around the international village, had a beer on the beach and then made our way to the next batch of parties. Finland, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden all had parties during the week, some on the beach, some on the yacht, one in a villa and another in the Scandinavian terrace.

We met all sorts of people and became exhausted with the routine, especially with the commute. Depending on unreliable trains or expensive taxis is a little stressful, but nothing to complain about really - unless you are relying on unreliable trains and expensive taxis.

The last day the weather finally cleared and K and I had the day to ourselves. We steared clear of Cannes and enjoyed the calm environment of Juan les Pins and Antibes. We walked along the beach - well along the highway next to the beach - until it became a little too scary. We turned back around and made our way to the old town of Antibes where we had a wonderful meal - Seafood Salad, Grilled Sardines and fresh fruit and white wine of course. We bought peaches at the market and just strolled around. Until we had to make our way back to the last party in Cannes. The party scene was getting crazy. The same people, the same conversations over and over again. We decided to catch a bite and found another of Karoliina's restaurant choices. We knew we selected well when Danny Glover was sitting down to dinner on the patio, except this was a place that Danny Glover could afford, the Brodsky's however, could not. And so we went for pizza. Except, after 30 minutes, a conversation with Jen on her birthday and much anticipation, we were still not even approached by the wait staff. I had been waving my arms around too much and we went back to Danny Glover. He was still there, enjoying the food we wanted to enjoy. We decided to sit down. We looked at the menu and came to our senses. We went to the Italian dive next door and had a nice meal.

Later we said good bye to Cannes, went back to Juan les Pins, had some ice cream on the beach and went to bed.

I have to admit, throughout our entire trip to Cannes, Karoliina and we were really regretting having to leave and return to Joensuu. Especially after our last day, when the weather finally treated us nicely and felt like it should in the South of France. But to our plesant surprise, Spring has finally arrived in Joensuu and this weekend has been very enjoyable. We've gone for late night strolls down to the ice-free lake. We took a long bike ride today to parts of this town that we did not know existed before. The sun has been setting well past 10pm and it is only really dark for a couple of hours, between 11:30 and 2:30. This means that we are sleeping with the masks which make it very hard to wake up. We slept more this weekend than we did during the entire week in Cannes.
The sun is messing with me. I thought it was a lot earlier. I'll pick it up again tomorrow.

Here's an exciting turn of events. The travel agency Töölö, one of the largest in Finland and also the one we use here at the East Finland Film Commission, filed for bankruptcy last night. This left us scrambling to find out about our reservations in Cannes. Turns out, the company has misplaced some 10 million euros which leaves thousands of people out in the cold. Luckily we acted quickly enough to save our reservations. Sure I will have to put it on my credit card, but these things will work themselves out in due time.

On to other topics. I am about to call home to wish the pop a happy birthday. Right now it is 6:30 am in Dallas and I feel like I need to wait another 20 minutes before I call. Well, maybe I'll do it right now and wake him up. Ok, fine, I'll wait.

If I don't get to call, Happy Birthday Pop, I love you.

Tried an interesting experiment in the kitchen these past two days. Didn't really intend to, but it happened. On Sunday I cooked beef and broccoli and tonight I cooked chicken and broccoli and they were both really good. If I were in a restaurant I would go for the beef, because it was great, but at home I think chicken will be the regular ingredient.

K and I are getting ready for Cannes later this week. We couldn't be any more excited. The weather here for the past 2 weeks has been miserable. Cold, wet, cloudy, the grass is still brown, there are no leaves or flowers beyond their infancy. We are in the middle of an elongated in between stage and it is driving me crazy. I think this is what I am going to write about for my last University article. You know, these deadlines are a pain in my ass. They are always on me. I have so much other stuff happening right now that makes the fact that I still need to write this a little crazy. I should be able to get it out tomorrow, I just need to get a little agitated. Not too hard to do with some of the boneheads in this town.

But I digress. Yes we are excited about leaving for Cannes. This year's trip will be entirely different from last year's trip - except for the fact that we will still not be in Cannes, we're staying in Juan Les Pins and I'm ok with that. It's going to be different because I know people this year and we have invitations to parties already. Trying to get invites is the name of the game at these things and I've got 3 nights already booked. Last year we would walk bye the yachts and wish that we would be on them and this year my first 3 meetings are on a yacht. Then we have a party on one and another party at a villa venue. It's a little hard to believe. It's also hard to believe that we will be on the beach and in the sun. Our lake is still partially frozen, with the ice turning all sorts of colors, including a lava black.

We were out walking late tonight, like 9 - 10 and it was nice to see the lake at a different time of the day - you notice different things. Of course, I didn't take my camera at the last moment. We came across some really cool stuff, like the different colored ice and a tree that, at its halfway point, began to grow upside down. It is wonderful to have a chance to take a walk that late. K and I were saying that, during the summer, there is probably no better place to be than in Finland. But only if you have been through a Finnish winter. Such drastic extremes do a wonder on each other.

Last week in Helsinki was wild. I left from Joensuu on Monday night and met Virpi and Jyrki for dinner. We went to a huge Italian place, but it was obvious that they spent all their money on the place because the food was atrocious. I had chicken parm, figuring that I would play it safe. It was an over baked breast with - straight from the bag - cheese and a side of mashed potatoes. It was awful, as were Virpi and Jyrki's plates. When the waitress asked how it was at the end of the night we all said, "lousy."

The next morning I had a meeting with Irina at the Center of Expertise for Digital Content. I was there trying to get her advice and opinions on the film commission initiative I am driving. She was very interested in the idea and would like to sponsor the project through her center - which has a film and music agenda. I created a Mission Statement and budget for a planning year in 2006 which would result in the formation of the film commission in 2007. We will finalize the details and submit the budget for funding for 2006. We should know by autumn, if not sooner. Crazy.

The timing for this could not have been any better because one of the reasons I have felt so confident when dealing with this process is the fact that I have been learning a great deal about management and arts management specifically because I have been studying for the entrance exam to the Arts Management Programme at the Sibelius Academy. I literally would not have been able to draft a mission statement without having prepared for this exam, which was a whole nother story altogether.

After the meeting at the Center I went for lunch and then took the cab to Munkivuori - a suburb of Helsinki - for the Sibelius interview. I admit this, I had no idea what kind of interview this was going to be, no idea at all. I walked into the room which had four people at their desks and an empty chair and table in front of them. Three were from the school and the fourth was from the London Royal Opera. After a few seconds, I got nervous. I was not expecting to get nervous, but I was not prepared to have four people in front of me, making notes with each movement or sentence from my mouth. Towards the end of my first answer - one where I told them my story - I began to get comfortable. When the questions turned more professional, I became more assured and I feel as if I put my best foot forward. I answered the questions honestly and openly.

The next day was the exam. I arrived and checked the names of those who were selected for the second round. I noticed very few men's names: Pavel and Howard were the only two I recognized and I could have been wrong about Pavel. We were told that there were 5 people taking the exams at their respective Finnish embassies. We were all waiting for the test door to open, 20 of us. Me and 19 girls. I took a spot in the front corner and observed as every other seat in the room was filled by a lady.

Normally I wouldn't really compare myself to the other applicants. I would mind my own business. But this was ridiculous. I started making myself a little crazy. "If I'm the only guy, how badly do I have to screw this up to not get in?!" Then I started thinking that, perhaps they are trying to flood the job market with the ladies - statistics and crap. I wasn't necessarily thinking about the test and I will not know until mid-June whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. The questions were "What are the challenges facing an arts organization. What are the potential problems and possible solutions. Discuss." and other one that I answered - there were 3 choices and we had to pick 2 - was "Who is actually managing art?" Again I feel as if I put my best foot forward, but as I said, I won't know until mid-June how good my best foot really is.

Vappu - the Finnish Labor Day, also the International May Day when one celebrates the arrival of Spring came and went this weekend. It came with a rain storm and left with a snow storm. Saturday night, I was out on the town. I had to wait 45 minutes to get into the Giggling Marlin, which was easily the longest I have waited in a line to get in anywhere. You might think that living in a town of 50,000 there would not be any lines to get in anywhere. Except in this town of 50,000 there are only 2-3 places worth going and everyone goes there.

Karoliina and I - and I presume everyone else in Finland - had plans to picnic on our balcony. After all, last week the weather had been warm and sunny. We were going to take it easy, and enjoy the sun. Instead, we watched as the temperature dropped below freezing and made it damn near impossible to leave the house. Eventually I did, so that I could join some friends at the Marlin. But because I had to wait in line for 45 minutes, by the time I got inside my friends we a little too drunk to be around. Like almost everyone else in Joensuu, from age 15 to 70, people were way too drunk. Stumbling around and quick to anger. It would have been different had the weather been nicer. The party would have been held outside and people would have been happy. Instead, it was snowing and everyone had to cram into 3 bars. A perfect evening.

I'm off to Helsinki in a couple of hours. I have a meeting with a government official regarding the State Film Commission initiative I am leading and I also have my interview and examination for the Sibelius Academy Masters Programme. I am glad to get it out of the way. The past 2 weeks have been a little tense. I have a good feeling, I just need to relax.