Monday, July 04, 2005
Jazzercise has come a long way. There very well may have been a lot going on these past few weeks, but the thing that has been dominating my mind and body for the past week is the fact that Jazzercise ain't what it used to be. After much cajoling, Karoliina and her mother, Anneli, convinced me to join them for their Body Pump class. I've never been big on class exercising. I prefer disguising exercising, usually with a ball, or lifting weights, or some other more macho means of muscle mass. But this time I gave in - we are trying to get into shape during July and this seemed like a decent enough idea.
When we got to the gym I was delighted. It was the first time I had been in a real gym in quite some time and it was refreshing. The BB Gym we have here in Joensuu is serviceable, in a very rural sort of way. Come in, lift weights, leave. I forgot about rows of different machines and space. I was pumped for Body Pump. An hour later, I was dead. I couldn't finish the last half of the exercises. I hadn't done a lunge in a decade - that's what basketball is for - let alone 6 minutes of lunges.
But I soldiered on, as did Karoliina and her mother. I had the strength that you have when you haven't worked out in a long time - in my case months - and so I tried too hard for too long and now, almost a week later, my legs are just returning to normal and my triceps are still quite tender. Karoliina and I were walking like retarded donkeys these past few days of vacation. Getting in and out of the car required deep breathes and concentration. Needless to say we will be doing this as many times as possible for the next month. What the hell else is there to do anyway?
In a couple of weeks there will be a huge concert here in Joensuu, Illosaari Rock. It's sold out with 25,000 tickets sold for a weekend long festival. Karoliina and I have been asked by the festival promoters to write some articles for the website - articles of our choosing about our observations over the weekend. We've been given backstage passes - which would be cool if I was more into Anthrax, MC5, Backyard Babies or Monster Magnet, but we'll take what we can get.
Also, later this month I will be participating in a rowing competition among different groups in the film industry. My director friend, Markku Pölönen and his leading actor friend and me and a couple others will be competing and then going for a sauna. It should be great, but I think I need to hit the rowing machine in the gym a couple of times beforehand.
Speaking of Markku, today, on our way into town - after a 6 hour train ride without AC and the inside temperature in the 80's - we ran into my boss Jenni who told us that Markku would like K and I to translate his next script into English as he is writing it because he would like the film itself to be told in English. He and I have been discussing his idea for the past few months and I am really excited to do this with Karoliina. It is also very nice that he would like to work with us on this. It will give us a lot to do in the coming months, but I think that it is best to keep as busy as possible until my first term at school is over and we can concentrate on the future.
Jenni also said that she was leaving the EFFC, which among many other things means that I will be able to go to Scotland in August to continue promotion of my project. I will also be pitching to the Finnish media community in August and the Producers Union later in the fall and have been told by my potential sponsor in Helsinki to say that it is already begun and this bodes well. My commute back and forth from Helsinki will allow me the opportunity to see the pre-phases of this project and keep in regular communication until contracts are signed and blah blah.
This past week I made the biggest batch of pasta sauce that I have ever made, maybe the biggest meal I have ever made. 8 breasts of lemon chicken, artichokes and the pasta sauce. I was cooking for almost 5 hours. I had to feed 12 with the sauce, and 7 with the chicken. I had to make 5X's the amount I normally make, It came out great, but it got me thinking how important a good kitchen is. I would really love a big range oven, the ones here are ridiculously small, ridiculously. These is a lot of cabinet space, and decent counter space, but there is no oven space at all.
I also took out Karoliina's aunt Anja and met her husband Erkki. I figured it was the smart thing to do since I will be living with them 3 days a week for 3 months, starting soon and I had only met them two or three times. It went well. She's a nice lady and we enjoyed ourselves. The wait staff all thought our pairing was a bit unique - an older lady and a younger guy - and were all exceptionally nice. Still didn't tip. Hey, this is Finland, but still great service nonetheless. Still need to treat future roomies the right way.
Helsinki for Midsummer was deserted. It was great. We walked to the beach and sat outside and hung out in public places that were empty. The next day we went to a karoke bar which was packed. As it was a holiday the songs were all quite national and proud and in Finnish. I, of course got up and sang Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name". The crowd was old enough and they were in a good mood. Perhaps the best mood of any Finnish bar I have been in, ever. Before the end of it I had an old Finnish dude in a suit cheering and punching his fists in the air, rocking out. In a Finnsh bar. Sure we had another old Finnish guy try to pick a fight with us, but that's to be expected.
And then a couple of days of cooking, walks and movies led right up to Body Pump and here we are now, looking at the end of the sunset at 10 till midnight. Summer in Finland.
When we got to the gym I was delighted. It was the first time I had been in a real gym in quite some time and it was refreshing. The BB Gym we have here in Joensuu is serviceable, in a very rural sort of way. Come in, lift weights, leave. I forgot about rows of different machines and space. I was pumped for Body Pump. An hour later, I was dead. I couldn't finish the last half of the exercises. I hadn't done a lunge in a decade - that's what basketball is for - let alone 6 minutes of lunges.
But I soldiered on, as did Karoliina and her mother. I had the strength that you have when you haven't worked out in a long time - in my case months - and so I tried too hard for too long and now, almost a week later, my legs are just returning to normal and my triceps are still quite tender. Karoliina and I were walking like retarded donkeys these past few days of vacation. Getting in and out of the car required deep breathes and concentration. Needless to say we will be doing this as many times as possible for the next month. What the hell else is there to do anyway?
In a couple of weeks there will be a huge concert here in Joensuu, Illosaari Rock. It's sold out with 25,000 tickets sold for a weekend long festival. Karoliina and I have been asked by the festival promoters to write some articles for the website - articles of our choosing about our observations over the weekend. We've been given backstage passes - which would be cool if I was more into Anthrax, MC5, Backyard Babies or Monster Magnet, but we'll take what we can get.
Also, later this month I will be participating in a rowing competition among different groups in the film industry. My director friend, Markku Pölönen and his leading actor friend and me and a couple others will be competing and then going for a sauna. It should be great, but I think I need to hit the rowing machine in the gym a couple of times beforehand.
Speaking of Markku, today, on our way into town - after a 6 hour train ride without AC and the inside temperature in the 80's - we ran into my boss Jenni who told us that Markku would like K and I to translate his next script into English as he is writing it because he would like the film itself to be told in English. He and I have been discussing his idea for the past few months and I am really excited to do this with Karoliina. It is also very nice that he would like to work with us on this. It will give us a lot to do in the coming months, but I think that it is best to keep as busy as possible until my first term at school is over and we can concentrate on the future.
Jenni also said that she was leaving the EFFC, which among many other things means that I will be able to go to Scotland in August to continue promotion of my project. I will also be pitching to the Finnish media community in August and the Producers Union later in the fall and have been told by my potential sponsor in Helsinki to say that it is already begun and this bodes well. My commute back and forth from Helsinki will allow me the opportunity to see the pre-phases of this project and keep in regular communication until contracts are signed and blah blah.
This past week I made the biggest batch of pasta sauce that I have ever made, maybe the biggest meal I have ever made. 8 breasts of lemon chicken, artichokes and the pasta sauce. I was cooking for almost 5 hours. I had to feed 12 with the sauce, and 7 with the chicken. I had to make 5X's the amount I normally make, It came out great, but it got me thinking how important a good kitchen is. I would really love a big range oven, the ones here are ridiculously small, ridiculously. These is a lot of cabinet space, and decent counter space, but there is no oven space at all.
I also took out Karoliina's aunt Anja and met her husband Erkki. I figured it was the smart thing to do since I will be living with them 3 days a week for 3 months, starting soon and I had only met them two or three times. It went well. She's a nice lady and we enjoyed ourselves. The wait staff all thought our pairing was a bit unique - an older lady and a younger guy - and were all exceptionally nice. Still didn't tip. Hey, this is Finland, but still great service nonetheless. Still need to treat future roomies the right way.
Helsinki for Midsummer was deserted. It was great. We walked to the beach and sat outside and hung out in public places that were empty. The next day we went to a karoke bar which was packed. As it was a holiday the songs were all quite national and proud and in Finnish. I, of course got up and sang Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name". The crowd was old enough and they were in a good mood. Perhaps the best mood of any Finnish bar I have been in, ever. Before the end of it I had an old Finnish dude in a suit cheering and punching his fists in the air, rocking out. In a Finnsh bar. Sure we had another old Finnish guy try to pick a fight with us, but that's to be expected.
And then a couple of days of cooking, walks and movies led right up to Body Pump and here we are now, looking at the end of the sunset at 10 till midnight. Summer in Finland.
// posted by Howard @ 11:00 PM 
