Thursday, August 31, 2006
Maybe you've been able to guess that the weather has changed lately. Gone are the days of warm and fuzzy sunshine, making room for the grey and gloom of the past two weeks. Could it be that this is the cause for my utter lack of posts? Well, either that or the fact that not a whole helluva lot's been going on 'round here. Or, simple laziness. I don't know about you, but I'll opt for door number one or two.
Remember about a million years ago I wrote something to the effect that it would be cool to do a documentary on the American basketball players here in Finland? Well, last night I met with one of the pioneers. A guy, Leon, who grew up just outside of St. Louis, who moved to Finland - after a year in Israel and one in Turkey - in 1975 to play basketball in Joensuu of all places. 31 years later, he is a Finnish citizen, with grey frazzled hair, his son plays for the national team as well as for Valparaiso, and he coaches his step-son and his friends in their younger league.
I met him in Malmi, not the best place I've ever been. I didn't ask what he looked like, but that's because I had a pretty good feeling that I could spot him in a crowd. And I did. I walked with him to practice and chatted with him the entire time. Every few minutes he would break conversation, order the kids to shoot 50 baskets, then stretch, then play 2-on-2 full court, and then resume our conversation.
Now, I knew a lot about this guy, because after two years in J-town, where this guy started and where the urban legends started, and after 30 years grew and grew, I had heard the lot of them. He had too and was quick to set them straight. And then tell the kid that he's training to be a point guard to throw 100 passes at a metal plate on the wall, because as he puts it, "The kid can't throw for shit."
I think we hit it off. Now I have to make contact with the other 5 guys from his generation. I hope they're all as interesting as he is.
Remember about a million years ago I wrote something to the effect that it would be cool to do a documentary on the American basketball players here in Finland? Well, last night I met with one of the pioneers. A guy, Leon, who grew up just outside of St. Louis, who moved to Finland - after a year in Israel and one in Turkey - in 1975 to play basketball in Joensuu of all places. 31 years later, he is a Finnish citizen, with grey frazzled hair, his son plays for the national team as well as for Valparaiso, and he coaches his step-son and his friends in their younger league.
I met him in Malmi, not the best place I've ever been. I didn't ask what he looked like, but that's because I had a pretty good feeling that I could spot him in a crowd. And I did. I walked with him to practice and chatted with him the entire time. Every few minutes he would break conversation, order the kids to shoot 50 baskets, then stretch, then play 2-on-2 full court, and then resume our conversation.
Now, I knew a lot about this guy, because after two years in J-town, where this guy started and where the urban legends started, and after 30 years grew and grew, I had heard the lot of them. He had too and was quick to set them straight. And then tell the kid that he's training to be a point guard to throw 100 passes at a metal plate on the wall, because as he puts it, "The kid can't throw for shit."
I think we hit it off. Now I have to make contact with the other 5 guys from his generation. I hope they're all as interesting as he is.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
A few weeks back I mentioned the discovery of Oreo cookies for 10€ a package and the dismay that this caused me. Today, I was in the store and noticed a fellow American experiencing the exact same dismay that I experienced those many days ago. I noticed him because I heard a loud, "You've got to be kidding me," followed by him looking around to see if anyone noticed his random outburst. Side note - Finland is not a country known for random outbursts. Well, I noticed and I walked up to him and he shook his head at me and said, "This costs 2 bucks back home." I smiled at him and agreed and went on my way. I didn't really feel like forming a friendship or anything based on a love of Oreo's, but not too deep a love as to spend - 10€ is - 12 dollars on a package of them, and so I left, happy with my cheap Hot Tamales - a new addition.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Elvira, Elvira
My heart's on fire Elvira
Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow
Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow
Heigh-ho Silver, away
This song came crashing into my mind yesterday when news of Lilleri and Björn's third - count it, third - baby in five years poked her little head into this world. Her name is, well I suppose it's a bit obvious now, Elvira. And all of a sudden I remembered singing this song with Tricia and Jen into a little tape recorder. I only posted the chorus because that's all we sang. And I'm quite sure we never even got to Heigh-ho Silver, away. The song came out in '81 so I think I was about 6 or 7 when we made the Brodsky children remix, complete with serious Texas accents.
I'll be going to see the Eckström's this weekend in Turku and K and I found that song and burned it onto a CD and found a poster of Elvira, Mistress of the Night and printed it out and made a nice little present. I'm excited to hang out with Björn because for the past 5 years or so, his nights have been rather occupied, but with the birth of this third and the arrival of his mother, he gets a night out with the boys.
Truth be told, another night out is not what I need. I could use another trip to the gym and some nice herbal iced tea. I can't believe I am about to say this, but I am sort of looking forward to the end of the summer, because it is simply too much of an all out party for me, especially when taking the past 3 weeks into consideration.
K and I thought that 2 weeks on a film shoot would be a chance to get healthy. Long days outside, hard work - at least all of our previous film shoot experiences were filled with those - but this one, well this one was a little different, as were our titles. No longer PA - production assistant - who is responsible for every uneviable task on the set, this time we were Script Consultants, who make sure that the actors are speaking their lines well and are comfortable with the changes. That meant our main task was to establish a trust with the actors, which meant that we had to hang out with the actors, which meant we had to party with the actors, because these here actors, well they likes to party and party and party. And the thing about these actors is that they don't stop, but oddly enough, it rarely if ever affected their work.
More details to come.
My heart's on fire Elvira
Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow
Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow
Heigh-ho Silver, away
This song came crashing into my mind yesterday when news of Lilleri and Björn's third - count it, third - baby in five years poked her little head into this world. Her name is, well I suppose it's a bit obvious now, Elvira. And all of a sudden I remembered singing this song with Tricia and Jen into a little tape recorder. I only posted the chorus because that's all we sang. And I'm quite sure we never even got to Heigh-ho Silver, away. The song came out in '81 so I think I was about 6 or 7 when we made the Brodsky children remix, complete with serious Texas accents.
I'll be going to see the Eckström's this weekend in Turku and K and I found that song and burned it onto a CD and found a poster of Elvira, Mistress of the Night and printed it out and made a nice little present. I'm excited to hang out with Björn because for the past 5 years or so, his nights have been rather occupied, but with the birth of this third and the arrival of his mother, he gets a night out with the boys.
Truth be told, another night out is not what I need. I could use another trip to the gym and some nice herbal iced tea. I can't believe I am about to say this, but I am sort of looking forward to the end of the summer, because it is simply too much of an all out party for me, especially when taking the past 3 weeks into consideration.
K and I thought that 2 weeks on a film shoot would be a chance to get healthy. Long days outside, hard work - at least all of our previous film shoot experiences were filled with those - but this one, well this one was a little different, as were our titles. No longer PA - production assistant - who is responsible for every uneviable task on the set, this time we were Script Consultants, who make sure that the actors are speaking their lines well and are comfortable with the changes. That meant our main task was to establish a trust with the actors, which meant that we had to hang out with the actors, which meant we had to party with the actors, because these here actors, well they likes to party and party and party. And the thing about these actors is that they don't stop, but oddly enough, it rarely if ever affected their work.
More details to come.
