The Dead Poet's Breakfast!

This is a repost from 2011. I'm trying to restart my blog yet again. And what better day to reboot it than this special day in the Finnish calendar. Since Finland is celebrating it's 100 year birthday as an independent nation this year 2017 I hope to repost a few old stories here aswell as some photos from my time living in Finland.  

The 5th of February is known as Runeberg's Day in Finland, named after Finland's national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg who was born in the town of Jacobstad, Finland on this date 1804.

'Runeberg's most famous work is Fänrik Ståls sägner (The Tales of Ensign Stål, Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish) written between 1848 and 1860. It is considered the greatest Finnish epic poem outside the native Kalevala tradition and contains tales of the Swedish War of 1808-09 with Russia. In the war, Sweden ignominiously lost Finland, which became a Grand Duchy in the Russian empire. The poem, which is composed episodically, emphasizes the common humanity of all sides in the conflict, while principally lauding the heroism of the Finns. The first poem "Vårt land" (Our Land, Maamme in Finnish) became the Finnish National Anthem. Runeberg is celebrated on 5 February each year.'

- taken from Wikipedia

While the National anthem of Finland is sung in the Finnish language by the majority of people over here, it is also sung in swedish with the same passion and pride by a part of the Finnish population living in the west and south of Finland. In my opinion there is something very special and respectful for the people of Finland to have their anthem in both languages.

   

And it is also on this day Feb 5th every year that a certain cake named 

Runeberg's torte (Finnish: Runebergintorttu; Swedish: Runebergstårta) is eaten all over in Finnish homes to celebrate this great national poet. The story goes that the poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg enjoyed a torte with some brandy punsch for his breakfast every morning.

And not wanting to be disrespectful, I am only too happy to carry on this good tradition in my own home today. A little too late for breakfast, I will be eating one of these two little beauties here with a nice cup of tea later on this evening.

Thanks for reading my blog and please share it with all your friends.

-Alan

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Original post from 2011.

Walkabout in Finland - Part.1 - Helsinki

All photographs taken on 31/08/2012

Click on images to enlarge.

Art nouveau style building at junction of Fabiansgatan and Norra Magasinsgatan, Helsinki. 

Old indoor market hall at Helsinki harbour

Old indoor market hall at Helsinki harbour

'TORILINNA'
Art nouveau style building at junction of Fabiankatu and Eteläinen Makasiinikatu, Helsinki.

Open market at Helsinki harbour

Open market at Helsinki harbour

Open market at Helsinki harbour

On the steps at Helsinki Cathedral.

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Daniel's Art Group in Fokus

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a special art exhibition being held at Galleria Fokus, my local art gallery here in Karis, Finland. The organiser of this exhibition was Daniel Enckell, a local and well-respected artist who has set up his own art group classes over the past few years and is now showing the fruits of his teachings at this art exhibition. 

Daniel Enckell stands next to his painting 'Tessi' at Galleria Fokus, Karis.

Daniel Enckell's art group is represented at this art exhibition in Gallery Fokus by a total of eleven fine artists. Visitors to this exhibition have a unique chance to see a sample of Daniel Enckell's artwork also. 

On walking into the gallery last Saturday afternoon I could not help but notice Daniel's stunning portrait painting titled 'Tessi (Terese)'. It is a richly coloured painting of a young woman in a dark baroque style reminiscent of the great masters. What a wonderful showpiece to greet visitors at the gallery!

Solveig Eriksson standing next to her Still-life oil painting at Galleria Fokus.

One of the artists taking part in this exhibition has recently been involved with a book about Helene Schjerfbeck, one of Finland's biggest and best-loved artists. The book titled in Swedish 'Hon drog sina streck' has been translated into Finnish by Solveig Eriksson. As part of this group art exhibition Solveig and her co-artists displayed some fine still-life oil paintings. It was interesting to see and compare the techniques and brushstrokes of each individual artist. 

Fine art and refreshments at Galleria Fokus

From left to right,
Carola Welin - 'Under platanerna i Paris'
Nina Hackman - 'Stenhus'
Nina Hackman - 'Känsloflöden'

Visitors to the exhibition can find a variety of styles and subjects, including some wonderful landscape paintings. One painting I particularly liked was 'Stenhus' by Nina Hackman, a peaceful scene painted with wonderful attention to depth and light.

From left to right,
Asta-Maria Wikström - 'Madonna'
Helena Laitinen - 'Midsommarnatt i Savolax'
Nina Hackman - 'Stenhus på Gottland'

Daniel Enckell's Art Group exhibition continues at Galleria Fokus, in Karis, Finland until the 29th of January 2012. 

The artists on show are 

Asta-Maria Wikström, 

Helena Laitinen, 

Solveig Eriksson, 

Carola Wilen, 

Tuula Masalin, 

Christine Oesch-Börman, 

Rolf Grandell, 

Tor-Bjorn Sjöholm, 

Nina Hackman, 

Ann Glader, 

Lauri Stählberg 

and Daniel Enckell.

Galleri Fokus Galleria

Monday-Thursday 11-19

Fridays 11-17

Saturdays 10-14

Centalgatan 90-92, Karis  -  Keskuskatu 90-92, Karjaa

Thanks for reading my blog and feel free to share with all your friends.

-Alan

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The Dead Poet's Breakfast!

The 5th of February is known as Runeberg's Day in Finland, named after Finland's national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg who was born in the town of Jacobstad, Finland on this date 1804.

'Runeberg's most famous work is Fänrik Ståls sägner (The Tales of Ensign Stål, Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish) written between 1848 and 1860. It is considered the greatest Finnish epic poem outside the native Kalevala tradition and contains tales of the Swedish War of 1808-09 with Russia. In the war, Sweden ignominiously lost Finland, which became a Grand Duchy in the Russian empire. The poem, which is composed episodically, emphasizes the common humanity of all sides in the conflict, while principally lauding the heroism of the Finns. The first poem "Vårt land" (Our Land, Maamme in Finnish) became the Finnish National Anthem. Runeberg is celebrated on 5 February each year.'

- taken from Wikipedia

While the National anthem of Finland is sung in the Finnish language by the majority of people over here, it is also sung in swedish with the same passion and pride by a part of the Finnish population living in the west and south of Finland. In my opinion there is something very special and respectful for the people of Finland to have their anthem in both languages.

   

And it is also on this day Feb 5th every year that a certain cake named 

Runeberg's torte (Finnish: Runebergintorttu; Swedish: Runebergstårta) is eaten all over in Finnish homes to celebrate this great national poet. The story goes that the poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg enjoyed a torte with some brandy punsch for his breakfast every morning.

And not wanting to be disrespectful, I am only too happy to carry on this good tradition in my own home today. A little too late for breakfast, I will be eating one of these two little beauties here with a nice cup of tea later on this evening.

Thanks for reading my blog and please share it with all your friends.

-Alan

You are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button here.

The Puppet Master's Farewell

I just heard sad news about one of Ireland's favorite characters Eugene Lambert who died suddenly at his home in Dublin last night aged 82.

As well as being a much-respected and well-liked person, Lambert played a part in the lives of many Irish people including myself who grew up and watched TV in Ireland during the 1970's and 80's.

He was a great puppeteer and ventriloquist who invented some well-loved children's TV puppet-characters.

Eugene Lambert and 'Judge' the dog.

I remember one particular character, a dog named 'Judge' who was part of a show called 'Wanderly Wagon'. He was a character most children of the time could relate to and trust.

It was no surprise that Lambert's wonderful canine character 'Judge' was also an important figure in public service campaigns for children's road safety throughout Ireland.

Eugene Lambert was also responsible for another very popular puppet in Ireland called 'Bosco', who lived in a box, only ever leaving it for an ice-cream or a visit to the Zoo!

Eugene Lambert was founder of the Lambert Puppet Theatre, which he established in 1972.

A sad day for 'grown-up' Irish children everywhere.

Read also:

RTE Television

Irish Independent Newspaper

Thanks for reading my blog and feel free to share with all your friends.

-Alan

You are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button here.

Please leave your reaction to this blogpost by ticking one of the little boxes below. Thanks!

Visit 

The Art Garage website 

Click here !

Date with the Saami people!

Renée Zellweger chews her finger 
in the title role of Bridget Jones’s Diary.

From Universal/Neal Peters Collection

Living in Finland for over two years now I am still amazed at just how large the country is. Finland has a similar population size to my home country Ireland, but is actually four times larger in area coverage.

Of course a large area of northern Finland is open to severe weather conditions in the winter months and therefore considered uninhabitable by some. Add to this the lack of daylight and it paints a grim picture of how anyone could survive winters in this northern region of Finland where temperatures can drop to between -45°C and -50°C.

I live in the most southerly area of Finland and winter here can be hard enough to bear. I honestly cannot understand how anybody can live in the north of Finland.

However this northern area of Finland we all know as Lapland has a large community with busy towns and modern infrastructure. And with a population of about 184,000 it seems that long cold winters hasn't deterred anyone from living there.

Of this quite large population living in Finnish Lapland around 7,000 belong to the Saami community. These are the people who most of us are used to seeing in photos and on TV wearing traditional red, blue and yellow lined clothing and usually occupied by reindeer herding and age-old crafts like carpentry and sowing.

However, nowadays you are more likely to see a Saami rushing around after reindeer on a turbo-quad vehicle with an iphone gps attached. And why not? These are people who welcome the use of modern devices where needed, yet they still maintain and respect old traditions.

I don't know much more about the Saami people and I'm not qualified to write any detailed information, but since moving to Finland I have discovered that they are very much a part of a detached culture to most Finnish people. They have their own language, they even have there own TV broadcasts I believe. You can read more about the Saami here.

Homeland of the Saami people

The Saami Flag

This leads me on to Hollywood star Renée Zellweger.

What???....... What has she got to do with Finland you may ask?

Well, nothing really.

But I was a little surprised to see her photo on Wikipedia's page about some of Finland's most northerly inhabitants, the Saami. Well actually the Saami people live in the nordic area more commonly known as Lapland, which encompasses parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

It appears that Renée Zellweger's mother, Kjellfried Irene (née Andreassen), is Norwegian-born and of Saami origin.

And today, February 6th marks the Saami National Day.

I wonder if the Hollywood star has this date written in her diary, definately a day to toast a proud part of her heritage.

And finally a little bit of modern Sami music. I'm not familar too much with the Sami culture, I think it would be great to head up to Lapland one day and say hello to all the gang. Here's some music I found on YouTube which appealed to me.

You can find out more about the Saami people and Finnish weather at these interesting links.

http://saamiblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/runes-and-serpent-worship-among-sami.html

http://baiki.tripod.com/glossary.htm

http://www.finnguide.fi/calendar/calendarevents.asp?month=2&p=8

http://www.fmi.fi/weather/climate_4.html

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Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends.

- Alan