The Shamrock Experiment: 20 Days too late!

The Great Finnish Shamrock Experiment:

6 April 2010, - The Survivors!

Well, I finally got around to my final blogpost on my now infamous Shamrock Experiment. It's been 20 days since Saint Patrick's Day, the date I was expecting my little green friends to be ready.

They were badly treated in the beginning by myself not having the correct soil for them to grow in.

But they persevered through thick and thin like proper Irish soldiers. They battled through unsteady and often very cold temperatures. And then there was the presence of my menacing Finnish cat. Some of the shamrocks suffered badly at the paws of my curious feline friend. Call it growing pains, or even casualties of war.

........... They will not be forgotten!

The snow has finally started to melt here now in Finland. Spring is knocking at our door. And we are all looking forward to some warm sunshine and hopefully a great summer. These little shamrocks have brought a little bit of colour to a house surrounded by a lot of snow over the past few days. I hope they keep growing for as long as they can. Here's a few photos of those brave shamrocks who survived the experiment.

And finally a song in honour of those who didn't make it.

Here's 'Danny Boy' from The Leprechaun Brothers!

Beckham set for Turku move after Posh gets her drinks mixed up!!

We all know about footballer David Beckham's recent visit to Turku in Finland for surgery on a tendon injury.

And we have found out that the operation tended by top Finnish surgeon Sakari Orava was a complete success.

We also know that he has been invited back to Turku next year when the city celebrates being European Capital of Culture. More of which you can read here.

But what we don't know is that David has been spending more time than expected back here in Finland.

And here's the reason why.....

It appears that Victoria Beckham recently signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Turku football team TPS to advertise their jerseys.

Yes, it's true!

Apparently there was a misunderstanding during an important phonecall before completing the contracts. Instead of signing a deal with softdrink giants Pepsi, 'Posh Spice' actually signed up to Tepsi (TPS football club’s nickname). Lawyers present are expecting her to keep to the arrangement as signed.

Meanwhile, after hearing of this little mix-up, David Beckham has shown that he may very well stay in Turku for a short period of time while his wife fulfills her 2-year contract. He laughed at the soft drink company's involvement, remembering a funny tv commercial he made for them a while back. He said there was another football club with black and white stripes involved on that occasion too. Here's the advert he was talking about.

Having seen the funny side of the situation, Becks has shown a fresh interest in Posh's new employers. So much was his interest, that he was captured yesterday in this photo here by some local tabloid newspaper at Tepsi’s training ground in Turku.

Will we see Becks swap his Milan stripes for the new Tepsi stripes?

Only time can tell!

And just how much money did Tepsi football club tempt Posh Spice with?

To find out just click here!!!

August Art Round-up 2010!!

I just found out that 'The Finnish Cat' will be on public view at this year's Konstrundan Art event in Finland.

Konstrundan is a special annual event where artists open their studio doors to the public. This large group of artists, craftsmen and designers live mainly in the Swedish speaking areas in Finland (Svenskfinland).

For this event I intend to have my 'Finnish Cat'-'Finsk Katt'-'Suomalainen Kissa' on display along with several new paintings which I hope to have ready for this event later this summer.

It all happens on 30 July-1 August 2010.

And I now have my own profile on the Konstrundan site here.

A big thank you to the people at Konstrundan!!

There's a full list of all this year's participants here.

The list represents five areas, Västra Nyland/Helsinki, Turku area, Österbotnia, Åland and Östra Nyland (areas shown in yellow on map)

This event promises to be an excellent presentation of the wide variety of artists and craftspeople in Svenskfinland and I'm very proud to be taking part!

Thanks for reading my blog.

Alan

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Irish Rockin' in Russia!

I'll be 'drowning the shamrock' quietly here in Finland tomorrow. But if there's anybody from a certain part of Russia reading this blog, I can recommend a good night out for you. I have a cousin from Dublin who's heading over to Belgorod to play two concerts with his band The Spikes soon. He only joined this band quite recently but I hear he's fitting into their sound very well and it looks like they're heading for better things pretty soon. 

The band will be releasing a new album shortly, which can only fuel the fire of their much appraised live shows. I believe 'live' music is the way to go for new bands today, and I reckon The Spikes have enough enthusiasm and charisma to do the job properly.

The Spikes will playing at Hamilton's Pub in Belgorod, Russia on St.Patrick's Night March 17th and also on Friday March 19th, 2010.

Here's a video from The Spikes. The song is called Monster.

If you're lucky enough to be at their gig in Russia, have a great night!

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

-Alan

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The Shamrock Experiment: Day ???

The Not-so-great Finnish Shamrock Experiment: Day ???

Well, it's the day before St.Patrick's Day and my attempt to grow some shamrock in time for the green festivities has proven slightly unsuccessful. I feel I must hold up my hands as I feel guilty for not giving them the proper soil to grow in and also for underestimating their growth period. I do feel that the temperature changes have also had a slight effect on the growth rate. I reckon the shamrocks will look better in another few days however.

Nevermind. I'll be posting one or two more photos when the shamrock is fully evident. I've given our Finnish Leprechaun friend 'Matti' the day off today. He wanted to practice some Irish dancing before he starts partying tomorrow. But he did leave me with a clip of his favourite TV star on a visit to Ireland. Apparently this guy is quite popular in Finland. It's Conan O'Brien!

Click Here to read The Shamrock Experiment: 20 Days too late!

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