There's no art like snow art!

The date was the 14th of February, St.Valentine's Day.

This is a holiday I have normally associated with love, romance, cards, flowers and chocolate. A day every Irish teenager eagerly awaits at their halldoor for the postman to arrive with a Valentine card from that someone special who supposedly loves them so much, whether they like it or not. Oh yes indeed, the memories of Valentine's Day!

This holiday in Finland is slightly different however. The holiday of St.Valentine is relatively new here. In fact it first appeared in diaries here in 1987 as 'Friend's Day' or "Ystävänpäivä" in Finnish.

And to this day it is still called "Ystävänpäivä".

However, nowadays you can see cards and other items advertising 'St.Valentine's Day' in shops and on television everywhere in Finland. But it's just another word for Friendship to most Finns. And while the elements of romance which are associated with St.Valentine's Day slowly begin to creep in to Finnish culture, you are still more likely to see close friends and even relatives giving each other cards and gifts of friendship on February 14th.

As it turned out, 'Friendship' was the theme at a very 'cool' event I attended last month. The local municipality of Raseborg in Southern Finland were I live had organised a day out for the public which included some ice-swimming, bbq sausages and most importantly a Snow sculpting contest. This contest was held over a period of 3 hours on a beach in the town of Ekenäs. The sea here was frozen at the time, so I got a chance to walk on ice. This was a first for me!

A selection

of snow sculptures.

And here's the sculpture

that came first in the contest.

Well, that's what happened down my way last month on Valentine's Day. Definately something different for me and also a novelty day-out. I reckon a Friendship Valentine is always a good thing!

Here's a little clip I made of the Snow Art and more.

Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy the video!

Alan

The Shamrock Experiment: Day 2

Well here we are, it's Day 2 of the amazing shamrock experiment. Can shamrocks be grown indoors in Finland? We wait excitedly for the outcome.

So here's photo No.2 of my experiment.

My photo for Day 2 was actually photographed 3 days after my Day 1 photo. I'm very sorry but I couldn't give this experiment my full attention. However I'm still determined to show this famous green plant grow little by little here in Finland.

I purchased this small packet

of seeds while in Ireland last Christmas.

Keep watching this terribly exciting blog to see if the

shamrock grows in time for good old

St.Patrick's Day 2010!




Click here to read The Shamrock Experiment: Day 3

The Shamrock Experiment: Day 1

I thought I'd try and grow my own shamrock for St.Patrick's Day this year. This small green plant needs a little care and attention to be grown indoors, so don't be surprised if this goes all wrong. And there isn't a huge amount of sunshine in my part of Finland at the moment.

I didn't have any soil or fertiliser around, so I have to make do with some old mix of wood chippings and dirt. Because of this I will have to keep it well drained with water over the next few weeks.

Will I have the 'Luck of the Irish'? We shall see!

I purchased this small packet

of seeds while in Ireland last Christmas.

So here's the first photo of my experiment.

Keep watching this terribly exciting blog to see if the

shamrock grows in time for good old

St.Patrick's Day 2010!

Click here to read The Shamrock Experiment: Day 2

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 !

Top Hat In Bloom

Due to missing images this blogpost has been reposted with updates. You can now read this at this link. 

Kurt Cobain

(February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)

If he were alive today he would be celebrating his 43rd birthday. Unfortunately on April 8, 1994 Kurt Cobain was found dead after committing suicide by shooting himself at his home in Seattle. While not a huge fan of the singer and his band Nirvana, I did enjoy their sound and I witnessed the impact it had on people such as my younger brother in the early nineties.

Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth

Dublin, 1991

One concert I recall hearing about while living back in Ireland was their support gig to Sonic Youth at the 'Top Hat' venue in Dublin on 21 August 1991. I recall this gig as I was more a fan of Sonic Youth at the time, and it was a concert I really wanted to be at, but I just couldn't get a ticket. This concert at the Top Hat was held just one month before Kurt Cobain's band Nirvana released their biggest album called Nevermind and it was the first time Irish fans got to hear their biggest ever hit Smells Like Teen Spirit. That moment must have been really special I reckon.

Here's an advert for that concert which

I kept from a magazine at the time.

(looks like the magazine printed the wrong date!)

Nirvana played support to Sonic Youth at a gig the previous night in Sir Henry's Pub, Cork before heading to Dublin.

Here's an audio clip of their song 'About a Girl' from that gig.

Read also..

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/08/21/smells-like-top-hat-spirit/

You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.

- Alan 

                     

                                                                      Click here and join our Facebook group!

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