Happy first day of Spring!

Signs of Spring:  it was 80 degrees in NH today and Google used the iconic Marimekko poppy as its search engine logo.

The Grapes Are Safe!

March 16 is St. Urho's Day!  This celebration of Finnish/American heritage takes place in Minnesota and attempts to rival the massive St. Patrick's Day celebrations around the country.  Savannah, Georgia is estimating that one million people will be on hand for the St. Patrick's Day parade.  You can compare that to the scale of the St. Urho's parade posted on YouTube.  I have posted about St. Urho before and I think I need to establish the tradition in Concord!

The St. Urho web site explains that St. Urho may have failed in this attempt to drive the grasshoppers from Finland.  There is a new book covering the hepokatit of Finland.

Happy St. Urho's Day!

Arno Minkkinen at the Currier

The Currier Museum has an exhibition of modernist photography on display now.  If I tell my husband that the exhibition includes a photograph by the Finnish photographer Arno Minkkinen, will he come with me to Manchester?  The odds are in my favor.  On Tuesday, March 13, you can connect with the exhibition at an event at Red River Theater in Concord.

"Kurt Sundstrom, who organized the Currier Museum of Art's current exhibition "A New Vision: Modernist Photography" (on view through May 13, 2012) will discuss Lotte Jacobi’s illustrious role as a European modernist, mentor to a generation of artists and her extraordinary life as one of the 20th century’s great photographers. 

Please RSVP to Michelle Thornton by March 9th mthornton@currier.org or 603.669.6144 x120

Following the discussion please enjoy the film screening of "Paul Strand: Under the Dark Cloth" at Red River Theatres beginning at 6pm. To order tickets go to www.redrivertheatres.org."

What is Italian for Sisu?

I was sad to read that Sisu pastilles will no longer be made in Finland!  They will now be made in Italy.  I love these things!

Women's Day - In Finland, but not New Hampshire!

Checking in with my Finnish friends on Facebook this morning, I learned it was Naistenpäivä-Women's Day.

Yesterday was NOT Women's Day in New Hampshire!  Above is a picture of House Speaker Bill O'Brien being confronted by women outside the State House.  You can read about the latest attack on women in New Hampshire in the Concord Monitor here.  I like the Monitor picture - a line of women underneath a row of portraits of dead white guys.

The United States is rolling back the clock on health care, not simply women's health care.  The ability to plan for children is healthier for us all.  This editorial from the Concord Monitor explains what is happening to health care in the United States in case you missed the Rush Limbaugh flap.

Stay tuned!

Heading to the polls in frigid weather!

Today is a flag day in Finland - Runeberg Day.  The flags are flying.  It is extremely cold.  And Finns are heading to the polls.  Today is the second round of voting for president in Finland and the international news is focused on the sexual orientation of the Green Party candidate, Pekka Haavisto.  You can read Haavisto's campaign web site to learn more about his life.

Because I am blogging 7 hours behind Finland, it looks as though Haavisto will not win this election.  News reports put Sauli Niinistö ahead in the results thus far.  Sauli Niinistö is a former finance minister and member of the National Coalition Party or Kokoomus.

Because the Huffington Post isn't reporting on Niinistö's sexuality, I guess we can surmise that it is less newsworthy and also that Haavisto's election would bring excite more international news than Niinistö's.

In New Hampshire, the republicans in the state legislature are trying to repeal the state's gay marriage law.  One legislator is sending out mail with the state seal to drum up support for the repeal.  It looks as though Ichabod Crane is waging the fight against gay marriage.

But rather than dwell on the sad events unfolding in New Hampshire, I leave you with this glorious flashmob video organized by supporters of Pekka Haavisto in the Helsinki train station:



And the Helsingin Sanomat is reporting that Niinistö is Finland's 12th President.

The heavens dance

Last week a strong solar storm, the strongest since 2005, hit earth and I was unaffected.  But those lucky enough to live in more northerly climes were able to watch the heavens dance.

You can download your own dancing heavens screen saver from the VisitFinland web site here.

And here is a lovely piece of music, Aurore Boreale, by the Finnish composer Uuno Klami.  Wikipedia asserts that Klami is the only composer to have fought in five armed conflicts.

Spongebob and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man - Presidential Elections in the U.S. and Finland: Compare and Contrast

The fantastic sideshow (think Tod Browning's Freaks ) that is the Republican primary has moved to the Sunshine State. The clear winner in South Carolina was Tubby Soft Squeeze a.k.a. Mr. Stay Puft, a well known villain from the past. If you have forgotten the evil deeds of Mr. Stay Puft you can rewatch Ghostbusters (circa 1984) or talk to any federal employee (also circa 1984). 1984 is the year Ben Jones, D-GA, filed an ethics complaint against serial adulterer Newt Gingrich. Yes, yes, Cooter pointed the finger at Newter. U.S. politics is stranger than fiction!

And what about Finland?

Finland's first round of presidential elections took place on Sunday. 7 candidates vied to fill the opening left by Tarja Halonen. Halonen has served her maximum two consecutive terms in office. Of the 7 candidates running for President of Finland, two were women. Of the remaining five male candidates, 3 had the first name Paavo. Any non Finno-phone following the election results on the Helsingin Sanomat web site had the fun of seeing that Google translate informed the world that Spongebob Squarepants had placed an impressive third, fifth, and sixth in the first round of the Finnish presidential elections. Spongebob Squarepants in Finnish is Paavo Pesusieni.

I will write more about the two finalists in a future blog. But first I have to post a short clip of Newt returning to power in Washington. Who're you going to call?

Ethereal beauty under ice

My friend Mike Cantrell posted this video from Finland on his blog and now the Washington Post has buzzed about it. I thought I would get in on the action. The video shows ice fishermen IN Lake Saarijärvi.

In Concord it is cold enough for the Republicans to flock to town, but not yet cold enough to skate on the White Park pond. If you read what Santorum and Newt think about aiding the disadvantaged you will know their hearts were frozen long before they came to the Granite State. We can only hope their hearts will thaw, but I won't hold my breath!