Leaving on a jet plane

This morning I was dazed. It was one of those mornings that wasn’t really morning because there was no night to speak of. I stayed up through the night finishing a paper I still have yet to put the finishing touches on. My plane was delayed once, twice, then until 4.30 in the morning so my Thanksgiving break was extended by 12 hours or so. The internet went down around 1, so I couldn’t really add much definite after that. Just details. I finished that around 2, but was so wired on coffee that going for the hour of sleep would be useless. I tried anyway. No go.

By the time it was time to leave for the airport I was cold. I hate that. It’s the worst part of being tired for me. I can’t hold body heat and I shiver like a toy dog does when it’s excited. I made the trek to the airport for the second time. It’s a much different place at 4 in the morning. This morning, however, there was an abnormal flurry of activity. More Ohioans headed off to war.

In theory I know that the guys fighting overseas are my age; have similar backgrounds; want many of the same things of their lives that I do of mine. But there’s always something more real about witnessing something firsthand. Goodbyes are painful. I know all too well, as I’ve said too many. For many of these guys, this was the first goodbye. None of the farewells I’ve ever said had such tension in the air. This goodbye could really be a goodbye for them, not the “until we meet again” usually associated with parting. They might not come back.

One kid followed me through the security line.

“Is this the place where I empty out my pockets?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“And my shoes?”

“Yep, they want it all.”

He then went and found a seat off on his own, waiting for the plane to Charlotte to carry him away. His first plane trip, and there’s the possibility of it being a one-way trip.

While he was sitting there, it was noticeable that he didn’t quite fit in with the other guys. He wasn’t necessarily more shy, just not yet one of the gang either. Social dynamics here, something I can relate to. Guys that could just as easily be me or my friends, packing off to war. Yet there I sat, in my privileged seat, returning to the comforts and safety of New England university life. Yet another way in which I am fortunate, that I need to appreciate more.

All too much for 4 in the morning.

Uutiset 19 Nov

It's a light day, methinks:

-Finally a definition of normal I can live with. It's not new per se, but it's new to me anyway. According to Ellen Goodman:

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it."

And in the Finland shakedown:

-Flushed cell phones clogging sewers. I wonder how much Nokia makes off of replacement phones for those that met this watery end...

-The Baltic Times on the recent outrage in Finland over an Estonian shipping company's sewage disposal in the Gulf of Finland.

-Now your medical life will be ruled by SMS too!!

-Russian spies in Finland at Cold War levels again. So the counterintelligence officers in Finland may actually have a lot of work to do. I was wondering the other day why any country would put spies in Finland to steal government (as opposed to corporate) secretes. Seems as though Russia has its reasons.


-Baa raaa muu. The sheep are on the loose

The new Harry Potter movie was pretty amazing. Consider this my endorsement. Missed the last 30 seconds or so though because the fire alarm went off in the theater. That was rather annoying, especially since the exits took us through 4 stories of asbestos filled halls.

Europa down?

I've been trying to access the EU's Europa site for the last few day but have been unable. Does anyone know if it is down or what the deal is? If you're able to get it please leave something in the comments. I have a paper to write and need the site...

Europa

Update: It works fine now. Not sure what all that was about.

Keeping up with the Beckhams

Photo: BBC

I'm not gonna lie, I love the Beckhams. I mean, who wouldn't want their lives? Ali G did an interview with them that's now on funny-videos.co.uk. It's absolutely hillarious! Watch here:

http://www.funny-videos.co.uk/videoAliGPoshBecks.html

Uutiset 15 Nov 2005

-The EU will not investigate claims of secret US jails in EU member states.

-Ali G may get sued by the Kazahks for misrepresenting the people with Borat

-Halonen's approval rating (drops) to 71%. Does this mean that she's twice the president Bush is? I'm just asking...

Source: Roosewelt Pinheiro/ABr. 31.Oct.2003.
-...and more Finland: Police may reprimand citizens using SMS. Turn signal out? Best watch out for that text message from the cop you just passed.


-...the last bit on Finland: Conditions for immigrants not all that different between Paris and Helsinki. The Helsingin sanomat explores

-Esquire Magazine names Bill Clinton the world's most influential man.

Violence hits other European cities

GatewayPundit has recapped everything pretty well. This is getting progressively more scary. And for real scary. Not like House of Wax with Paris, Chad, et al. that is scaring the hell out of me right now. It's a completely different scary.

La haine- a film prophetique?

Slate recently published a story about Matthew Kassovitz's 1995 film La haine in which it points out the prophetic nature of the movie. I saw the film last year as part of a French course and presented on race relations as shown by this movie. Though Slate's review may be hard to follow if you haven't seen the movie, it's pretty decent at the outset. I don't think the author gives enough appreciateion to the director or plot towards the end of his review, though. The Cut Killer remix of Edith Piaf from the soundtrack was stuck in my head for days after seeing the movie.

Uutiset

-Finns still opposed to joining NATO. 26% for, 55% against according to the most recent (Suomen) Gallup polls. These figures actually reflect a slight increase in support. At its highest, support was only at 29%. Security and soverignty issues topped reasons for opposition, which is surprising coming from an EU country. Or is it?...

-Helsinki to become a SUPERcapitol? With the annexation of Espoo and Vantaa gaining support, it may happen...

-Conan in Finland? He talks about it enough....

-English about those bloggers arrested in Paris.

-Dictionary.com word of the day for Nov. 8 - nosegay- a bouquet. Riiiiight.

-Essentialist Explanations offers a lot of quotes about the Finnish language (and others). I especially like:

Finnish is essentially Japanese spoken with an Italian accent.

--John Davies

(I always thought Finnish sounded almost Japanese like at times, especially with the spoken "saisinko" and a few other words .) Also:

Ffiinnnniisshh iiss eesssseennttiiaallllyy aa llaanngguuaaggee ffoorr ppeeooppllee wwiitthh ddoouubbllee vviissiioonn.

--Clint Jackson Baker

Good stuff.

-Brown Bears clinch Ivy League Championship. Sweet! We also won both hockey games I went to this weekend.

-NYT publishes stories from Muslims on the riots in France

Love?!?!

Japan's princess is giving up her 12 layered ceremonial kimono (see below) and the life that goes with it (including the ability to live in the royal palace with her parents) in order to marry a commoner. That's gotta be like normal love x12- once for each kimono.


Photo: AP

It's been a while

So, I haven't updated in ages. I have a 10 pager to write right now concerning popular opinion in Estonia of the EU and the question of statelessness in the Baltics, so it seems like the perfect time to write here. Some things on my radar.

-Phil over at finlandforthought has a nice photo-table, if you will, and discussion about the 2006 presidential race in Finland. Halonen may've gotten a boost after Conan's endorsement, but only time will tell. You should check out his blog anyway- it's pretty awesome, twice so if you don't speak finnish.

-Brown will soon be gracing a TV set near you (provided you're near the US...). Beginning this Sunday Brown will again be featured on The Family Guy, and rumor has it that soon the OC (gasp!) will be coming to campus. Family Guy is pretty quality, but I will NEVER sell out to the OC! I like the little bit of soul I have left thankyouverymuch.

-Turning 21 ROCKED! Thanks to all my peeps who made it a memorable event.

Now, back to the GCB with me!

-At your leisure, you should check out the plethora of info out there about the riots in France. If you're reading this, then you might especially be interested in the Bloggers arrested for inciting riots in their blogs (in French) article from Reuters. The event eerily coincides with the predictions one would expect considering the EU's double standard for addressing the problem of citizenship and integration of minorities in new member states. Brushing it under the table in the old member states seems to ultimately lead to... well.. riots. But France has never been really good at integration. They're more "lose yourself" to the French identity than trying to reconcile the two. Nonetheless, it may prove a picture of times to come.

-Azerbaijan elections tainted, say international observers

-"Look! It's Godzilla! (the crocodile)

- Pat Roberson cetifiably insane

And just like that an hour has gone by. more eventually.