video gaming
A spectator sport
Page 10
Rock and
revolution
Page 16
Ramy
Essam
Marc Skvorc
Accommodating change
Page 6
Issue 8/2014 www.6d.fi
25.09.2014 ? 30.10.2014
Helsinki
A Design Driven City
Mikko Saarainen
Cities are for citizens, thus design tools help make
cities better, more easygoing and functional.
Carrying on the legacy of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, Design Driven City
(DDC) promotes the use of design in urban environments and creates ways to
incorporate design thinking into the development of public services.
DDC offers expert advice to cities on better solutions through design, and helps
the design field to address the needs of the public sector through dialogue
between various actors involved.
Under the banner of ?Talk less, do more? DDC is set to carry out 10-15 designoriented projects or commissions of various sizes during its two-year span.
Focussing on Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Lahti, each of these projects
works on a concept of learning by doing.
Tidy Construction Site is one such project in Helsinki. Here the construction
service provider of the City of Helsinki, Stara, seeks to enhance the look, feel
and tidiness of construction sites around town. Having kicked off in March this
year, this urban development project promotes user-friendly design methods in
construction sites that consider citizens, workers and the city alike.
According to the Tidy Construction Site target, all park and street renovations
run by Stara will follow the new construction site guidelines in this project. Tidy
construction sites not only make safer environments for workers and citizens, but
are also cost-efficient to run if well-designed. The end result is a better urban
environment for all of us.
www.toimivakaupunki.fi/en
www.hel.fi
Starters
4
Issue 8 2014
Top 5
things on our
mind this month...
Contemporary Finnish governments are long-lived
Although it may seem that the Finnish Cabinet is
shaking at its foundations right now, remember
that our recent governments have been relatively
durable. For example, none of the four Cabinets
we had between 1970 and 1972 (more precisely
nos. 52 to 55 in sequence) survived for 500 days.
Deer flies greet you in the forest
You know what you and Ötzi (remember the Alpine
mummy?) have in common, if you go to the forest
this time of the year? That you both are pestered
by the Lipoptena cervi, or the deer fly (a.k.a. deer
ked). You wouldn?t believe how strongly they are
built until you try and squash one between your
fingers. They can be very annoying but are not considered hazardous to man.
Pleasure from dexterity and agility
Why is it so nice to be able to wield chopsticks in
an oriental food joint over knife and fork? Or being
able to stand on one foot while lacing up the other
shoe? Is it all about the feeling of power through
physical ability?
No smoke without smokeless tobacco
A former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling had his salivary glands removed after battling
oral cancer. He believes smokeless tobacco, which
he used for 30 years, to be the culprit. The locally
familiar Swedish varieties do not contain glass or
camel excrement, as some urban myths have it,
but the salt in them may eat away at your gums ?
just think before you pop another bag in.
Random ramblings
In 1980 the band AC/DC were Back in Black ? but
we never realised they had fared so poorly financially during the Bon Scott era. Better Dead than
Red ? well, perhaps it is indeed recommendable to
wind up a business before the losses become? too
much to handle. Nice day for a white wedding ? or
how about black pudding with blood relations?
Mika Oksanen
Serving a purpose
New peer support group for eating disorders opens its doors.
Text & Photo by Alicia Jensen.
F
acebook, Instagram, Photoshop: we live in a society obsessed
with image. How we look has become a large part of the way we
present ourselves socially. Yet an obsession with image doesn?t
come without its obstacles, and often impacts our relationship with
our bodies. Core to this is our relationship with food ? which has
developed in to a ?complicated relationship?. To deal with these issues, support groups in Finland are on offer.
Etelänsyli is the southern division of the national umbrella organisation SYLI (syömishäiriöliitto), the eating disorder association of Finland. SYLI began from a combined initiative of both
families looking for peer support and professionals with an interest
in eating disorders. Now many who use their services have eating
disorders themselves.
?It?s about sharing experiences and getting support from shared
experiences,? explains Pihla Aaltonen, a volunteer and board
member. ?Knowing that others have gone through similar things
can be quite comforting.?
Currently, Etelänsyli hosts a variety of events: two coffee mornings
per week, along with events for families and loved ones with talks
on different issues. They also provide email support and are starting ?Friday lunches?, making lunch a social situation to alleviate the
anxiety that comes with eating. They maintain an open door policy
and are easy to access ? anyone can join; no referral necessary.
?We try and make it positive and informal,? Aaltonen continues.
?If someone?s having a bad day and struggling a wee bit it?s a nice
place to come; people understand what you?re going through. A
couple of weeks ago they had a lively discussion on how the media
affects eating disorder behaviour in young girls in a world where
you have to look thin and have all these attributes to you that say
nothing about who you are on the inside.?
They also aim to educate groups of professionals about what eating disorders are, how to spot them, and how to react to them by
holding talks in schools and institutions of higher education ? and
recently even a gym.
Tangled up in
Finnish?
James O?Sullivan
Word on the S
street
What is the best gig you?ve
been to?
Anna
I haven?t been to many gigs but I?m going to a
gig which I think will be the best, that?s the 1975.
They?re coming here to Finland. I really love their
music and it?s in a nightclub so there will be many
people just dancing around.
Julia
I?ve been in a gig in Copenhagen, Veronica Maggio.
That was very nice. I really like her songs and I like
her personality very much. She talked to us and she
was very near us.
O, you have arrived here in Finland. You?ve also gotten over the
shock that summer has already ended, just as it was beginning
to cook up nicely. You?ve come to love the quiet, all unnecessary small talk now eradicated from your social portfolio. Heck,
you have even swallowed hard to accept the fact that the textbook
Finnish you have been studying so hard during your Finnish course
actually has little relevance to the spoken parlance on the street.
But then something comes along to rattle any newfound confidence with the local lingo. Recent months have seen a flush of
sentences on social media and elsewhere online that at first glance
look like a mistake. Feast your eyes on sentences such as this one:
Kokko! Kokoo kokoon koko kokko!?? Koko kokkoko??? Koko kokko!
? Ok, kokoon kokoon koko kokon!
Yep, I?m afraid it actually means something! In fact, the entertaining blog Depressing Finland is full of such tongue twisters.
Here?s how they translate this conversation between two people:
English support
Currently Aaltonen is also planning an English support group,
which will be held on 8 October at their office.
?Peer support and easy access mental health support in English
doesn?t exist,? she says. Someone seeking support for the first time
would go either to their local health centre or student health services and get access to a professional. Yet some people might want
something more informal. In addition, seeing a professional may
take a while. The first event is a pilot to see if there is demand.
When Aaltonen moved to Scotland to study some years ago, she
had an eating disorder. ?Because I was in a foreign country, I didn?t
really know how to access services. I had times when I was really
struggling,? Aaltonen says. Eating disorders often start during a
time of great change and uncertainty, and given the challenge of
moving to a new country, Aaltonen believes that there may be demand from people here in a similar situation as she once was.
?It?s about sharing experiences and
getting support from shared experiences,? explains Pihla Aaltonen.
8 October, 17:00-19:00
Tallberginkatu 1, Cable Factory B-Stairway, 4th floor.
Email Pihla Aaltonen at: pihlaaaltonen@yahoo.com
For more information: http://etelansyli.fi
?Kokko (a surname)! Build the whole bonfire up!?? The whole
bonfire??? The whole bonfire!?? Alright, I?ll build up the whole
bonfire!?
The head scratching doesn?t end there, mind you, with the likes
of this also on offer, courtesy of FinnInExile from the same blog:
Keksijä Keksi keksi keksin. Keksittyään keksin keksijä Keksi keksi
keksin keksityksi
Huh?? Have no fear (if possible), here comes their explanation:
?Inventor Cookie invented a cookie. Once the inventor Cookie
had invented a cookie he invented that a cookie was invented.?
Ah, good to know it makes about as much sense in English, then.
And so, just in case you think you may have gotten the hang of it,
along comes a doozy along the lines of:
Hilja sanoi Hiljalle hiljaa niin hiljaa ettei Hilja itsekkään kuullut
kun Hilja sanoi Hiljalle hiljaa...
Goddit? Nope? Maybe? Kinda?? Well, here goes the blog?s explanation:
?Hilja said ?be quiet? to (another) Hilja so silently that Hilja didn?t
hear herself as she told Hilja to be quiet????
But, at the end of the day there is no reason to fret. Just as we don?t
communicate in vast chunks of text pinched from Dr. Seuss (at
least, the majority of us don?t, anyway!), there are few occasions in
life here in Finland where such sentences will come in handy.
Now, if only the same thing could be said about the partitiivi case!
Finnish After Dark
Learning the Finnish they don?t teach in school
Finnish: Heikko happi
A BL E
AVAIL ATED
W
O
N
TR
IL L U S
AS AN ERBACK ! tores
PAP jor books
a
/fad
rom m
.6d.fi
Buy f line: www
n
o
or
Wolf
I?ve been wanting to go to a Metallica concert for
the longest time. Now that I?m 38 I finally made this
wish come true: I went to see Metallica in Basel,
Switzerland. They played Ride the Lightning and
when they played it, a thunderstorm rolled over
the stadium, it was pretty cool. It was raining but
nobody left before the concert ended.
English Equivalent: Weak oxygen (literal),
to be under the weather, to be the worse for wear
Lauri
My favourite was Biffy Clyro. I just like the band a
lot, and it was in a small club, the Circus.
?
?
?
Moi, Janne! Lähetkö pelaan sulkkista kohta?
Siis ei pysty! Vähä heikko happi. Meni aika myöhään eilen.
No, seuraavan kerran sitte! Moro!
Compiled by Alicia Jensen.
?
?
?
Hi Janne! Fancy a game a badminton?
No way? I?m feeling a bit the worse for wear. It was kinda late last night.
Ok, next time then. See ya!
While being a bit under the weather could mean anything from a touch of flu to a severe hangover, its occurrence on a Sunday (or
worse - Monday) morning is more likely to be interpreted as the latter not the former. We recommend that you insist it is just a mild
dose of flu, although if your boss did see you throwing up outside Circus at 4 am, that might not work terribly well.
David Brown and Mimmu Takalo
SixDegrees
Starters
5
SixDegrees
Housing a problem
Students continue to struggle with housing
costs. But will this change anytime soon?
Tell me about your city...
?
Tbilisi
Marc Ryckaert
James O?Sullivan
Y
OUR years as a student undoubtedly represent some of the best moments of your life. Fresh out of
home, away from the grasp of your parents, you are now free to do whatever you desire. Gone is the
nagging, the hassling and the moral compass, and in their place is the time and space to rack up a
bunch of knowledge related to life?s lessons. For the overwhelming majority, this means living on the bare
minimum, heating up one-minute noodles and spending everything else on beer and entertainment.
Unsurprisingly, students continue to struggle with the cost of housing while studying. A closer look
reveals just how much, however. Helsinki Times recently published an article that outlined that the housing supplement for students disbursed by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) is not nearly
enough to cover students? housing costs ? especially in the Capital Region. As a result, nearly two-thirds
of students are forced to fend for themselves and search for a flat from the pricey private rental market.
Simply put: they barely have the funds to support this, if at all. Although the rents of studios have increased by an average of 23 per cent this decade, the amount of the housing supplement has remained
virtually unchanged during this time. Currently students are entitled to up to 201 euros per month.
Although the general housing allowance is set to increase at the turn of the year, the housing supplement for students is in a state of deep freeze (how appropriate, given the climate), and will once again remain unchanged. Several managing directors of student housing foundations have expressed their concerns about the situation, hoping to push the supplement up to somewhere in the vicinity of 300 euros.
Regina Ollila, a benefits manager at Kela, is similarly in favour of increasing the housing supplement
for students. ?High housing costs force many to work and may prolong study times,? she is quoted as
saying in the article.
Kela believes that a single housing allowance intended for all citizens represents the best solution to
this problem and has informed ministries of such.
Nonetheless, the issue of student housing is one that always comes up this time of year for similar
reasons each time. Thus, it remains to be seen if domiciles will become any more affordable in future.
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW
HOTELS IN FINNISH?
1. Service
2. Bathtub
3. Reservation
4. Tourist
5. Breakfast
6. Guest
7. Conference
8. Holiday
9. Buffet
10. Suite
11
11. Room
Georgia?s historical old buildings and churches are a feature
of the city.
Shaden Kamel
I
sat down with Mariam Tokmazishvili to learn
about her city, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
Tokmazishvili is a 24-year-old a master?s degree
student at the University of Helsinki, studying
intercultural encounters.
There are approximately 4.5 million inhabitants in
Georgia and about 1.5 million in the city of Tbilisi.
Georgia?s historical old buildings and churches
distinguish it from other mainstream world capitals.
Georgian people and their hospitality is a salient
marker of the country.
The tradition and culture of wine tasting is also a
prevalent Georgian feature, especially for those who
are partial to a glass of plonk. The country has a
huge selection of grapes and offers a big selection of
wine that includes modern standard wine as well as more traditional varieties, such as Khvanchkara
one of Georgia?s trademark wines. More interestingly, very rare grapes grow in Georgia; hence
Georgia is home to rare wines that cannot be found in other countries.
The region of Kakheti is a common touristic attraction, only one hour and 45 minutes from Tbilisi
by car. This region profits from wine making: it is entirely for planting and taking care of grapes.
Additionally, it is a historical area hence it attracts tourists who are interested in wine and/or
historical excursions.
The city?s architecture is mixed, containing both old fashioned traditional Soviet Union buildings
and more modern designed buildings. Shardeni Street, for example, looks like a typical European
city street with both sides of the street full of plush shopping centres, restaurants, clubs, hotels and
pubs. Furthermore, typical tourist accommodations are located nearby Shareni Street, as it is well
equipped with services and facilities and is near to the city centre.
Soloaki is Tbilisi?s old town. Its unique architecture and traditional way of living attracts one?s
attention. The way houses are built so close to each other reflects the nature of the neighbourhood?s
inhabitants. ?It is not just a random person living next to you; people there perceive each member
of the neighbourhood almost as a family member,? Tokmazishvili says. They share their major life
events together, as well as their food.
Marshutka, a yellow coloured mini bus, is the typical means of transportation by local Georgians.
Tokmazishvili describes Tbilisi as a yellow city when viewed from above due to their prevalence on
the streets of the city. It is not easy for tourists to take such means of transportation. However, taxis
are available at very cheap rates ranging from 2-3 euros to the city centre and 4-5 euros to the
suburbs.
Generally, the main reason people revisit Georgia is because of its varied and delicious traditional
cuisine that is especially interesting for meat lovers. A common traditional dish is khinkali, dumpling
filled with uncooked meat. Tokomazishvili explains that when cooked the juices of the meat are
trapped inside the dumpling. She elaborates that one has to eat Khinkali in a particular way, and
?suck the juice in the dumpling while taking the first bite then continue eating it?.
?Food prices are really cheap, but that does not mean that the quality is low. In fact, the quality of
food is really high: vegetables and fruits have very low chemical levels because they are produced
domestically,? Tokmazishvili clarifies. Furthermore, Georgia produces its very own dairy products
and cheese, such as sulguni, which is definitely worth a try, she adds.
During June, July and August the city is full of tourists. ?10 years ago, I never heard a word in
English or any other language. Now you could hear people speaking in different languages and
detect that they are tourists, which is dramatic change for the good? she adds proudly.
Test your knowledge of Finnish vocabulary by using the local equivalent.
Read our interview with Hotel Kämp?s general manager Marc Skvorc on page 6.
Puzzle by Eva Peltonen. Solutions on page 18.
Contact james@6d.fi if you want to share the inside word
on your town.
6
We Met
Issue 8 2014
pitching
kämp
We Met
7
SixDegrees
Marc Skvorc has worked in hotels everywhere from Hawaii to
Washington, DC. After revolutionising Klaus K he is now running
Finland?s most famous hotel, Kämp.
Text David J. Cord, image Tomas Whitehouse
A
MERICAN Marc Skvorc has seen much of the world. He has
lived and worked everywhere from Saudi Arabia to New
York, from London to Florida. But it was in a hotel school in
Strasbourg, France where he met his Finnish wife-to-be Mia. After working in hotels across America they moved to Finland. Here
Marc transformed the Klaus K hotel, turning it into the country?s
first design hotel. But his road didn?t stop there and now he is leading Kämp, the most prestigious hotel in Finland.
You seem to have a very geographically diverse background.
Yes, my father was in the military for most of my childhood, so we
lived wherever he was stationed. I was born in Germany, but we
left soon after my birth. We lived in lots of places, like Ethiopia and
South Korea. In my teens we were in Monterey, California, and I
still consider that as a type of hometown area for me. My father left
the military and moved to Saudi Arabia, but I stayed in California
to go to boarding school. In a way it was like a preparatory school
for my post-student life: I cooked a lot, went out to eat a lot, learned
how to do my own laundry and things like that.
When I finished high school I went to a small, private business
school in downtown L.A, studying to be a public accountant. But
that wasn?t working out, so after about six months I visited my parents in Saudi Arabia. There I realised I didn?t quite know what I
wanted to do yet.
For a while I worked for an Irish company there in Saudi Arabia
doing some basic data entry. In Saudi Arabia all the expatriates had
their own compounds. These areas might be for particular companies or nationalities, like the British compound or the American
compound, and I got invited to get-togethers at these places after
work.
Once I was invited to a party by this American who spoke eight or
nine languages and who was a spokesperson for the Saudi military.
Here I was, at 18 years old, sitting next to this balding, dignified,
elderly German gentleman. The host came to me and said, ?I?d like
to introduce you to your neighbour. This is the president of Chase
Bank.? I was exposed to some really interesting people.
So did meeting all these new people help you decide what to
do with your life?
No, not directly. I still didn?t know what to do. I ended up leaving
Saudi Arabia to visit my brother in Alaska, and after that I went
back to California. I worked there for a while, saved some money
and decided to go travel and try to figure out what to do. I started
with an aunt in Berlin and later went to Munich to visit a cousin.
That was great. I drove his Porsche ? the first time I ever drove a
Porsche ? and visited Oktoberfest.
Suddenly I received a letter from a girl I had met in Saudi Arabia who lived in London. I visited her in London and found a job
baking bread in this little deli. The environment was exactly like
a sitcom with all these diverse, wacky characters. I was this longhaired 18 or 19-year-old American kid. There was a Nigerian and
a Jamaican. Mustafa was Moroccan who made the sandwiches and
charmed all the little old ladies who came in. The store manager
was very British. He spoke in this Cockney British accent which
was so strong that he was impossible to understand. It was so much
fun and we were all so happy.
Eventually I left London and later returned to California. Mom
and Dad sat me down to have a serious conversation. ?What are
you going to do?? they asked. ?We?ll support you, but we need to
figure this out.?
I remembered a friend in London who was going to hotel school
and got out the brochure he had given me. I thought the school was
located where I was born in Heidelberg, Germany and applied with
this eloquent letter about returning to my roots. They accepted me
but told me that the campus for the hotel school was actually in
Strasbourg, France.
So you got into the hospitality industry in a very roundabout
way.
It was actually very natural. Remember, we moved around so much
that I felt comfortable in hotels. I have very strong memories of being in various hotels in various countries all over the world. I would
run off to play and my parents would realise they had lost me. They
would usually find me talking to the hotel staff or getting fed by the
cooks in the kitchen. I was at home in hotels.
Also, the parents of a good friend of mine owned a hotel in Los
Angeles. They told me that whatever happens in the economy or
politics, someone will always need a hotel room. Of course, what
kind of hotel room they need and how often they travel will depend
upon a lot of things, but the core idea is that people will always
need hotel rooms. I?m not risk averse ? far from it ? but I thought
that this was a really solid industry. This was a defendable business,
and something I was very comfortable with.
What was the hotel school in Strasbourg like?
It was in a beautiful chateau. The school had about 90 students,
four of which were Americans and ten of which were Finns. I was
surprised that there were so many Finns there.
I rented a house outside of the school with a couple of friends.
One day I was sitting out in the front lawn and saw a car go by. The
driver was a girl with blond hair. This was Mia. I eventually met
her and something clicked right away. We both liked to go out to
eat and so we made up all these excuses to go out to restaurants. All
of our friends were saying, ?Enough with the excuses already! We
know why you are together all the time.? We fell in love and had a
dream that someday we would run a hotel together.
After the school in Strasbourg we continued our education in
Rhode Island. We got really good jobs working in Pebble Beach for
a while, but then I got a job in Maui, Hawaii. Mia went to Pepperdine, California to get her MBA. Later we ended up going to New
York City, to Palm Beach in Florida, to Washington, DC. I went
back to New York City to work with the W Hotels. It was in January 2004 that we moved here and started our own hotel company.
?I
have a lot of
work to do
here in Kämp.?
So you moved to Finland in the winter? What were your first
thoughts of Finland?
Well, we had visited here a few times previously, but we didn?t come
very often during the winter. Family in Finland liked to come and
visit us for Christmas holidays, which makes sense when you realise the places we were living!
I love Finland. This is home. It was seven years ago when I broke
the record for the longest time living in one place, and I?m still
here. There are so many good things about living in Finland, like
the quality of life, the amount of holidays and the environment for
our children ? the grade school is only a 150-metre walk from our
house. And Finland is in a great position geographically. I think I
put 25 new stamps in my passport my first year here because it is so
easy to travel around Europe from here. In America you can?t do a
spur-of-the-moment trip to Italy, but you can do that here.
But the main reason you and Mia came to Finland was to
develop the Klaus K hotel. What relationship did Mia have
with the hotel?
Mia?s family owns a company that owns the real estate where Klaus
K is located. The company was established in 1867, so it was in
operation long before that building was even there. My mother-inlaw ran it when it was called the Klaus Kurki for about a year back
in the late 1970s. But besides that none of our family members were
involved in the hotel business.
We started the company, got some partners, and set about turning the Klaus K into a design hotel. This was a brainchild of myself
and a former partner. It was one of the best decisions we made to
team up with local people who had experience with hotels. This
was the biggest thing I?ve ever done.
What is a design hotel?
The hotel had been a very good, basic hotel for business travellers,
but I saw a lack in the market. We have the traditional luxury hotel
Kämp and we have good quality mainstream hotels, but there was
nothing in between. On one side we had Kämp, which is something
special. It is more than just a hotel. On the other side we had these
hotels which were good but not memorable.
My experience was that there is an opportunity, a niche in the
market. We came up with an idea for a new brand in a new category, something which would blend the other styles. We didn?t
want a cookie-cutter hotel the same as everything else, but instead
something with contemporary luxury.
We took inspiration from the Kalevala. It is not a theme: you
won?t walk into the hotel and see a label saying it is a Kalevala hotel. It isn?t a museum, either. The Ateneum does a much better job
presenting that. Instead, we took inspiration from something very
Finnish and which meant a great deal to Finnish arts and society.
Nobody had really done it in our business. We saw an opportunity
to celebrate something so meaningful to Finnish culture.
We are very happy with the results. I am so proud of what we have
accomplished. We have developed so much loyalty with guests who
keep coming back. We get more and more positive comments. The
team is very loyal, too. They have a young spirit and are still building up the hotel. When I moved to Kämp late in May Mia stayed at
Klaus K. She is still running it.
Tell us about joining Klaus K with the Kämp Group.
It was very gratifying to sell a brand which someone else thought
was valuable. We sold the business and then invested in the new
owner, the Kämp Group. We did the press release one day at noon
and later that afternoon I came to Kämp with the CEO to be introduced to the staff. The next morning I came to Kämp to work.
Joining Klaus K with the Kämp Group means that we can do what
we did with Klaus K on a bigger scale. We can bring together these
different brands ? Klaus K, Kämp and GLO hotels ? and be the
leader in the market when it comes to the luxury hotel business.
We are in a unique position.
It feels great. It feels better than I could ever have expected. I am
super proud of the idea I am general manager of Finland?s most
famous hotel. I feel very privileged and I take it very seriously. It
means a lot to me. It is hard to find the best thing about my job. If I
keep it selfish it is that I have this privilege to run this hotel. I have
an opportunity to do what I think I do so very well ? I?m not perfect
by any means, but this is what I live and breathe for. I understand
luxury. I understand traditional luxury, as well as modern and contemporary luxury. This is a dream fit.
What is the worst thing about your job?
Worst thing? I don?t look at things like that. There are opportunities everywhere.
How?s the business environment? Particularly, how is the
Russian tourist market?
The Swedes, English and Americans don?t necessarily come here
for luxury. The Russians, however, are coming here for the luxury.
We are still getting Russian tourists, but it is less than before. Something severe can happen any day which could change everything.
The situation with Ukraine has affected travel here, but so far people are still coming. To tell you the truth I am more bullish about
this. This is not the end of the world.
How do Finns perform in a business where service is so
important?
In the hotel business there is a need for people to be multitalented.
They need to be able to handle multiple things at the same time
and have multiple skills. Given the education level in Finland, I
find that in general people can do that. If they have the enthusiasm
and right attitude it goes the right way. I don?t like to generalise, but
Finns are typically seen as not forthcoming or outspoken. In hospitality, one needs to be more forthcoming so your guests know what
you are thinking. Finns need to acknowledge this and act upon it.
We need to manage it.
What?s next for you?
That is so funny. I spent two years developing the Klaus K hotel.
That day I got it open the very first question I got was, ?Well, now
what are you going to do?? I have a lot of work to do here in Kämp.
I want to grow this business to what it can become. In Kämp Group
our intention is to expand. We will develop and/or purchase other
hotels in the very near future.
We just renovated the sixth and seventh floors of Klaus K. They
used to be offices, but we turned them into hotel rooms. Completing these new Sky Loft rooms in Klaus K was like, in a way, having
another child. I?ve been working on that for two years and they are
open now. They are simply beautiful. I love the feeling of that first
second when I take someone in to see the Sky Loft rooms. They
stand there a second and the first thing out of them is usually a sigh
or gasp. 90 per cent of the time, the first thing they say is ?Wow!?
When I hear that I feel so good. Building Klaus K and then coming
to Kämp, well, this is a dream come true.
Name: Marc Skvorc
Date and place of birth: 30 November 1967, Germany
Education: BS, Johnson & Wales University; Executive MBA,
Helsinki School of Economics
Family: Wife Mia, daughter Celine (13) and son Remi (11)
When I was a child I wanted to be? a doctor.
In the future I hope? there won?t be any war.
The one thing that would improve the world would be? a better
use of water.
I admire? honesty and integrity.
SixSociety
Degrees
8
Issue 8 2014
Column
Lest we forget
A lot happened in Estonia during the summer of ?88. It
began following the banning of a rock concert in Tallinn?s
inner city by the ruling Communist Party, when a few thousand ordinary people walked down the road to a large outdoor arena, and started to sing.
Moniheli:
A network of multi-cultural
associations
The next day, there were 10,000 people at the arena. By the
sixth night there were 200,000 people, holding hands and
singing traditional songs unheard in the country for 50
years.
Bafrin Eskandari
This story, in some form or another, was played out in more
than a dozen East European countries during ?88 and ?89. In
Romania the Ceausescus were shot after a kangaroo court
hearing, in Czechoslovakia the Velvet Revolution seized
power through sheer force of numbers, and in Berlin the
sound of hammers smashing a diminutive concrete wall
marked the end of European communism forever.
What these stories have in common is heroism. In Prague,
Marta Kubi?ová emerged from 18 years of enforced silence
to sing her banned anthem Prayer for Martha for a crowd of
100,000 people, knowing full well that in doing so she was
challenging the regime to silence her. In Bucharest, miners
trucked in from the countryside to cheer Ceausescu took to
jeering him instead, despite lines of heavily armed stooges
glaring from the balconies.
?F
rom Sofia to Gdansk,
from Riga to Tbilisi,
ordinary people stood
up for what they
believed in, and won
their countries back.?
From Sofia to Gdansk, from Riga to Tbilisi, ordinary people stood up for what they believed in, and won their countries back.
The sadness is that these stories are being forgotten. While
references to Hitler and Stalin still abound in our media,
few young people are familiar with Honecker, Zhivkov or
Kádár, despots who oversaw the enslavement and oppression of millions of their own people. These people need to
be remembered, and not only in the countries they ruled.
Every weekend thousands of tourists infest Tallinn, and yet
the city?s extraordinary Museum of the Occupation sits deserted. Budapest?s Terror House does better trade, but still
nothing like the numbers one might expect. Other European capital cities seem to have chosen to forget the events
ever happened ? there are no museums; not even statues of
those who gave their lives.
The 25th anniversary of the fall of communism will likely
be marked in each of the dozen countries liberated, but
without a glittering array of foreign dignitaries. For whatever reason, Central and Eastern Europe?s journey from dictatorship to democracy is no longer particularly sexy.
Shouldn?t every European school child be as familiar with
the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall as they are
with the rise and fall of Hitler? Is the tyranny of the Warsaw
Pact really that much lesser than the tyranny of fascism?
George Santayana told us that he who forgets history is
doomed to repeat it. If he is right, the future of Central and
Eastern Europe might not be as hopeful as it should be.
David Brown is a language consultant and journalist, regularly
covering stories in Africa, Asia & the Middle East. He has lived
in Finland for over 10 years.
(left-to-right) Luz Peltoniemi, Simeon Walls, Li Chen and Melis Ar?-Gürhanl? attend a meeting for the iCount project at Moniheli?s head office in
Helsinki?s Sörnäinen.
Along with Finland?s increasing diversity has
come an effort to strengthen the influence
immigrants have on the direction of society.
Andy Kruse
J
ust some 30 years ago, seeing a person of foreign ethnic background in Finland was a rare thing. Since then, an influx of immigrants has made the landscape much more colourful. The
rainbow extends from the Russians and Estonians who make up
most incomers, to Somalians and Chinese, Thais and Turks, and
also Latin Americans, just to name a few. But within these growing
numbers, the societal influence remains limited. Thus, organisational efforts are arising to give these groups a stronger voice in a
still very Finn-dominated society.
Moniheli, an organisation started in 2010, provides a network
for over 60 multicultural associations representing various ethnic
groups or themes in Finland. It joins them in membership and provides services such as advice and training in project management
and financing, information flow through newsletters and updates
of current changes in societal systems and laws, and even use of its
facilities.
?The main idea behind what we do is to help make Finnish society
a good place for anyone to live and work,? states Riitta Salin, executive director of Moniheli. ?And this is not just through promotion of
the immigrants? ways of doing things, but to develop a well-rounded
environment along with the ways also desired by Finns.?
Impacting the direction of society
A current ongoing Moniheli project, iCount strives for the goal of
?active citizenship?. Funded by the EU Integration Fund, the central idea is to empower new and aspiring citizens to impact the
direction of society, beyond simply the power of the vote.
?Immigrants can feel like outsiders even if they have a career, a
family, and love being here,? observes Li Chen, an iCount member and immigrant from China. ?This is a project to motivate these
people to get involved in societal life and impact the future lives of
their children.?
Moniheli is currently training three iCount members to become versed in potential avenues for minorities to influence
society?s decision-making processes, who will then return to
their respected cities and spread these ideas within immigrant
groups. These means vary from making a citizen?s initiative, to
having a demonstration, from writing articles to local newspapers, to simply taking advantage of increasingly powerful social
media outlets.
Chen will focus on the Chinese minority living in Turku. Liberian
immigrant Simeon Walls will work with Russians, among others,
in Lappeenranta. Luz Peltoniemi, a Peruvian immigrant, will be
working mostly with Thai and Sudanese people in Oulu. And the
doors are surely open to others who want to take part.
Society
9
SixDegrees
Minority Report
We take a look at the ethnic
minorities here in Finland.
?Segregation begins by keeping those without a vote excluded
from influencing society,? says Melis Ar?-Gürhanl?, project coordinator at Moniheli. ?At this point when it comes to who sits at the
decision making tables, it?s all Finns. The long term goal of iCount
is to see immigrants having these seats as well.?
Investigative surveys
The iCount project is just one of many other projects on the table
at Moniheli related to newcomers to Finland. One expertise of the
organisation is to conduct surveys investigating the causes of various societal issues in order to better find remedies. Currently they
are working on a survey for the Ministry of Environment on the issue of homelessness among immigrants, a circumstance that is on
the increase. The survey seeks to uncover why it is becoming more
common, and the reasons which make it difficult for immigrants
to acquire housing.
Furthermore, learning more about the relation between trade
unions and immigrant workers is another survey currently being
conducted by Moniheli. Why are immigrants not joining unions?
What are the fears keeping them away? The organisation also
hopes to learn why the unions have difficulty reaching out to and
attracting immigrant workers.
A safe yet challenging haven
Overall Finland is an attractive place to immigrate. It provides a
safe society that is economically competitive, with fairly good opportunities. But it also has its challenges with a difficult language,
harsh weather and, being that it is fairly new to multiculturalism,
various social barriers that may prove difficult to overcome.
?The racism of today may not come in the form of physical violence by skinheads in the streets as in the past,? states Abdirahim
Hussein, chairman of Moniheli. ?But it now comes in a structural
discrimination embedded in the system, where minorities have a
difficult time influencing the direction of society.?
?It?s not that people are necessarily racist,? Salin reinforces. ?It?s
more a fear towards something you don?t know or understand.?
This is exactly what Moniheli is working to eradicate: the fear of
the unknown among natives, and among immigrants, the fear of
not having a say. Therein lies the driving vision of the organisation;
to have an open, cohesive and multicultural Finnish society where
diversity is understood, valued and supported.
But, most of all: to give all immigrants a voice.
Moniheli in a nutshell
?
Started in 2010.
?
Provides a network for over 60 multicultural
associations representing various ethnic groups
or themes in Finland.
?
Seeks to make Finnish society a good place for
anyone to live and work.
?
Provides services such as advice and training in
project management and financing, information
flow through newsletters and updates of current
changes in societal systems and laws, and even
use of its facilities.
www.moniheli.fi
www.icount.fi
The Vietnamese
Shaden Kamel
T
here are currently approximately 6,000 Vietnamese people
living in Finland, including students. Back in 2008, however,
the number of residents who speak Vietnamese as their native language reached approximately 5,000, making it the tenthlargest language group, according to Statistics Finland.
As president of the Vietnamese Student Association in Finland (VSAF), Vu Nguyen takes part in organising events and
acts as a student ambassador for Vietnamese students who wish
to pursue their studies in Finland.
According to Nguyen the Vietnamese in Finland could be put
into two categories: immigrants and students. About 200 to 300
students arrive to Helsinki each year; the amount of students
varies from year to year.
VSAF was established in 2003. The goal of the association is to
involve the Vietnamese here in fun activities. This association
has enabled the Vietnamese community to receive money from
the city to support their cultural events, as well as sponsorship.
Sponsorship is important to them for organising their various
sports events. There are five to six sports events a year, including football tournaments and badminton tournaments.
There are also plenty of other activities that the Vietnamese
participate in such as playing music, dancing, singing, fishing, playing volleyball and badminton. The whole Vietnamese
community participate in celebrating the Lunar New Year by
organising a big festival that includes Vietnamese performing,
singing and lighting candles.
There are no Vietnamese schools, however. The Vietnamese
Embassy highlights that according to Finnish Law, every child
has the right to practice and learn his/her mother tongue, thus
it?s feasible that a special class could be organised for a group
of 10 pupils to learn their mother tongue in a suitable school,
free of charge.
Nguyen highlights one main difference between the Finnish
and Vietnamese culture: equality. Firstly, the hierarchy of power is very visible in Vietnam, unlike in Finland where people
deal with each other as equals. Secondly, he describes the Vietnamese culture as a masculine society, pointing out that both
genders are treated equally in Finland. Another difference, he
highlights, is that the Finnish society is more individualistic,
while the Vietnamese are more group oriented. Furthermore,
Vietnamese people are more comfortable and warm around
people.
Yen Mai, a Vietnamese master?s degree student at the University of Helsinki, explains that Finland and especially Helsinki is
a good city for integration. The facilities, such as the availability
of transportation and library resources, empower individuals to
integrate. The many activities and events organised in the city
are also of great help when acclimatising. All of this, she says
helps create a liberal atmosphere of equality and openness.
Legal Immigrants
6D gets to know what it?s like to be an everyday ?new local? in Finland.
What do you like about Finland?
This time [here] I?ve been able to spend so much time with my
Finnish family which I love. I go to my aunt?s house, who lives
in Helsinki, once a week for dinner. I just love getting to know
her so well. The same with other relatives of my Finnish family.
What attracts you to the Finnish culture?
The Finnish culture is a little hard to get used to. I?m very outgoing and Finnish people are very introverted. When I showed up
at my job, I was very reserved for myself. I knew that if I came
out like, ?Hi! I?m Greta! I?m so excited to work here!? They?d go,
?holy buckets. What are we going to do with this girl??
What culture shocks did you experience when in Finland?
It is quite hard to meet people. In the US, you might randomly
start talking to a stranger if they are reading a book you like. In
Finland, you never talk to a stranger, no matter what. Maybe ?excuse me? if you get by them on the bus. That?s the only acceptable
communication. [laughs]
A
fter graduating with a B.A. in the United States, Greta
Mohney came to Finland to work as a childcare worker
while figuring out what she wants in her life.
What do you do here in Finland?
I work as a lastenhoitaja at a preschool in Munkkivuori. That?s
a child care worker. There?s a hundred and twenty kids. We help
the kids to do what they are supposed to be doing and prepare
them for school.
When and how did you end up here?
February of this year. I wanted a change of scenery. I thought,
what if I go to Finland and do the same job [as back home]?
This is a good fit for me while I try to figure out what to do
with my life. My aunt said that I can get a temporary job as a
lastenhoitaja easily.
Why Finland?
My mom is Finnish and I have Finnish family here. I also want
to go back to school to get my master?s, and so I thought it would
be good to try and see what it would be like living in Finland ?
would I want to live in Finland forever?
Have you been able to settle and integrate into Finnish
society?
Yes, I feel like any of the other workers. I don?t really have any
troubles. My Finnish isn?t perfect but we laugh about the little
mistakes I make, and they aren?t anything big. I feel like I?ve
found a little niche for myself.
What are your worries?
That I can?t find a permanent job as a lastenhoitaja. Originally,
the maternity leave [for which I am a replacement] was only
supposed to be until October. Now the mom says that she?s going to be at least until January. It?s a scary thought to think that
this is only temporary.
What are your future wishes for your life here?
If I were to live here, I?d go back to school, to get a permanent
job.
What is your favorite Finnish word?
Mökki. When we came in the summers we?d always spend about
a month at my papa?s mökki. That?s my favorite place even now.
I?m like, ?Can I just live here?? I have considered just dropping
everything and with a little bit of cash going and living in the
Finnish forest at my papa?s mökki.
Contact james@6d.fi
if you?d like to share your thoughts for a future issue.
Lifestyle
10
Issue 8 2014
www.freevector.com
Occupation
video gamer
Competitive video gaming is rapidly establishing itself as a spectator sport, both
virtually and in real life, but has received little attention from mainstream media. Will
professional video gamers be the sports stars of the future?
Tuula Ylikorpi, 2014
Teemu Henriksson
W
E ARE all familiar with the stereotype of the teenager
spending an excessive amount of time playing video
games. But what if that teenager is in fact in the middle
of a tough practice session, getting ready for a major tournament,
with the overall ambition of becoming one of the world?s best players ? and earning big money in the process.
Extreme as it may sound, this is close to becoming a possible scenario. Competitive video gaming ? widely known as e-sports ? is
swiftly evolving to a whole new level as a spectator sport. For instance, consider two events from this past summer.
In late August, TV2 made Finnish television history by broadcasting the final of the Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament
from Assembly, the main competitive gaming event in Finland.
The final, which was the first live e-sports event to be broadcast on
national TV, was presented as a full-fledged sporting event: it was
accompanied by an on-air commentary that discussed the strategies of the two teams and explained the progress of the match. A
live audience cheered when the players showed remarkable feats
of skill and teamwork. The match was followed by a live audience
of 72,000, and for a long time afterwards, it was the most watched
programme on Yle Areena.
Globally, however, the most high-profile e-sports event of this
year took place in Seattle, where the tournament The International was organised for the fourth time in July. Over 11,000 spectators came to KeyArena, the city?s basketball arena, to watch as the
world?s best teams fought for the world championship of Dota 2, a
multiplayer online battle arena game.
The event also caught the attention of the mainstream media,
because of the tournament?s prize money: the winning team took
home 5 million US dollars, while the overall prize pool was 11 mil-
Lifestyle
11
SixDegrees
Twitch makes it possible for individual players to broadcast themselves
playing games.
lion US dollars. This makes The International one of the biggest
sporting events in the world. While such sums may have come as a
surprise to e-sports amateurs, in reality this was just one more step
in video games becoming a professional spectator sport. The numbers keep growing ? in terms of prize money, events organised and
number of players who devote their time to practising and competing, in the same way as traditional athletes do.
Computer games have, of course, been played online for as long
as the Internet has existed. But what has made wider audiences
possible are the streaming services that allow broadcasting matches
to thousands of people, watching from the comfort of their homes.
Virtual fanbases
The e-sports audience today is counted in tens of millions (over
71 million people watch e-sports, according to SuperData, a digital
games market intelligence company). While traditional media has
been slow to wake up to the phenomenon, e-sports has found its audience online, especially through websites that broadcast video games.
The biggest such site is Twitch, which has grown pretty much
hand in hand with the rise of e-sports in general. Founded in 2011,
the site broadcasts major tournaments, but features also other gaming-related programming. For a casual web surfer, the most bizarre
aspect of Twitch is that it makes it possible for individual players to
broadcast themselves playing games. Many popular streams consist
of the gamer playing a non-competitive game such as The Sims,
commenting on the game and chatting with the viewers. Some
draw in major audiences.
This may sound like a strange activity ? to watch other people
playing games ? but the fact is that in late August Amazon bought
Twitch for a staggering sum of 970 million US dollars. You don?t
need to be a market analyst to conclude that the online retail giant
sees a promising future for streaming video games, and competitive gaming in general.
Anyone can create a Twitch account, start their own stream and
try to attract big audiences. For professional players, Twitch is essential in connecting with their fans, who tune in to watch them
play and practise. For a small fee, they can show their support to a
particular gamer and subscribe to their stream. This can amount
to significant income if the number of subscribers goes up. The
fanbase can be an important financial support for professionals,
given that it?s only a relatively small number of gamers who can
support themselves with the tournament winnings and monthly
salary from their e-sports organisation.
In Finland, there are only a handful of professional players, all
of whom play for international organisations. Finnish organisations have fewer resources but do their best to allow their players
to concentrate as much as possible on playing games. For example,
at Finnish e-sports team RCTIC the players keep their tournament
winnings, their travel costs are covered, and the team?s sponsors
provide them with their products. ?Of course, we also provide
coaching, just as in any sports,? says Jere Alanen from RCTIC. ?We
provide as professional conditions for gaming as possible.?
The great majority of Finnish e-sports gamers play semi-professionally, and the road to becoming a full-time professional is extremely difficult. ?In Finland, it?s easier for an ice hockey player to get
to the SM-Liiga than it is for a video gamer to become a professional,?
states Teemu Hiilinen, an e-sports advocate and commentator (he
also did the on-air commentary for TV2?s Assembly broadcast).
?That?s why I tell everyone who dreams of making a career out of
this not to neglect school but to play as much as they can on the side.?
Finland is thus far behind South Korea, the first country where
competitive gaming became a mainstream spectator sport. There,
games are a commonly seen on television (there is even a channel
that?s mostly dedicated to e-sports), and the popularity of StarCraft,
a real-time strategy game, has reached such proportions that it has
been called the national sport of the country.
Athletes of the future
Getting to compete in the upper echelons of e-sports takes years
of hard work and dedication, and most competitive gamers started
playing seriously already at a young age. Players also tend to ?retire? early. According to Alanen, gamers commonly quit at around
the age of 25, or even earlier: ?Partly this is if players don?t reach the
level they aimed at, and they lose motivation.? Many games also
require extremely quick reactions, which might pose a problem for
older gamers.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the world of e-sports is also
very male-centric, as few women compete at major
tournaments. One reason for this is that it?s less common for girls to have extensive experience with competitive games as they often enjoy games that are less
competitive by nature, observes Raakel Hämäläinen
from the Finnish eSports Federation. Moreover, attitude towards girls who play video games is usually not
as supportive as with boys.
?But things are changing, and here in Finland
equality is seen as important, so there are good conditions for women and men to play together,? says
Hämäläinen. ?I?ve never heard any negative comments about women gamers from experienced players or event organisers in Finland. Rather, they?ve
been supportive.? Still, she acknowledges that when
playing online girls are more likely to experience
bullying and belittling than boys.
As attitudes change and games are increasingly recognised as a valid pursuit, some e-sports enthusiasts
estimate that competitive sports could eventually become a wide watched spectator sport. There seems to be an obvious
obstacle to this, however: most e-sports matches are hard to follow
for a novice. Compared to ice hockey or football, where the game?s
progress is easy for anyone to comprehend, many video games are
so complex and situations change so rapidly that for a casual viewer
it?s difficult even to tell which side is winning.
This is because e-sports games need to have a level of complexity
and depth so that practising the game pays off, and so that differences between players? skills can be observed. But what could
be developed in the future is the way matches are broadcast, to
make them more approachable to newcomers. ?During the Winter Olympics, Yle had prepared videos that presented some of the
rarer sports such as half-pipe, and explained the idea of the sport
and what the viewers should pay attention to,? Hämäläinen says.
?The same approach could definitely be used with e-sports. With
a glance you can usually get a good overview of the match, if you
know how to read all the information on the screen.?
Given the trend of the past few years, it seems clear that professional videogaming is not only here to stay, but will continue to
attract growing audiences. ?Gaming is one of the most significant
cultural changes of the 2010s, and its impact on the economy and
how people spend their leisure time will still grow substantially,?
says Hiilinen. ?Professional gaming will inevitably become more
common also in Finland. This is only a positive development.?
Trend of the Month
Blogging to
get paid
James O?Sullivan
W
HILE it has been a phenomenon in other parts of the
world for many years, the idea of blogging as a profession is still a relatively new thing here in Finland.
A recent article in Helsingin Sanomat profiled a number
of young Finns who have made their mark on the industry,
as it were. In fact, so deep is the mark they have carved, that
professional bloggers can earn up to 6,000 euros per month.
That?s six, zero, zero, zero euros ? a month! Just in
case you need further clarification, the average wage here, give
or take, is approximately half of that per month. This big, fat,
chubby number is in the same ballpark of a doctor?s earnings!!
I suppose bloggers are easy to spot in the street then: their swollen back pockets struggling to accommodate such thick wallets.
In a bar the must sit lop-sided on a stool, one butt-cheek hitting
the stool top with a resounding slap every time they pull their
enormous wad of cash out to shout the bar patrons a round.
Or something...
Anyway, so, time to start punching the keyboard then?
Well, not so fast. The article goes on to air the views of Manifesto partner Mikko Koistinen, who estimates that there is
something like a dozen people who earn this sort of cash from
blogging in Finland. The article points out that one blogger
makes some crisp bills churning out copy about a Swiss organic farm, in between dishing out parking tips. Fair play to them.
However, there are so many bloggers out there at present, one
begins to wonder just how many people are interested in the
unsolicited warblings of the masses seeking to be heard.
But, have no fear ? a closer look at statistics collected from
the tax office suggests that the vast majority of bloggers earn
something in the vicinity of 1,000 euros per month.
In most cases, the blog is still a secondary job, and posts are
tapped out the evening in bed before going to sleep. So, the
rest of us can sleep a little easier knowing that the dream of
a whopping income in Finland is still exactly that ? a dream.
? Information and guidance for immigrants
? Information about integrating in Swedish
? Mentor program FIKA
? Courses and events
JOB HUNTING EVENTS AND INFORMATION SESSIONS
How to start up business in Finland? Oct 8th at 3-5 pm.
Are you planning on starting your own business? An expert from
Enterprise Helsinki will give information on entrepreneurship.
One day job event. Oct 16th at 1-4 pm. What is a Cover Letter?
And how can I prepare myself for a job interview? Margarita
Sakilayan-Latvala from the Qutomo Project will give you useful information on your job search.
Services provided by the employment services (TE-toimisto)
Oct 27th at 1-2.30 pm. Welcome to hear about the services provided by the TE-toimisto and the different pathways to employment they are able to support.
Drop- in CV-clinic, Nov 4th and Dec 2nd at 2-4 pm.
Is your CV up to date? Drop in to get tips and ideas for making
a CV or cover letter for the Finnish job market.
Peer support group for unemployed immigrants , Mondays
Nov 10 th - Dec 15th, 2-4 pm, Do you need help in exploring
both traditional and alternative pathways to employment?
Register by Nov 3rd.
Food hygiene- training and test (50 ?) Nov, 12th and 17th,
5 - 8.45pm. This course consists of two parts: training course
(12.11) covering all subject areas of food hygiene proficiency
and the test (17.11).
Social benefits and taxation for workers and students in
Finland (InTo Finland and NeRå) Nov 24th at 1-2.30
Hear an expert from InTo Finland share general information
about social allowances and taxation in Finland.
SOCIAL AND LANGUAGE EVENTS
Meeting point café every first and third week of the month
on Thursdays at 5 pm, (Oct 2nd, 16th, Nov 6th). Would you like
to meet people from different backgrounds to talk and share
experiences about life in Finland and the Finns?
City orienteering Oct 2nd at 6 pm. We will get the chance
to try out city orienteering in Kronohagen together with our
FIKA mentor who has orienteering as her hobby.
Cultural problems in your neighborhood Oct 2 at 5.30-7pm.
Svenska på ryska ( nivå4) Tuesdays Sep 8th -Dec 1 st and Jan
12th -Mar 13th at 5-7pm. Swedish for russian speakers. Level 4.
Vi läser tillsammans! Lets read together! Swedish for women with immigrant background, Tuesdays Sep 16th -16 Dec
at 5-6.45pm. Swedish for women with immigrant background
Do you want to learn Swedish and practice every day vocabulary.
Swedish Language café Nov 6th and Dece 4 th at 5-6.45pm.
Practice your Swedish in a welcoming and informal environment at the Swedish language café in Luckan.
Lucia celebration at Luckan Dec 12 at 1pm. The Childrens
Lucia with Christmas carols, mulled wine and ginger breads.
Would you like to get to know more about Finland, Finnish culture and working life? Join the FIKA-mentor program and get your own personal mentor, a guide to the
Finnish society. For more information see fika.luckan.fi
FIND US ON FACEBOOK:
Facebook.com/LuckanIntegration
LUCKAN INTEGRATION
Simonkatu 8, 00100 Helsinki
integration@luckan.fi
040 485 9636 / bridge.luckan.fi
12
Feature
Issue 8 2014
Post-
Activities need not b
couple of options to
stretches on.
Biking around
Finland: a guide
The best way to experience Finland
any time of the year when the snow
is low is by bicycle. The two wheels
will take you deeper into your own
self and the heart of this country
than you ever thought possible.
Niina Mero
W
E travel to see new places, to experience new things and to forge new memories. A cycling tour
is a wonderful way to see fresh landscapes, visit new places and keep your mind in motion
with your feet. Cycling is more than a means to get from point A to point B, it?s an exploration
into your own self.
This summer, I spent approximately 60 hours in the saddle, clocking a total of nearly 1,000 km biking
through Pirkanmaa, Päijät-Häme and Kanta-Häme. Regional differences in the landscape are surprisingly striking. For instance, you?ll know the exact moment when you?ve crossed over to Päijät-Häme
by the roller coaster effect, as the Salpausselkä ridge extending over the area makes sure you?re always
going either uphill or (whee!) downhill.
Biking clears your head and employs all your senses. If you travel by car, there?s most likely a radio
blaring in your ears, making you miss the birds singing in treetops, the buzzing tractor in the distance
and children yelling greetings as you pass them by. You don?t smell anything in the car, or if you do it?s
never a good thing. But by bike you can tell by your nose alone if you?re passing a honey-scented heliotrope field or a cow farm. It is an enchanting thing to pedal past a field of strawberries in the height
of the season, the scent will instantly teleport you to a childhood memory of sunlight and freedom.
Freedom, of course, is one of the main attractions of cycling. You can go anywhere you please. There?s
no need to look for parking. You can stop whenever you feel like it. Go for a swim, get a cup of coffee, try to take photos of the glimpses of deer running off to distance. All you need is a little sense of
adventure. And of course, a bike. I ride an ancient ladies Crescent, inherited from my grandma. Being
94, she doesn?t need it anymore, but she still reminisces about it come springtime. It?s a lovely bicycle. It
has three gears, one for uphill, one for downhill and one left for the plains. What the other 18 gears on
some bikes are for, beats me. But my point is, any bike, expensive or dug out from a skip works as long
as you are happy to ride it for hours.
On the road and off the map
Right now, I know you?re dying to hop on your rusty old bike, so where to? My first advice to you is to
stay off the main roads. The primary and secondary roads in Finland are numbered from 1 to 98. They
often have a lot of traffic and only an occasional cycleway, and it?s no fun cycling amongst cars. 4
kilometres by the side of Route 4 in pouring rain was long enough to last a lifetime. These roads
are made to cover distances as fast as possible. We want the scenic route.
The roads you?re looking for are the ones with three digits. These are regional roads that often
wriggle around small towns, lakeshores and country fields. The great thing is, they?re also paved,
a detail your backside will appreciate after a few hundred kilometres. I heartily recommend the
290, the 314 and the 130 north from Iittala. The scenery is interesting, and you often encounter
little miracles on the obscure, less beaten tracks. Frogs in the ditches. Deer by the fields. Bats.
Foxes. Hares. I once met a cow with a bucket over its head. The highlight of that trip, no question. And if you can?t see the frogs, you?re pedalling too fast.
If you?re bored with the local scenery but afraid of embarking on a 200 km journey, a good
option is to hop on the train with your bike and start from a different city. It gives you more options to choose from, and fresh roads to ride without adding too many kilometres to your route.
?Tis the season, still
The careless days and luminous nights of the summer are now inevitably behind us, but it?s no
reason to lock away your bike in the garage just yet. With the warmer winters now providing
us with unfrozen roads, the biking experience is not dependent on the season. I?ve had a rather
memorable bike ride on New Year?s Eve. The roads had not yet been iced over, there were fireworks going off on both sides? It was rather special. While the summer is a wonderful and the
most common time for cycling, there are a lot of things to see and experience later in the year still.
So take your bike out, it?s dying to go for a spin. All the wonderful experiences of autumn await
you; the intoxicating scent of ripe apples as you pass an orchard, the dense, soft moisture in the
air when the road dips into a valley, the sight of leaves turning gold and scarlet in the oaks and
maples lining your way. Pedal on, my friend, and somewhere along your way you?ll find the
heart of Finland.
For ideas and more information on different routes, go to:
www.pyoraillensuomessa.fi/en
Feature
13
SixDegrees
-summer fun
be confined to the warm months of the year. Here are a
o keep yourself busy as the daylight fades and the night
L
AST issue we celebrated the Summer That Was. A season that began with a cold, wet and miserable month of June, things cranked up nicely with a burst of heat for around six
weeks of humid bliss (for some) in July and early August. Ending with fits of rain and warm, pleasant days of diminishing daylight, now as we turn the corner into October, the
leaves are falling and moods are swinging to getting down to business and working life.
They say Finns are like sunflowers, their faces following the rays of the sun during the year. And so, as eyes begin to turn towards the ground once more, one begins to look for ways
to fill in their spare time, with summer memories fading fast.
But, have no fear, there is still plenty of options to get out there and enjoy yourself before the curtain is drawn on 2014. Here are a couple of ideas that are sure to turn your head in
the best possible way.
Patrick Lybeck
Take a dive into local waters
Strapping on some scuba gear and submerging is
undoubtedly a cool experience in Finland.
Carina Chela
G
oing scuba diving in lakes or in the Baltic Sea is perhaps not
the first thing most visitors have in mind when coming to
spend their holidays in Finland. However, the popularity of
recreational diving, both in summer and in winter, has increased in
Finland in recent years. And although ice diving is restricted to advanced divers, the spectacular ice formations and landscapes make
this winter sport worthwhile in the coming months ? that is if you
don?t mind a bit of cold water.
As soon as Patrick Lybeck, a dive instructor and chairman of Diving Club Nousu, told his colleagues in Corsica that he was from
Finland they stopped asking questions about his diving competency.
?When I?m abroad I notice divers usually know that if one dives in
Finland it means that you have to be a serious diver,? he explains.
?Conditions in Finland are more challenging because of the low visibility and the weather conditions, so one?s technical skills have to be
good. This is one of the differences between diving in the clear blue
waters of the south and in Finland: in here you have to be technically
skilled. But I think it just makes diving here more interesting.?
The best diving spots
On account of Finland?s long tradition as a seafaring nation and it?s
history as a member of the Hanseatic League ? which dominated
naval commercial activity in the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages ?
there are an unknown number of wrecks along the coast of Finland. According to Lybeck some of the best wooden wreck dives
are found in the Nordic countries. Due to the low salinity in the
Baltic Sea, there is an absence of the naval shipworm, which is a
major cause of destruction to wooden shipwrecks. Lybeck refers to
these intact wrecks as ?Donald Duck wrecks?.
In Finland all wrecks older than 100 years are legally protected,
and the Finnish coast guard must be notified before a wreck dive.
?C
onditions in
Finland are more
challenging because of the
low visibility and the weather
conditions, so one?s technical
skills have to be good.
?I think there must be thousands of wrecks that still haven?t been
discovered,? Lybeck proclaims. ?Place you finger on a maritime
map and within one nautical mile you will find some kind of a
ship wreck!?
As visibility is usually between five-to-ten metres divers have
to get quite close to the wreck ?without breaking the holy rule
which is to look but not touch.?
The Swedish man-o-war Kronprins Gustav Adolf sank in the
battle against Russia in 1788 and it now lies a few nautical miles
southwest from the island of Harmaja, off the coast of Helsinki, at
a depth of 18 to 20 metres. It has been preserved as an underwater museum for scuba divers with underwater information boards
explaining its significance to visiting divers. The other treasure ?
and a Donald Duck wreck ? is just off the coast of Åland. Plus is
a iron-hulled three-masted bark ship built in 1885. Hull and deck
are intact. Diving is forbidden for private persons, but some dive
centres have a permit for excursions.
Qualified and experienced cave divers will be flabbergasted if
they visit the Lohja Ojamo mine about 65 kilometres west of Helsinki. A water-filled mine abandoned in 1965, Ojamo is famous for
its deep, cold and almost endless maze of tunnels. There is a lot to
be seen, from railways to electrical rooms and tools. It?s also a very
popular diving site in Finland. According to Lybeck the visibility in
Ojamo ?is absolutely great, almost crystal clear.?
Saving the Baltic Sea
Unsustainable factory farming and industry has made the Baltic Sea one of the world?s most polluted seas and eutrophication ? which arises from the oversupply of nutrients ? is the
most severe problem. The Baltic Sea?s ecosystem has degraded
to such an extent that its capacity to deliver goods and services to people living in the countries surrounding this sea has
been hampered. For decades the Baltic Sea has been the focus of
environmental efforts. In 1974 the Baltic Marine Environment
Protection Commission ? Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) ?
was established to protect the marine environment of the Baltic
Sea through international cooperation. According to Lybeck
Finland?s and the international?s community?s effort to save the
Baltic Sea is paying off because the visibility ?has got a bit better
in these past 10 years.?
In 2013 in the popular diving spot of Hanko, ?the vertical visibility was over 10 metres which is so much better than back in
2000,? Lybeck explains, and reminds that it?s not just unsustainable
farming and industry but also global warming that has affected the
sea. Efforts such as building and improvement of municipal waste
plants and farmers implementing solutions to reduce excess nutrients are, although very slowly, improving the situation.
Diving in
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Regular diving season is May to
September.
Ice diving is on offer in winter to
experienced divers. Courses of Dry
Suit and Ice Diving Speciality are
necessary.
Water temperature: winter 4C,
summer 18C.
A dry suit is highly recommended
when diving in Finland.
For scuba diving, both DIN and Yoke
regulators are used.
Tides are not noticeable in Finland,
strong currents don?t exist.
Diving is not allowed in harbour areas
without special permission from a
habourmaster.
In June 2014, Finnish diving group
Badewanne discovered one of the
best-preserved WWI German U-boats
in the Gulf of Finland.
Diving, of course
?
?
?
Finland has 208 diving clubs and
11,500 members.
Most scuba clubs and schools offer
their services in English.
For further information on courses or
dives contact:
www.sukeltaja.fi
www.nousu.fi
www.urheilusukeltajat.fi
www.h2ory.fi
www.sukelluskeskus.fi
FINLAND IN THE WO
HELSINKI TIMES
16
coMpiLEd By piLAr díA
16 ? 22 JANUARY 2014
HELSINKI TIMES
HERITAGEDAILy. 16 MAy
Evidence of Viking
settlement on the
Åland Islands
intriguing finds from the region?s Iron Age (500 BCthe Late Iron Age have been 1050 AD).
found in Kvarnbo, Saltvik, on
Finds, consisting mainly of
the Åland Islands, within the personal ornaments of silver
framework of a project led by and bronze, were unearthed
Dr Kristin Ilves.
in connection to what is beThe geographical position lieved to be the remains of a
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Finnish After Dark ALASKADISPATCH.
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the latestThe
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east. terms
This and
year the Swedes
phrases that are almost impossible to translate. These are the spices
night with neighwill ofbelateworking
boring Finland on how to
conversation among Finns, which are almost always missed by foreigners.
counter such a threat, and it
The book is based on the Finnish After Dark series published
in SixDegrees
will involve cooperation beover the past few years. The series continues to receive excellenttween
feedback
airfrom
and sea defenses.
At the air defense batalreaders.
Sweden
and Finland
in joint
defense
exercise
lion in Småland, Lt. Col. Fredrik Zetterberg says it is
?MAJOR military exercises are
no coincidence the exercise
happening in Sweden, playing is about defending the east
out all week, with the scenario coast. He says the supreme
of an attack from the east.
commander of the armed
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walk-in
HIV
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Whole grain wheat and rye bread are a goo
XIHUANETNEWS. 16 May
Whole grain
risk of diab
?A RECENT doctoral research
conducted at the University of Eastern Finland showed
that whole grain rye and
wheat bread effectively reduces risk of type 2 diabetes.
STANDARDMEDIA. 18 MAy. JOSEPHA
Renewable energy
?AMID soaring energy costs
and deficit, foreign pundits and
Kenyans living in diaspora met
to discuss alternative ways of
bridging energy needs in the
country. Meeting in Helsinki
under the caucus; ?Connect Af-
Moving to finland
as an immigrant in finland
Where to find work?
information about finnish or swedish
Bringing your family to finland
Housing
Health services in finland
education
problem situations
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15
SixDegrees
Around the world
of flavours
A weekly menu ensures a different global cuisine
is always around the corner in Tampere.
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exactly
The weird and wonderful tastes of
your local Asian grocery store.
Andrew Lih
All about tofu
T
Text and image Tania Nathan.
T
ucked into the ground floor of an old wooden house in the
historic neighborhood of Pispala, Tampere, Café Pispala is a
bit of local secret, still a hidden gem. Founded by Bostonian
Yvonne and Finn Vesa Leppälä, the café opened its doors in June
this year. It exists as the culmination of a lifelong love of cuisines of
the world, and was also born from the desire to share these flavours
with the eclectic people of Pispala.
?What we do isn?t an exact replica of dishes, it?s our take on the
things we?ve tasted and loved,? explains the affable Yvonne. ?We
wanted to share these flavours we?ve tasted on our travels to different places ? whether it?s Peruvian, or Vietnamese, comfort food
from the South, Mexican ? even Asian fusion.?
This love for food explains the ever-changing menu, which
switches out every week. Yvonne laughs, explaining that ?the kitchen guys want to try new things, you know? And maybe this week
one guy wants to do kimchi burritos, then next week someone else
wants to serve up Peruvian ceviche. This way we get to mix things
up and keep things interesting. People seem to love it too!?
It?s definitely an ambitious undertaking, but Vesa is an old hand in
the restaurant business, having previously headed kitchens staffed by
hundreds. Yet, the atmosphere in Café Pispala is that of a close-knit
community project ? best summed up by the simple chalkboard sign
written in Hawaiian hanging over the kitchen space. Ohana. Family.
Flavours for all tastes
As we sit and chat, the café is buzzing all around us ? there?s a line
out the door and almost every wood topped table is occupied.
Families sit side by side with young hipsters in their bowler hats
and older couples chatting as they devour their American styled
breakfasts. Here thick, fluffy pancakes topped with a scoop of butter and a side of bourbon-flavoured syrup are a definite favourite.
Strips of crispy bacon and impossibly fluffy hotel-style scrambled
eggs, along with glasses of freshly squeezes orange juice all come
out the kitchen in a steady stream.
Vegans and vegetarians are well catered for as well, with fresh
fruit bowls and a very respectable tofu scramble served with a side
of colourful potatoes. The blue Peruvian sweet potatoes for this
week are specially ordered in.
?Yeah, we?ve really been surprised at the enthusiasm our customers have had for our revolving menu,? Yvonne reflects. ?They come
in already knowing what they want, having checked our Facebook
page. Some come in weekly, sometimes even two days in a row.
They?ll enjoy the breakfast and then pop in for dinner!?
The neighbours have been really happy that the old neighbourhood finally has a dedicated restaurant. ?Pispala has always had a
shops, whether a butcher, cobbler, and a corner store. We?re just so
happy to be able to share this place where people in the neighbourhood can come and maybe get a bite to eat too.?
Sweet temptations
Yvonne, who bakes the ever-popular scones (buttery and impossibly tender), stout cake (which incidentally, tastes just like an Oreo
cookie), the American style cheese cake and blueberry muffins
with a streusel topping, loves chatting with the customers and tossing in a free cookie or muffin. ?It?s always a hoot when we offer our
customers something on the house. They?re like, ?What? For me??
That?s what I love about this café. It makes people happy.?
Slowly, the crowds start to dwindle as the brunch service winds
up. The fresh flowers adorning each table are refreshed with water and the floors wiped down in preparation for dinner. A lovely
touch is the old newspapers that wallpaper certain parts of the café,
with stories dating back to the early 1900s. But, enough of that ?
this week it?s New Orleans turn to shine, so the menu is full of Louisiana charm and flavours. My plate is full of colours and tastes, with
sofrito rice (cooked with the New Orleans ?holy trinity? of onions,
green peppers, garlic and herbs cooked in olive oil), served alongside purple sweet potato, white beans, kale and corn.
The kale is pleasantly chewy and salty enough to hold up against
the sweetness of the corn and white beans. There is a sneaky bite of
passionfruit pulp garnishing the serve, and the sourness is fantastic
against the richness of the flavours. I find myself laughing as I eat; it?s
playful, delicious and bold. The serving is also generous. The iced water is complimentary, though the homemade lemon ice tea cannot be
missed. For dessert I have a parfait, which truth be told, is pretty sweet.
But with coffee it works well, and the boysenberries, strawberries and
blueberries in the middle are delicious. Also on the menu this week is
gumbo with shrimp, chicken, and chorizo, which I hear, is delicious.
Building anticipation
If one had to say something bad about Café Pispala, it would be the
occasional wait for your meals. With the small kitchen turning out
all dishes to order and with everything made from scratch, things
may take a little longer than in other places. But the atmosphere
and the quality of the food more than makes up for it ? and the
repeat customers attest to this.
?We wanted to give the neighbourhood somewhere they could go,
and just relax, chat, read the paper, get a bite to eat, whatever,? Yvonne
states. ?Since food is our passion, its really great we get to share what
we?ve experienced with people here.? So, what?s next for the café? ?We?re
going to keep on exploring! And if people like it, we?ll just keep going!?
The eclectic neighbourhood of Pispala has just gotten a little bit spicier,
and all the better for it. Note that the café doesn?t take brunch reservations, but if you come early enough on Saturday you?ll be sure to
find a spot. The menu changes weekly, but the cakes, muffins, parfaits,
American breakfasts and pancakes are set. Be warned that the portions
are generous but requests for doggy bags are welcomed.
Café Pispala is closed on Mondays, open for dinner Wednesday
to Fridays and on weekends do fantastic brunches from 10 am to 3
pm. Check out their Facebook page for more information on their
menu this week.
Café Pispala
Pispankatu 30, Tampere
Open: Wed - Sat: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
tel. 040 7011603
www.facebook.com/cafepispala
ofu is no longer a mystery faux meat to the Finnish market. We?ve got your soymilk, soy drink, soy cream, hemptofu, smoked and marinated tofu and all kinds of business. But what about the mystery hybrid tofus ? and how do
you treat silken versus regular versus extra firm tofu? Read on
gentle reader. Read on.
Silken tofu
This stuff, which also comes shelved and unrefrigerated is excellent stuff in vegan desserts, and tastes great steamed and
topped with chopped scallions, soy and sesame oil. Mori-nu
makes a good one and its pretty cheap and high in protein.
Like its namesake, its silken and very slippery, so it won?t hold
up in curries. Unlike the next bad boy on our list...
Firm tofu / Extra firm tofu
Depending on your needs, you can freeze firm tofu, squeeze
out excess liquid, fry or use in curries. I especially like the really cheap extra firm tofu, which I press (a frying pan does the
job well) to rid of excess water, dry with paper towels then toss
in flour and salt and fry. Use in place of meat in almost any
dish, just remember to sauce and spice accordingly as tofu is
pretty flavourless on its own. Tofu works very well with dried
shiitake mushrooms, which gives it an umami-depth of flavour.
Bean curd sticks
Called yuba in Chinese, bean curd sticks are made from the
skin that forms on soymilk as it is heated. High in protein, it is
more toothsome than the slippery smoothness of tofu. To use,
soak in water first and then add to stir fries or curries.
Natto
A Japanese delight, this is not for the faint of heart. Natto are
fermented (or should I say, rotting) soy beans that some say
are absolutely delicious. Pungent, stick and slimy, it is eaten at
breakfast with an egg, rice and a strong stomach. It is however
chock-full of minerals and can be found in the freezer section
of the Asian grocers.
Pickled tofu
Sold in glass jars, this stuff is rad. It?s sometimes called preserved or fermented tofu, because its been dried under hay,
then soaked in salt water, Chinese wine, vinegar and dried
chillies or other deliciously stinky mixtures. I?ve always had it
in stew, which it adds a lovely flavour to.
Stinky tofu
A soft tofu that?s been fermented in vegetable and fish brine,
I haven?t seen this stuff in Finland as yet. But smells asides,
this stuff is delish ? the rind that develops cooks up crisp, and
the tofu is full of umami flavors. Give it a go when you find it,
stinky tofu?s bark is definitely worse than its bite!
Tania Nathan is a Chinese-Sri
Lankan Malaysian who loves
her food and is often to be
found rummaging through
a freezer somewhere in
Hakaniemi. Come say hi!
Q&A
16
Issue 8 2014
Ramy Essam
Mohamad Mosaad
Rock star and revolutionary.
On a positive side ? now we are making conversation with the Egyptians, talking about rights
and how this country has to be better, caring
about poor people, and equality and justice.
The revolution made us have a real goal as humans. I was just a guy with a guitar with some political songs. I wanted to be a rock star but I didn?t
have a goal as a human. All the people who still
don?t understand the meaning of the revolution
are victims of the regime and victims of the culture. They don?t have such a goal. In my country
I want a lot of things to change. The main thing
is justice and equality ? simply freedom.
So, how do you change the system?
If I knew the way, I would try to do it now. It will
take a long time especially because we are suffering from our culture in Egypt. The poor people
just want to eat and drink and survive. They are
really only thinking about food. We are waiting
for the younger generations so our numbers will
increase. There were only 100,000 people in the
revolution now, and we need one million. The
second thing, we have to not stop doing marches
or being in the streets.
Why did the revolution end before success?
We can?t say that the revolution had ended; we?re
still fighting. We?re at a hard time after the beginning ? we can call it a pause ? because the people
got tired. Some of us lost his spot in university,
lost his job, lost his wife, his girlfriend, his friends,
or lost his eyes in the fights or injured himself,
or his brother or his sister or his father became
a martyr and died in the fights. We stayed in the
street fighting for two-and-a-half years. It?s a very
long time.
The government also got the poor people to side
with them. They used the media to make the people believe that the army will protect them and
will make everything better and that?s not true.
A revolutionary approach to air guitar.
Alicia Jensen
I
n early January 2011, Ramy Essam was
an ordinary student. He studied architecture
in a city near Cairo and played guitar, and like
many students he was frustrated with his government. By the end of month, however, he was singing to over 100,000 people who had gathered to
protest the regime. The moment he stepped on to
the stage in Tahrir Square ? the student became
a revolutionary.
Essam found harmony between the often disparate worlds of the Middle East and West by
consolidating rock music with Arabic lyrics. His
song irhal, irhal (Leave, Leave), initially written to
oust Mubarak, became the anthem of the Egyptian revolution. Still relevant today, it was selected
third out of 100 songs that changed history by
Time Out Magazine in 2011. The same year Essam was also bestowed with the Freemuse Award
in Stockholm.
Before starting his studies in Sweden, Essam
paid a brief visit to Helsinki for a live performance in August. We sit at a café overlooking the
Senate Square, with warm tea and a blueberry pie
between us. Tourists amble by. We begin to talk
about the revolution and humanity. For a moment, there is a disarming gap between our conversation and reality ? but soon we are standing
in the turmoil that was Tahrir Square.
What?s your most important message?
Art, especially music, is the strongest peaceful
weapon in the world. After the revolution, my
faith increased more and more in this point. You
can teach people to ask about their rights and
make people know what is good and what is bad
about the government and how the government
is corrupted. In my country people don?t learn a
lot about life and about humanity. So, I believe
?I
wanted to be a
rock star but I
didn?t have a goal
as a human.?
with music I can tell them anything between the
lines in my songs.
What role did music play in the revolution?
We lived hard moments and sometimes it was
very boring to sleep in the streets for months, especially with a government who is never listening
to you. So, to make the time pass easier and make
it more cool we were always singing and singing.
A lot of times people were completely disappointed at the government or at the people who
were not accepting what we were doing. So, I
used the songs to encourage them. And I?m sure
that succeeded every time. The songs are really
very strong. The songs also attracted a lot of people who didn?t believe in the revolution in the
beginning.
I would say that that art is the main hero on the
ground between us.
What successes came from the revolution?
It?s very clear to see that we didn?t reach any of
our goals. We have recognised very well over
the last two years that there?s no revolution in
two weeks like we thought. What we did on 25
January 2011 was just the start. It?s the main
thing to start, but we just have to work and to
give all we can to our revolution. That?s why
I?m still, after three years and half, singing the
same songs every day.
How will people become mobilised again to
go to the Square?
It will take some years. We are still suffering from
electricity cutting out every day, and food and the
subways are becoming more expensive. So, the
poor people are still suffering. Day by day they
will come to know that it?s the same situation and
nothing changed. It?s simply about time.
On the ground, to make the revolution come
back again faster, we have to make art to keep the
people in the mood and to write the truth on the
walls and in songs and in documentary films. This
is very important. And if any one of us can teach
[the poor people] about rights and humanity, it?s
very important too. There is a huge gap between
the people who understand what?s happening, and
the poor people who are just thinking about how
to survive. We have to make this gap decrease.
Our government made a very dangerous trick;
it?s very smart to make the people only think
about food. More than 90 per cent of the people get their money day by day. If you?re getting
money daily for you and your family to survive
it?s not easy to go to protest or rebel in the streets.
So the government put all the people in this corner to make them in the wheel of thinking how to
survive, not how to ask about rights.
Do you think the next time you go to the
street it will be different?
This time the military is like the injured monster
that?s coming back to take revenge. We hurt this
monster during the last three years. If we decide to
go to the street again and make him feel that he will
go down again, it will be horrible the next time.
It will be different because we suffered a lot
from the government. By different I mean that
it will be more violent from both sides. I?m sure
that the military will be very aggressive in dealing
with protesters and marches; they already started
to show this to the people.
That?s why people are not in the street. We will
be more aggressive too, just as a defence.
What will you do differently in the next
revolution?
You know what?s funny, in the beginning of the
revolution we were so happy that there was no
leader, so it?s a revolution for people and we are
all the same and there is no one who takes us to
his way of thinking. But now, we are saying that
we are very stupid; we had to find a leader. It?s
very necessary and I swear the revolution will
never succeed without one.
I?m talking about a leader from the streets. He
has to be just a normal person. And I hope that
this leader will be from my generation, because
we are the only people who were never muted
by the politics. Our mentality is completely clear
and we are completely independent and we don?t
want any chair or any positions in the government. We know that [the problem is] not with
Sisi, Morsi or Mubarak, it?s the system. So we are
waiting for the leader.
Why didn?t a leader take control during the
revolution?
None of us had the experience to be a leader. If
we had this conversation two years ago, I couldn?t
say the same things. I?m still learning every day.
I?m sure that I?m not the only one who?s still
learning. So maybe this leader will be me, maybe
it will be Ammar, maybe it will be anyone who I
trust. That?s why we didn?t find the leader in the
last few years: because he is not ready yet.
How did it feel like being a revolutionary?
I already had some songs about politics before
the revolution and that?s why I was ready to start
from the first moment on the stage in the Square.
[Before the revolution] I wasn?t an activist at all.
I?m happy because I gave something to help
people in the Square. It?s amazing to start your
live singing in front of more than a million people during the whole day. The feeling I had from
the people in the streets was incredible. When
I was singing in the streets in the Square, every
time I felt that I am the strongest man in the
world because of the power you can attract from
the people.
Were you ever afraid?
Maybe in the beginning of the revolution, yes,
but after some days and especially after what
happened to me in the Egyptian museum ? I was
tortured ? after this day I?ve totally lost my fear.
I don?t think I will face another thing worse than
what happened. After this day I can say that I faced
death a lot of times and now I?m sitting with you.
So, nothing to fear. And I lost a lot of friends. Four
close friends, I lost. One of them was standing beside me. Nothing worse I will see ever.
My generation who started what happened,
they will lead the next, the younger generations.
We?ve been in the front lines. The front line, it?s
a really dangerous place, it?s full of death, blood,
shooting bullets, and it?s very loud. But at the
same time, I can say that it?s the most pure area in
the world. You?re doing something for others and
you?re sacrificing your life and everything. It?s the
moment you can feel your white side and your
good side. The front line means to me happiness.
What are your future plans?
After the revolution started I became famous
and I got a lot of offers from producers all over
the world ? and I refused it all. A producer will
be a part of the decisions about what you will
sing, and it?s not acceptable to me at all. I would
be away from my revolution and I didn?t want
to miss anything. Some of them don?t understand what I?m doing; they just want to get the
golden boy from Egypt. Now with a pause in
the revolution I want to learn and develop. I
have a scholarship to study music in Sweden.
But I will never stop singing for the people
there. [Afterwards] I will go back and complete
what I?m doing, and how the situation will look
like I will deal with it.
Cultitude
17
SixDegrees
Touching down and
standing up
Greg Kade
CIDCOM
James O?Sullivan
f
ollowing her riotous performance back in 2012, super flight
attendant Pam Ann is touching down in Finland again. Returning to the scene of the crime, Helsinki?s Savoy Theatre,
everyone?s favourite in flight entertainment will be appearing on
Thursday 23 October.
The alter-ego of Australian Caroline Reid, the comedienne has
toured the world for a number of years with her portrayal of the outrageous air-hostess. Alongside her onstage appearances, she has also
featured in advertising campaigns for British airways and sky team.
This time around she promises the filthiest, funniest, most explosive show to date, touting the following in a release:
?Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking, we would
like to welcome you on board to our PLANE FILTHY Flight, and
would like to thank you for flying Pam Ann airlines. Cabin crew, arm
doors for departure and buckle the f**k up!??
Enough said!
If you feel your funny bone beginning to quiver with the first ripples of tickling, then this might just be the show for you.
As the airline industry continues to contract, Pam Ann offers a
range of tales from the galley. Sometimes saucy, sometimes offensive, Ann is often times hilarious.
Pam Ann returns,
filthier than ever.
Always
on the run
Pam Ann ? Plane Filthy
23 October, 20:00
Tickets ?37/34, Savoy Theatre
Kasarmikatu 46-48, Helsinki
James O?Sullivan
Massive music
from the
underground
Fullsteam
James O?Sullivan
T
HE summer festival season may have come and gone, but there?s
no reason to think that the festival festivities are done with just
yet this year. Held from 22 to 26 October, Supermassive Festival
is bringing a swag of great underground sounds to Tavastia, The Circus, Ääniwalli, Korjaamo, Kuudes Linja and Semifinal.
The line-up is swollen with acts from North America, the UK,
Norway, Belgium and far beyond. The international contingent includes the likes of Shellac, The Fall, Earthless, Fabio Frizzi, Off!,
Actress, Wovenhand, Tim Hecker, Shabbazz Palaces and many,
many more. Local sounds from the likes of Oranssi Pazuzu, CIRCLE Vs. Circle and K-X-P can be found spread out across the various stages around town.
A wide variety of musical genres are on offer, with the likes of alternative, black metal, Krautrock, psychedelia, sludge, doom, noise
rock and a wide variety of others waiting to be discovered.
With a growing profile in recent years, the underground exposure
is set to be, well, supermassive in 2014.
Operatic
matrimony
James O?Sullivan
T
he local Opera season has once again begun with a flourish of quality after a summer
spent with its feet up, recuperating. Continuing the momentum, Le nozze di Figaro is being
performed until 7 October, returning after being
being enjoyed by receptive audiences earlier this
year.
Composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart the opera is based on Pierre Beaumarchais?
stage comedy La folle journée, ou le Mariage de
Figaro (1784).
And so goes the story: amidst the tangled web
of relationships, Marcellina calls in an old debt in
order to tie the know with Figaro. While this may
appear to be a relatively straightforward matter,
complicating things is the fact that her future
beau is in fact currently engaged to Susanna, who
in turn is lusted after by the Count. Not to be
outdone, the Count?s wife still loves him yet finds
herself to be the object of Cherubino?s affections.
Widely considered a masterpiece, one of Mozart?s most brilliant scores produces a timeless
The local sounds of CIRCLE Vs. Circle are just one
of the many, many bands on the bill for this year?s
Supermassive Festival.
Supermassive Festival:
An Odyssey Through
The Underground
22-26 October
comedy of human desires and emotions. The
piece also explores social issues about nobility
and servants that also bear relevance today.
Performed in Italian with Finnish and Swedish
surtitles.
Elsewhere at Finnish National Opera this
month, the calendar is positively swollen with
quality. John Cranko: Onegin, FNB Youth Company presents R&J, Pelléas and Mélisande, Horecna-Godani-Robbins and an encore performance
of Kenneth Greve?s The Snow Queen are all
gracing the stage on various dates throughout
the month..
Heikki Tuuli
Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Until 7 October
Finnish National Opera. Tickets ?24-107
Helsinginkatu 58, Helsinki
Tavastia, The Circus,
Ääniwalli, Korjaamo,
Kuudes Linja, Semifinal
Helsinki
http://supermassive.fi
L
ENNY Kravitz has had nothing if not of a chequered career.
Arriving at the end of the ?80s, the first word on the dreadlocked singer-songwriter was that he was a revisionist. Less
kind appraisals noted the similarity of many of his songs to those
of an earlier time. However, given that he would perform the lion?s
share of instruments on his recordings, he still managed to attain
some respect even from his harshest critics.
The public cared little, however, and the arrival of 1993?s Are You
Gonna Go My Way, saw him propelled to the stratosphere. With its
catchy retro-rock single of the same name, his third album went on
to sell four million copies worldwide. Follow-up Circus dropped a
lackluster collection of Kravitz musings on the wider public, with the
singer expressing disillusionment with the music industry at the time.
1998?s 5 saw the singer back in form, with the album going on to sell
over six million copies and snag two Grammy Awards in the process. Subsequent albums saw Kravitz?s audience gradually dwindle,
with 2004?s Baptism receiving a critical drubbing. Things picked up
once again and fast-forward to 2011 and his ninth release, Black and
White America, saw Kravitz tackle funk with intriguing results.
His tenth studio album, Strut, arrived earlier this year, with singles The Chamber and Sex grabbing attention around the globe.
Performing at Helsinki Areena in Helsinki on Sunday 26 October,
the gig marks Kravitz?s first appearance here since he cancelled his
appearance onstage back in 2012 due to filming commitments that
ran overtime. Fingers crossed when the houselights go down.
Lenny Kravitz
26 October, 20:00
Tickets ?53.50/67.50
Hartwall Arena, Areenankuja 1, Helsinki
Wish you were here, no longer
James O?Sullivan
J
UST in case you can?t wait until the next Pink
Floyd album drops later this year, the next
best thing is here to satiate fans ravenous
appetite. The not-so-modestly monikered Brit
Floyd - The World?s Greatest Pink Floyd Show
rolls into a town near you in early October. Well,
if you live within the vicinity of Tampere, Turku
and Helsinki, that is.
Having performed to over one million fans
around the world since it?s first show in Liverpool, England, in January 2011, the band has hit
the road once again to perform Discovery. The
Floyd has never been renowned for their brevity,
thus this latest tip of the hat sees three hours of
sublime sounds charting the bulk of their career,
from the years 1967 ? 1994.
Named after the box set of the same name,
choice cuts are plucked from the Syd Barrett-led
?60s psychedelic pop of The Piper at the Gates of
Dawn, leading all the way up until the slick machine the band had become by the time they released 1994?s The Division Bell.
Promising songs performed in note-for-note
detail, the stage features the trademark Pink
Floyd arch and circle light show. A Floyd show
has always been about more than the music, and
thus cherry-picked favourites from the band?s
career will be accompanied by artwork designs
inspired by long-time Pink Floyd collaborator
Storm Thorgerson. While a live performance of
the original band remains a distinct uncertainty,
here offers the next best thing.
Live Nation
Can?t wait until Pink Floyd?s unexpected new release
appears later this year? Then Brit Floyd should well
suffice until then.
Brit Floyd
6-8 October
Tickets ?62.50 ? 82.50
Tampere, Turku, Helsinki
Reviews
18
Issue 8 2014
Forthcoming flicks
Starting to
R.E.A.D.
Octavian Balea
Clay Enos
Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton share a moment in And So it Goes.
R.E.A.D festival?s ideologist and initiator, David Kozma is also the artistic director of the European Theatre
Collective.
The Equalizer (K16)
Time for some lunk-headed action fun, then, after the tepid, reserved violence of The Expendables 3
earlier this summer. Here Denzel Washington stars in a reboot of the ?80s TV show centered on an exgovernment agent who lends a helping hand to those in need. Teaming up with Training Day director
Antoine Fuqua, Washington continues to keep one foot equality in both serious thespian and action
cheese territories. Regardless of the end result he is always a magnetic screen presence. While Fuqua?s
career has had its ups and downs, expectations are relatively high for this latest outing.
Premieres 26 September
Gone Girl (K16)
Master director David Fincher follows up the moderate success that was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with another adaptation. Here Gillian Flynn?s bestseller follows the exploits of Ben Affleck whose
wife vanishes on their fifth wedding anniversary. Soon he becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance, as things increasingly are not what they appear to be. Any film from Fincher is worth a look, and
this promises to be no exception. Early word from the festival circuit has been overwhelmingly positive.
Nine Inch Nails? Trent Reznor is once again on soundtrack duties, teaming up with regular cohort Atticus Ross for what promises to be another superb score.
Premieres 3 October
Boyhood (K12)
Richard Linklater?s latest is some 12 years on the making, as the director, cast and crew set aside a few
days each year to chart the growth of a family in real time. A coming-of-age drama, here we follow a boy
named Mason (nexcomer Ellar Coltrane) as he progresses from the age of six to 18. Coming face-to-face
with such universal life scenarios such as dealing with his parents? divorce and the arrival of seemingly
impossible step-parents, Mason also falls in love, seaches for his artistic voice and butts heads with his
older sister. The film comfortably resides at the top of many critics? best-of lists for this year. Linklater again
teams up with Ethan Hawke, as the father of the family, and Patricia Arquette co-stars as Mason?s mother.
Premieres 10 October
And So It Goes
?Whatever happened to director Rob Reiner?? you may ask. Well, after the pioneering likes of This is
Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride, his 21st century output has been patchy at best. Actually, scratch
that ? it has been hugely disappointing. Hoping to make amends, here Michael Douglas? self-centered
real-estate agent receives a whopping surprise when his estranged son lobs on his doorstep, armed
with the granddaughter he?s never known. What was already initially a significant enough shock is soon
amplified by the fact that Douglas has to take care of the young girl. Cue hijinks. While a tired premise
doesn?t sound too promising, the always-watchable Diane Keaton is also set make an appearance.
Hopefully a few chuckles rear their head also.
Premieres 24 October
James O?Sullivan
O
FFERING a range of new European drama
reading, Reading EuropeAn Drama Festival (aka R.E.A.D.) is on offer from 6 to 8
October in Helsinki. Bringing together international theatre professionals who are currently living and working in Finland, fresh texts
from Germany, Hungary, France, England,
Norway, Russia, Italy and Estonia are on offer
for audiences.
The programme includes Estonian Piret
Jaaks? To See Pink Elephants, a play which reflects on the contemporary times we live in.
Meanwhile, Italian Ana Candida de Carvalho
Carneiro?s Babel and the Russian Valentin
Krasnogorovin?s Pelicans of the Wilderness
can also be found during the three days.
New English drama arrives in the shape
of Dennis Kelly?s The Ritual Slaughter of the
Gorge Mastromas, after enjoying its premiere
at London?s Royal Court Theatre last year.
Master of Nordic humour Fredrik Brattberg
is set to introduce his new dark comedy The
Returning, and the relationship between art
and viewer is discussed in German Katharina
Schmitt?s SAM. Next door, from France, JeanLuc Lagarce?s modern classic Just the end of
the world is on offer, along with delving into
existential matters of a small community in
Hungarian Háy János? Géza Boy.
International scene locally
In tune with the European Theatre Collective?s
long-term goal to shine a spotlight on international artists living in Finland, the septet of
drama reading directors is made up of multicultural directors working here. These include
Lija Fischer, David Kozma, Aleksi Barrière,
Aleksis Meaney, Alexey Vasilchenko, Luis
Raposo da Cruz and Davide Giovanzana.
Furthermore, an open discussion about Nordic Drama in Finland is taking place during
the festival on 7 October. Speakers during the
panel discussion are the director of TINFO
Hanna Helavuori, the director of the National
Theatre Mika Myllyaho, dramaturg of the
Swedish Theatre Linnea Stara and Norwegian
professor Knut Ove Arntzen. R.E.A.D festival?s ideologist and initiator David Kozma is
acting as moderator of the discussion, another
feather in his cap alongside being the artistic
director of the European Theatre Collective.
Reading EuropeAn Drama
Festival ? R.E.A.D.
6-8 October
http://theatrecollective.com
Game reviews September 2014
Nick Barlow
Tales of Xilia 2 (PS3)
Solutions for crossword on
page 5
1. Palvelu
5. Aamianen
9. Bufetti
2. Kylpyamme
6. Vieras
10. Sviitti
3. Varaus
7. Konferenssi
11. Huone
4. Turisti
8. Loma
Xilia 2 is really a must-buy for any JRPG fans out there, and even for
gamers who are normally non-plussed with the genre there?s still plenty
to admire. In many respects this sequel is very similar to its predecessor
? lots of assets are shared between the two titles ? but the sequel has
a few tricks up its sleeve which in particular deepen the role-playing
aspect and make it easier to navigate your way around the plentiful
quest system. Fresh enough to seem novel but familiar enough that you
feel right at home, Xilia 2 is well worth a punt. 8/10
Destiny (Xbox 360, PS3, XBOne, PS4)
With a budget the size of a small country?s and enough hype that even Bono
would grudgingly admire, Destiny comes with some serious expectations. It
even manages to live up to some of them. The world looks fantastic and it nails
the MP action, but the beautiful world is sadly hollow and filled with... well,
not very much really. Sure there?s upgrades for your guns, and fun combat,
but it?s all so samey and repetitive. Also, the story is ridiculous. After waiting a
long time for this, it can only be classed as a flawed gem. 6/10
25 september ? 1 OCtOrer 2014
HeLsINKI tImes
15
Customer service points
Rautatientori Metro Station
(by Central Railway Station)
Itäkeskus Metro Station
Pasila, Opastinsilta 6A
Monthly review
HSL Customer service tel. 09 4766 4000
(Mon-Fri 7am-7pm, Sat-Sun 9am-5pm)
Advice on public transport routes,
timetables and tickets, Travel Card
assistance and lost Travel Cards
HSL Helsinki Region Transport
PO BOX 100, 00077 HSL
www.hsl.fi
The employer-subsidized commuter
ticket offers a modern option to commuters
This autumn, HSL is targeting its campaign
at employers. Both employers and
employees will benefit from the handy
public transport ticket, employer-subsidized
commuter ticket, offered by HSL.
HSL?s employer-subsidized commuter ticket is a season ticket loaded on a personal Travel Card, which
can be used not only on journeys
to work but also for travel in free
time. It brings tax benefits both to
the employer and employee.
The ticket is intended mainly for
journeys between home and work
but it can also be used on leisure
journeys.
The employer pays for the ticket in full or in part. Employers can
choose to offer the benefit as the
electronic TyömatkaPassi or alternatively as HSL?s commuter vouchers worth ?10, which employees
can use for loading season tickets
or value on their Travel Cards.
Vouchers or an electronic commuter ticket
The employer can purchase HSL?s
10-euro
commuter
vouchers,
which it then distributes to its staff.
Employees can use the vouchers
to load season tickets or value on
their Travel Cards. Employers can
order as many vouchers as they
need and unused vouchers can be
HSL is studying travel patterns
HSL has launched a series of
studies to assess the impacts of
the Ring Rail Line and West Metro
on people?s travel behavior in the
Helsinki region. In the first phase,
three surveys are conducted during the fall: Travel Survey, Traffic
Survey and Park & Ride Survey.
The Travel Survey 2014 studies journeys in the Ring Rail Line
catchment area made at least
partly by public transport as
well as all journeys starting or
ending at the Airport.
In the Traffic Survey, HSL collects information about resi-
dents? travel habits and background factors affecting them
before the Ring Rail Line and
West Metro are opened. All
weekday journeys are included
in the survey, regardless of the
mode of transport used.
The Park & Ride Survey examines how and why Park &
Ride is used in the Helsinki region and how people travel to/
from Park & Ride sites. Also
this survey will be conducted
again once the Ring Rail Line
and West Metro are in operation.
returned to HSL before the expiry
date.
TyömatkaPassi is an electronic
service, which is part of Event Brokers? ePassi services. To purchase
TyömatkaPassi electronic vouchers, the employer must register
as a user online at epassi.fi. Employees may use TyömatkaPassi
to load season tickets or value on
their personal Travel Card.
Invoiced commuter
ticket valid until further notice
HSL also offers an option to companies wanting to pay their employees? public transport ticket in
full. In this case, the employer may
make an agreement with HSL and
order the tickets. HSL will provide
the employees with personal Travel
Cards with a season ticket loaded
on them for the period specified by
the employer, for example a year.
Invoiced
employer-subsidized
commuter tickets, which can be
paid for electronically or with a conventional paper invoice, will only be
available until the end of the year.
HSL is
conducting a
ticket survey
New Flirt trains
for commuter
train services
HSL?s ticket survey conducted every autumn started on 8 September. This year, the survey is conducted on commuter trains, trunk
route 550 and on regional routes to
Kerava.
The survey examines what tickets passengers use, where they live,
what is the average journey length
and what are the feeder modes
used. The information will be used
in the planning and development of
the services.
The survey is conducted by
HSL?s ticket inspectors along with
normal ticket inspections. We hope
that passengers will respond positively to the survey and have their
tickets ready to present. In this way,
the survey can be carried out without unnecessary delays and inconvenience.
New rolling stock is needed for Helsinki region commuter train services
in the coming years to provide customers with the best possible rail
service. The rolling stock company Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalustoyhtiö Oy has decided to order 34
new trains. New trains will be needed
at the latest in 2018 when train services tendered by HSL are launched.
The trains will cost about EUR 220
million. HSL leases the trains with a
long-term contract from Junakalustoyhtiö Oy.
Earlier, Junakalustoyhtiö Oy has
purchased 41 Flirt trains, 38 of which
are now in service on commuter train
services. The current number of Flirt
trains is enough for services on the
Ring Rail Line to be launched next
summer.
Out&See
SixDegrees
Greater Helsinki
20
Issue 8 2014
By Alicia Jensen
Music _ Clubs
25 Sep. Dale?s Jazz/Rock Catapult!
// Saku Mattila, Tuomo Dahlblom,
Pekka Lehti, Marko Timonen. Koko
Jazz Club, Hämeentie 3. Tickets
?10/15. www.kokojazz.fi
25 Sep. Edguy (GER), Freedom
Call // Power metal. Tavastia,
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets
?28.50/30. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
25 Sep. Mowgli, Salla Smith // Pop
rock. On The Rocks, Mikonkatu 15.
Tickets ?5. www.ontherocks.fi
26 Sep. Deep Space Helsinki // Zadig
(Construct Re-Form, Deeply Rooted
House, FRA), Juho Kusti & Samuli
Kemppi. Kuudes Linja, Hämeentie 13.
Tickets ?10. www.kuudeslinja.com
26 Sep. Deathstars (SWE), Woland
// Gothic metal. Tavastia, Urho
Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets ?24/25.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
26 Sep. My First Band, Shivan
Dragn // Pop rock. Virgin Oil Co.,
Mannerheimintie 5. Tickets ?10/12.
www.virginoil.fi
26 Sep. Laura Moisio & Anna
Inginmaa // Pop, folk, singer
songwriter.
Korjaamo
Culture
Factory, Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets
?5-8. www.korjaamo.fi
26 Sep. Naam (USA), Warp
Transmission // Psychadelic rock,
stoner rock. Bar Loose, Annankatu 21.
Tickets ?12/15. www.barloose.com
26 Sep. Sister Sin (SWE) // Old
school metal. On The Rocks,
Mikonkatu 15. Tickets ?14.50/15.
www.ontherocks.fi
27 Sep. Hang the DJ // DJs: Antti
H & Sami + guests. Kuudes
Linja, Hämeentie 13. Tickets ?6.
www.kuudeslinja.com
27 Sep. Bruce Springsteen 60+5 V
Party // Rock with music from The
Boss. Kuudes Linja, Hämeentie 13.
Tickets ?10. www.kuudeslinja.com
27 Sep. Time Machine Memories,
Cocktus // Punk. Semifinal, Urho
Kekkosen katu 4 ? 6. Tickets
?7/7.50. www.semifinal.fi
27 Sep. Kuningasidea ? album release
// Pop. Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen
katu 4-6. Tickets ?13.50/14.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
27 Sep. Nopsajalka // Hip-hop, indie.
Virgin Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5.
Tickets ?12. www.virginoil.fi
27 Sep. Samuli Putro // Pop,
rock. Korjaamo Culture Factory,
Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets ?18-22.
www.korjaamo.fi
27 Sep. Helmet (USA) // Alternative
metal from the ?90s performs their
1994 classic Betty in its entirety.
Nosturi, Telakkakatu 8. Tickets
?27/29. www.elmu.fi
28 Sep. September?s Jazz brunch
// Bruch and jazz for the whole
family. Koko Jazz Club, Hämeentie
3. Tickets ?28, or ?50 for two.
www.kokojazz.fi
29 Sep. Monday Night at Koko Jazz
Club Umo // Art Pepper, Marty
Paich & Bill Holman. Koko Jazz
Club, Hämeentie 3. Tickets ?14/17.
www.kokojazz.fi
1 Oct. Mirel Wagner // Dark folk
gaining momentum globally. Sello
Hall, Soittoniekanaukio 1A. Tickets
?14.50/15. www.sellosali.fi
1 Oct. Seinabo Sey (SWE) //
Soul. Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen
katu 4-6. Tickets ?13.50/14.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
2 Oct. Gunu?s Thang // Gunu
Karjalainen, Teemu Viinikainen, Jori
Huhtala, Ville Pynssi. Koko Jazz
Club, Hämeentie 3. Tickets ?10/15.
www.kokojazz.fi
2 Oct. Kasmir // Reggae/rap. Tavastia,
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets
?13.50/14. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
2 Oct. Marijan Unet, Joonas Lepistö
Orchestra // Pop rock. On The
Rocks, Mikonkatu 15. Tickets ?5.
www.ontherocks.fi
3 Oct. Poets of the Fall // Rock.
Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
Tickets ?20/21. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
3 Oct. Klamydia // Punk rock
with cheek. Virgin Oil Co.,
Mannerheimintie 5. Tickets ?15.
www.virginoil.fi
3 Oct. Kap Kap + Kytäjä // Rock,
psychrock, alternative. Korjaamo
Culture Factory, Töölönkatu 51 B.
Tickets ?5-8. www.korjaamo.fi
3 Oct. Barbe-Q-Barbies, The
Voltas // Rock. On The Rocks,
Mikonkatu 15. Tickets ?9.50/10.
www.ontherocks.fi
Poets of the Fall
3 Oct. Tavastia
I Do My Part
2-12 Oct. Zodiak
Jenny Hval at Supermassive Festival
22-26 Oct. Various venues
Kid Ink
11 Oct. Nosturi
Gary Burton Quartet
29 Oct. Savoy Theatre
3 Oct. Machine Supremacy (SWE),
Blind Channel // Alternative metal,
power metal. Nosturi, Telakkakatu 8.
Tickets ?18. www.elmu.fi
4 Oct. Stratovarius // Power metal
legends. Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen
katu
4-6.
Tickets
?27/29.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
4 Oct. Frankie Say Relax ? album
release, Teri Mantere // Record
launch for local indie pop outfit.
Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen katu 4 ?
6. Tickets ?6/6.50. www.semifinal.fi
4 Oct. Damn Seagulls, Antero
Lindgren // Rock. Virgin Oil CO.,
Mannerheimintie 5. Tickets ?10/12.
www.virginoil.fi
4 Oct. Stöö & Aztra = MNTTT +
Tuuttimörkö x Kube // Rap, Memphis
rap. Korjaamo Culture Factory,
Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets ?9-12.
www.korjaamo.fi
4 Oct. Amoral, I Saw Red, Dark Sarah
// Progressive metal, melodic heavy
metal. On The Rocks, Mikonkatu 15.
Tickets ?9.50/10. www.ontherocks.fi
4 Oct. Lars Winnerbäck // Singersongwriter.
Savoy
Theatre,
Kasarmikatu 46-48. Tickets ?38.
www.savoyteatteri.fi
5 Oct. Terem Quartet // Russian style.
Savoy Theatre, Kasarmikatu 46-48.
Tickets ?20-30. www.savoyteatteri.fi
7 Oct. Raoul Björkenheim Ecstasy
// Jazz. Bar Loose, Annankatu 21.
Tickets ?10. www.barloose.com
7 Oct. Jake Hertzog Band (USA), Ilkka
Rantamäki & The Bluesbrokers Plays
Tempest // Jazz rock. On The Rocks,
Mikonkatu 15. Tickets ?11.50/12.
www.ontherocks.fi
8 Oct. Markus Krunegård (SWE),
Retro Station // Indie. Tavastia,
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets
?15.50/16. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
8 Oct. Trentemøller (DEN) //
Renowned Danish electro sounds.
HYPERLINK ?http://www.livenation.
fi /venue /43466 /the- circustickets?The Circus, Salomonkatu
1-3.
Tickets
?30.50-32.50.
www.thecircus.fi
9 Oct. Drifter?s Collective // Alternative
Hip-hop. Le Bonk, Yrjönkatu 24.
Tickets ?5. www.lebonk.fi
9 Oct. Tuure Kilpeläinen and
Kaivon Karavaani ? album release
// Singer/songwriter. Tavastia, Urho
Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets ?20/22.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
10 Oct. Janne Ordén // Rap. Le
Bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Tickets ?8.
www.lebonk.fi
10 Oct. JVG // Rap. Tavastia,
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets
?15.50/16. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
10 Oct. Amorphis // Heavy Metal.
Virgin Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5.
Tickets ?25. www.virginoil.fi
10 Oct. Pepe Willberg // Pop,
rock. Korjaamo Culture Factory,
Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets ?21.5027. www.korjaamo.fi
10 Oct. Uni, Ylona and a short film
Uni on Ikuinen // Korjaamo Culture
Factory, Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets
?4.50-5. www.korjaamo.fi
11 Oct. Boris Kozlow (USA) // Boris
Kozlow in cooperation with Sibelius
Academy?s Jazz department. Koko
Jazz Club, Hämeentie 3. Tickets
?10/15. www.kokojazz.fi
11 Oct. Janna // Pop/soul. Sello
Hall, Soittoniekanaukio 1A. Tickets
?17.50/18. www.sellosali.fi
11 Oct. Michael Monroe // Rock.
Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen katu
4-6.
Tickets
?29.50 /30.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
11 Oct. Boston Promenade // Jazz.
Virgin Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5.
Tickets ?8/10/12. www.virginoil.fi
11 Oct. Kurtis Blow (USA) // Hiphop, old school. Korjaamo Culture
Factory, Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets
?11-15. www.korjaamo.fi
11 Oct. Kid Ink (USA) // Hip-hop.
Nosturi, Telakkakatu 8. Tickets ?20.
www.elmu.fi
12 Oct. Kolme Urkuria ? Kolme
Bachia // Classical. Finlandia Hall,
Mannerheimintie 13. Free entry.
www.finlandiatalo.fi
14 Oct. Duke Robillard with Wentus
Blues Band// Blues. Savoy Theatre,
Kasarmikatu 46-48. Tickets ?35.
www.savoyteatteri.fi
15 Oct. Vera Fey // Pop, rock and
soul. Le Bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Free
entry. www.lebonk.fi
15 Oct. Ile Kallio Big Rock Band
// Rock. Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen
katu 4-6. Tickets ?16.50/17.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
Samuli Laine
Things are getting mighty dirty at Zodiak this month.
24 Oct. ? 15 Nov. // Zodiak - Center for New Dance, Tallberginkatu 1B. Tickets ?14/22. www.zodiak.fi
Dirty Dancing
Anni Klein and Jarkko Partanen
Nobody puts Baby in the corner at Zodiak ? Center for New Dance! At least not in a way that Patrick
Swayze fans have come to expect. In fact, nothing on offer in this latest performance at Zodiak could
be deemed similar to the cult cinema classic ? bar the name that is. And dancing, definitely dancing!
Nonetheless, inspired by the title of Emile Ardolino?s 1987 film of the same name, this performance
piece is set to give the audience exactly what it promises: dirt and dancing.
Basing its aesthetics on American popular culture, the pastel tones of the 1980s dance film and the
performances of the American visual artist Paul McCarthy, the performance is truly a celebration of
glamour, trash, glitter and filth.
The majority of the workgroup has collaborated with each other previously in productions that include
the like of CMMN SNS COMPLEX (2013), DIG MY JOCKEY ? Live version (2013), Heidi Klein (2012)
and Commando Piece a.k.a. Space Invaders (2012).
Collectively united by their interest in exploring further and developing the artistic dialogue that has opened between them, audiences are in for an interesting evening indeed.
Performing well into next month, fascinating modern dance can be found at Zodiak once again.
15 Oct. Singing Pohjola // Progressive
rock, jazz fusion. Savoy Theatre,
Kasarmikatu
46-48.
Tickets
?34/38. www.savoyteatteri.fi
15 Oct. Cannibal Corpse (USA),
Revocation (USA), Aeon (SWE) //
Death metal. Nosturi, Telakkakatu
8. Tickets ?25/57. www.elmu.fi
16 Oct. Robert Nordmark (SWE) //
Robert Nordmark, Seppo Kantonen,
Timo Hirvonen, Joonas Riippa. Koko
Jazz Club, Hämeentie 3. Tickets
?10/15. www.kokojazz.fi
16 Oct. Kim Kronman // Pop/rock.
Le Bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Free entry.
www.lebonk.fi
16 Oct. Tuomo & Markus, Minna
Stenberg // Jazz, soul. Bar Loose,
Annankatu 21. Tickets ?8/10.
www.barloose.com
16 Oct. Mike Tramp (USA) // Acoustic.
On The Rocks, Mikonkatu 15.
Tickets ?9.5/10. www.ontherocks.fi
16-17 Oct. Jenni Vartiainen // Pop.
Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
Tickets ?22/23. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
17 Oct. Olavi Uusivirta, Modernistit
// Pop rock. Virgin Oil Co.,
Mannerheimintie 5. Tickets ?11/13.
www.virginoil.fi
17 Oct. Karkkipäivä, Ukkosmaine
// Pop, rock, country, Europop
revival. Korjaamo Culture Factory,
Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets ?5-8.
www.korjaamo.fi
17 Oct. Satin Circus // Pop. On
The Rocks, Mikonkatu 15. Tickets
?11.50/12. www.ontherocks.fi
17 Oct. Fu Manchu (USA),
Bloodnstuff (USA) // Stoner rock,
hard rock, alternative metal. Nosturi,
Telakkakatu 8. Tickets ?27/30.
www.elmu.fi
18 Oct. The 1975 (UK) // Indierock.
Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
Tickets ?24/25. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
18 Oct. Pepe Deluxé // Electronic,
hip hip, trip hop. Korjaamo Culture
Factory, Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets
?12.50-16. www.korjaamo.fi
21 Oct. Koko Loft // Østergaard
Art Quartet (DEN/NOR/FR) ? Per
Jørgensen, Kasper Tranberg, Marc
Ducret, Michala Østergaard-Nielsen.
Koko Jazz Club, Hämeentie 3.
Tickets ?15/20. www.kokojazz.fi
21 Oct. Dan Tepfer ? Goldberg
Variations/Variations // Jazz. Sello
Hall, Soittoniekanaukio 1A. Tickets
?10.50/15. www.sellosali.fi
21 Oct. Helix (CAN), Urban Tale // Hard
rock. On The Rocks, Mikonkatu 15.
Tickets ?24/25. www.ontherocks.fi
21 Oct. Lights, shadows // A capella.
Savoy Theatre, Kasarmikatu 46-48.
Tickets ?25/35. www.savoyteatteri.fi
22 Oct. Gaby Moreno // Blues,
R&B,
soul.
Savoy
Theatre,
Kasarmikatu 46-48. Tickets ?46.
www.savoyteatteri.fi
22-26 Oct. Supermassive Festival
// Featuring Wed: Shellac (USA),
Jenny Hval (NO), Fun. Thu: Amenra
(BE), Circle vs. Circle, Bong (UK),
Six Organs of Admittance (USA),
Oranssi Pazuzu. Fri: OFF! (US),
Earthless (USA), Gnod (UK), Mr.
Peter Hayden, Camera (DE), The
Kolmas. Joe McPhee & Chris Corsano
(USA), Sound & Fury, Taco Bells
& Pekko Käppi, Shabazz Palaces
(USA), Khid & Rpk. Various venues
around town including Tavastia
and Kuudes Linja. Tickets ?17-38.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
23 Oct. Aili Ikonen & Tribute to Ella
// Aili Ikonen, Mikko Pellinen, Janne
Toivonen, William Suvanne and
more. Koko Jazz Club, Hämeentie
3. Tickets ?15/20. www.kokojazz.fi