Could someone please explain Finland to me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrPnwoua4wM

More Finnish humour with (badly translated) English subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83deAfLB9O8

And here's a skit from the eighties featuring "Uncle Nasse", a favourite kiddies' TV show host, in (badly prononounced) English.

I thought I'd posted to this thread last time but no! I adore the muslim punk girl, I am in love with her.

I had a finnish best friend in primary school. Her name was Tujia Tynnkkennen (sp?). She was the best. I miss her.

It's spelled Tuija Tynkkynen, I think.

I'm going to Finland next year for a wedding. I'm really looking forward to it.

Who's getting married?

you and anna. got a year to pepare, man!

B-b-but in my opinion marriage is just bourgeoise humbug!

I sense trouble looming on the horizon!

In Finland we are often having threesomes. It is not unusual.

http://www.london06.com/public/tom-jones.jpg

It's not unusual
to be loved from both directions.

Recent amazing comments from people on the "Hel Looks" Helsinki street-fashion blog (hel-looks.com):

- "Lately I've been inspired by Romanian gypsies and their style."
- "He-Man, Pasolini and Wu-Tang Klan give me inspiration, too. Michel Foucault is my style idol."
- "The corner stone of my style is the golden chain. I couldn't live without my sunglasses and my mullet."
- "Amusement parks inspire me."
- "Horses inspire me."
- "I'm like a hamster what comes to clothes."
- "Dave Mustaine is stylish, because he wears sleeveless t-shirts."

ok waht

This is Jaakko, the one inspired by He-Man, Pasolini, Wu-Tang, and Foucault. I can kinda see it:

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20070901_03.jpg

Can we just pretend that I changed my username to "I'm like a hamster what comes to clothes" for a few days?

Further reference points: mid-80s Cosby, old Chinese men, small children when first allowed to dress themselves for church.

hahaha

also: old bag ladies

Truth be told, I do see a little Wu in that sweater.

There's a definitely He-Man vibe, too, seriously!

Wu-Tang Klan

"Johnny Scum" says, "My style is sleaze glam." (see also: played-out counter-cultural symbols.)

Ol Dirty Bastard, so much to answer for.

The collision of Wu, the Smiths and Finnish fashion in my head is making it melt down, quickly.

Another mustache-less chinstrap. What is WITH that? Some Finnish requirement?

omg the hamster girl looks adorable:

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20070816_01.jpg

"I take all the clothes that other people are dumping. I'm like a hamster what comes to clothes.
Robin Hood and English rural romanticism inspire me. I like down-to-earth colours and maybe therefore the dirt and the traces of life interest me."

x-post -- It's so they can recognize each other in the winter dark.

motherfucker, it's the sleeves

My favorite from the past month is MIIA, who at 14 dresses in a better and more adult manner than most 30-year-olds I know:

http://hel-looks.com/photos/20070901_01.jpg

Hamster-girl's English-pastoral / Robin Hood thing is totally visible and really, really works.

The collision of Wu, the Smiths and Finnish fashion in my head is making it melt down, quickly.

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20070901_03.jpg

I was looking for a job
And then I found a job
Get the money
Dolla dolla bill, y'all

"Horses inspire me. Old people are stylish."

"My look today: a 50's NASA scientist on a summer holiday"

"Pirates are my style role models."

"Hot at the moment: Matti Pyykkö and cheap transvestites."

I was gonna include that NASA one, but he's 100% accurate with that description.

P.S. to passing ladies: Today's trolling of various style blogs suggests that the winning end-of-summer footwear look is to pair a mid-length skirt or dress with colorful pumps and short white socks, like Jean Seberg and/or a librarian / grandmother / schoolgirl

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20070608_01.jpg

"Colours are the new black for me."

This makes me smile.

Alternately, just be her:

http://bp0.blogger.com/_xbVnrl9rUdI/RptoDaTuO9I/AAAAAAAAAdE/BgfzqCmalVE/s400/7.9.07+005.jpg

The thing that always gets me about the northern-European style blogs (especially with Finland) is that old-school hip-hop fashions have gotten hip there in these over-the-top cartoon ways that just wouldn't even BEGIN to be socially possible in the U.S. -- so you get blonde Scandinavian teenagers wearing gold chains and track suits and just ... my brain still doesn't know how to feel about it.

how could you feel anything other than good about it?

that site us superb. up yours sartorialist!

You don't have to dis the Sartorialist to enjoy Hel Looks! Save your hatred for all the style blogs that either (a) started up and then ran for approximately two weeks before the person got bored, or (b) just go around photographing anyone wearing skinny jeans, American Apparel, and a funny hat.

So Finland is basically Vice Magazine only whiter?

What is this terrible thing you say about our neighbors to the east??
http://www.youcatwalk.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/152_pontus.jpg

if not Vice, then a Tuesday afternoon "Blue States Lose"

I am trying very hard to wrap my head around "Vice Magazine only whiter" and not succeeding very well.

(be wary of deciding what Finland is like based on whose clothes one person decides to photograph)

true nabisco - thesartorialist is good he just loops round the same obsessions a bit too much for my liking. jacket sleeve length really isn't that interesting to me.

I am so much enjoying the Finnish style blog + commentary! But that 14-yr old is not in any way dressed "adult" at all AT ALL. Sophisticated for her age, undoubtedly! Waht hey, she looks great! Aaaaand totally unAmerican for a teenager, which is a relief. But baggy-ankled hose and mussily untucked shirts and minis and beaten-up flat shoes are not particularly adult by any standard...?

I suppose "more adult than most 30-year-olds I know" might seem to mean more than it probably does.

Granted I don't know what 30 yr olds you know!

the 30y.o.s from where i used to live were much worse at dressing themselves. it was a gov't town.

Did he really spell Wu Tang Clan with a K instead of a C?

Yes and no: he answered aloud, but whoever does the site used a K.

I'm not sure if you can blame Finns for not knowing American culture properly enough to realize such differences... We also have a grocery store chain called "K-Kauppa" ("K-Market"), and guess what they call their supermarkets:

http://fennia.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/kkk_super.jpg

Though their biggest stores are actually called KKKK-Markets, with four K's.

phew

I'm not sure if you can blame Finns for not knowing American culture properly enough to realize such differences...

Roffle.

Finnish Disco Dancing!
It's worth watching the whole thing: the best bit is when they all join in at the end.

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh, Tuomas, I don't blame the Phinns at all.

kv nol OTM

Here's a Finnish cover of YMCA from the seventies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCgrG35-3js

A better version of the video from the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation's archive pages:

http://www.yle.fi/player/player.jsp?name=El%E4v%E4+arkisto%2F03339_1

The guy playing the synth is a well-known pianist here, and the long-haired bassist in the background is Pekka Pohjola, the famous prog rock/fusion jazz solo artist.

This must've been a parody, even in the seventies.

uh, I dunno...

Regardless, it's beautiful

"Eläinrääkkäystä" ("Animal Cruelty") by Pääkköset, the first Finnish "rap" hit from 1989:

http://www.yle.fi/player/player.jsp?name=El%E4v%E4+arkisto%2F04321_1

Did these guys invent rap metal?

Here's a weird performance of "My Generation" from 1966 by the soon-to-become legendary Finnish pop singer Danny:

http://www.yle.fi/player/player.jsp?name=El%E4v%E4+arkisto%2F03363_1

The dancing by the girls is something else

"dancing", more like

Yeah, and apparently the point of the clip was that street musicians of old (the violinist in the beginning) have been replaced by a new generation of street rockers.

I see...

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20070112_06.jpg

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20070112_03.jpg

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20061125_03.jpg

http://www.hel-looks.com/photos/20060819_01.jpg

This is a tongue-in-cheek attempt by well-known Finnish musicians to writee the perfect Eurovision Song Contest entry with all the possible cliches in one song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvXrEVKDMoY

The singer Jari Sillanpää, probably the most successful Finnish singer of today. He came out of the closet a couple of years ago after years of speculation on his sexuality. You can probably see that on the video.

"is he gay or just... from here?"

I think the guy in the last pic posted ^@^ is Iso H, one half of Fintelligens, the most famous rap act in here.

And speaking of Finnish rap, here's the silliest, most politically incorrect rap video ever made in here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqoFOu56pBI

And for balance, the best Finnish rap video ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFaW2Whpw1Q

Is Everlast from Finland?

Huh?

I have fond memories of Bomfunk MCs' Freestyler - I think they are still the only Finnish act to have a uk top 10 hit.

Didn't Darude make it top 10 too?

HIM - Solitary Man (#9, May 2004)
The Rasmus - In The Shadows (#3, April 2004)

And yeah, two top 10 singles for Darude.

"I need beer." An early eighties (I think) skit from the legendary Finnish comedian Spede Pasanen, with very bad English pronounciation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fzziloL8ts&mode=related&search=

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

my Finnish pop stats were v out of date.

WTF

http://data.tumblr.com/14501403_500.jpg

^^^^^^^ I think this explains everything.

I would UUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO all these Finnish tourguides...

one of the best things I learned in Spy School was about this permanent president of Finland who used to practise Sauna Diplomacy with the Soviets. Which basically meant he would hang out in saunas with the Soviet leadership and sort out Soviet-Finnish problems. And he did this for 36 years.

I wish more countries practiced Sauna Diplomacy.

And drank insane amounts of vodka as well?

Yeah, they say part of his success in negotiating with the Russians was that he had a good head for booze, which was very helpful because getting drunk was a semi-official part of the diplomatic meetings.

Though he was very good at playing the Russian card too: one of the main reasons people kept electing him again and again (after his presidency the law was changed so one could serve the maximum of two terms as a president) was that they thought he was the only one who could keep the Soviets off Finland's back.

I suppose after a while it become hard to think of voting for anyone else.

I wish the G8 would hold sauna summits, where they all loll about in the nip and discuss important world issues, while smashed on vodka.

Revealing dress and
other cultural traits
Compared to women in many
other countries, Finnish women are quite
free in the way they behave. They may
smile warmly, look you in the eyes and
dress revealingly. However, this does not
generally mean that they are loose-living
or particularly keen to engage in sexual
relations. Just like men, women may also
go together to parties, smoke and drink
alcohol.
One typical characteristic of the
Finns is punctuality. If, for example, it is
stated that a train will depart at 9.21, it
will depart at exactly 9.21. Many people
regard it as bad manners to arrive late.
However, if a delay appears inevitable,
people inform the person they are going
to meet by telephone so that he or she
does not have to wait in vain.
Finns are often described as quiet
and shy. They may be particularly
cautious if they have to speak a foreign
language. Finns have a great respect in
particular for other people’s privacy. For
example, it is commonplace for people to
agree in advance before visiting even
close friends.
Finns esteem hard work and
honesty. They are keen to demonstrate
that they are themselves persevering and
also value the same trait in others. Finns
are often delighted when immigrants
show an interest in learning Finnish.

Is Everlast from Finland?

-- nabisco, Sunday, September 23, 2007 10:58 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Huh?

-- Tuomas, Sunday, September 23, 2007 11:09 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Link

I had totally forgotten about this joke ...

I wish more countries practiced Sauna Diplomacy.

Now that's a nsfw GIS if ever I heard one!

Who wants to hear the jokes about the Finnish ravers?

Go on.

These two Finnish guys go to a rave. After a couple of hours one says "Great pills". A couple of hours later the other says "Yeah. Really chatty".

Oh my sides.

That is the only Finnish raver joke I know, but I did hear one from a Swede about Swedish and Finnish guys going on a drinking bender together. It is so teh roffle. I really am wasted in any career other than stand-up comedy.

I think I've heard the raver joke before, but it's still funny. Can you share the other one?

YES!

These two guys are in a bar. One is Swedish, the other Finnish. They are drinking shots of vodka. The barman pours each of them a shot, they drink it, then they nod at the barman and he refills their glasses. This goes on for some time. After many hours, the two have just emptied their glasses, and the Swedish guy says "Another drink?". The Finn replies "are you here to talk or to drink?"

The odd thing is that the Finnish people I have met have been no more taciturn than people from elsewhere.

http://www.punainen.org/~halme/mainoksia/bassbeer2_pienin.jpg

ufopornoo

Such an awesome thread =)

I met some Finnish historians & archaeologists last week and they were fantastic! I really want to go to Finland now, between them and Tuomas I am convinced it would rock.

Also, one of them told a story about a Finnish ethnographer trying to record folk dances before they disappeared; he said at the end of his efforts he realized a lot of the village people had been putting him on with dances involving hopping on one foot, and then the other, repeatedly, or titled things like "the French kiss."

Let's roll those tapes again!!

I met some Finnish historians & archaeologists last week and they were fantastic! I really want to go to Finland now, between them and Tuomas I am convinced it would rock.

Like I said, if you ever should come to Helsinki, just send me an email to tu0mas dot alh0 at helsinki dot fi, and I can show you around. If you warn me in advance, you could probably also stay at my place, if that's a better option for you than a hotel/hostel.

I'll be in Germany from 28th of August to 9th of September though, so don't come then if you want to meet me.

Btw, I've never heard the folk dance story before, it sounds funny! The term "French kiss" is not much used in Finnish though, "tongue kiss" is a more common term for the action.

As for crazy Finns this guy has been sort of a national hero here for the last year or two. Why? Because he failed to drink six glasses of Coke in a televised record-breaking attempt! (You can see the attempt in the video linked.) His excuse for failing, "It's so acidic!", has become a popular phrase for people to repeat, and it has also been printed on T shirts and stuff. There's also a Internet appeal to make Coke less acidic, so the guy can drink it more easily. I have no explanation for all this.

the explanation is you live in a country with fewer people than Houston

Houston has over 5 million residents?

yes

this makes me want to go to finland!

One of the many bummers about changing jobs is no more trips to Finland.

You could still take a non-job related trip, couldn't you? :)

And you should come visit here too, Mandee! It would be cool to meet you, and I'm sure you'd have lots of fun! Though I guess the trip from Denver is somewhat longer than from Denmark... Anyway, since I don't have enough money to travel a lot, I'm always happy to show Helsinki and (if needed) offer accommodation for any nice ILXor who wants to visit here.

Oh, I could and i will in time, but it's impractical this year or next. I still wan to go walking or canoeing in the lakes at some point, and find a cloudberry swamp and have a really good Sauna somewhere beautiful

Also more Lakka Munkki.

I've never tasted such a thing, apparently it was good?

Very good, in Kuopio, apparently there is a bakery there that specializes in such things, one of the YLE engineers brought in a bag.

I don't much like lakkas, I guess that explains why I've never tasted a lakkamunkki.

I would love to come, Tuomas, but I'm actually afraid I might not have the time & money this year. (I'm in Iceland for the next month and a half, and then probably going west to Greenland rather than east back to Europe.) Sad!

Is Everlast from Finland?

Okay, what the fuck?!?!

do all finnish people sound like bela lugosi doing dracula?

"uncle sam patriot, superhero of the deep south"!

do all finnish people sound like bela lugosi doing dracula?

The guy has a very pronounced Finnish accent, I guess it's kinda Bela Lugosi -like.

Lugosi was Hungarian and Finnish and Hungarian are related languages, so I guess it makes sense.

I've watched some other videos by this guy, and I'm still not sure how serious he is... It's kinda scary.

WOW

Well at least he doesn't hurt innocent people.

if this was on another thread i missed it:

giant vulva bicycle taxi in helsinki

http://jalopnik.com/393601/giant-vulva-bicycle-taxi-is-freudian-wet-dream

Finland, a nation that's figured out how to live:

http://www.yle.fi/player/player.jsp?name=El%E4v%E4+arkisto%2F03339_1

If you liked that one, here's an even more unintentionally gay Finnish video from 1979.

you tube links i will never click^^^^^

And here's another skit from the same show:

I already posted a link to better quality version of that video upthread, but I can post it again:

http://www.yle.fi/player/player.jsp?name=El%E4v%E4+arkisto%2F03339_1

Fun fact: the guy playing bass in that video is Pekka Pohjola, a Finnish fusion jazz bandleader who recorded for Virgin Records in the 70s and was sampled by DJ Shadow on Entroducing.

but your link opens a pageful of goobledygook written in Finnish!

It shouldn't be hard to spot the play button though. It's not in Finnish.

I was only ever in Finland once for about a week but I'm completely in love with Helsinki (not really Tampere, the other place I was) and if they didn't speak the most ridiculously difficult language there, I would totally learn and move (languages, english included, are not really my strength). I know this is like a joke thread or whatever so sorry.

Sarah McPalin!

Here's a pretty interesting Finnish sports documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phOjmGxK5EQ

You can turn on the English subtitles by clicking the icon in the bottom right corner and clicking "CC".

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs142.snc1/5250_253214335331_590520331_8178160_4652051_n.jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs142.snc1/5250_253214265331_590520331_8178149_5441529_n.jpg

my friend just went.

(you can see those facebook photos, right?)

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs142.snc1/5250_253214295331_590520331_8178154_1307670_n.jpg

where's this going?

hmm

This Guy Knows How to Make Money from Social Media

headline of the year

honestly thought that was one of the Onion weekend supplement covers for a sec

me too!

i would like to think they would have it, "This Fucking Guy Knows How to Make Money from Social Media"

Indeed.

And even more so (old but still):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf84AysXGTU

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present to you... Finnish bhangra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_npFIonozc8

(possible crossover with a certain Halloween clusterfuck thread for added wtf potential)

helsinki is my favourite place i've ever been but i'm disappointed there was no tables at the sushi place with all the hockey sticks on the wall

Dear Finland, what is this, please?

http://pics.kuvaton.com/kuvei/tuksun_evoluutio.jpg

Voimailumies is a character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujTvo7CB7BE

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10904691

So many unanswerable questions

^ but then, we knew that didn't we?

Seems about right:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-viral-video-finnish-anchor,0,1370962.htmlstory

I posted about it in here:

Link to mad shit on YouTube here

And yeah, he indeed got fired.

So long as you weren't the one calling in the complaint!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHReqKRvonE

That guy's a really popular comedian at the moment, he won the "sketch character of the year" contest (essentially a parody of reality TV where various comedy sketch characters compete against each other as if they were real) a couple of months ago.

Last year the contest was won by a female impostor, and now by an egg impostor - just shows you the quality of Finnish humour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1tAZhKYxzA

Why isn't my home like this?

The winters are long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRZlXvjbH5k

enjoyed reading about the "Finland doesn't exist" conspiracy theory recently
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/2tln69/finland_isnt_real/

I was there last week! it seemed pretty real. I went to a pizza buffet lol

We hadn’t expected the Finns to turn out to be the most cuddly people.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100623124412AA0g84K

flying Finnair tomorrow, pumped as usual about the blueberry juice in flight

http://www.expat-finland.com/images/fingerpori/fpf190eng.gif

after 6 hours on the airplane in Helsinki they canceled the flight to Tokyo. it's pretty cold and snowy here today! trying to get out of here again. that's what I get for booking a flight through Finland in early January.

at least I like Karelian pasties, had three last night and three this morning at the hotel breakfast.

also got Fazer salty popcorn chocolate with my Finnair voucher, always a favorite.