A Finn again

Finnish novelist Sofi Oksanen has made it in the UK. Her latest novel called Purge is being advertised with big billboards in the tube.

Eurovision

Sorry for not posting for a long time. I have been exhausted by my work load and Blogger was out of service often last week. Now I am back after a weekend in Budapest. One of the highlights of the weekend was Eurovision Song Contest. It has nothing nothing to do with great music or good taste, but it is amazing institution in all its campness. Here are my favorites neither of which won unfortunately.

Bad mistake

One very worrying thing draw my attention in Gillian Tett's article about globalization of manufacturing of goods in FT's Weekend Magazine. Skim through this paragraph:

"Take a look, for example, at a fascinating paper recently produced by the Asian Development Bank, which looks at where an iPhone is made. In this case, the company - Apple - is American; however, components for iPhone are variously assembled in China, Korea, Taipei, Germany and the US, involving almost a dozen companies which are hard to pigeonhole with any ethnic label."

Did you notice anything strange? I agree, the supply chain has become complicated. But far more worrying is the writer's attitude. She is listing countries and counts Taipei as a country. Maybe it is a mistake, but I think that is a strong and worrying pattern that is very common in the western way of thinking. Asia is being thought as a one big area and many people do not even know the countries in Asia not to mention the different cultures. It is just cheap labour or two weeks in Thailand for many. It is terrifying how little people know about the future's financial drivers - even at FT.

I used to think the same way. My two years in Hong Kong and Singapore opened my eyes to a new world I had totally neglected earlier.

Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday ornaments in front of The Royal Exchange.

Colorful gods

My visit to Berlin last weekend would not have been complete without visiting one of Berlin's most interesting museums, The Pergamon Museum. I have been there many times, but still it has something new to offer on every visit.

This time there was a micro exhibition called Colorful Gods. It showcased reproductions of ancient statues that were painted unlike we have used to see them before. Most of the found ancient Greek and Roman statues are white or they have only pale traces of paint. The ancient colors have faded away in many cases because the colors used in ancient times were organic and sand and water have made their best to polish the colors away. With modern technology it has been possible to trace back the colors that were originally used. It was fascinating to see the statues, although reproductions, in color instead of black and white. One could feel the ancient times coming back to life.

Peckish?

This closed sandwich bar in Whitechapel certainly made me feel peckish. I love the word. One hardly hears it nowadays. Instead of hungry I rather feel peckish.

Tipping

I-S Magazine, a Singaporean weekly tabloid, discusses in its current issue about tipping, which has been banned in Singapore since the 1970's. Instead of tipping the restaurants add automatically a 10% of service charge to each bill and the customers do not have to guess about tipping.

I think the current policy works fine and should not be changed. Tipping in other countries always make me feel awkward; how much should I give, did I give too little or too much. For me as a Finn tipping represents something extra that I give for superb service, not for slow and unattentive one, which I should always reward automatically when in certain countries (US, UK, etc).

What do you think, should tipping be re-introduced in Singapore? Would it make the service any better?

Ladies who lunch

One of the first Chinese words (see above) that I learned was 'tai tai' or '太太'. It is a nickname for a privileged lady does not have the burden of working. She can spend her days socializing and shopping, etc. There is not a single word describing these ladies in English, but something came up to mind. They could be called 'the ladies who lunch' like in the song below. It is from Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.

Rusalka

Photos by Finnish National Opera / Heikki Tuuli

My short visit to Finland was filled with culture. My trip started with a new interpretation of Swan Lake and it ended with the second performance of Rusalka. If I say I liked Swan Lake, I was overwhelmed by Rusalka.

I must admit I did not know much of Rusalka before I saw it. Still, it is one of the best operas I have ever seen at Finnish National Opera. Director Richard Jones is said to be one of the opera directors of his generation. It is easy to agree, so tense and visual he had made his Rusalka. Mr. Jones had divided Antonín Dvorak's famous opera in three sets: lake view, Czech gasthaus and final scene at a bordello. In every scene the often referred moon is hanging above the sets.

At the second night's performance Elisabet Strid was playing Rusalka and Mika Pohjonen the prince whom Rusalka falls in love with destructive consequenses. The lead couple was a bit unbalanced, but they both sung very well. I liked especially Ms. Strid's performance. In addition there were very good performers for Water Gnome (Gregory Frank) and Ježibaba (Maria Kettunen).

As a visualist I enjoyed the sets as much the music and singing. The sets were simple but eye catching, especially in the first and the last act. The first set was somewhat traditional although the was a diving board under the moon. The last act was set to happen at a bordello where blond girls were waiting their customers with devil-may-care looks. The whole act was a quite sad but it touched me the most.

Rusalka is not just an opera, it is a figure in Slavic mythology. If you would like to know more, click here.

Rusalka will be played at Finnish National Opera until January 19th 2010.

New Swan Lake

Picture by Antti Aimo-Koivisto, Lehtikuva

After a long SQ flight and a nice but rainy weekend in London, I am now in freezing cold Helsinki. My time here could not have started better. I went to see and feel a new version of the famous Swan Lake at Finnish National Ballet (FNB) today.

The performance was stunning. FNB's new Artistic director Kenneth Greve had made a modern interpretation of Ivanov's and Petipa's classic choreography. The lead dancers were great although the choreography seemed to be quite difficult for some male dancers. Tchaikovsky's music had gone through some modernization as well but it did not bother.

As a visual person I looked most critically the sets and the costumes. I was very impressed by the actual swan lake set. The lake was beautifully portrayed in a simple yet sophisticated and mysterious way. It was made using only lights and smoke. Costumes were great too, especially I liked von Rothbart's dark toned and a bit scary outfits. And his little helpers in black hoods - they were super cute!

There is only performance left this season, this Friday. Catch it if you can!