Mona Lisa lookalikes

Had to try something else. Who else, than my long time obsession, Mona Lisa

http://www.myheritage.com

So do you, actually, look like your dog

Well I don't know, but my dog does not look like me. Looks more like Coolio. Here's the proof

Ok, I just thought to get this out of the way. My opinions are mine and mine alone. They do not reflect the opinions of any group, company, nation or religion. Having said that, some opinions are obviously affected by something. For me, my nationality means a lot. I am a Finn, a Finn from Finland, speaking Finnish and living in or craving back, to Finland. If you want to know what finland is all about, check the excellent article written about us, from wikipedia.

For the too busy, things like Linux, Nokia, MySQL, xylitol, Rapala, Benecol, and such are from Finland and Finland alone. Sauna, father christmas, reindeers, and such are from the nordics, not just from Finland. Coldness, nordic circle, aurora borealis and such are all over the northern hemisphere, Russia and Canada alike.

Anyways, I think that being born in Finland is like winning the lottery. You are set for life. Basically free and really excellent education while having food and roof paid for all the way through to the diploma. Growing up in a country that is safe, secure, clean and fair. I don't think it gets any better. We are so happy that our presidents ratings are sometimes just too good according to the polling nerds. She's just loved by everyone.

So, how to explain what it is, to be a Finn.

The normal Finnish way: Its good.
Kimi Räikkönen way: I think so it's good, I'll do my best and see where it takes me.
Matti Nykänen way: Are we Finns and am I one of them too?
The Finnish boss way: As a finn, you make a difference.
The Finnish bus driver way: Not an even 2,20 euros? You're walking?
The Finnish taxi driver way: Finnish roads are good, speeding tickets are ridiculous.
The Nokia way: TididiidiiTididiidiiTididiidiiDII. Buy me, I'm kinda japanese.
The Finnish boat building union head way: Perkeleen euro, no way to float the mark anymore.
The Sami people way: Spaceeba, tack så mycket, kiitti perkeleesti, skål!
The US way: Finnish women are beautiful!
The Estonian woman way: Winnish "women" can't dress at all!
The Estonian man way: Estonians are way tougher, the toughest. Am gonna kick your ass.
The Italian way: Finnish quisine is so bad. Our mommas don't cook there.
The French way: They have this internet, they are suspicious. Lets Echelon them.
The swedish way: Here is the Ikea, meatballs and give us the euros. Oh yeah, win them playing hockey. Every time. They are such suckers, can't take a bit of unfairness.


Lets try the trainspotting way:

Choose no corruption
Choose freedom
Choose high taxes and public services
Choose sauna and lakes
Choose endless forests and all they have to offer
Choose a language no-one can understand
Choose extreme dislike to your neighbouring countries
Choose fairness or doing something about it
Choose to care for everything
Choose sisu
Choose to envy your neighbourgs
Choose to be proud of your nationality

The Who on tour

In my opinion, the Who has done an exellent comeback. Or one might be better off not calling it a comeback. Old timers have always listened to it, thirty somethings have learned about it on House and C.S.I. It's not unheard of, but even though the tune is familiar, there is usually no consensus that what the hell is the band playing it. Well, I'll tell you, it is The Who. Who? you ask? Well indeed, THE Who. They are the ones playing the C.S.I opening tunes. In all of the C.S.I. series. They are the ones who made Baba O Rileys mad keyboards, that Greg House plays in his office, on his table so vividly and with a feeling, while his boss walks in. They are the ones used in so many movies. They are the ones who have a blog, who have actually tapped to the new generation. Pete Townshend has a really good vision on what is going on and where is it. They rode the wave of success first on their glory days, then on the CD remastering era when geezerz made their kids to listen to them again, then they spinned the records on the TV, on the tunes, on the mobile ringtones and were on Simpsons, then on movies... all the right moves. Rolling Stones, stop rolling and listen to... guess Who :)
And btw, Behind blue eyes is not a Limp Bizkit song.

Having a drink after work

So, you go to a bar with an intent. You want a drink after a nice hard day at work. What to drink? Going to a local and having a pint of beer is one option, although not my favourite. Your allowance for alcohol shouldn't be wasted. Drinking any ol' beer is a waste of alcohol allowance, abuse of liver and poor use of your time. I prefer to get something to tell home about. I've taken girlfriends out to have a flaming shots or to a drink bar where just the building of the beverage is a show to be watched, amazed and remembered for a long time. The best option after a hard days work is up to you. For me, a good start is a well stocked bar with a view. There, I might opt for a Martini. A proper martini, in my opinion, would be:

• Stirred, not shaken (shaking will water it)
• Absolutely without twist (lemon peel is a bit too harsh)
  
• From Gin, not Vodka (vodka is for other drinks)
  
• With a plain olive or two, from a jar (mmm.... olives)
  
• Dry (no vermouth, too strong. Don't like it)
  

Then again, you might want to have something that does not kill your braincells. Like a coke. That is a lot harder than getting a proper drink. There was this time I wanted a coke on a cafe. When coffee is 3€, water 1€ and coke is 4€, I kinda wan't to try if i can get a proper one. What is a proper coke then? Ill tell you the story about what happened later. Meanwhile, here is the recipie. Go and try to get one. Going to a bar to ask for a coke, I dare you. What can go wrong?

The glass. It should be about 4 dl, thick and sturdy. Does not have to be chilled, but can't be hot from the dishwasher.
The Coke should be ice cold and with a lot of fizz. Not from a pistol behind the bar, but from a glass bottle where it is like it's supposed to be. Plastic and can give it a taste, plastic has too little fizz and the can is not only too small, it has too much fizz.
The Lemon is optional, but if there is sucha a thing in your coke, it should be a lemon, not a lime. It should float in the glass, not too thick, not too thin. Zest should be there, but not on its own. And it needs to be washed and de-seeded for use in this drink. You dont wan't to drink the seeds.
The Ice Some ice should be there, not too much as it will water the lovely coke. Two or three ice cubes should be enough. Chill the glass if the surroundings need more cooling.


The Build and Serve
1: Wash the glass, especially the rim of the glass, with cold water. This removes possible debris from the glass, makes one inspect the rim for cracks, removes the drying towel old sock taste from the rim, wets the glass from the inside and checks the temperature of the glass.
2: Put the ice in the glass, add the washed lemon slice or two (hold the seeds) in the middle.
3: Pour the coke in. The fizz is now minimized, since the ice is already there and the glass is wet. Wet glass is slick, making the foaming hard as there is less forming surface, thus leaving the fizz in the coke. If the coke was warm or fizzless, you can see it in the amount of foam at this point.
4: Serve with a smile, on a napkin. The glass is so cool that it will condence the moist from the air on it's outside surface, thus water running on the table. Needs something to soak it in. As the whole glass is wet, some want to dry their hands.

The Smile is just optional, but this coke served with perfection should have a tip coming your way by now, why ruin it at this point.

One tripless, warm summer day

Gin and tonics are evil. Like a proper finn on their summer holiday, I was out drinking last night. It feels like I had been swimming on GT's. The plan was to go and plan a bike tour for the next day. Just sit down with a couple of friends for a pint or two. After doing the plan, one of the boys fixing the bars virus ridden public use WinNT4, forgetting the plan, drinking enough, drinking too much, waking up, having coffee, listening to some "youdrunko", reading an SMS saying "trip canceled" I am finally ready to confess. I am lucky. One of the guys had a big fight with the wife, then had to beg for forgiveness and is now cleaning their house. Naturally the bike tour did not happen.


What I wonder is, why not? Why not to have a bike ride if you were out drinking last night? Who is the beneficiary? Surely you should let the man out to ride. Why not make him? Riding that bike on a hot summer day would be a just punishment for the drunkard? Why are we all left without a ride just for one to fail to make it? Why are all punished by the wife of one?

Why do I wan't to go for a ride? Maybe it's all for the better to stay in.

Stumbled upon my blog

Well, I think I am allowed to combine my intrests, like the nifty Stumble upon and giving my own blog the thumbs up on it, aren't I? What is the harm? I know, but just don't care. What do you think? Upon my experience, and I am online 10 hours a day, every day, Stumble is the best tool to have when trying to find something, just not knowing what it is... like this blog. Sorry...

My StumbleUpon Page

Soo-o one more blog. For what?

That is what I ask myself too. Real reason to do this is... everyone has one. I have two more. Can't even remember what's the address of one, no-one has ever been on the other. Ever. I think one should advertise. Here goes. The http://samson.saunablog.fi blog is really good, you should check it out.

Anyways, have read so many how to's about blogs, it makes me sick. Someone did a refreshing 7 things not to do instead of 10 that you normally see. Do not (1) over monetize, (2) whore for attention, (3) rant about your boring life, (4) not update frequently, (5) post junk, (6) limit RSS or snippets, (7) not be unique. Fine, lets try. I must do something else, something to stand out from 55 million other blogs.

Apples IPhone is out, everyone hates it since it is too expensive for normal nerds. Nokia's new Communicator is out too, that is way more expensive (but no-one complains about that) and I see it everywhere. Stumbling is in since you can just push a button and get something worth wasting your time for on your screen, immediately. Why is it so important to get the timewaster there immediately, I don't know. Just is.

Finally, never go to play desktop tower defense on handrawngames,com, even though it won an award about being something cool on the web (it got on a top 100 list). It is really good, but so is World of Warcraft. You just do not have the time to give to it. But if you do, give it a try. Must go play it now....