Leaving for Amsterdam thursday, going to hang out for a couple days, and then fly to Helsinki for the rest of my 2 week vacation. Looking to see if there are any empeg people who want to meetup in either place. Or if people have suggestions on geeky things to check out.

Well, more than happy to join you for a beer or two here in Amsterdam, and might provide a few pointers for Helsinki as well. But let me warn you, it was -14C up in Helsinki this morning (-34C up in Northern Finland).

it was -14C up in Helsinki this morning (-34C up in Northern Finland)

Which immediately prompts a posting of this :
(btw, we had -14C here in Gothenburg yesterday morning - looks to be +7C tomorrow...)

/Michael

Finns and the weather

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Finland, so we'll start here. People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves. The Finns are out in the sun,getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating. The Finns plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start, The Finns are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes. The water in Vantaa river (in Finland) gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death. The Finns have their final barbecue before winter.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses. The Finns start using long sleeves.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca. The Finns end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here.

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth. The Finns start drying their laundry indoors.

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold. The Finns stand in line at the hotdog stands.

-50°C / -58°F
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole. The Finnish army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.

-60°C / -76°F
Korvatunturi (the home for Santa Claus) freezes. The Finns rent a movie and stay indoors.

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south. The Finns get frustrated since they can't store their Kossu (Koskenkorva vodka) outdoors. The Finnish army goes out on winter survival training.

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive. The Finnish cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.

-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movent halts. The Finns start saying "Perkele, it's cold outside today."

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over, Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.

(courtesy of, but most likely not originally from there, http://tooti.athame.co.uk/fun/temperature2.html)

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over, Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.

nearly fell off my chair laughing...

Merry Xmas everybody,
Thomas

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over, Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
nearly fell off my chair laughing...

Yes, this is one our friends on the other side of the pond probably won't quite understand

Merry Christmas!

Yes, this is one our friends on the other side of the pond probably won't quite understand

Hmmm... maybe we should dig up some samples? Nah, that would just be sooo against the Christmas spirit (not to mention cruel and unusual punishment)

Though I believe your chances have improved now since all countries can freely pick what language to use... "Small" languages were really at a disadvantage - not that I believe "Nuku Pommi" (or however it's spelled) would have stood a chance in any language....

/Michael

Yes, would be too cruel. The only way to survive the Eurovision thing is on a big screen in a pub - suitably intoxicated.

And no, the language won't help the finns. Unlike the swedes ;-), the finns don't know how to make (or market) music that non-finns would appreciate - unless they turn it to pure caricature, a la Leningrad Cowboys.

I read somthing pretty similar, except it was canadians and not the finnish. Still very funny though.

Bwahahaha.. sorry for the late reply, was busy getting ready for the trip..

I'm hanging out near the central station in AMS, running low on battery on my laptop. oh well..

I'm from Minnesota, so that description of cold tolerance fits perfectly.

I'm hanging out near the central station in AMS, running low on battery on my laptop. oh well..

How much longer are you in Ams? I understand the weather in Helsinki has been getting better....

till sunday morning.. I'm stting in a cafe near the central station.. www.internetcafe.nl is the URL for the place.. just me, my gf, and my thinkpad

Get thee to The Grasshopper!

-Zeke

till sunday morning..

Darn! Had called it a day and logged off before you sent the message

Next time give me a few more days of advance warning, as my guest room (with wireless internet ) was vacant - I hope you didn't have to stay at one of the crummy hotels near Central Station. Where are you staying in Helsinki?

Get thee to The Grasshopper!

Uh oh...

>>-300°C / -508°F
>>Hell freezes over, Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
>>nearly fell off my chair laughing...

>Yes, this is one our friends on the other side of the pond probably won't quite >understand

Do you guys watch the european melody grandprix ? - I'm amazed. I thought it was a euro thing only. I could crawl into a mousehole when seeing the shows. I've allways tought that it was a disgrace for the musicindutri, and for all the musicians that actually CAN sing and produce music. Two or three years back Denmark won the competition, and the two brothers than won for us (The Olsen borthers) plays the worst kind of 1970th pop, with voiceeffects like in the cher song that was popular five years back. My god.. They've been airing on the radio ever since.

This fall my girlfriend and our oldest daughter saw the MPG (Music grandprix for kids) which is the newest addition to the European melody grandprix) - The MGP is for kids ages 6 to 15, and my god they were bad. I especially remember a little kid from greece ages no more than 8-9 years old, and he did not have a tone in his life. That didn't keep him from singing, and actually went to a fourth or fifth place in the end. Who votes for kids like that ? Which odd parants let their kids enter in a competition like that ?

Stock, Aiken and waterman comes to mind ?

\\Kaare

the finns don't know how to make (or market) music that non-finns would appreciate

Hmm. Aren't The Rasmus from Finland?
They have a huge hit all over Europe now.

Pim

Well, I'm Swedish, speedy67 is German and Julf is a Finn transplanted to Holland. So we're well in the euro zone (well, european though not Euro (€) in my case)...

I do try to avoid it, definately don't go to any lenghts to see it - but with all the exposure it sure is hard to avoid it completely.

/Michael

Hmm. Aren't The Rasmus from Finland?
They have a huge hit all over Europe now.

Didn't know they had a hit - I suppose I should listen to the radio more.
And OK, there's H.I.M. (heavy rock), and of course Hanoi Rocks... And the 2 or 3 computer programmers - sorry, musicians - that had a cople of techno/dance hits, Darude and... can''t remember what the other guys were called. But not anything like the massive success of the Swedes since ABBA.

And the 2 or 3 computer programmers - sorry, musicians - that had a cople of techno/dance hits

Hmmm, wonder if Linus would have a hit if he released the Linux kernel (binary or source) piped through the audio device

/Michael

wonder if Linus would have a hit if he released the Linux kernel (binary or source) piped through the audio device

Wasn't there a project to stream out the whole linux kernel source through a speech synthesizer as a piece of art? Don't think it was a huge hit

Sounds like it'd be in the same art gallery as one I visited in Amsterdam with the bonking neon signs and the video called 'lip sync' which cunningly had the audio delayed by a second or so.

yea.. i should have posted a while ago.. we stayed in Leidsplein area, at an expensive hotel that we didn't have to pay for (yay for knowing people who travel for business)

we stayed in Leidsplein area, at an expensive hotel that we didn't have to pay for (yay for knowing people who travel for business)

Ahh, excellent! Leidseplein is actually 10 min walking distance from my place. So are you in Helsinki now?