Like the heroine of an old-fashioned novelette speaking of her lover

Happiness is to sleep in each others arms, under a blanket that is too small.
---
Onni on nukkua sylikkäin, liian pienen peiton alla.

By Bean & Crumpet

Why not?

Things I'm addicted right now:

• having lunch with my little Bean (after our holiday I just want to spend all my time with my lovey and lunch date makes you instantly forget the work & hey, it's great to kiss and hug, in the middle of the day:))
• play.com (a bunch of new TV-series and movies just dropped through our letter box - well, we had to re-stock, because so many from our collection are being held hostage by our friends, which is nice - they like our taste :))
• cooking and baking with Bean (this weekend we'll make a strawberry gateau:))
• swimming outdoors (it's still summer, yay!)
• being bone idle with Bean (let's just lay on the couch in each others arms)
• redecorating our home (next week we'll do our bedroom, to mach the new bed and other new furniture:))
• making plans for our future with Bean (we are two lucky chaps and very gratefull for that)

By Crumpet

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Asioita, joihin olen nyt addiktoitunut:

• lounastunteihin Papusen kanssa (loman jälkeen haluan vain viettää kaiken aikani murukin kanssa ja lounastreffit saavat työn unohtumaan samalla sekunnilla, plus on mahtavaa pusutella ja halia keskellä päivää:))
• play-com'iin (läjä uusia tv-sarjoja ja leffoja tupsahti juuri postiluukustamme - meidän oli täydennettävä varastojamme, koska niin monet kokoelmastamme ovat ystävillämme lainassa, mikä on kivaa - he pitävät maustamme :))
• kokkaamiseen ja leipomiseen Pavun kanssa (tänä viikonloppuna teemme mansikkatäytekakun:))
• ulkona uimiseen (jee, vielä on kesä:))
• pötköttelyyn & laiskotteluun P:n kanssa (makoillaan vaan tässä sohvalla sylikkäin)
• oman kotimme sisustamiseen ja remontoimiseen (ensi viikolla remontin alla makuuhuone, jotta uusi sänky & uudet huonekalut pääsevät niihin sointuvaan tilaan:))
• tulevaisuuden suunnitteluun Papusen kanssa (me olemme kaksi onnekasta nakeroa ja erittäin kiitollisia siitä)

By Crumpet

Expected turn of events

Törmäsimme tuossa taannoin ilmiöön nimeltä "Facebook-lemput" (Pavun määritelmä). Facebook-lemput saa henkilö, joka on hakeutunut sellaisen ihmisen ystäväksi, joka ei enää (syystä tai toisesta) halua jakaa (intiimiä) informaatiota itsestään lemppujen kohteen kanssa.

Lemppujen kohteeksi joutuukin siis todennäköisesti sellainen henkilö, joka verkostoituu itsetarkoituksenomaisesti kaikkien tapaamiensa ihmisten kanssa tai joka käyttää profiiliaan vain muiden tirkistelyyn. Itse harkitsen tarkkaan, ketä pyydän ystäväkseni ja kenet hyväksyn ystäväkseni. Listallani on vain ystäviä, joiden kanssa tulen olemaan/ haluan olla tekemisissä jatkossakin. Näin minimoin tarpeen antaa kenellekään lemppuja tai joutua niiden kohteeksi :)

By Crumpet

Something the matter?

Roundish, middle-aged man walks to salesperson in the trousers department. He spreads his hands on his sides, looks at the salesperson and says:

"What size of trousers will fit me?"

By Crumpet
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Pyöreähkö, keski-ikäinen mies kävelee housuosaston myyjän luo. Hän levittää kätensä sivuilleen, katsoo myyjää ja sanoo:

"Minkä kokoiset housut sopivat minulle?"

By Crumpet

Yes, let's have a diagram of that

Odours are important to me. I love the early summers scent intoxication, when nature starts to blossom. I circle round the banks, sucking different odours into me. Odours that I like, give me enjoyment, even physical pleasure. In the wintertime I feel like wasting away because of the lack of scents in outdoors..

Being sensitive to odours has it flipside as well: bad smells make me nauseous, literally, which might be somewhat inconvenient..

Here is a small list of odours I like especially:

the sea, hot asphalt, clean laundry, most of cheeses, apple trees flowers, recently cut grass, rye bread, birch leaves after the rain, the odour of His skin, new Finnish cucumber, odour of lake water, beer, odour of marsh tea and marsh, coal barbecue smoke and meat being barbecued, strawberry, lilacs, burnet rose, petrol, fresh onion, hot sand..

By Crumpet
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Tuoksut ovat minulle tärkeitä. Rakastan alkukesän tuoksuhuumaa, kun luonto puhkea kukoistukseen. Kiertelen pitkin pientareita imemässä erilaisia tuoksuja itseeni. Tuoksut joista pidän, antavat minulle mielihyvää, jopa fyysistä nautintoa. Talvella tunnen riutuvani tuoksujen puuttuessa ulkoilmasta..

Tuoksuherkkyydellä on tietysti kääntöpuolensa: pahat hajut saavat minut voimaan pahoin, aivan konkreettisestikin, mikä on hankalaa..

Tässä joitakin tuoksuja, joista pidän erityisen paljon:

meri, kuuman asfaltti, puhdas pyykki, useimpien juustojen tuoksut, omenapuun kukat, vastaleikattu nurmikko, ruisleipä, koivun lehdet sateen jälkeen, Hänen ihonsa tuoksu, kotimainen uusi kurkku, järvivesi, olut, suopursut ja suon tuoksu, hiiligrillin savun ja siinä grillautuva liha, mansikat, syreenien tuoksu, juhannusruusut, bensa, uusi sipuli, kuuman hiekka..

By Crumpet

Little wonder life looked rosy

Linus: "Today is my grandfather's birthday."
Charlie Brown: "How old is he?"
Linus: "Sixty-three. It is hard to believe, that he was once a human being."

Charles M. Schulz -Peanuts (1976-1977)
(translation from Finnish to English by Crumpet)
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Eppu: "Tänään on isoisäni syntymäpäivä."
Jaska Jokunen: "Kuinka vanha hän on?"
Eppu: "Kuusikymmentäkolme. Vaikea uskoa, että hänkin on joskus ollut ihminen."

Charles M. Schulz - Lyö lennosta, Ressu (1979)

By Crumpet

She loves you with every fibre of her being

Sinä kesänä, kun rakastuin Sinuun, Papuseni, tämä vuosia ja vuosia aiemmin lukemani runo alkoi pyöriä mielessäni, koska se kuvasi täsmälleen tunteitani Sinua kohtaan. Tämä runo oli myös ensimmäinen lahjani Sinulle..

You are the one..

Sinä olet niin kaunis (ja minä romanttisella päällä)

Oi, jos muinaiskaupungissa kerran,
puistokäytävän kirkkomaasumussa,
olisin nähnyt kasvosi,
lyhyen hetken, elämäni ajan,
alastomuutesi pylväsvuoteessa,
liekkien hiljaa huohottaessa,
niin musteen valjuus
ylistäisi kauneuttasi nyt,
tomu ja paperin hauraus
laulaisivat sinusta
tulkitsemattomalla kielellä.

Jarkko Laine, Oodi eiliselle sanomalehdelle (1989)


By Crumpet

Hoity-toity

As it is Friday, we are pondering about this weekends food supply. On our list there is already chantarelle soup and self-made roast beef with new potatoes, delicious craving and green salad. Bean is still thinking of what kind of cake/ pie/ Swiss roll we’ll bake from fresh berries (I myself really don't care too much for sweet desserts, but I'm glad to bake them anyway:)

Because all the fresh ingredients we'll purchase from the Hakaniemi market place, we'll of course head to Mauste Keidas -shop, which in our opinion, sells the best garlic olives and self-made feta in Helsinki..

Wines will probably be French, inspired by our resent trip.

Waiting for the feast to begin..

By Crumpet
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Näin perjantaina mietinnän alla on viikonlopun ruokahuolto. Listalla on jo kantarellikeitto ja itse valmistettu paahtopaisti uusien perunoiden, herkullisen kastikkeen ja vihersalaatin kera. Papu pähkii vielä, millaisen marjaisen kakun/piirakan/kääretortun hän haluaa meidän leipovan (itse kun en noista makeista jälkiruuista niin perusta, mutta leivon kyllä mielelläni :)

Koska tuoretuotteet hankimme Hakanimen torilta ja hallista, suuntaamme tietysti myös hallin Mauste Keidas -liikkeeseen, josta saa mielestämme Helsingin parhaat valkosipulioliivit ja itsetehdyn fetan..

Viinit lienevät ranskalaisia, taannoisen matkamme innoittamana.

Herkutteluja odotellessa..

By Crumpet

In confined space the report sounded like the explosion of an arsenal

Heard yesterday in the tram:

Teen girl 1: "My dad just left to States and he had to take Santa's outfit with his for some performance thing."

Teen girl 2: "What, is it Christmas now in States?"


By Bean & Crumpet
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Eilen raitiovaunussa kuultua:

Teinityttö 1: "Mun isi lähti just Jenkkeihin ja sen piti ottaa joulupukin vaatteet mukaan yhtä esitystä varten."

Teinityttö 2: "Mitä, onks Jenkeissä nyt joulu?"

By Bean & Crumpet

Pinball Wizardry

B&C visited Linnanmäki amusement park last week. While the park has taken a turn to worse and prices are quite high (5 euros for a hot dog, come on) they have managed to keep their pinball machines and not get rid off them. While their pinball machines are mostly from 1990´s, park has managed to preserve them in working order. Playing and admiring some of these machines sparked Bean´s old love for these machines and to blog about them. Crumpet was on my side secretly admiring his companions skills and declared herself to be the official "pinball widow" :).

History of pinball goes to 18th century when decadent French aristocracy decided it needed some extra entertainment besides wine and escargot and ripping l´argent from poor peasants back. They invented a bagatelle table which basically was a modified billiards table. In the end of 19th century A British inventor patented his improvements in the bagatelle table and started industrial manufacturing of these tables in Cincinnati, Ohio. During 20th century pinball machines got more and more popular with real boom between the end of WWII and 1980´s. The advent of video game and yellow guy named Pac-Man were the first signs of doom for pinball machines. Later the decline of coin-operated video games and arcades and the rise of computer and console gaming drove pinball to the shadows. Pinball had a short comeback in 1990´s but it didn´t last long.

Design and craft of these pinball machines has to be admired. It´s amazing to think there has been whole industry just for these machines. Some of the machines are very beautifully designed and have good amount of details if you observe them closely. Their sound world can also be quite capturing. What is so capturing in these old machines then? After all, we live in an age where the number crunching power of microprocessors in growing exponentially and are thus capable of producing world with very realistic image and sound and captivating experience. Maybe even too captivating for some people.

A Freudian-Darwinian would answer, that for men it´s the scoring, putting some balls in the holes and lanes and competition of alpha males in sweaty arcade for being the Pinball Wizard e.g. scoring the most. I like the sheer physicality of the machine instead of just staring at some screen. You can feel the machine kicking and shaking from the ball going around and different parts of the machine activating. It also possible, in some models, the alter the course of the ball by moving the machines, although most machines are protected against "tilting". Fast pace of the game also gets your adrenaline going. Simplicity of the game is also very addictive, you just have to gather more points and not let the ball go. Usually the simplest games are the most addictive (like Tetris, Pac-Man, Asteroid, Commando). Part of pinball fandom, at least for people aged 30+, is pure nostalgia. Arcades had a magic aura in the age of Commodore 64. Pinball is also a social game in a sense although it´s a single-player game. You have to go to amusement park, arcade, bar of cafe to play them and leave the confines of your home. Social element comes from competing against other people and discussing game tactics and hints. Before home computers this must have been important element of the game and people spending money on them. Pinball machine in the corner of some dinky bar in a town far far away must have been a lifeline for a person.

Pinball machines are becoming luxury items and older machines collectibles. After short research I found out that it´s possible to obtain one for $3000-$5000. Finding spare parts, repair or maintenance for your machine might be harder, at least in Finland. Person living in a flat also needs patient or deaf neighbor. Fortunately old pinball classics have been revived as computer games like Visual Pinball and Visual PinMAME which shows that people still miss these games.

What about the machines in Linnanmäki then? They have some old classics like Attack from Mars (rated #8 in Internet Pinball Machine Database, httP://www.ipdb.org), Funhouse (rated #9), Who Dunnit and Fish Tales, but also some newer games like Lord of the Rings (rated #10). I encourage you to check them out. They seems to be always free as most people go only to rides. It´s good to remember that while traveling, flipper spotting might add a nice touch to your vacation.

By Bean

PS. Finnish pinball machines can be found from here including the ones in Linnanmäki.