Pirunvuori - Devil's Mountain - Finland

So here I am at my in-laws and even after 10 years of coming here (to what is basically the middle of nowhere), they are still finding new places to take me. This time it was to the Devil's Mountain to see a stone house built by a Finnish painter just over 100 years ago.

It was a nice day trip with the bonus of discovering that the blueberries in the forest are already ripe for the picking.

Pirunvuori (Devil's mountain)

Mythical magic, soughing of the forest and rugged Finnish scenery!

This nature reserve has always been an inspiration for storytellers and poets. By hiking up Pirunvuori everybody can enjoy a trip to the past and be impressed by an untouched nature. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Finnish artist, painter Emil Danielsson built his stone castle on the peak of the mountain as his studio for more than 60 years. Nowadays this castle can be visited by tourists, giving a good impression of the spirit of that time.

Pirunvuori can be reached by walking over a path of about 2km from the hotel. - Link

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Mannerheim Statue 'Tampere'

I have mentioned the Tampere Mannerheim Statue on this blog before here 'Europe's Lingering Scar of Communism'

You see, Tampere was a hotbed of communists during the Finnish Civel War and Mannerheim was the leader of the 'White' forces and routed the communists from the city. So, back in the 1950's when a statue was going to be erected in his honor, the city leaders stuck it in the forest, nowhere near the city itself.

So for the last couple trips here I had been meaning to visit the statue. I finally got the chance today.

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Darts In The Forest

My father in law finally got a dart board.


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Helsinki Tram Accident - 1999

Here is a photo from a tram accident in Helsinki back in 1999.

I was on the tram and saw the car crossing in front and knew when I saw it coming that there was no way it was going to make it. It hit hard enough to spin the car around.

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You Are Going to Need a Bigger Car

Here is a photo of a car fully loaded down that we came across one day while on I-95 headed up to Baltimore.

According to the Smart website, the car can carry 500 pounds which I think is very good for it's size. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, they might be better off with something a little bigger. It is interesting to see that the car can be loaded up like that in a professional manner.

Still, this is a good example of the ridiculousness of the President's comments a couple weeks ago on how Americans should go look for cars with better gas mileage as there is no fit's-all solution for most families. For us, we have a Volvo XC70 wagon and a Volvo XC90 SUV. It turned out that the wagon ended up being just a little too small when traveling and when having guests over we needed to take two cars places. So, when I traded in my also small-ish BMW 325i last fall, I ended up with the SUV, both for the all wheel drive and also for the fact that it has the 3rd row to permit seating for up to 7. We have already used the car a number of times with 6 and it has been a great solution to getting around. That said, all during the week I am driving it to and from work all alone.

One more thing about the President's dismissive comments about the high price of gas. It totally ignores the problem that high fuel prices are killing people every time they purchase home heating oil and every time people purchase an airline ticket. (And all sorts of other things...)

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"German Farm Girls Calendar 2011"

It's that time of year! Now I am not too eager to start thinking about Christmas or New Years, but I will make an exception in this case.

German Farm Girls Calendar 2011

Milking a cow in lingerie? Handling a scythe in only a bra and panties? The 2011 edition of a calendar showing scantily clad German farm girls has just been released for fans of rustic erotica. - TheLocal.de

More photos of the calender here.

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Labor Day Gadsden Flag - Photo

The house I bought earlier this year came with a flagpole. It was a nice bonus and saved me the trouble of flying a flag from the house. Plus, the wife would not have been too eager for me to put up a flagpole.

But since I have one, I fly the flag every day. And for special occasions I throw up the Gadsden Flag as well.

Given that the wife is not American, I needed to educate her on 'the snake flag', which I did by giving her a copy of wikipedia's Gadsden Flag entry.

And no, I am not TEA Party, but I support many of their beliefs, including less government, less taxes, less spending, tackling illegal immigration and getting rid of that awful health care law. This of course means that the Democrats need to lose control of Congress. And by default this also means that there is no such thing as a good Democrat Congressman this election as a vote for any of them is a vote for keeping Pelosi and Reid in power. Given how crappy the Republicans have been I am not too happy about having to vote for them to get this change. I am however encouraged that it appears that I am not the only one pissed off and is finding new Republicans to replace many of the problem ones. I would like to see more of that.

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New Toy - Shuffle Bowling

As I noted in a post a couple months ago, we bought a house. We moved in rather quickly and recently I outfitted the house with the first toy which was a dart board.

The second toy was a little more expensive, it being a vintage shuffle bowling machine. The title of the game is 'Big Strike' and it is a blast to play. I had a couple friends over last weekend and fun was had by all!

So if you have been wondering what I have been up to, I have been busy getting settled into the new house. But as you can see, it has not been all work!

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French Navy Catches 22 Pirates & Mothership - Photos

The French Navy has gone and caught more Somali pirates this week. Here is Google's decent attempt at a translation:

Thursday, March 4, 2010, the Beautemps-Beaupre repulsed an attack by pirates off the Somali coast.

In national mission in the Indian Ocean on building hydro-ocean sailing 180 nautical east of Mogadishu when he spotted three suspicious vessels. While their mothership stood at a distance, two fast skiffs have set sail on the French ship to address.

Beautemps-Beaupre has made the customary warnings, radio, audio and visual means, before the team embarked Protection (EPA) should not proceed to fire warning shots to repel hackers determined to board at 'using sliding scales.

Given the reaction of the crew of Beautemps-Beaupré and the EPA, the pirates gave up and returned to their mothership. An alert was immediately sent by the French ship to all browsers and international forces patrolling the coast of Somalia.

Upon receipt of the alert, the staff of the operation Atalante ordered the frigate Nivose, which patrol a 150 nautical area, to proceed to the scene of the attack. The immediate response of the Panther helicopter on board has to score and to track the two skiffs and their mother ship until joining the frigate.

On March 5 in the morning, the combined actions of the Panther and two speedboats used by the teams visit Nivôse determined the surrender of the pirates. 11 personnes ont été transférées à bord du Nivôse. 11 people were transferred aboard Nivôse.

Later in the day, the frigate received orders to join another area, 90 nautical first, where pirates have also been reported. Arriving on site, the Nivôse offset three vessels operating in the same configuration as those intercepted in the morning - a mother ship and two skiffs assault - and captured 11 individuals who were paid on board. - French Naval Forces (Translated from French)

Here is one stroy in the English press although on an Iranian news site:

In one incident on Friday, six pirates attacked a French fishing boat although a French military detachment onboard fired warning shots at them. The ship then approached the skiff and collided with it, sinking the skiff and throwing the pirates into the water. Four were rescued, but two others went missing.

In a separate attack, again on a French vessel, eleven pirates were taken into custody by the EU Naval Force. - PressTV

Great job French Navy!
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