Cloudbusting 363

Yesterday was the END of school for many
Sunday is the END of the week
Today is the END of may
Where is the START then?

Cloudbusting 362

I have entertained an idea to start a photoblog about finnish architecture for a long time. As a byproduct of my other photos I seem to have a lot of architecture photos. Still I haven´t done anything about it as I feel that having two blogs or more would be like spreading myself too thin. It would be better to have just one. I also like to slice and dice the best parts to fit the cloud backgrounds...or are the buildings actually the backgrounds if the focus is on clouds? Does it really matter...umm, now I go to wash my car at the carwash and continue my easygoing suburban dream life (heh heh) and do whatever there is for a good citizen to do in saturday. Spend some moolah and keep the wheels turning. First listen some esoteric psych dream pop as usual. Asobi Seksu: Hush is the choice for today.

Cloudbusting 361, Sky Watch Friday

Dark, cold, windy and brooding
that´s what the sea has offered recently
the sun has peeked now and then
only to disappear behind the racing fast clouds

The large endless dark grey slabs
have sailed over the empty sea
towards their unknown destinations

There has also been glimmers of hope
for all those dreaming of a new season
out there on the free waves of summer
There is a happy ending after all!

See more skies in Sky Watch Friday

Cloudbusting 360

Yet another uncompleted business park by the highway soon under a heavy wandering cloud in Espoo.

Cloudbusting 359

Deep space blues jam
rush hour telekinetics
2.5-dimensional extract
probe through the clouds
unexplained need to be seen
helicopter pad remote luxury
all your base belong to us
"take me to your leader"
shifiting to the highest gear
take them all

My World 33, posters

In the spring there is lot of building in the city of Helsinki and in the summer every place is boarded or fenced because there is some work going on. Warm season is short here and that´s the time to build. These fences are good for gig/ nightclub posters as they are on good locations and they are also completely free. If a fence comes up then on the next day it´s full of posters.

I don´t see a poster here for my favourite local bands, such as Scandinavian Music Group, Egotrippi or Liekki, so not many of these gigs really interest me. Too much hip-hop and such.

That was my My World this week. More there.

Cloudbusting 358

I have a feeling something funny is going to happen.

That ridge is very promising.It´s going to be a good one.

Cloudbusting 357

Rainman travels east. He didn´t say anything to me because he was too busy. Lot of work to do.

Cloudbusting 356

The cold breath of the sea
comes to visit the city

Fog lingers between the buildings
moving veil of the wind

It´s too cold outside
have to go inside
one more hour to kill

Cloudbusting 355, Sky Watch Friday

Some days are like summer already and with that comes a lot of altocumulus clouds. I love them as they pop up all over the sky and generate huge blocks of small forms.

Big, strange and stripey.

Small and texturized.

The sharp edge of a vanishing altocumulus.

That was my Sky Watch Friday this week. More there.

Cloudbusting 354

Feathers of the wind

I would like to comment on blogs but blogger doesn´t let me do it.
I don´t know why. Sorry.

Cloudbusting 353

There is leafs! Woohoo. Rest is just some random thoughts about illegal downloading but I don´t think anyone sees it this way so I had no other place to put it.

People are such a fakes in some cases. For instance illegal downloading is one issue where they say some silly things. I know a guy who downloads everything from Pirate Bay. They don´t have a single new DVD or CD in their house, just some dusty broken stuff from 15 years ago. "The kids wanted to have the new (X) hit CD, so I downloaded it." "You didn´t want to buy it?" "No way, CD´s are so damn expensive!" Then on the next week he goes to reserve 3rd or 4th abroad family holiday of the year (over 1000 Euro) and buy a new car (20 000 Euro). "Now that was a cheap car!" Yet 15-20 Euro for a CD is far too much. Nothing in their lifestyle hints at poverty. I guess he would download holidays and cars for free too if it was possible.

Other thing is the harsh economic reality. "I can´t buy this stuff now because we have harsh economic climate". Yet they don´t know shit about harsh economic realities as they are not unemployed. It´s just that credit crunch makes illegal downloading even more acceptable. You can download as much as you like and blame credit crunch...and then buy the 20 000 Euro car as credit crunch made it so cheap. That´s also one funny thing these days. People pretending to be poor because of the times yet they know nothing about being poor.

Other silly stuff they say:

"There is too much filler on a CD, just 1 or 2 good songs." Which means you have to get it all for free? Never heard of iTunes and others?

"Greedy record companies don´t give enough money to artists anyway". So they work for an employer who keeps some money to himself and doesn´t give all profits for you? What the hell do they know about business? Then they download ONLY major label stuff that people are aware of because the record company has paid a lot of advertising. So the companies are bad but the artists working for them are good?

"Radiohead can give their stuff away for free and still make money". The only thing why Radiohead can make money that way is that a big record company has poured millions in their ad campaigns and made them what they are. There is no other reason why anyone would have even heard of them unless it wasn´t so.

"People check out stuff that way and then buy it later" I have never bought anything on CD after I have listened it enough and I don´t think others do it much either.

"People come to gigs and buy a t-shirt after listening to free stuff" I never go to gigs as they are too late and I would certainly not buy a t-shirt from a band whose albums I haven´t even bothered to buy.

"I can´t buy a CD but I could support Pirate Bay" They are far from right wing politics and don´t like criminals yet they can finance extreme right wing party and criminal people behind it?

It´s like there is a lot of people saying moronic things about it. I have gotten some things for free and that´s the way it is today. I still have bought most of it as it´s my biggest hobby and I want to keep my computers clean. Credit where credit is due. As a creative small business oriented person that is the way I see it. I just wonder what makes people say these dumbass things to make it look okay. I think they should shut up and be happy as long as that stuff comes for free and they can save some miniscule amount of their lifestyle that way. Why can´t they just say it like it is?

My World 32, Kiasma

Kiasma is a museum of modern art in Helsinki. It was designed by Steven Holl in early 90´s and completed in 1998. It´s one of the most popular places to visit in Helsinki. This is the entrance to the building. That bench is popular for just hanging around.

East side of the building. Right next to it is the old main post office, which is under renovation right now. The building site of the museum was criticized for having too narrow space.

Western side of the building with a statue of Mannerheim, a former president and war hero. There was a movement of criticism during building phase that the background of the statue becomes worse. Now over 10 years later nobody hardly remembers that, which is quite usual for any nimby-movement.

The small field outside Kiasma is quite popular place to hang out among boozing youth.

Feel the sun.

Backside of the building with a small pond. There is some kind of unnecessery small water "art theme" whatever going through the building as there is a pond on the other side too and these are connected by that hole in the wall. Usually architects want to have water in the buildings as it´s somehow swanky but that costs a lot, water ponds are not maintained properly and the climate makes them unusable for half a year.

See more My Worlds there.

Cloudbusting 352

Deja vu
only seconds
in Mediterranean years ago
gargo ships far away on the sea
almost warm wind on bare skin

The free horizon curves to the end of the world
people sit by the sea like they have always done
waiting for something to appear from the blue
the way it was always meant to be
since the beginning of time

Cloudbusting 351

People have to live somewhere. This sunday I wish the building of homes and selling them would work normally. Just like it should work if you want to live somewhere. That wish seems so ridiculous now. Like Miss Universe wishing world peace or something.

Cloudbusting 350

Shot through the flag. There has been many flagdays recently or maybe I´m just imagining that. No, I have photos to prove it, although I don´t usually take photos of flags. Janitors have been busy dragging those flags up and down for mothers, workers and who knows what. Time to remember the past, present and the future once again. Somewhere in the lower right corner is the mood that makes me happy. The mood that goes beyond the ordinary day, to the realm of the dreams. That something you can´t put your finger on it. Where everything is possible, but nothing is real.

Cloudbusting 349, Sky Watch Friday

HEELLOOUU, I`M BIG, BAD AND BEAUTIFUL!

...but I only have showers for couple of cute little flowers.

Cloudbusting 348

Water faded away
Air was everywhere
Earth remained still
Fire never had the chance

Cloudbusting 347 and other stuff

The clouds have become heavier and really 3 dimensional. They hang low and are quite unpredictable. I don´t mind, it´s about time.

Concrete turtle was so big hit yesterday that now I have to show an ordinary concrete pig. Not as elegant or funny as the turtle. This is the most common public design object in Finland. If somewhere is a teeny weeny space where a car can be parked, then there is a car...unless there is a trusty old concrete pig.

These rap-artists are from Fu#k FPS- happening. Apparently they think that security guards shouldn´t be allowed to stop them doing graffitis and tags around town. Also it´s bad that guards remove all those who are creating drunken or drugged disorder around subway stations or guards remove people who are travelling without paying in subway. I don´t know what to say.

My World 31, trains and concrete turtle

These photos were taken in the middle of ordinary day in Leppävaara-railway station in Espoo. In typical fashion the platform is almost empty as this is not rush hour. The station is quite clean and modern as it was finished only recently.

Three types of local short distance trains. On the left is SM4-type new train made by Fiat Ferroviaria, CAF and Alstom between 1998-2005. 10 SM4-trains are in operation. In the background red and yellow SM2, 50 trains made by Valmet and Strömberg between 1975-1981. On the right white and red SM1, 50 trains made between 1968-1973 by Valmet and Strömberg. All 100 old SM1 and SM2-trains are still in operation and none has been scrapped, which is very impressive.

Stairs from the train platform to highway bridge with bus platform.

A cute ending to the story. This red turtle was hanging around the station too and I haven´t seen it elsewhere. It is an object known as "concrete pig". Most of them are quite ugly and are not animal shaped. They are used mostly to prevent car drivers to park cars on sidewalks, or to make clear where roadwork is done. Usually a roadsign is put to the hole in the top of the concrete pig to give more info about what happens on the site.

That was my My World this week. More there.

Cloudbusting 346

The house that sailed away
beyond the horizon
to my past
maybe forever

Cloudbusting 345

Fresh blue and white

Rusty red and white

Cloudbusting 344

If I really work out
the levels of the ordinary afternoon suburban rain
then it shows some semi-serious six-pack

Cloudbusting 343, Sky Watch Friday

Out early in the morning
the northern sky plays a little song
bright, playful, light and poppy
full of little hooks that will play in the head all day
It´s sweet and short and over before I know it
leaving me to want more

See more skies in Sky Watch Friday.

Cloudbusting 342

April and may offer more halos than other months of the year. This is in Finland, I´m not sure if this applies to other locations as well. I didn´t knew there was so much of them. I have seen one almost every day during the past few weeks. Most of them have been full circles not just the sundogs. I have so much halo-photos now that I have to dump two in to same post. Usually there is rain after a halo but now it took a week of halos to get the first rain.

Getting creative with a busstop sign.

Cloudbusting 341

Small and fragile touch
Pieni ja hento ote

My World 30

sometimes I wander on the streets of Helsinki
on my own, looking up
well, not so often anymore

watching all these houses and towers
details, sculptures and ornaments
made 100 years ago

thinking if the people in these buildings
realize what they have

but the best places are mostly
offices, embassies, hotels and such
for people who are too busy to realize anything
that´s the way the world works

That was my My World this week.

More there.

Cloudbusting 340

Whirling dervish
spiral snakey swirl
distant focus
sharp cold
crystal smooth
plane to catch
your dinner is served
attention attention
greenhouse effect
blue sky madness
sunday
monday
plane to catch
again?
from the west
to the east
then back and
gone

Cloudbusting 339

This pipe works only in the dead of winter
Puffing smoke and creating heat
when the temperatures are so low
that it´s way too cold to stay loitering outside
I´ll see you working in november or december then
Bye Bye!

Cloudbusting 338

I was asked if I see lot of halos here. Not many as I´ve had very few of these in my blog during a year. Lately there has been a lot of them in my skies, which is okay with me. It takes a bit of experimenting with exposures and editing to make them work but it´s always worth it.

May Day Balloon Sky Watch

Yesterday there was only the blue sky and many colourful balloons when I looked up to the sky. Last day of april is the start for 1st of May or May Day. Originally 1st of may was a celebration of labour movement but these days it´s mostly something else. There was lot of bad music, young people boozing, police, activism and revolution making out there but I save that for later, maybe.

Hey dad, I want a Spiderman...

The deal is done, now it´s just a matter of finding the right string of the chosen balloon.

That was my Sky Watch this week. See more skies in Sky Watch Friday.