Finland's more than mobile phones

Last Saturday's Finnish Labour Day Party on a little island in the South China Sea was everso enjoyable. Good food, drink and company. Thanks Bjorn and Karin.
The main action was on the roof. The rain held off, so that was OK. However, a subset developed downstairs. Why so? They preferred listening to a cd compilation of 1950s, '60s and '70s Finnish pop music. Hey! You know: different strokes for different folks. Each to his/her own. I caught some of the music on the way out. Period Euro-pop. Karin, however, graciously gave us a running commentary: "he's running through a forest, to a meadow, a lakeside, dreaming of the girl he loves." Given the poppy music, and having some understanding of what they were singing about, the overall effect was one of quirky melancholia. A bit like those wonderful films of Aki Kaurismäki:

No other film-maker from his homeland or indeed anywhere in the world is quite able to celebrate the lives of such uniquely inarticulate, alienated, unglamorous or misunderstood characters with such style and dry wit.

Celebrate lives, he does. Finding hope in despair. Laugh out loud funny. Highly recommended: Drifting Clouds or Man Without a Past. More on Kaurismäki here. Wiki's list of famous Finns.