Viru Hotel KGB Museum

KGB Museum in Viru Hotel in Tallinn is a splendid place to visit. Just few rooms to walk around but the stories are unbelieveable. Our tour guide Marie had worked in the hotel herself during the years when KGB was present, meaning right from the beginning when the hotel first opened it's doors for guests in 1972 until 1991 when KGB personnels quietly walked out the front door. Of course, before the grand opening KGB spent two weeks "preparing" the hotel rooms and their own secret wiretapping room in 23. floor which officially didn't even exist.

Pussy went away! - киска бунт

Pussy Riot - Wikipedia

Pitchfork article about the trial

Freedom of speech - Wikipedia

Chrysops caecutiens

The larvae of the splayed deer fly feed upon algae and organic matter in damp muddy soils. The adult female flies feed on mammalia blood, in order for their eggs to mature properly. When they bite, they inject saliva with an anti-coagulating agent that prevent the blood clotting. The structure of the ommatidia in the midregion of the eyes of the females of these bloodsucking flies could subserve high polarization assisting in host-finding. Adult males and females feed also on nectar and pollen of flowers.

- Wikipedia

Vespula vulgaris

A solitary female queen starts the nest, building 20–30 cells before initial egg-laying. This phase begins in spring, depending on climatic conditions. She fashions a petiole and produces a single cell at the end of it. Six further cells are then added around this to produce the characteristic hexagonal shape of the nest cells. One egg is laid in each cell, and as it hatches, each larva holds itself in the vertical cell by pressing its body against the sides. The queen now divides her time between feeding the larvae on the juices of masticated insects and nest building. Once the larva reaches full size, it spins a cover over the cell, pupates and metamorphoses into an adult. When enough adult workers have emerged, they take up most of the colony’s foraging, brood care and nest maintenance. The queen, who is now fed by the workers, concentrates all her energy on reproduction. The spherical nest is built from the top downwards with successive combs of cells separated by petioles. The queen larvae, known as "gynes", are reared in larger cells in the lower combs. The finished nest may contain 5,000–10,000 individuals.

Each wasp colony includes one queen and a number of sterile workers. Colonies usually last only one year, with all but the queen dying at the onset of winter. New queens and males (drones) are produced towards the end of the summer, and after mating, the queen overwinters in a hole or other sheltered location, sometimes in buildings. Wasp nests are not reused from one year to the next; however, in the mild climate of New Zealand and Australia, a few of the colonies may survive the winter, although this is much more common with the German wasp.

This common wasp collects insects, including caterpillars, to feed to its larvae; the adults feed on nectar and sweet fruit. Common wasps will also attempt to invade honey bee nests to steal their honey; the bees will attempt to defend their nest by stinging the wasp to death.

- Wikipedia

Chanterelle

Though records of chanterelles being eaten date back to the 1500s, they first gained widespread recognition as a culinary delicacy with the spreading influence of French cuisine in the 1700s, where they began appearing in palace kitchens. For many years, they remained notable for being served at the tables of nobility. Nowadays, the usage of chanterelles in the kitchen is common throughout Europe and North America. In 1836, the Swedish mycologist Elias Fries considered the chanterelle "as one of the most important and best edible mushrooms."

Patarei Prison, Tallinn

In 1828 Nicholas I of Russia mandated the building of the sea fortress of Patarei. Completed in 1840, it is located on area of 4 hectares. Over the years it has had different functions – in 1867 functioning as barracks, in 1920 as a prison and since 2007 as a culture park.

Prison hospital.

Operation room.

The last prisoners moved out some time between 2004 and 2007. They left a mess. 

The execution room. The last death penalty took place in 1991. 

The hanging point is in the middle of the roof and the victim dropped to the hole on the floor.

Bass solo Finnish championship contest

Tavastia July 19th 2012. Finland vs. Venezuela in the final battle. The winner was Jyri Tikka on the left.

Fatum

"Gero Tragatschnig was born in mainland Germany, but soon started out to the island of Sylt, to pursue his dream of a windsurfing and surfing lifestyle. To finance this dream, he initially shaped and repaired boards during summer at Paradise Customs Sylt. During those years Gero built his reputation as a progressive shaper, especially for small wave and longboards, designing boards that would allow their owners to get the most out of those sloppier Nortern Sea swells. His winters he spent travelling to the world’s best surf regions, where he also continued collecting extensive surfing and shaping experience in Hawaii, Australia, Indonesia, Marocco and Central America.

Since 1996, his friendship and close collaboration with then WQS rider Thomas Lange allowed Gero to apply his international shaping experience and wave knowledge to develop high performance shortboards, and an entire range of boards for different users and wave conditions.

Gero moved to Peniche in 1996, to be able to shape and surf all year round. It is here where the idea of Fatum is consolidated and takes name and form.The ability to surf the diverse waves in this area, collaborate and receive feedback from local and travelling surfers influenced the shapes Fatum created since then and now are carried in its portfolio.

Today Gero possesses a blend of exquisite knowledge of less conventional shapes such as fishes, malibus, longboards and quads, but also the experience with high performance short boards as a result of his work with team riders such as Miguel Mouzinho and Thomas Lange. Gero believes in a straightforward approach to board-design:give every surfer the best possible board. Today’s Fatum board range is suited for a wide range of surfers, from more seasoned surfers looking to just have fun with their surfing or returning to the water, to high performance surfers looking to use state of the art shapes for competition."

FATUM SURFBOARDS

A big big disco! - Invisible Cities / WDC Helsinki 2012

Facilitated conversation on the Helsinki of the not-too-distant-future in the spirit of Italo Calvino. 

Busy night

Bumped into these on Monday. Obviously made by the same person who did 'Lex Karpela' (see my previous post). Carefully custom made to fit each box. I saw at least thirty of these when I was driving around the city with my bike later that day. Someone's been busy.

Lex Karpela

Stencil at mBar terrace this morning.

Article about Lex Karpela

Article about history of piratism (in Finnish)

Riga

Priority level

Forgetting something means that other tasks of the day were more interesting.

Telescope

My sister got a souvenir from Shanghai with Chinese user manual...
Luckily it was cloudy night so she wasn't in a hurry to get the pieces together.

Corn dogs, Jackie, corn dogs!

"Free breakfast for cyclists." 
Couple of weeks ago ABC gas station had a sign that said "Free soft drink for every refuel". I wonder how they are going to respond to this... 

Cut like a buffalo

Recycling Factory event at Cable Factory, Helsinki. This one is about ecological fashion. Clothes made of recycled, happy fabrics. www.pukuhuone.fi

Jacob and Wilhelm

Found this book from my grand parents attic. It's a Finnish version (third edition, printed in 1952) of Brothers Grimm's Children's and Household Stories II, written between 1812 and 1857.

Harry Potter, you're a wimp, this is the real shit.

"The stories in Kinder- und Hausmärchen include scenes of violence that have since been sanitized. For example the Grimms' version of "Snow White" ends with the stepmother dancing at Snow White's wedding wearing a pair of red-hot iron shoes that kill her; another story has a servant being pushed into a barrel "studded with sharp nails" and then rolled down the street. The Grimms' version of "The Frog Prince" describes the princess throwing the frog against a wall instead of kissing him. Some of extent the cruelty and violence may have been a reflection of medieval culture from which the tales originated, such as scenes of witches burning, as described "The Six Swans".    - Wikipedia

Gears

Tuomari Nurmio's equipments.

Marzi Nyman's axe.

Catwalk

Indie Days anniversary at Kattilahalli with Ivana Helsinki fashion show.

8:59am

Shopping center mascot waiting for customers to rush in to Stockmann department store in Helsinki one minute before security guard unlocks the front doors.