Finland, Finland, Finland,
The country where I want to be,
Pony trekking or camping,
Or just watching TV.
Finland, Finland, Finland.
It’s the country for me.
You’re so near to Russia,
So far from Japan,
Quite a long way from Cairo,
Lots of miles from Vietnam.
Finland, Finland, Finland,
The country where I want to be,
Eating breakfast or dinner,
Or snack lunch in the hall.
Finland, Finland, Finland. Finland has it all.
Christian Burnhamsays
They could have sung it a bit better and in English.
And they weren’t all that good looking.
Mikaelsays
Wonderful :)
Although it is not fully correct, Finland has beaten us (Sweden) in Eurovision two years in a row now….
Niobesays
What would their looks have to with their ability to sing? (also welcome to the human race where people look normal?)
This was hilarious, albeit a bit to heavy on the Seinfeldian little annoyances.
Christian Burnhamsays
Niobe, I was using Fey, where Fe=Iron.
One Eyed Jacksays
Yes, they are whiners, but so are we all.
I liked this. It just reminds me that it doesn’t matter where you live on this rock, we all deal with the same silly things day to day.
We really are more alike than different, no matter where you are from.
OEJ
Besssays
I agree with the complaints but I’d still rather live here than anywhere else…
csrstersays
Maybe they’d have beaten the bloody Swedes again if they’d had the sense to pick this as their Eurovision song.
Still, it’s nice to know there are vacancies for Java programmers.
chukosays
For some value of “here”
Hank Foxsays
I thought sure they were going to end with
“… But at least we don’t have George Bush!”
Davidsays
Best proof I’ve ever seen for the existence of microintelligentdesign. Of course, there has never been one single proven instance of macrointelligentdesign.
Sampo Rassisays
For those of you who might be wondering, “Helsingin valituskuoro” translates as “The Helsinki Lamentation Choir”, hence the subject matter.
And as a Finn, I would like to distance myself from these people. If I had my druthers, they’d be the first people deported to Siberia when the revolution came.
bernardasays
I love this song. There are also complaints choirs in Britain, Germany and Russia. The Russian one is particularly good.
Here is the story of a Finnish invention of a saint, Saint Urho.
“The legend of St. Urho was the invention of a Finnish-American named Richard Mattson, who worked at Ketola’s Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in spring of 1956. Mattson later recounted that he invented St. Urho when he was questioned by coworker Gene McCavic about the Finns’ lack of a saint like the Irish St. Patrick, whose feat of casting the snakes out of Ireland is remembered on St. Patrick’s Day.[1]
According to the original “Ode to St. Urho” written by Gene McCavic and Richard Mattson, St. Urho was supposed to have cast “tose ‘Rogs” (those frogs) out of Finland by the power of his loud voice, which he obtained by drinking “feelia sour” (sour whole milk) and eating “kala mojakka” (fish soup).[2]
The original “Ode to St. Urho” identified St. Urho’s Day as taking place on May 24. Later the date was changed to March 16, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. St. Urho’s feast is supposed to be celebrated by wearing the colors Royal Purple and Nile Green. Other details of the invented legend also changed, apparently under the influence of Dr. Sulo Havumäki, a psychology professor at Bemidji State College in Bemidji, Minnesota. The legend now states that St. Urho drove away grasshoppers (rather than frogs) from Finland using the incantation “Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!” (“Grasshopper, grasshopper, go from hence to Hell!”), thus saving the Finnish grape crops.[3]”
That could be the typical origin of saints everywhere.
bernardasays
“And they weren’t all that good looking.”
Of course that has nothing to do with singing, but did you notice one fat person, not to mention obscenely obese person, in the groups? That is also true of the Russian group. I thought they were lovely, even the most aged.
You would need a wide-angle lens to get a group of Americans that size into the scene. Of course Americans are often super-size.
Also notice, that the people are enjoying themselves!
Oh great. Germany has a complaint choir? Who would have thought of that? Uhm, well, I guess everybody who knows modern day Germany. Complaining has become part of the German cultural identitiy, just like hating the Dutch football team (real football, not “American football”, mind you.).
Americans for example seemed always to be much more optimistic than the average German (albeit too optimistic or friendly at times. This irritates us old, grumpy middle-Europeans.).
You see? I am complaining about the complaining of my people, right now! Curse you German ancestry, curse you!
Pekkasays
On se niin väärin. (tr. It is not fair.)
windysays
Firemancarlsays
Now that was fracking funny!
Great when the conductor had to answer his cell phone.
humbert reonomershsays
Ah, Finland!
A great ally of Nazi Germany in the war!
Helped block off Leningrad and kill millions of those pesky Russians.
Finland, oh Finland…
Petesays
I always thought that the Finnish language sounded wonderful. Plenty of round vowels, not too many of the harsh ‘s’s that plague English. MMMmmmmm. . . sonorous.
Torbjörn Larsson, OMsays
Although it is not fully correct, Finland has beaten us (Sweden) in Eurovision two years in a row now….
Yes, I noted that it was the chorus a few times. It is probably the neighbor competition thing, because as I understand it Finland has beaten Sweden in hockey at many times as well.
Not that I would complain, of course…
Torbjörn Larsson, OMsays
Although it is not fully correct, Finland has beaten us (Sweden) in Eurovision two years in a row now….
Yes, I noted that it was the chorus a few times. It is probably the neighbor competition thing, because as I understand it Finland has beaten Sweden in hockey at many times as well.
Commies, humbert, commies. In fact, I think the Fins killed enough of them to make Gen Jack D Ripper proud.
Umiliksays
Whine, whine, whine.. no wonder the Finns have the highest alcoholism and suicide rate in Europe (then again maybe the two are connected considering the outlandish cost of booze in Finland). Actually Finland won the 2006 Eurovision song contest (what a bizarre contest that is) with this band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordi
Barely better than suicide….
CCPsays
I guess I’d complain (and/or lament) too if my compatriots were always whacking my naked back with birch branches, making me sweat in a sauna and then jump into a frozen lake, and people were still bitching about the actions of my grandparents’ generation’s government in a war 60 years ago.
Do they eat lutefisk there? I’d want to complain about that too.
Torbjörn Larsson, OMsays
I always thought that the Finnish language sounded wonderful.
Funny you note that. Some finnish people (there are still swedish speaking groups in Finland, but I’m not sure if it is them) can have a very beautiful and melodious accent in swedish.
Now I hear that swedish may be more melodious than some other european languages (which I myself can’t hear, I am too used to the common accent) so I guess that is really topping it.
Torbjörn Larsson, OMsays
I always thought that the Finnish language sounded wonderful.
Funny you note that. Some finnish people (there are still swedish speaking groups in Finland, but I’m not sure if it is them) can have a very beautiful and melodious accent in swedish.
Now I hear that swedish may be more melodious than some other european languages (which I myself can’t hear, I am too used to the common accent) so I guess that is really topping it.
Russellsays
They need to get up off their asses and go viking. The east coast of Florida seems particularly ripe and deserving of the plucking. ;-)
Sebastiansays
When they mention the irritating ring tones – is that the cadence of the Nokia default ring tone they’re using?
Tomsays
That was great. I want to hear more Finnish language music! Oh, and why was there such a long pause at the end with nothing. It was too long. (My complaint about the Complaint Choir video, heehee! (is it still ironic if it’s intentional (I hate nested parentheses.)))
… there’s something very appropriate about complaining to an accordion accompaniment. (Larson reference: ‘Welcome to hell–here’s your accordion.’)
Umiliksays
Ah, Finland!
A great ally of Nazi Germany in the war!
Humbert, true enough, but in all fairness the Finns shared the Nazi ideology and were certainly never considered part of the axis powers. Finland had been dominated by the Russians for over a century and wanted to preserve its fledgling independence. This was more a case of the old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” philosophy than a shared believe in some Nazi ideology. The Nazis of course had true allies such as the Italians and Japanese, but it’s not nice to mention that in polite company anymore.
Umiliksays
Oops, what I meant to say in the first sentence was that the Finns NEVER SHARED the Nazi ideology.
Itchy trigger finger syndrome…
CalGeorgesays
Is there a complaint choir competition? If not, there should be. And we need an atheist complaint choir!
No one understands science,
The fundies are taking over,
You can’t rid the world of God,
No matter how hard you try,
My argument for the non-existence of God is unconvincing,
Kent Hovind is in jail and he still won’t shut up,
Chris Hitchens supported the Iraq war,
The Pope is playing dress up again,
And theistic evolution is everywhere.
The faith-heads are immune to argument,
The faith-heads are immune to argument,
The faith-heads are immune to argument!
Ray Msays
Having nothing whatsoever to do with this thread, but since it’s the first one for 25th May I feel compelled to wish everyone a very Happy Towel Day.
I now return you to your regular whin… er, programming.
Lenisays
DCP wrote:
… just like hating the Dutch football team (real football, not “American football”, mind you.).
I’m going to suggest to the American complaint choir that they add a whine about the fact that every time “football” comes up in a conversation with Euros, we must be condescendingly reminded that it is “real football”, not American football.
I always feel like saying “Really? Wow. I didn’t know there was a difference. I thought European football was just the same as ours, except that the players kick a black and white ball around without ever managing to score points just like they do in soccer.”
But I never do. Maybe next time I will :P
Graculussays
is that the cadence of the Nokia default ring tone they’re using?
Yes. I inhaled coffee at that point.
Barely better than suicide….
I’d rather listen to Finnish deathmetal than Celine Dion wannabes, thankyouverymuch.
Linus Torvalds comes from Finland. And he speaks Swedish. I think that alone absolves the Finns of everything they have ever done or ever might do in future.
I always feel like saying “Really? Wow. I didn’t know there was a difference. I thought European football was just the same as ours, except that the players kick a black and white ball around without ever managing to score points just like they do in soccer.”
Don’t you say. You are absolutely right, I just make the distinction between American football and football just because I think you Americans are too stupid to see the difference.
But seriously, a lot of Americans think of American football when they hear the term “football”. They only think of football when you call it soccer (which is a faux-pas in England, btw.).
Oh and by the way, it’s almost never about the points which are scored in football. It’s either about getting drunk for no good reason, or about shedding some blood of Christia… uhm, Fans of the other team, or everything combined. ;)
Jimbosays
I’d never heard of Complaint Choirs before. Great idea, although I think we irony-impaired Americans might not get it. The Finns apparently have a surfeit of irony and a dearth of rhyming words.
bernardasays
CalGeorge has a good idea. Why not have a scienceblogger evilutionist complaints choir? Better get on it before the Mormon Tabernacle Choir does.
Tom, here is the Finnish group CMX. I have no idea what the songs are about.
Here is a female singer, Minne katosi päivät. I don’t know if that is the person or the group.
There are many more there, but I have no more idea what they are about.
McGarniglesays
It’s interesting to see what people in various countries complain about. I gather the Finns take saunas and ice hockey seriously, and they have to pay a TV license (similar to the UK I suppose).
McGarniglesays
Finland had been dominated by the Russians for over a century and wanted to preserve its fledgling independence. This was more a case of the old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” philosophy than a shared believe in some Nazi ideology.
In fact, the Allies were planning to come to the aid of Finland against the Soviets right at the start of WWII (they were at war). I’m not sure how that would have played out in the long run.
I’ve heard this a couple of times before but still love it. Thanks for playing it again
windysays
A great ally of Nazi Germany in the war! Helped block off Leningrad and kill millions of those pesky Russians.
Finland did not participate in the siege of Leningrad except by guarding the nearby border and front. Stalin shared your opinion that the Finns had no right to have a part of their country so close to the city, but you might as well blame Peter the Great for poor choice of location.
“Pietari Suuri hattunsa polki, suutari pieri pottunsa halki”
Bob O'Hsays
In fact, the Allies were planning to come to the aid of Finland against the Soviets right at the start of WWII (they were at war).
Apparently the British Government was talking about that, as an excuse to invade Norway. They really didn’t care about Finland. As an example of how a small country can stand up for itself, the Winter War is perfect. There’s at least one book in English about it (unfortunately I can’t find my copy).
As to the music, I’ve sung in a Finnish choir, and Finnish works very well for choral music, as it’s quite rhythmic and the poetry emphasises alliteration (e.g. Vanha väkä Väinömöinen. Go on, try saying it!).
Alas the pop often doesn’t work: a lot of it sounds like it has been stuck on a tune written for English words. There are exceptions (Hednigarna have/had a couple of Finnish singers, so some of their stuff is in Finnish, e.g. Karelia Visa, and parts of Trä).
Of course, the traditional Finnish music is the Tango.
Now I hear that swedish may be more melodious than some other european languages (which I myself can’t hear, I am too used to the common accent) so I guess that is really topping it.
Thorbjörn, as an Englishman who lives in Germany, has a Dutch half sister, has lived in Sweden and used to have a Norwegian girlfriend to my ears (and I spent a large part of my life working as a successful professional sound technician so my “ear” should be fairly good) the Scandinavian languages are the most melodic of the Germanic languages and Dutch is the least melodic. An English friend of mine who was a crewman on the Rainbow Warrior, which was stationed in Rotterdam, used to say that Dutch is not a language but a disease of the throat. (If that doesn’t bring the Dutch readers of this blog out onto the barricades nothing will.)
there’s something very appropriate about complaining to an accordion accompaniment. (Larson reference: ‘Welcome to hell–here’s your accordion.’) .
A.J. Milne; obviously you do not know the Finno-American band KTU featuring Kimmo Pohjonen on accordion! They are one of the best instrumental improvisational rock bands in the universe.
Richard, FCDsays
mmm … Finnish music … not a lot to chose from. Sibleius of course if you like classical, and I remember Hanoi Rocks being their best rock effort when I was there in the early 80s.
I spent a wonderful summer in a very small northern town – lost in the woods 40km east of Oulu.
I was a freak ’cause I didn’t have blond hair. The Finns are some of the greatest people on the planet, and I think world culture would be much richer if their form of dancing known as humppa was more widely known. I can only describe humppa as a combination of high-speed foxtrot/polka, interspersed with limping and bouncing.
Richard, FCDsays
@Thony … Dutch being a disease of the throat … that was new to me and I may use it in the future.
My preferred insult until hearing it was … “Dutch sounds like a pig speaking German”
I was going to say this was the funniest thing I’d seen all day, but I saw the cat giving a tongue bath to the baby bunnies on Cute Overload the same day, so it’s kind of a toss-up. Pretty darned great, though.
“I want to hear more Finnish language music!”
Check out Varttina. Unspeakably gorgeous harmonies, somehow both eerie and soaring. Start with “Seleniko.” Hedningarna is also grand, also in the haunting, “chills down your spine beautiful” department.
And yes — we need an atheist complaints chorus. Can I add to the above:
Sex ed policies are based on
What makes baby Jesus cry
And folks won’t give up believing in heaven
‘Cuz nobody wants to die
windysays
…I think world culture would be much richer if their form of dancing known as humppa was more widely known.
Obligatory Eläkeläiset reference:
Other essential Finnish music styles:
Rautalanka
Suomirock
windysays
Whoops, those last two links should be the other way around, but I guess you wouldn’t know the difference anyway :)
The present state of Finnish music, here’s PMMP:
Richard, FCDsays
@ Windy … yes, now I remember Eppu Normaali too being big in Finland in the early 80s.
It is not true that the Finns have the highest suicide rate in Europe.
There are several countries in Europe that have higher rates.
Lenisays
DCP wrote:
Don’t you say. You are absolutely right, I just make the distinction between American football and football just because I think you Americans are too stupid to see the difference.
Oh is that why you said it? I thought you were just trying to be helpful in a patronizing, annoying, self-congradulatory, snotty, insulting kind of way.
But seriously, a lot of Americans think of American football when they hear the term “football”.
Why on earth wouldn’t we? That’s what we call it. That’s what most of us have called it all our lives. That’s sort of the point of language. It makes you think of the thing that is being referred to.
In related news, an American is terribly disappointed to discover that the “rocket” in their salad is really just some crappy arugula and not a tiny, plate-sized ballistic missile of some sort. Several angry demands for explanations follow.
They only think of football when you call it soccer (which is a faux-pas in England, btw.)
Then it’s a good thing Americans aren’t English then, isn’t it?
Richard, FCDsays
Before a football taxonomy war breaks out between DCP and Leni in a thread about a Finnish choir … I’ll explain the true situation ;)
In most of the English-speaking world Association Football is known as simply football. Those countries, i.e. USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland that have other forms of football (American Football, Australian Rules, rugby or Gaelic) refer to their variant as ‘football’ and Association Football is commonly know as soccer.
So you might argue that it is only in countries that are impoverished in terms of the number of football variants they have that Association Football carries the name football.
I recommend Sentenced for happy-go-lucky, cheerful metal fans.
Kseniyasays
Isn’t Nightwish from Finland?
They’re fun. In their way. :-)
Baratossays
As an example of how a small country can stand up for itself, the Winter War is perfect. There’s at least one book in English about it (unfortunately I can’t find my copy).
The Winter War was awesome. The Soviets had about 150 tanks for every one the Finns did, but they still lost terribly.
Ken Mareldsays
That was fun. As to slamming Finland for being allied with Hitler. Churchill said he would make an alliance with the Devil to defeat Hitler. Finland (while staying democratic) made an alliance with Hitler to survive Stalin. Savory democracies will do unsavory things to survive. History shows that there are three countries you don’t want to invade. Thailand, which was never successfully colonized. Afghanistan, which as invader is fairly easy to travel through, but will eat your empire if you stay (usually through the invaders’ own hubris. – A lesson we Americans should look at). And Finland. Once the idea of a Soumi nation took hold in the 19th century they are a nation not worth occupying. The meat grinder Winter Wars between Finland and the Soviet Union show that.
Note: There is a strong intersection between Hegelian dialectic and natural selection. Hegel said that Thesis + antithesis becomes Synthesis. Bear with me here. A historical economic system when in conflict with what can destroy that system results in a new paradigm, or new system which incorporates both the old and the new. A group of organisms, through natural selection, will respond to a change in their environment, by over time become a different kind of group of organisms That is they have retained most of their older characteristics but survive and/or thrive because those changes allow them to do so.
I look at the success of the Scandinavian countries in achieving the highest Human Development Indices scores that most international institutions attempt to measure. They have generally succeeded in melding Capitalism and Socialism into ‘Social Democracy’. If you were old, ill, and required medication to maintain an independent lifestyle where would you want to live?
It really is a shame that American, Canadian, Australian and Gaelic football were named that way. They’re really much more similar to rugby, and as there are fewer rugby playing nations than “soccer” playing nations, there would have been much less confusion.
I still use football for “soccer” because you primarily move the ball with your foot. I like to call the other games throwball. Except for rugby, which I call the best game on Earth.
Tinasays
I quite liked the choir. Although I can’t say I’ve ever had any sauna-related problems.
And PLEASE stop purporting the myth that Scandinavian countries have the highest suicide rates.
Graculussays
“Dutch sounds like a pig speaking German”
And Dutch* is the language closest to English…
*(that is, language spoken by significant numbers, IIRC Frisian is actually slightly closer.)
Grumpysays
What’s amazing is that I could tell it was a Finnish choir just by looking at their faces. They look so… Finnish. Except for some who were obviously Swedish Finns.
Baratos: “The Winter War was awesome. The Soviets had about 150 tanks for every one the Finns did, but they still lost terribly.”
Strictly speaking, the Soviets won the Winter War. The point, though, is that they won terribly.
The book mentioned above is The Winter War by Engle & Paananen. I have it next to my bed. There’s also a movie, a sort of “All Quiet on the Karelian Front.”
jomegasays
Umilik mentioned Lordi… Please allow me to direct you to the best thing on teh whole interwebs EVAR:
LORDI RULZ,DOOD!!
Bob O'Hsays
Isn’t Nightwish from Finland?
Yes, except that they announced this week that their new vocalist is Swedish.
Strictly speaking, the Soviets won the Winter War.
How so? The Soviets launched an invasion, and the Finns held them off. Strictly, surely, the Russians lost: they didn’t gain any territory.
Now the Continuation War, that’s another story. Germans are still checked for matches at the borders in Lapland.
Bob
HCNsays
Well, at least Dutch is phonetic!!!
Which is so much different than English.
I am married to a person whose father was from the Netherlands (actually the province of “Holland”)… so while talking to another person whose hubby had a Dutch name that they pronounced in a way to make less offensive in English (it included a “dam”)… she was very interested that the “aa” in hubby’s name was not pronounced like a Dutch “ee” (which is similar to the English “way”, only without the “w”)… since she had made sure that everyone else knew that her last name did not include a “damn”! At least I didn’t tell her that “v” in Dutch sounds like an English “f”. She really didn’t like that I pronounced her last name fairly Dutch like.
I love the Complaints Choirs… I would like my daughter to listen to me, but she complained that my laptop speaker was on too loud while she was trying to watch the Food Channel’s “Good Eats”.
bernardasays
One of the loveliest Finnish songs I have found is this one by Petri Pettersson.
For those who are uninitiated, the paintings shown are by one of the great painters, not only Finnish, Hugo Simberg.
The most famous Finnish painter is Gallen-Kallela.
*(that is, language spoken by significant numbers, IIRC Frisian is actually slightly closer.)
English, Dutch, Frisian and Plattdeutsch are all closely related Low German dialects. I would say it is impossible to say which is closest to which.
Lenisays
Richard, RCD wrote:
Before a football taxonomy war breaks out between DCP and Leni in a thread about a Finnish choir … I’ll explain the true situation ;)
LOL Don’t get me wrong. I loathe sports (most of all American football) and couldn’t care less what anyone calls it. I just thought DCP was being a jackass and felt compelled to say so.
But thanks for the explanation :)
(And also, it was so related to the topic! I said I’d like to put that complaint in the American complaint choir song. Neener neener!)
Lenisays
Woops. That’s Richard, FCD I think.
….
Someone (I don’t know who) wrote:
Dutch sounds like a pig speaking German.
LOl That is terrible. (But I don’t think it’s true. I can speak a little German and so can tell the difference between the two and it does not sound that bad.)
Sampo Rassi said: “Yipes, I never knew Finland was this popular…”
Unfortunately it isn’t. Neither Norway, Sweden or Denmark. Here in Venezuela it’s difficult to find someone who even has heard about the wonderful life standard (Measured as HDI) of those countries, but they will know about the lack of insurance in the US and the difficulty of getting a college degree if you are not rich neither have a scholarship. I repeatedly was outraged at this, because a lot of people thinks that the US is a model to follow, despite Chavez’ rhetoric, and they never even name more egalitarian, yet wealthy, successful and free countries, this is common in many well-educated wealthy people that opposes Chávez, (but not all of us who oppose Chávez believe that bullshit). Since I am an often-starving, working class guy who have had his chance to get a good education in science thanks to public universities, I feel disgust, anger and many ugly things when I hear that crap and when I see that no one gives a damn about how the hell did the Scandinavians to get those societies, instead they look to Cuba, North Korea (I am not kidding) or the US in the other hand. But a friend of mine came with the answer to the riddle: Scandinavia has no Hollywood.
PD:
I am a fan of humppa now.
PDPD:
I wish we had more girls like the ones from Värtinä in TV here and everywhere else. Human morphologic diversity is huge and we still see the same “perfect” bodies on TV again and again.
matterovermindsays
They could have sung it a bit better and in English.
And they weren’t all that good looking.
Posted by: Christian Burnham | May 25, 2007 01:44 AM
wow…is that what one could call ‘culturally challenged’?
Make sure you don’t hurt yourself reaching for your tv remote and cheetos at the same time.
I love the comparison of Dutch with German as spoken by pigs! The description of Dutch as a throat disease is an old one… many Dutch(wo)men will say so themselves.
The oinky sound is only one of many tricks used to keep foreigners from learning Dutch, and keep it a secret language.
But the (lack of) beauty of languages is hard to quantify. Are French, Italian and Hawaiian really prettier than Arabic, Russian and Chinese?
MrKAT, a Finnsays
I love the comparison of Dutch with German as spoken by pigs! The description of Dutch as a throat disease is an old one… “
I don’t get this. I prefer Dutch as beautiful language, especially R-voice (or the loudspeakers of our tv-set do not transmit all sounds..). But Danish is quite terrible ! Once there was a report on Finns public radio about how so many Dane immigrants don’t want learn it because it is so ugly sounding language..).
JeffLsays
wow…is that what one could call ‘culturally challenged’?
Make sure you don’t hurt yourself reaching for your tv remote and cheetos at the same time.
Posted by: matterovermind | May 26, 2007 02:42 PM
That’s what I call ‘irony-impaired’. Christian was complaining about the complaint choir.
LORDI RULZ,DOOD!!
Posted by: jomega | May 25, 2007 10:48 PM
I saw the first part of that video and realized where the idea for Dëthkløk came from.
Complaints about cellular phones? So stereotypically Finnish.
And now, I just need to find some Hungarian music by chance, and I will complete that language family in song. (A dear friend of mine was in a choir which performed an Estonian piece once.)
Graculus: Yes, Frisian is closer, but there aren’t too many speakers of that.
bernardasays
Probably a bit late for this thread, but even the Washington Post has noticed Finland.
“Finland is a leading example of the northern European view that a successful, competitive society should provide basic social services to all its citizens at affordable prices or at no cost at all. This isn’t controversial in Finland; it is taken for granted. For a patriotic American like me, the Finns present a difficult challenge: If we Americans are so rich and so smart, why can’t we treat our citizens as well as the Finns do?”
Christian Burnhamsays
Thanks JeffL.
I apologize to everyone who didn’t get my joke in post #3. That one seemed to go down like a lead balloon.
First!
Oh wait, this isn’t Eschaton…
Finland, Finland, Finland,
The country where I want to be,
Pony trekking or camping,
Or just watching TV.
Finland, Finland, Finland.
It’s the country for me.
You’re so near to Russia,
So far from Japan,
Quite a long way from Cairo,
Lots of miles from Vietnam.
Finland, Finland, Finland,
The country where I want to be,
Eating breakfast or dinner,
Or snack lunch in the hall.
Finland, Finland, Finland.
Finland has it all.
They could have sung it a bit better and in English.
And they weren’t all that good looking.
Wonderful :)
Although it is not fully correct, Finland has beaten us (Sweden) in Eurovision two years in a row now….
What would their looks have to with their ability to sing? (also welcome to the human race where people look normal?)
This was hilarious, albeit a bit to heavy on the Seinfeldian little annoyances.
Niobe, I was using Fey, where Fe=Iron.
Yes, they are whiners, but so are we all.
I liked this. It just reminds me that it doesn’t matter where you live on this rock, we all deal with the same silly things day to day.
We really are more alike than different, no matter where you are from.
OEJ
I agree with the complaints but I’d still rather live here than anywhere else…
Maybe they’d have beaten the bloody Swedes again if they’d had the sense to pick this as their Eurovision song.
Still, it’s nice to know there are vacancies for Java programmers.
For some value of “here”
I thought sure they were going to end with
“… But at least we don’t have George Bush!”
Best proof I’ve ever seen for the existence of microintelligentdesign. Of course, there has never been one single proven instance of macrointelligentdesign.
For those of you who might be wondering, “Helsingin valituskuoro” translates as “The Helsinki Lamentation Choir”, hence the subject matter.
And as a Finn, I would like to distance myself from these people. If I had my druthers, they’d be the first people deported to Siberia when the revolution came.
I love this song. There are also complaints choirs in Britain, Germany and Russia. The Russian one is particularly good.
Here is the story of a Finnish invention of a saint, Saint Urho.
“The legend of St. Urho was the invention of a Finnish-American named Richard Mattson, who worked at Ketola’s Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in spring of 1956. Mattson later recounted that he invented St. Urho when he was questioned by coworker Gene McCavic about the Finns’ lack of a saint like the Irish St. Patrick, whose feat of casting the snakes out of Ireland is remembered on St. Patrick’s Day.[1]
According to the original “Ode to St. Urho” written by Gene McCavic and Richard Mattson, St. Urho was supposed to have cast “tose ‘Rogs” (those frogs) out of Finland by the power of his loud voice, which he obtained by drinking “feelia sour” (sour whole milk) and eating “kala mojakka” (fish soup).[2]
The original “Ode to St. Urho” identified St. Urho’s Day as taking place on May 24. Later the date was changed to March 16, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. St. Urho’s feast is supposed to be celebrated by wearing the colors Royal Purple and Nile Green. Other details of the invented legend also changed, apparently under the influence of Dr. Sulo Havumäki, a psychology professor at Bemidji State College in Bemidji, Minnesota. The legend now states that St. Urho drove away grasshoppers (rather than frogs) from Finland using the incantation “Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!” (“Grasshopper, grasshopper, go from hence to Hell!”), thus saving the Finnish grape crops.[3]”
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=finnish+mythology&gwp=13
That could be the typical origin of saints everywhere.
“And they weren’t all that good looking.”
Of course that has nothing to do with singing, but did you notice one fat person, not to mention obscenely obese person, in the groups? That is also true of the Russian group. I thought they were lovely, even the most aged.
You would need a wide-angle lens to get a group of Americans that size into the scene. Of course Americans are often super-size.
Also notice, that the people are enjoying themselves!
http://www.complaintschoir.org/choirs.html
Oh great. Germany has a complaint choir? Who would have thought of that? Uhm, well, I guess everybody who knows modern day Germany. Complaining has become part of the German cultural identitiy, just like hating the Dutch football team (real football, not “American football”, mind you.).
Americans for example seemed always to be much more optimistic than the average German (albeit too optimistic or friendly at times. This irritates us old, grumpy middle-Europeans.).
You see? I am complaining about the complaining of my people, right now! Curse you German ancestry, curse you!
On se niin väärin. (tr. It is not fair.)
Now that was fracking funny!
Great when the conductor had to answer his cell phone.
Ah, Finland!
A great ally of Nazi Germany in the war!
Helped block off Leningrad and kill millions of those pesky Russians.
Finland, oh Finland…
I always thought that the Finnish language sounded wonderful. Plenty of round vowels, not too many of the harsh ‘s’s that plague English. MMMmmmmm. . . sonorous.
Yes, I noted that it was the chorus a few times. It is probably the neighbor competition thing, because as I understand it Finland has beaten Sweden in hockey at many times as well.
Not that I would complain, of course…
Yes, I noted that it was the chorus a few times. It is probably the neighbor competition thing, because as I understand it Finland has beaten Sweden in hockey at many times as well.
Not that I would complain, of course…
Commies, humbert, commies. In fact, I think the Fins killed enough of them to make Gen Jack D Ripper proud.
Whine, whine, whine.. no wonder the Finns have the highest alcoholism and suicide rate in Europe (then again maybe the two are connected considering the outlandish cost of booze in Finland). Actually Finland won the 2006 Eurovision song contest (what a bizarre contest that is) with this band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordi
Barely better than suicide….
I guess I’d complain (and/or lament) too if my compatriots were always whacking my naked back with birch branches, making me sweat in a sauna and then jump into a frozen lake, and people were still bitching about the actions of my grandparents’ generation’s government in a war 60 years ago.
Do they eat lutefisk there? I’d want to complain about that too.
Funny you note that. Some finnish people (there are still swedish speaking groups in Finland, but I’m not sure if it is them) can have a very beautiful and melodious accent in swedish.
Now I hear that swedish may be more melodious than some other european languages (which I myself can’t hear, I am too used to the common accent) so I guess that is really topping it.
Funny you note that. Some finnish people (there are still swedish speaking groups in Finland, but I’m not sure if it is them) can have a very beautiful and melodious accent in swedish.
Now I hear that swedish may be more melodious than some other european languages (which I myself can’t hear, I am too used to the common accent) so I guess that is really topping it.
They need to get up off their asses and go viking. The east coast of Florida seems particularly ripe and deserving of the plucking. ;-)
When they mention the irritating ring tones – is that the cadence of the Nokia default ring tone they’re using?
That was great. I want to hear more Finnish language music! Oh, and why was there such a long pause at the end with nothing. It was too long. (My complaint about the Complaint Choir video, heehee! (is it still ironic if it’s intentional (I hate nested parentheses.)))
The St. Petersburg one:
… there’s something very appropriate about complaining to an accordion accompaniment. (Larson reference: ‘Welcome to hell–here’s your accordion.’)
Ah, Finland!
A great ally of Nazi Germany in the war!
Humbert, true enough, but in all fairness the Finns shared the Nazi ideology and were certainly never considered part of the axis powers. Finland had been dominated by the Russians for over a century and wanted to preserve its fledgling independence. This was more a case of the old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” philosophy than a shared believe in some Nazi ideology. The Nazis of course had true allies such as the Italians and Japanese, but it’s not nice to mention that in polite company anymore.
Oops, what I meant to say in the first sentence was that the Finns NEVER SHARED the Nazi ideology.
Itchy trigger finger syndrome…
Is there a complaint choir competition? If not, there should be. And we need an atheist complaint choir!
No one understands science,
The fundies are taking over,
You can’t rid the world of God,
No matter how hard you try,
My argument for the non-existence of God is unconvincing,
Kent Hovind is in jail and he still won’t shut up,
Chris Hitchens supported the Iraq war,
The Pope is playing dress up again,
And theistic evolution is everywhere.
The faith-heads are immune to argument,
The faith-heads are immune to argument,
The faith-heads are immune to argument!
Having nothing whatsoever to do with this thread, but since it’s the first one for 25th May I feel compelled to wish everyone a very Happy Towel Day.
I now return you to your regular whin… er, programming.
DCP wrote:
I’m going to suggest to the American complaint choir that they add a whine about the fact that every time “football” comes up in a conversation with Euros, we must be condescendingly reminded that it is “real football”, not American football.
I always feel like saying “Really? Wow. I didn’t know there was a difference. I thought European football was just the same as ours, except that the players kick a black and white ball around without ever managing to score points just like they do in soccer.”
But I never do. Maybe next time I will :P
is that the cadence of the Nokia default ring tone they’re using?
Yes. I inhaled coffee at that point.
Barely better than suicide….
I’d rather listen to Finnish deathmetal than Celine Dion wannabes, thankyouverymuch.
Or perhaps Finnish love metal?
Linus Torvalds comes from Finland. And he speaks Swedish. I think that alone absolves the Finns of everything they have ever done or ever might do in future.
Leni wrote:
Don’t you say. You are absolutely right, I just make the distinction between American football and football just because I think you Americans are too stupid to see the difference.
But seriously, a lot of Americans think of American football when they hear the term “football”. They only think of football when you call it soccer (which is a faux-pas in England, btw.).
Oh and by the way, it’s almost never about the points which are scored in football. It’s either about getting drunk for no good reason, or about shedding some blood of Christia… uhm, Fans of the other team, or everything combined. ;)
I’d never heard of Complaint Choirs before. Great idea, although I think we irony-impaired Americans might not get it. The Finns apparently have a surfeit of irony and a dearth of rhyming words.
CalGeorge has a good idea. Why not have a scienceblogger evilutionist complaints choir? Better get on it before the Mormon Tabernacle Choir does.
Tom, here is the Finnish group CMX. I have no idea what the songs are about.
Here is a female singer, Minne katosi päivät. I don’t know if that is the person or the group.
There are many more there, but I have no more idea what they are about.
It’s interesting to see what people in various countries complain about. I gather the Finns take saunas and ice hockey seriously, and they have to pay a TV license (similar to the UK I suppose).
Finland had been dominated by the Russians for over a century and wanted to preserve its fledgling independence. This was more a case of the old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” philosophy than a shared believe in some Nazi ideology.
In fact, the Allies were planning to come to the aid of Finland against the Soviets right at the start of WWII (they were at war). I’m not sure how that would have played out in the long run.
I hate complaint choirs,
The one from Canada realy sucks,
Because the singers smile too much!
The one from Birmingham has crappy lyrics,
And they could use a lot more practice.
PZ found the only good one,
The rest of you can pack it up.
I’ve heard this a couple of times before but still love it. Thanks for playing it again
A great ally of Nazi Germany in the war! Helped block off Leningrad and kill millions of those pesky Russians.
Finland did not participate in the siege of Leningrad except by guarding the nearby border and front. Stalin shared your opinion that the Finns had no right to have a part of their country so close to the city, but you might as well blame Peter the Great for poor choice of location.
“Pietari Suuri hattunsa polki, suutari pieri pottunsa halki”
Thorbjörn, as an Englishman who lives in Germany, has a Dutch half sister, has lived in Sweden and used to have a Norwegian girlfriend to my ears (and I spent a large part of my life working as a successful professional sound technician so my “ear” should be fairly good) the Scandinavian languages are the most melodic of the Germanic languages and Dutch is the least melodic. An English friend of mine who was a crewman on the Rainbow Warrior, which was stationed in Rotterdam, used to say that Dutch is not a language but a disease of the throat. (If that doesn’t bring the Dutch readers of this blog out onto the barricades nothing will.)
A.J. Milne; obviously you do not know the Finno-American band KTU featuring Kimmo Pohjonen on accordion! They are one of the best instrumental improvisational rock bands in the universe.
mmm … Finnish music … not a lot to chose from. Sibleius of course if you like classical, and I remember Hanoi Rocks being their best rock effort when I was there in the early 80s.
I spent a wonderful summer in a very small northern town – lost in the woods 40km east of Oulu.
I was a freak ’cause I didn’t have blond hair. The Finns are some of the greatest people on the planet, and I think world culture would be much richer if their form of dancing known as humppa was more widely known. I can only describe humppa as a combination of high-speed foxtrot/polka, interspersed with limping and bouncing.
@Thony … Dutch being a disease of the throat … that was new to me and I may use it in the future.
My preferred insult until hearing it was … “Dutch sounds like a pig speaking German”
I was going to say this was the funniest thing I’d seen all day, but I saw the cat giving a tongue bath to the baby bunnies on Cute Overload the same day, so it’s kind of a toss-up. Pretty darned great, though.
“I want to hear more Finnish language music!”
Check out Varttina. Unspeakably gorgeous harmonies, somehow both eerie and soaring. Start with “Seleniko.” Hedningarna is also grand, also in the haunting, “chills down your spine beautiful” department.
And yes — we need an atheist complaints chorus. Can I add to the above:
Sex ed policies are based on
What makes baby Jesus cry
And folks won’t give up believing in heaven
‘Cuz nobody wants to die
…I think world culture would be much richer if their form of dancing known as humppa was more widely known.
Obligatory Eläkeläiset reference:
Other essential Finnish music styles:
Rautalanka
Suomirock
Whoops, those last two links should be the other way around, but I guess you wouldn’t know the difference anyway :)
The present state of Finnish music, here’s PMMP:
@ Windy … yes, now I remember Eppu Normaali too being big in Finland in the early 80s.
But their music is not my ‘cup of Kilju’ ;)
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/index.html
It is not true that the Finns have the highest suicide rate in Europe.
There are several countries in Europe that have higher rates.
DCP wrote:
Oh is that why you said it? I thought you were just trying to be helpful in a patronizing, annoying, self-congradulatory, snotty, insulting kind of way.
Why on earth wouldn’t we? That’s what we call it. That’s what most of us have called it all our lives. That’s sort of the point of language. It makes you think of the thing that is being referred to.
In related news, an American is terribly disappointed to discover that the “rocket” in their salad is really just some crappy arugula and not a tiny, plate-sized ballistic missile of some sort. Several angry demands for explanations follow.
Then it’s a good thing Americans aren’t English then, isn’t it?
Before a football taxonomy war breaks out between DCP and Leni in a thread about a Finnish choir … I’ll explain the true situation ;)
In most of the English-speaking world Association Football is known as simply football. Those countries, i.e. USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland that have other forms of football (American Football, Australian Rules, rugby or Gaelic) refer to their variant as ‘football’ and Association Football is commonly know as soccer.
So you might argue that it is only in countries that are impoverished in terms of the number of football variants they have that Association Football carries the name football.
Aahh, death metal from Finland. What an incredible band…
If they think things are bad in Finland, they should spend some time in Jesusland … er … the US of A!!
I recommend Sentenced for happy-go-lucky, cheerful metal fans.
Isn’t Nightwish from Finland?
They’re fun. In their way. :-)
The Winter War was awesome. The Soviets had about 150 tanks for every one the Finns did, but they still lost terribly.
That was fun. As to slamming Finland for being allied with Hitler. Churchill said he would make an alliance with the Devil to defeat Hitler. Finland (while staying democratic) made an alliance with Hitler to survive Stalin. Savory democracies will do unsavory things to survive. History shows that there are three countries you don’t want to invade. Thailand, which was never successfully colonized. Afghanistan, which as invader is fairly easy to travel through, but will eat your empire if you stay (usually through the invaders’ own hubris. – A lesson we Americans should look at). And Finland. Once the idea of a Soumi nation took hold in the 19th century they are a nation not worth occupying. The meat grinder Winter Wars between Finland and the Soviet Union show that.
Note: There is a strong intersection between Hegelian dialectic and natural selection. Hegel said that Thesis + antithesis becomes Synthesis. Bear with me here. A historical economic system when in conflict with what can destroy that system results in a new paradigm, or new system which incorporates both the old and the new. A group of organisms, through natural selection, will respond to a change in their environment, by over time become a different kind of group of organisms That is they have retained most of their older characteristics but survive and/or thrive because those changes allow them to do so.
I look at the success of the Scandinavian countries in achieving the highest Human Development Indices scores that most international institutions attempt to measure. They have generally succeeded in melding Capitalism and Socialism into ‘Social Democracy’. If you were old, ill, and required medication to maintain an independent lifestyle where would you want to live?
It really is a shame that American, Canadian, Australian and Gaelic football were named that way. They’re really much more similar to rugby, and as there are fewer rugby playing nations than “soccer” playing nations, there would have been much less confusion.
I still use football for “soccer” because you primarily move the ball with your foot. I like to call the other games throwball. Except for rugby, which I call the best game on Earth.
I quite liked the choir. Although I can’t say I’ve ever had any sauna-related problems.
And PLEASE stop purporting the myth that Scandinavian countries have the highest suicide rates.
“Dutch sounds like a pig speaking German”
And Dutch* is the language closest to English…
*(that is, language spoken by significant numbers, IIRC Frisian is actually slightly closer.)
What’s amazing is that I could tell it was a Finnish choir just by looking at their faces. They look so… Finnish. Except for some who were obviously Swedish Finns.
Baratos: “The Winter War was awesome. The Soviets had about 150 tanks for every one the Finns did, but they still lost terribly.”
Strictly speaking, the Soviets won the Winter War. The point, though, is that they won terribly.
The book mentioned above is The Winter War by Engle & Paananen. I have it next to my bed. There’s also a movie, a sort of “All Quiet on the Karelian Front.”
Umilik mentioned Lordi… Please allow me to direct you to the best thing on teh whole interwebs EVAR:
LORDI RULZ,DOOD!!
Yes, except that they announced this week that their new vocalist is Swedish.
How so? The Soviets launched an invasion, and the Finns held them off. Strictly, surely, the Russians lost: they didn’t gain any territory.
Now the Continuation War, that’s another story. Germans are still checked for matches at the borders in Lapland.
Bob
Well, at least Dutch is phonetic!!!
Which is so much different than English.
I am married to a person whose father was from the Netherlands (actually the province of “Holland”)… so while talking to another person whose hubby had a Dutch name that they pronounced in a way to make less offensive in English (it included a “dam”)… she was very interested that the “aa” in hubby’s name was not pronounced like a Dutch “ee” (which is similar to the English “way”, only without the “w”)… since she had made sure that everyone else knew that her last name did not include a “damn”! At least I didn’t tell her that “v” in Dutch sounds like an English “f”. She really didn’t like that I pronounced her last name fairly Dutch like.
(it took me a while, but I found a place where the various Dutch vowel sounds could be heard: http://homepage.mac.com/schuffelen/proexerc.html )
I love the Complaints Choirs… I would like my daughter to listen to me, but she complained that my laptop speaker was on too loud while she was trying to watch the Food Channel’s “Good Eats”.
One of the loveliest Finnish songs I have found is this one by Petri Pettersson.
For those who are uninitiated, the paintings shown are by one of the great painters, not only Finnish, Hugo Simberg.
The most famous Finnish painter is Gallen-Kallela.
http://www.gallen-kallela.fi/english.html
http://www.niksula.hut.fi/~xyu/kale-gb/gapic.html
“How so? The Soviets launched an invasion, and the Finns held them off. Strictly, surely, the Russians lost: they didn’t gain any territory”
False, Finns lost Karelia and some parts of Salla. But it may be considered a phyrric victory for the Soviets.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Finnish_areas_ceded_in_1940.png
“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”
Of course, that’s why the USA helped Stalin out. It was a lousy choice to have to make, but I still believe it was the right one at the time.
-jcr
English, Dutch, Frisian and Plattdeutsch are all closely related Low German dialects. I would say it is impossible to say which is closest to which.
Richard, RCD wrote:
LOL Don’t get me wrong. I loathe sports (most of all American football) and couldn’t care less what anyone calls it. I just thought DCP was being a jackass and felt compelled to say so.
But thanks for the explanation :)
(And also, it was so related to the topic! I said I’d like to put that complaint in the American complaint choir song. Neener neener!)
Woops. That’s Richard, FCD I think.
….
Someone (I don’t know who) wrote:
LOl That is terrible. (But I don’t think it’s true. I can speak a little German and so can tell the difference between the two and it does not sound that bad.)
Yipes, I never knew Finland was this popular…
Sampo Rassi said: “Yipes, I never knew Finland was this popular…”
Unfortunately it isn’t. Neither Norway, Sweden or Denmark. Here in Venezuela it’s difficult to find someone who even has heard about the wonderful life standard (Measured as HDI) of those countries, but they will know about the lack of insurance in the US and the difficulty of getting a college degree if you are not rich neither have a scholarship. I repeatedly was outraged at this, because a lot of people thinks that the US is a model to follow, despite Chavez’ rhetoric, and they never even name more egalitarian, yet wealthy, successful and free countries, this is common in many well-educated wealthy people that opposes Chávez, (but not all of us who oppose Chávez believe that bullshit). Since I am an often-starving, working class guy who have had his chance to get a good education in science thanks to public universities, I feel disgust, anger and many ugly things when I hear that crap and when I see that no one gives a damn about how the hell did the Scandinavians to get those societies, instead they look to Cuba, North Korea (I am not kidding) or the US in the other hand. But a friend of mine came with the answer to the riddle: Scandinavia has no Hollywood.
PD:
I am a fan of humppa now.
PDPD:
I wish we had more girls like the ones from Värtinä in TV here and everywhere else. Human morphologic diversity is huge and we still see the same “perfect” bodies on TV again and again.
They could have sung it a bit better and in English.
And they weren’t all that good looking.
Posted by: Christian Burnham | May 25, 2007 01:44 AM
wow…is that what one could call ‘culturally challenged’?
Make sure you don’t hurt yourself reaching for your tv remote and cheetos at the same time.
I love the comparison of Dutch with German as spoken by pigs! The description of Dutch as a throat disease is an old one… many Dutch(wo)men will say so themselves.
The oinky sound is only one of many tricks used to keep foreigners from learning Dutch, and keep it a secret language.
But the (lack of) beauty of languages is hard to quantify. Are French, Italian and Hawaiian really prettier than Arabic, Russian and Chinese?
I love the comparison of Dutch with German as spoken by pigs! The description of Dutch as a throat disease is an old one… “
I don’t get this. I prefer Dutch as beautiful language, especially R-voice (or the loudspeakers of our tv-set do not transmit all sounds..). But Danish is quite terrible ! Once there was a report on Finns public radio about how so many Dane immigrants don’t want learn it because it is so ugly sounding language..).
wow…is that what one could call ‘culturally challenged’?
Make sure you don’t hurt yourself reaching for your tv remote and cheetos at the same time.
Posted by: matterovermind | May 26, 2007 02:42 PM
That’s what I call ‘irony-impaired’. Christian was complaining about the complaint choir.
LORDI RULZ,DOOD!!
Posted by: jomega | May 25, 2007 10:48 PM
I saw the first part of that video and realized where the idea for Dëthkløk came from.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathklok
Speaking of Danish:
I have three cows to feed
Complaints about cellular phones? So stereotypically Finnish.
And now, I just need to find some Hungarian music by chance, and I will complete that language family in song. (A dear friend of mine was in a choir which performed an Estonian piece once.)
Graculus: Yes, Frisian is closer, but there aren’t too many speakers of that.
Probably a bit late for this thread, but even the Washington Post has noticed Finland.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/05/AR2005080502015.html
“Finland is a leading example of the northern European view that a successful, competitive society should provide basic social services to all its citizens at affordable prices or at no cost at all. This isn’t controversial in Finland; it is taken for granted. For a patriotic American like me, the Finns present a difficult challenge: If we Americans are so rich and so smart, why can’t we treat our citizens as well as the Finns do?”
Thanks JeffL.
I apologize to everyone who didn’t get my joke in post #3. That one seemed to go down like a lead balloon.