Swamp
Confessions of an Academic Pseudo-Giraffe
31.5.04
I'm sitting and working in my new and comfortable office chair in my new office behind several glass doors in our new university building. I feel well protected and insulated. The semester now over, all I hear is slight rattle and hum from the air conditioning system. Everything's light and clean. The women in the restaurant in the main building know my face and think I'm still a student (= undergrad = a Master's student) and try to sell me food for half the just price.
16:41
30.5.04
Just came home from a little night out with two nice Tanzanian fellas.
But the real issue today concerns cars and phones. While I was still in the USA, my wife's father decided to buy us a car. Awfully nice of him - we have true need for our own private four-wheel vehicle at least a dozen times a year.
People who know me also know that I'm not particularly fond of telephones in general. Now these two machines - cars and phones - have joined forces in establishing a dilemma for me. In this country, handling the phone while driving is illegal, which means that everyone has three options: not to answer their phones or call anyone on the road, to answer or call in the traditional way and consequently break the law, or to use a hands-free apparatus. Our car, incidentally, has an elaborate HF system installed and ready. The only problem is that our phones are not compatible with that kit; in fact, only a few (Nokia) phones are. We have three (legal) options: to switch to compatible phones, to switch to a kit that fits our phones, or to get a less advanced and more generic HF system for our car. Since I'm planning to buy a new phone anyway, I may choose the first alternative - even though the phone models that go with the car kit we have are either old or unnecessarily fancy and expensive. There's something strange in going to these lengths to make the main product fit the accessory. At least we're not going to buy a car according to what kind of HF kit or phones we have.
Maybe I'll start buying only used cell phones from now on. That would be congruous with the modest importance I place on them. I don't need or even want advanced data connections on my phone. I have a computer for that. Sound delivery and text messages are all I want (from phones, that is). 01:36
But the real issue today concerns cars and phones. While I was still in the USA, my wife's father decided to buy us a car. Awfully nice of him - we have true need for our own private four-wheel vehicle at least a dozen times a year.
People who know me also know that I'm not particularly fond of telephones in general. Now these two machines - cars and phones - have joined forces in establishing a dilemma for me. In this country, handling the phone while driving is illegal, which means that everyone has three options: not to answer their phones or call anyone on the road, to answer or call in the traditional way and consequently break the law, or to use a hands-free apparatus. Our car, incidentally, has an elaborate HF system installed and ready. The only problem is that our phones are not compatible with that kit; in fact, only a few (Nokia) phones are. We have three (legal) options: to switch to compatible phones, to switch to a kit that fits our phones, or to get a less advanced and more generic HF system for our car. Since I'm planning to buy a new phone anyway, I may choose the first alternative - even though the phone models that go with the car kit we have are either old or unnecessarily fancy and expensive. There's something strange in going to these lengths to make the main product fit the accessory. At least we're not going to buy a car according to what kind of HF kit or phones we have.
Maybe I'll start buying only used cell phones from now on. That would be congruous with the modest importance I place on them. I don't need or even want advanced data connections on my phone. I have a computer for that. Sound delivery and text messages are all I want (from phones, that is). 01:36
27.5.04
Here's one of the most relevant overviews on the state of the world right now: Amnesty International Report 2004
11:19
25.5.04
This scenario of gargantuan ambition that people call the EU never ceases to amaze anyone who likes to observe how international politics (refuse to) work. We have 25 countries, several of them with marked inner divisions, with relatively few common interests, and decision making is still supposed to be based on some kind of consensus. Now that the constitution is being negotiated on, several Catholic countries insist on a reference to God in the text, while most Protestants would rather just keep church and politics apart. And if Turkey ever comes along, a constitution leaning on Christianity will produce a lot of trouble.
Of course, religious issues are merely one part of Europe's major dividing forces. Mediterraneans think that the North is cold, dull, and tasteless. Northern Europeans think that in the South people have neither a sense of moral backbone nor awareness of what goes on in the world. There was an excellent little playful article in the monthly magazine of Helsingin Sanomat, titled "Reasonable Union", suggesting that a group of northern countries ("only the Protestant countries of efficacy and discipline") form a union of their own: one where things work. Some translations:
This new union would naturally comprise the Nordic Countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Germany of course. Although half of the Dutch are Catholic, the neat and punctual clog people could perhaps be allowed in. [...]
It is a pity that the solemn Calvinist of Switzerland, with their banks, are impossible to persuade into joining. They would fit in well in this group of reasonable nations. [...]
The Protestant Union is a union of sausages, beer, butter-fried food, and symphony music. It is tidy, and everything's in order. [...]
Individuals are responsible for their actions, as Luther taught; there's no need for Popes and saints. [...]
We will produce the necessary number of children and divorce if we feel like it.
Football is played with integrity. Crybabies and divers remain on the other side of the border. 0-0 equals shame for both teams. [...]
The meter shows the price of the taxi ride.
The waiter returns tips. [...]
Short and brisk meetings, clear schedules. Stick to them. Away with chitchat and trifles.
We want a world where, upon an emergency, we can call 112 [=911], not our cousin's ambulance firm.
10:55
Of course, religious issues are merely one part of Europe's major dividing forces. Mediterraneans think that the North is cold, dull, and tasteless. Northern Europeans think that in the South people have neither a sense of moral backbone nor awareness of what goes on in the world. There was an excellent little playful article in the monthly magazine of Helsingin Sanomat, titled "Reasonable Union", suggesting that a group of northern countries ("only the Protestant countries of efficacy and discipline") form a union of their own: one where things work. Some translations:
This new union would naturally comprise the Nordic Countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Germany of course. Although half of the Dutch are Catholic, the neat and punctual clog people could perhaps be allowed in. [...]
It is a pity that the solemn Calvinist of Switzerland, with their banks, are impossible to persuade into joining. They would fit in well in this group of reasonable nations. [...]
The Protestant Union is a union of sausages, beer, butter-fried food, and symphony music. It is tidy, and everything's in order. [...]
Individuals are responsible for their actions, as Luther taught; there's no need for Popes and saints. [...]
We will produce the necessary number of children and divorce if we feel like it.
Football is played with integrity. Crybabies and divers remain on the other side of the border. 0-0 equals shame for both teams. [...]
The meter shows the price of the taxi ride.
The waiter returns tips. [...]
Short and brisk meetings, clear schedules. Stick to them. Away with chitchat and trifles.
We want a world where, upon an emergency, we can call 112 [=911], not our cousin's ambulance firm.
10:55
24.5.04
19.5.04
Yesterday I paid my first visit to the new building housing the Faculty of Humanities here in Tampere. The white thing has lots of glass and steel; it seems to be a deliberate departure from the traditions of classical or neoclassical or Art Nouveau or functionalist or (fill in the blank) public buildings. There's an air of cleanliness and efficacy hovering in that space. The standardised offices are located along long, light-coloured corridors with smooth surfaces where my sneakers made a whining sound on each step. If our old cosy, slightly impractical but relatively spacious building by the edge of the Pyynikki Ridge was a sheltered home for Suspicious Disciplines of Limited Profitability, the new one is either a hospital where They (the Powerful Healers of Academic Disease) try to mend our ways, or a chemical factory where a magical compound is being developed for the salvation of the languages in a culture of productivity. But it does have a cool tube connecting the fifth floor to the main building of the university.
15:40
17.5.04
Here I am, back home, with a relatively empty head. Having some trouble sleeping again, as usual after return trips from the Americas. Last night, I finally lost consciousness after about three hours of rolling frustration. Today's agenda: get a grip.
Oh, I have a digital camera now, Canon PowerShot S50. Picked it up in Brooklyn last week and took some trial shots of the Manhattan skyline. My normal modest start. The software section of the manual offers an insightfully memorable piece of advice for all true beginners: "Movie images cannot be printed". 11:08
Oh, I have a digital camera now, Canon PowerShot S50. Picked it up in Brooklyn last week and took some trial shots of the Manhattan skyline. My normal modest start. The software section of the manual offers an insightfully memorable piece of advice for all true beginners: "Movie images cannot be printed". 11:08
11.5.04
OK, I'm going now. Shaking the dust of Cleveland from my feet. Getting out of here. I have no idea whether I'm coming back or not.
But what's conventional geography anyway, when we have these things (yes, these)? Well, (lack of) physical distance can still mean everything. Sometimes you just need a body, as some wise person has said.
05:13
But what's conventional geography anyway, when we have these things (yes, these)? Well, (lack of) physical distance can still mean everything. Sometimes you just need a body, as some wise person has said.
05:13
7.5.04
Three days after I arrived in Cleveland last August, I went to a salsa club. I wasn't expecting to end up dancing salsa that night, but our group somehow wound up there with me in it. I learned a primitive version of the basic front-back step and spent some time on the floor moving like a malfunctioning robot and just generally looking horrible.
Today, with a few more days left for me to stay in this city, I went salsa dancing again. This time I knew roughly what I was getting. In addition to the front step pattern, I learned the side step and a few turns I will have forgotten tomorrow. I spent some time on the floor moving like a robot and looking horrible, but possibly slightly less horrible than the first time.
Every now and then, time does appear to have an underlying cyclical organisation. 08:19
Today, with a few more days left for me to stay in this city, I went salsa dancing again. This time I knew roughly what I was getting. In addition to the front step pattern, I learned the side step and a few turns I will have forgotten tomorrow. I spent some time on the floor moving like a robot and looking horrible, but possibly slightly less horrible than the first time.
Every now and then, time does appear to have an underlying cyclical organisation. 08:19
