Outskirts of Helsinki

On the outer areas of Helsinki, there are some suburbs built by the Russians during their final years in Finland. These houses were built for the workers of the newly industrialized Helsinki. These buildings are very trendy to live in now and expensive. They also come in slightly different styles but are similar with the up and down long plank siding.

 There was also this place with the interesting window pattern and offset design.

Helsinki - Savotta Restaurant

Savotta restaurant is an upscale Finnish restaurant on Senate Square. It was the meal that the convention friends gathered and consumed exceptional food.

Some berry and sauce amuse bouche for the group.

 The menu that myself and my wife chose as well as others present that night. I had the alcohol pairings.

 Don't worry, this was for two people!

 

A lovely illuminated sight when leaving the restaurant. Slept well that night.

Helsinki - Day 2 of Worldcon 75

Day 2 of Worldcon 75 was a moderate day with five panels attended.

Visiting Kalevala Heritage from a North American Standpoint: Matias Bergora, Anna Dillman, Konsta Klemetti
-Focus was on an IP created by a Finnish company to bring the folklore of the Kalevala to world audiences, in particular their comic Iron Danger. It was interesting for a behind the scenes look at the comic making process between people in far away places. They also spoke briefly about a film on the same subject.
-An amusing question was from one audience member who asked how the group felt about appropriation of another culture when it was Finnish people who sought out the artists outside of their country to do the drawing. It was like he wasn't listening during the talk and wanted to be offended regardless.

Appeal of the Bland Protagonist: Caroline Stevermer, Robert Silverberg, Kari Sperring, Angus Watson
-Some very good points made by the panelists. Normal in their own world does not mean they are normal to us. If main charachter is bland the secondary characters must shine. Bland can be relatable but cannot remain so. Can use bland protagonist to bridge the gap tot eh fantastic as an observer. A character could seem bland but could be hiding the horrible/fantastic/insane.

NASA and the Future: Norma J Knotts
-Among other things, talked about and showed images of
                   -ES1 Orion manned spacecraft
                   -R5 Valkyrie Robot
                   -Chris Hatfield video explaining how to use the bathroom in space
                   -Commercial Crew Program to save NASA money

Remember Who Is Boss: Golem as a Jewish Joke with Rots and a Universal Admonition: Ellen Miriam Pederson
-The woman who gave this knows her subject matter but I was lost during most of the presentation. It was part of the academic track and my wife hit the nail on the head when she said it was like it was the middle of the term on a subject and we missed all the other classes before it. I agreed. With little introduction on the subject the presenter just bored right through as if we had known the previous classes. I never went to another academic track or long title panel the rest of the con. I did take some notes for story and plot ideas though so not a total waste of my time.

Darkness at the Heart of Original Folktales: Dalia Sherman, Linn, Anaea Lay, Michael R Underwood
-Some interesting points in this very good panel were:
               -Folktales are sacred narratives where the thing that must not be done is introduced and the character does it with two outcomes; doom and/or maiming, reforms and corrects behavior
               -Stories have been changed over the years as more transitions to adulthood are created to "protect" youth (childhood to adulthood changing to baby/toddler/child/preteen/teenager/young adult/adult)
               -When folktales were sanitized it was because they wanted sanitation of their society
               -They were used to prepare a people for necessary violence against another

Cool Wonder Woman and Shredder costume

 Giant 3D printed Ticket to Ride Europe game board

Helsinki - Wanha Mylly Restaurant

The Wahna Mylly restaurant is situated in an old 18th century farm steward's estate on the outskirts of Helsinki. It has been operating for 45 years. It was a great meal.

 More of that great bread!

 Morel soup with white South Moravian wine.

 Fresh water pan seared whitefish with potatoes, fried fennel, and cream sauce.

 Here is a picture of the old house.

 It also has some grounds that is available as a park.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Home and Museum

The Gallen-Kallela Museum is based in his home and property on the outskirts of Helsinki, Finland.

Andre Gallen-Kallela was a multi-method artist who lived from 1865 to 1931 and was most renown for producing art based on the Finnish folklore of the Kalevala. He was also asked to design the flags and uniforms of the Finnish military after the civil war. The following was some of the work that my wife and I liked.

 "Ice Breaking at Ruovesi"; 1916; oil on canvas

 "A Guilty Conscience Needs No Accuser"; 1897; stained glass

 Designs for a place dedicated to the Kalevala, which was never realized.

 "Portrait of Professor E.M. Setala"; 1911, oil on canvas

 "Kullervo with a Herd of Wild Beasts"; 1909, oil on canvas

 "Kullervo with a Herd of Wild Beasts"; 1920, bronze relief

 "Kirsti"; 1915, watercolour on paper

 "Broken Pine"; 1906, oil on canvas

 "Portrait of Mrs. Phyllis Sjostrom"; 1914, oil on canvas

 "Winter Landscape"; 1917, oil on canvas

 "Portrait of Professor Mathias Anselm Ayropaa"; 1913, oil on canvas

This is just a portion of what is on display. We were so impressed by this fellows work that we bought a large book and planned to go visit the Art museum downtown Helsinki to see some of his other works.

Helsinki - First day of Worldcon 75

So today was the first day of Worldcon number 75. The premier science-fiction and fantasy convention. One of the writer GOHs was Walter Jon Williams, whom I've read two books of his: Hardwired and Aristoi (one of my top sci-fi books). The science GOH was Ian Stewart. The special guest was Dr. Kjell N. Lindgren, a NASA astronaut that spent 141 days on the ISS. He was supposed to be at the Spokane, WA Worldcon (our first Worldcon) but was picked for STS-130.

Registration went off very smoothly so it seems that we did not have to get here so early, as the first panels started at 11am. The convention center was very well laid out, bright and clean.

 This is what we got in the loot bag!

 As per most conventions, some things did not open on time like the dealers room.

There was a good food place at the convention site called "Meet and Eat". They are buffet style and has lots to choose from with a few choices of mains. It was our preferred place for lunches although they also did suppers.

Now the bad. The convention organizers were expecting around four to five thousand attendees. They got just over seven thousand. That meant that day passes after the first day were limited to one-hundred people. The extra people also meant semi-organized lineups and not being able to get into some of the panels I wanted to see. The lineups did get much better organized by the third day and to make it fair for everyone, those without disabilities had to leave after a panel and line up again for the next if it was in the same room. This demolished a tactic I have used in past conventions but was democratic and fair.

I did not attend any panels today because of long lineups and meeting with a person in the afternoon for touring around.

Helsinki - Walk to Messukeskus for Worldcon 75

Today was the first day of Worldcon 75 and we wanted to get some exercise in. Therefore we walked North to the Messukeskus convention center, about a 35 minute walk.

Fortunate for us, the walk was through parkland and on a walking/biking trail for most of the journey.

 Some very nice houses were along the pathway as well.

 There were some parts that were sparse but still good.

Even flowers with pollinating insects to brighten the day.

Finally the convention center, Messukeskus!