2010 will go down in history as the year where the 4 seasons were picture perfect herabouts in the far north (@banton dixit). If you don’t believe me, check out the stuff below.
Autumn in Finland
Category Archives: in english
Astronomy
I’ve been interested in astronomy since I was a little kid. Became a member of the Planetary Society around the age of 9 and begged and cajoled my parents into getting a telescope (which wouldn’t have been very useful given the amount of light pollution in Mexico City). The interest remained as I attended observation nights in high school and university but life went on. When I moved to Finland I found out there was an astronomical society, but unfortunately for me back then all its literature was in Finnish.
My parents remembered my interest, so when I graduated from my first degree I was given a Meade DS-2060AT telescope. It is not one of the fanciest out there, but it gets the job done. I’ve been able to watch the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and some deep space objects in the darkest nights Finland has to offer. The pictures below don’t do justice to how things look with your own eyes, but hey, it can probably give you an idea.
Football video games and simulation
I have been playing FIFA 11 over Xbox live with some friends (gamertag: chivacongelado). I was struck by how accurate the simulation is nowadays. Trying to dribble or sprint your way around a defense definitely doesn’t work anymore, and you need to be well aware of the tactical advantages and disadvantages of playing a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1, to give an example. At least with the people I’ve been playing online, possession football seems to be your best bet. This style is both close to my heart and the way Spain won the World Cup in the summer, which makes me wonder whether it influenced the development of the game.
I never thought I needed to read Zonal Marking to play a video game, but at least I really enjoy the experience.
Welcoming N8
Mexican Bicentennial celebrations
It is not every day that a country celebrates its 200th birthday. Boston.com shared a beautiful set of pictures of the parades and main events, but I wanted to give you my impressions from the ground as we were lucky enough to be there.
Mexico City & Ixtapan de la Sal
We spent two weeks in Mexico on holiday. We didn’t have any plans for travelling around the country as the main goals were to participate in certain social occasions: we attended a wedding, birthdays, the Mexican Independence Bicentennial and even the birth of my niece. Even so, we managed to slip away for a couple of nights to Ixtapan de la Sal, a small spa town not far away from Mexico City.
Turkey one last time
Was in Istanbul, Kayseri & Ankara to see through the project that has brought me to Turkey. Since we were over a week here we had some time to see some of the sights, which was more than welcome. A big thanks to my colleagues and business partners for making the project a success and the stay enjoyable.
Recommended book: The pleasures and sorrows of work
I was going to write a review of this Alain de Botton book whose theme is why and when work is meaningful (answer: when it creates delight or reduces suffering in others), but obviously somebody else had made a better job of it.
Somehow I found this ode to how important and significant jobs which we wouldn’t otherwise notice such as power transmission engineering or fishing and food logistics strangely uplifting for a simple reason: I can fully identify with the drive to create delight in others through the results of my efforts.
We end up coming back to the same thing: maybe empathy is what makes us human?
Summer is over, but what a summer it was!
It was surprising for everybody here in Finland to experience last summer. Winter was very cold and snowy for Finnish standards and summer came in strong and lasted the mandatory 3 months. We reached temperatures of 35°C in parts of the country and even in Helsinki it was above 30°C for most of July. Now the rains have started and the summer seems but a memory, so this post is a homage to the warmest, most tropical season in recorded Finnish history.
Michelada
A Michelada is a Mexican beer cocktail that is very popular during the summer months. The recipe is quite simple, and my favourite is below:
- 1 Mexican pale lager (Corona, Sol, Pacífico or Montejo recommended)
- 2.5 limes
- Salt
- Maggi seasoning
- Worcestershire sauce
- Valentina sauce (optional)
- Habanero or Tabasco Habanero sauce (optional)
Get a proper beer mug and fill the rim with salt. Squeeze the juice out of the lemons, add a couple of drops of the sauces in the list and finally the beer.
Enjoy!