Sonisphere

1 island + 60,000 people + a ton of bands (mastadon, lamb of god, metallica, etc.) + copious amounts of craziness = SONISPHERE 2009!

Since my arrival everyone's been telling me that Finland turns into "The Land of Festivals" over the summer time.....and they weren't kidding! From jazz to metal to film to just about anything you can name they have a festival for it. Needless to say I was all about it when Minna invited me to one of the biggest metal festivals in Finland. Aside from the festival itself the 3 hour car ride also gave me an opportunity to see more of the Finnish countryside as well.

Russia Bound

After a 10 day wait (with no passport) the Russian embassy has approved our visa request. Which I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't sure how everything would work out...with the whole German passport living in the US thing, didn't exactly make me a top candidate for a Russian "Best Friends Forever" award. Anyways it would be an understatement to say I was excited! Going to Russia!!!

Highlights of Finnish Jazz History

Since my departure from New York City I haven't really gotten nostalgic all that often. That is until last night standing in a small Helsinki club called Dubrovnik. Packed full of jazz enthusiasts (of all ages) to enjoy an incredible evening featuring the best of old and new school jazz musicians Finland had to offer. The concert featured keyboard great Olli Ahvenlahti and his band performing material from his 1976 album “The Poet”, the Verneri Pohjola - Joonas Riippa Quartet playing cuts off of drummer Christian Schwindt’s rare 1965 release “For Friends and Relatives”, and a release from pianist-composer Heikki Sarmanto’s Jazz Workshop ensemble’s live album “Jyväskylä 1969”.

It really took me back to the days of NYC when we would all roll out to either Fat Cat or Smalls in the West Village. Just listening to amazing live jazz for hours, while drinks flowed as freely as the conversations.

Surrealism & Beyond

Last night, Anna and I went to a great exhibit devoted to the Surrealist movement. In the early years of the 20th century, Surrealism challenged conventional notions of the human mind, society as well as art (think Duchamp's urinal). The exhibition sheds light on the revolutionary ideas of Surrealism and on the history of the movement, while also highlighting its influence on subsequent art. The show was a rare selection of work by major surrealist names, including Man Ray, Max Ernst (pictured above "The King Playing with the Queen"), Francis Picabia, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp and René Magritt.

Bike Time

Since my achillies started flaring up about 3 weeks ago I've been trying a new strategy--- actually listening to my body when something hurts and therefore stopped running. So far so good...but I have to let out my energy somehow so the next best thing has been biking! Thanks to Tuomas who's lent me his bike during my stay, as well as, mista boy scout Zach for fixing it. The other day Mats and I went on a 30 kilometer bike tour along the coastline taking us through the Westend (really nice neighborhood), Nuottaniemi, Soukanniemi and ending up in Espo for a grill-out at his house. With the added bonus of being in a bike friendly city with bike paths everywhere I've gotten hooked. When I get a chance to it's been a great way of exploring the outskirts of Helsinki after work, while being treated to some amazing suppppperrrr long sunsets.

Visitor

It having taken me over a week since Zach's departure from Helsinki to finally post a blog about it seems to coincide perfectly with mine and my livers recovery time. Good times! From an outdoor concert (with the added bonus of Fire Fly) in Helsinki, island hopping, museum visits to exploring a plethora of wateringholes throughout Finland and Estonia we did about as much as you can pack into 8 days. It was also great that Zach got an opportunity to see the Bonnier offices in Sweden and Finland (as well as the employees) giving him some insight into what the various GROW participants have been experiencing.

Berlin

"POOR, BUT SEXY!" is how Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit once famously described his city. Every time I am in Berlin.... I fall in love with the city all over again.

F/Stop Leipzig

On to Leipzig to attend F/Stop's International Photography Festival, where this year's theme was “Where do we go from here?”. More than 50 artists from 15 countries presented an array of compelling work... dealing with the latitude of an aimless present, in-between retrospection, development and visions of the future.

After the photo festival we checked out the new Museum of Fine Arts, which left quite an impression. Ironically it was not the artwork which stood out to me, it was the actual structure itself! I've never been in a museum of that scale where so little of the space was utilized for art... it was bizarre. Don't get me wrong I'm not a huge fan of the salon style of viewing art where there are a million things on one wall, but this took it to the polar opposite extreme. I mean even the cafe was overboard (check out the image below). We had the obligatory lunchtime coffee & cake :) and then headed outside of the city to Cospudiner Lake. With sugar pumping through our veins and great weather we decided to rent bikes and biked all the way around the lake (about 10 miles). During the ride we also came upon an awesome observation tower (pictured below).

Goesele Birthday's 2.0

So 2009 brought about two mile stones... my 30th birthday and my father's 60th! Freakin 90 years of Goesele. As we all know life can be quite hectic and we can't be everywhere all the time....but some things you just have to re-celebrate properly when you have a chance to. Especially when you finally live on the same continent! So this past weekend was spent in Germany giving the occasion all the laughter, beer and adventure it deserved.

I think the best way to make this work is to break the cities (aka adventures) into individual posts. We started the journey with a long hike up to a 16th century chapel in Saxony, where we proceed to light a few candles for friends and family going through tough times. Followed by a few museum visits, a stroll through Halle's city center and a "Night of Science" at my father's Max Planck Institute along with various other universities around town. Sausages and beer galour in true German fashion. A day filled with thought provoking conversation, plenty of sun and a great variety of culture.