Land of thousands of lakes...

[marviner]

We have had a fairly pleasant winter so far, but this morning was absolutely freezing. Going outdoors was like a slap in my face - with a really cold glove. Temperature was -28 Celsius ( -18.4 Fahrenheit ) and that's a shock, if one is not prepared for it. And I had no idea...

 

[marviner]

Btw, those Finnish icebreaker ships (in that previous video) can break ice up to 14 meters thick, which is over 45 feet in US standards (pretty awesome). They do it by rising on top of that ice and then pressing / crushing it down with their own weight.

 

[Bovinia]

The coldest I've seen this winter is 0 Fahrenheit where I live in Connecticut.

 

[marviner]

Good for you , Bov

If I remember right, Connecticut is one of the New England regions, and it's not that far north. Am I right? Practically all of the Finland is above 60 degrees north, so we are in the same latitude as Canada. Therefore we tend to have these cold winter days every now and then

 

[Bovinia]

That's correct Marv. I used to live in Maine, farther north from CT and I would see -20 F frequently there. I don't enjoy the snow much now that I'm in my 50's. It's beautiful to watch it fall and coat the ground, but it just means a lot of work the next day to dig out LOL.

 

[marviner]

Maine is about the northernmost place you can go in US (apart from Alaska, of course) and I totally understand if you don't like cold and snow I'm not a great fan of extremely cold conditions either, but I have to admit that sometimes those cold, snowy winter days are absolutely gorgeous. It's kinda strange how something so harsh can be ever so beautiful.

Here's an Australian couple visiting Finland in winter time:

 

[marviner]

I feel like I'm ready for some metal music. Lets hear some Finnish melodic metal for a change


I wish I had an angel,
for one moment of love.
I wish I had your angel,
your virgin Mary undone.
I'm in love with my lust,
burning angel wings to dust.
I wish I had your angel tonight...

Nightwish (with Tarja Turunen on vocals)- I wish I had an angel:

 

[marviner]

Here's Tarja Turunen performing with very famous German rock band - the scorpions:

The good die young:

 

[marviner]

A Finnish band called Stratovarius.

Hunting high and low:

 

[Bovinia]

The winter video is beautiful, and I used to love playing in the snow It's just that now I have to shovel it instead of getting to go out and play in it

 

[marviner]

The winter video is beautiful, and I used to love playing in the snow It's just that now I have to shovel it instead of getting to go out and play in it

I know what you mean. AFAIK everybody hates shoveling snow (including me) Besides, sometimes a thick layer of snow can be pretty dangerous thing. For example, heavy layer of snow on the roof presents a danger to the structural integrity of the building, so when that happens people are afraid that their roof might give in. In Helsinki couple a years ago, we had a few accidents when people tried to shovel snow down from their roofs - and ended up falling with the snow down to the pavement. Not nice... On the other hand everybody should understand that, when you are working high up there, you should always wear safety harnesses - with rope attached.

 

[marviner]

These winter conditions remind me about this Finnish cello string quartet group called Apocalyptica. As the name suggests, they play mostly cover songs (orig. by Metallica). Here's one with a Finnish winter scenery:

 

[marviner]

I guess I have to post this one too. It's a top chart video from a Finnish band called H.I.M (His Infernal Majesty). Cover song, originally by Chris Isaak - wicked game. Most of their popular songs are their own. To be honest, I'm not a such great fan of this band at all, but hey - who am I to judge. It's anyway one of the Finnish bands who are internationally recognized... dammit!

 

[marviner]

M'kay. Back to normal schedule. Embassy of Silence - Unconverted. My friend plays in this band time to time. If you listen carefully, you might hear some familiar tunes from 80's tv-series called:
K _ _ _ _ _ R _ _ _ _ ?

 

[marviner]

This is one of the unplugged acoustic songs of Embassy of Silence, where my friend Aapo plays a cello.
He's unbelievably talented musician and just an outstanding friend I'm proud to be a friend of him

 

[marviner]

I decided to post some of my own "tongue in cheek" music for a change. Umm, In the beginning of this song I try to mimic a banjo with my electric guitar, but obviously it falls a bit short. Well who cares, here's my "Irish Mob"

https://soundcloud.com/marviner/irish-mob

Which was pretty far from Irish music anyways....

 

[marviner]

Well, this next video has nothing to do with Finland per se, but I just wanted to see something totally awesome for a change (Not to say that Finland isn't awesome by definition ). Aahniways....So here we go

 

[marviner]

For those who have doubts of Finland's awesomeness. No worries because here's an English gentleman who will sort it out for ya:

 

[marviner]

And here's another one from Steve Vai... Oh I love this man He is so awesome

 

[Bovinia]

Marvin you are full of entertainment tonight! I adore cello music, and the Steve Vai video made me laugh at the giggling girls! And don't be so modest, you're guitar sounds great

P.S. I only went to Belgium because I had a friend to stay with there...no motel costs haha! It didn't hurt that he is a Police Lt. in Brussels, so I didn't have to worry about getting mugged