Sauli's Hollywood - blog in IS 2012 translations

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
January 2nd, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/hyvaa%C2%A0uutta%C2%A0vuotta/160
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu), posted on January 2nd, 2012
Pictures from the original blog by Sauli Koskinen

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

Absolutely Fantastic New Year to everybody!! My, how fast another year has gone by. To me it’s always been somehow exciting when the year changes, and you can’t help starting to think about what the new year might bring along. From each year we always learn something new and based on that, we try to create a better next year. At least I feel that I have once again grown a lot during this past year. Behind me I have now a pretty eventful year, of which I wouldn’t change a day away. For sure it hasn’t been an easy year, but definitely it has been the most memorable one so far. My year has included a total change in my life, which has included both joys and sorrows. Like I said, I wouldn’t change one day of it and I have to admit that I’m happier than ever before. :D



We spent the New Year’s Eve just by ourselves and had dinner in a sushi restaurant called Nobu in West Hollywood. The food was heavenly!! We ordered almost everything on the menu and my absolute favorite was fresh tuna in lemon-chili sauce.YUM!! I love ordering little dishes one at a time in the restaurant and tasting everything new. This way you never get too full and can feel better about the whole meal. :D For dessert we ordered yet some carrot cake with ginger ice cream. Oh my god how delicious!!





I myself didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions but let’s hope that this year will be even better and more rewarding! yay!

xoxo

/S


Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=145648

Golden Globe
January 17th, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/golden-globe/182
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu) & Zinnia (@tiiqqu), posted on January 17th, 2012
Pictures from the original blog by Sauli Koskinen

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

The Golden Globe Awards were held yesterday here in LA. Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed annually recognizing excellence in film and television industry. The best actors, directors and scriptwriters are awarded in this gala. The Golden Globe Awards have been presented since 1944 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The awards are presented in the beginning of the year, and they are based on the votes given by the HFPA members who live in Hollywood. There are also two Finnish members in the association, Erkki Kanto and Kirpi Uimonen. It’s absolutely amazing that we have two members in this jury from our own lovely Finland. I got to know Kirpi while we were still making Tutka Roadshow with Katri. We interviewed Kirpi in one episode where we were at a dinner party organized by the Finnish Consul General in Beverly Hills.(Note: should be in Bel Air) Tutka Roadshow Bel Air Dinner Party (Kirpi on video Part 2.) I’ve had lunch with Kirpi a couple of times and I’ve received a lot of good tips from her regarding living in LA. A big thanks to Kirpi and I really raise my hat to her for creating an unbelievable career for herself in LA.

Last week I had photo shoots for a couple of fashion magazines and otherwise I spent the rest of the week in a pretty relaxing way by just lounging on the home couch. However, I haven’t missed any of my runs and I’m still keeping up with my strict daily diet. Two more weeks of this rigorous regimen to go and then I can take it a bit easier again. I don’t mean letting it go totally, but one needs some days off, too. :D whew!!

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and wonderful words. It’s nice that you have liked my grubs. :D I’ll try to post some new recipes soon. Oh, and you’d want me to write an actual cookbook?? Hmmm… I think it might turn out to be such a book that everybody’s digestive tract would get stuck. haha!! I never do want to say never though, so let’s make a note of this idea and leave it to brew. I don’t know why - and this is now jumping to a totally different topic, but that idea of brewing brought into my mind the Aromapot, familiar from the TV in the 90’s. :D The Aromapot was used for making food by letting it simmer in it. I remember how they used to advertise the product by saying, “Now you don’t have to use several hours a day for cooking”. Making pea soup with that pot took no more than eight hours… HAHAHAHA!! So the idea about writing a cook book can’t go any more wrong than that. :D

Once again this blog became a total mess. :D From the Golden Globe Awards to the Aromapot, and so on… Have a wonderful week, everyone!!

xoxo

/S



Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=145650

A jogging friend
February 1st, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/lenkkikaveri
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu) & Zinnia (@tiiqqu), posted on February 1st, 2012
Pictures from the original blog by Sauli Koskinen

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

Hi and hello! January is now left behind and we are ready for February to begin!! :D On Christmas I promised that I would have a dropless January and also would try to live in a super healthy way at the same time. I succeeded in that and I feel like a new person. I’m not going to give up the new diet or exercising either, but I can ease off the pace a bit. Otherwise my body will soon start screaming for help!! During this past week I’ve had a tenderloin steak with a glass of red wine going around in my mind . Ahh!! I can’t wait, and I’m going to reward myself on the coming weekend. We (I and my friends) are heading up to Malibu for a little trip during the weekend. I’ve been so excitedly browsing through different restaurant sites while trying to decide where we are gonna go to eat. Wonderful!! I promise to post you some pictures of my expression when I get that steak and the red wine in front of me. :D hah!

Today while I was jogging I came across something totally unbelievable and strange!! I was running here in the Hollywood Hills just like usually, and then towards me came something I thought I would never see. I mean a skating bulldog!! For a while I was totally confused and I was thinking like, is this now a candid camera or what’s going on here??!! At first I didn’t even see any kind of owner for this weird thing coming towards me, but then in about 20 meters later I saw the man whose dog it was. I bet you can surely imagine this weird situation in your head, hah!! Not only did this dog just stand on the board, he was actually kicking for more speed with his back legs and knew how to balance and make turns with the board very skilfully. The man smiled at me and surely he noticed my amazed look. I was so totally tongue-tied that I couldn’t get a word out of my mouth. For the rest of the run I was just smiling and thinking about what I had just seen. So this kind of a story this time… I really hope that I will meet this dog again and starting tomorrow I will take my camera with me when going for a run. I wouldn’t be surprised even if next time I’d meet some raccoons on scooters :D.


Here’s a link I found on youtube!

The little birds told me that it’s really cold now in Finland. I got cold even from the thought of having to walk outside in those temperatures. Whoah!! I remember when I left a year ago from Finland to go out to the world, and it was -20 C outside and a thought crossed my mind that I’ll never want to return to this kind of weather again. However it’s funny how I sometimes miss the beautiful winter and white snowy ground in Finland, but not the intense cold. Luckily we Finns are made of sisu*) so we are not bothered by a little extreme weather! :D Nevertheless, I want to send you all some warmth and energy from here so you have enough strength to trudge through the winter towards the spring and if the journey feels too long, just come over here under the Californian sun for the warmth! :D


xoxo

/S

[*)Yeah, time for a Finnish lesson again! Sisu = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu This short word is very hard to explain shortly in English as you see, it needs it's own Wikipedia page. -Z & M-]

Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=145652

DELTA: Don´t Ever Leave Terminal Again!!
February 19th, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/delta-don%C2%B4t-ever-leave-terminal-again/203
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu) & Zinnia (@tiiqqu), posted on February 19th, 2012

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

Finally back in LA and the whole trip back was such a day of so many lousy coincidents that there’s no sense in it at all!! As you know, it all started with our hopeless attempt with Tutka. We had a lot to talk about and to tell you, but that whole Tutka went so totally wrong as anything ever can go. For sure we did go through all the programs and news, but well - they didn’t end up on the tape. Thank you, wonderful technique!! At least everybody found out about the weather in New York and that Katri has been sick at home, hah!! :D We are so sorry about this and will try again next week with better luck.

After Tutka I rushed to the airport since I had a return flight leaving back to LA. This happened on Wednesday (Note: it was actually Thursday ) and I arrived in LA yesterday (Note: Friday). So, the return trip was just as big a success as the Tutka had been, and that’s what I want to open up to you about now… whoah!!

According to the schedule, my return flight was supposed to leave at 3.00 pm and I arrived to the airport well in time at 12.30 pm. I walked straight to the self-service check-in to print out my boarding pass. At that point I was wondering why my pass didn’t have any seat number, there was just an empty spot in its’ place. I asked a lady what this was all about. She said that I would find out about my seat when I went to the international side where there is an information desk at the gate. So, after the security check I walked straight to the desk where there were two employees sorting out the seats. There was a queue of about 25 people gathering behind me and everyone had the same problem. The employees announced in a friendly manner to everyone that they had the seating chart and that we would find out the seat numbers just before the gate was opened. They also told that everyone definitely had a seat in the plane but that they were having some technical problems... So, I sighed with relief and was waiting quite happily for the gate to open. At the point when they finally opened the gate and people started marching in to the plane, our group of rejects was moved to the side to wait for the confirmation of the seats. They called people by name to the gate and then let them in to the plane. The group started getting smaller and finally there were only me and another man left. Surely at this point you can already guess what happened…?? Of course this other man got into the plane and I was told that all the seats were full now. At that point I was about to pull the hair out of my head!! I was getting so furiously mad!! Argh!! Even writing this text is getting me all worked up again, but let’s continue…

OK. So, no seat in the plane and I was in a totally helpless state. The employees tried to find a new flight for me to LA, but of course there were no direct flights left for that day, only transfer ones. I got a new travel plan. My flights were fixed so that in an hour, at 4.00 pm, I would fly in Business class to Minneapolis where I would have an hour to change to a plane leaving for LA, and also that flight would be in Business class. At that moment I was in terminal 2 and the flight to Minneapolis was going to leave from terminal 3. I walked to terminal 3 which took about half an hour. After I arrived at gate 10 in terminal 3 I noticed that the flight to Minneapolis was delayed by 30 minutes. At that point I was thinking "Okay, for sure I’ll manage to change planes in half an hour". Half an hour went by, as did another half an hour, and the plane was still delayed... I knew there was no chance for me to catch my connecting flight. I was directed back to terminal 2 to get a new travel plan. From terminal 2 I got the information that a plane to Minneapolis would leave at 7.00 pm and I'd have a new connecting flight to LA with 45 minutes transfer time. I was already totally exhausted but I thought that I don’t care as long as I would get back home today.

Finally I got into the plane, and it was supposed to leave at 7.00 pm. Of course that didn’t happen, but the plane sat on the runway for 1 h 15 minutes waiting for a permission to take off. I had already said good bye to my connecting flight and in my mind I was just thinking that hopefully my connecting flight would be delayed just like all the other flights during that day. After we landed in Minneapolis, my connecting flight of course had been on time and had already left. Great!! At the Minneapolis airport I was told that there wouldn’t be another flight to LA until next morning. I was angry, tired, hungry, exhausted and totally worn-out. I was given a room in the Minneapolis airport hotel to wait for the morning flight. During this whole adventure I wasn’t offered any kind of drink or food vouchers or monetary compensation.
However, I had paid for my flight from NY to LA already two weeks earlier.

After a couple of hours sleep it was time for my next attempt. In the morning the Minneapolis airport was totally packed up with people. So, I just got in the hour long queue for the security check. After I got to the gate I saw the happy news on the screen that the plane was on time and I would finally be really going home. I got a seat in the First class and for sure made the most of it. PRKL!! :D (Note: the word Sauli is shortening here is Perkele, a traditional and famous Finnish swearword. )

So, about this all I want to thank DELTA airlines and I promise you, I will never ever in my life fly with DELTA again. Nor will I just let this be but I’m going to write a mile-long complaint. All there is left to say now is DELTA: Don’t Ever Leave Terminal Again!!!!!

xoxo

/S

PS. I will tell you more about my trip to New York and what happened there in my own blog.


Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=145654

TV-series
March 20th, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/tv-sarjat
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu) & Zinnia (@tiiqqu), posted on March 20th, 2012

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

I’ve become totally crazy with the Finnish TV programs here in America. Oh my God!! TV-Kaista has started to limit my life so much that there’s no sense in it at all anymore! Today’s selection on the screen has included: Iholla (a Finnish documentary reality show), Suomen kaamein kämppä (“The most awful home in Finland”), Finnish Idols, The Voice Of Finland, Dream Weddings, Avara luonto (a wildlife documentary), Tuuri, Helsingin herra, Find my Family, and many others… whoah!! And soon starting there’s the Super Marjo, and then that Viidakon tähtöset… This isn’t gonna work, at all. This is already starting to sound like I really don’t have a life! Hah!! I’ve tuned all these programs via wireless network straight onto the big TV screen. :D I’ve been sitting here all alone for two days now, laughing and every once in a while getting also a bit emotional, this really makes no sense at all. This really has got to stop before my man comes back home from his work. Hah! Luckily tomorrow there’s also for me something better and more sensible stuff to do. Thank God!!

However, those Finnish TV series do bring a lot of joy and cheer you up in the normal everyday life, and you get that familiar and safe feeling of Finland from them. In the USA there are too many TV channels. You get so tired browsing through all of them and usually you can’t find anything to watch. Hundreds of channels and millions of TV commercials. Usually I watch all the series and movies recorded, because then I can fast forward the commercials. A lot faster to watch the series :D. They can stuff at least five commercial breaks into a half an hour’s episode. That’s not nice!

My favorite TV series which I’m following closely right now are: Breaking Bad, Smash, Modern Family, and soon my absolute favorite True Blood is starting again!! I can’t wait!! By the way, I met some stars of the True Blood at the Elton John’s party and I told them I’m a big fan of their series. :D

The most shocking TV series that I’ve ever seen is Toddlers and Tiaras! It tells about child beauty queens and their parents. It’s a really sad thing to watch. I don’t even have words to describe this program, just giving you a link to watch by yourselves. Here!. OMG!!

Next weekend I’m going on a little trip again, and next Wednesday is my birthday and Tuesday is my nameday. Yay!! You can congratulate me then!! Hahahaha! :D I have no idea yet how I’m going to celebrate my birthday, but no doubt I’ll figure out something fun!!

xoxo

/S


******

Addional info from Mia and Zinnia: Here's more info on the nameday.

Some background info:
www.finnishfriends.com/content_sub.asp?SUB_ID=49&CAT_ID=31
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_day

List of Finnish namedays: www.behindthename.com/namedays/country/fin
International nameday calendar: www.namedaycalendar.com/



Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=145656

Allergy
April 20th, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/allergia
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu) & Zinnia (@tiiqqu), posted on April 21st, 2012

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

Hi again! Everything’s fine here in Los Angeles and the temperature at the moment is +30 C!! No complaints, just enjoying!

I remember how last year at this same time I was hit by some kind of an awful allergy thing and my eyes were red for a month and I felt miserable. Well, now it’s the same thing all over again! Allergy’s hit on full force, my eyes are red and my throat is really sore. In Finland I have never suffered from any kind of an allergy, but maybe here this vegetation and climate are a bit different things. This is probably some kind of a palm fever since I’ve never been sick with hay fever. Hah! Allergy medication hasn’t worked, neither have eye drops. The best advice for these symptoms came from a salesperson in a local health food store. It’s a juice made of lemon, ginger, green apple, celery and cayenne pepper. Well, I followed the advice and once again turned the juicer on humming. I have to say that after two days it really has helped. Amazing but true! For sure, it’s always better to turn to natural products rather than to all kinds of pills that can contain other harmful stuff. I also think that if you always take medicine for some symptoms, your body gets used to it and then you just have to keep on taking the medicine all the time. It’s also good to get your vitamins from fresh fruits and vegetables rather than taking them straight from a pillbox. It’s funny the older you get, the more you think about what you put into your mouth. It feels like I’ve turned into such a super-food fanatic that there’s no limit to it!! haha!! You still have to remember to every once in a while have a feast and celebrate so that the life doesn’t get too boring!! I don’t think that skill is that difficult to anyone… ;D

For this weekend I’m dropping all these health drinks from my menu since I’m going to Anaheim to spend a relaxing Finn-evening. Barbecue, chilling out, Finnish games and karaoke. ;D It’s so wonderful that I nowadays have so many Finnish friends here in LA. That’s just the way it is, that we do need our tribesmen close to us. :D It feels like our group of Finns keeps growing almost every week. Yesterday I even got to know a couple of new Finns while I was jogging. A year ago I didn’t know one single Finn here, and now I already have about twenty good friends.
To finish this, here are a couple of new sunset pictures. A wonderful weekend to everybody! Yay yay!




xoxo

/S


Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=215820

Six Flags Magic Mountain
May 11th, 2012

Original text: blogit.iltasanomat.fi/sauli/six-flags-magic-mountain
Translation by Miachihu (Miachihu) & Zinnia (@tiiqqu), posted on May 11th, 2012

Unauthorized use of this work: This creative work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law in all relevant U.S. and international jurisdictions. Any unauthorized use of the work, including but not limited to reproduction or distribution in any form, is strictly prohibited.

OMG!! Yesterday I visited for the first time the Magic Mountain which is the biggest amusement park in California. I went there with a couple of my Finnish friends who are on holiday in LA. I’m still all dizzy and I didn’t sleep much last night because of all the whirls and twirls. Whoah!! I can tell you that Linnanmäki and Särkänniemi (two biggest Finnish amusement parks) are like children’s playgrounds compared to this place!! I’ve always considered myself a quite of a daredevil but at times if felt like I could have had use for some heart medication. :D After every ride my head was pulling me to one direction and my feet to another. I didn’t get that “Lintsi” (a nickname for Linnanmäki) feeling “let’s rush from one ride to another” but I really needed the breaks in between. I realized that “I guess I’ve finally grown up” :( Snift! ;D



The amusement park is located in Santa Clarita which is about 40 minutes drive inlands from Los Angeles. Even though the place is really close to LA, the temperature was 10 degrees warmer there. So, tight black jeans were exactly the right choice for the 40 degrees’ (Celsius) heat… :/ I was sweating like crazy but luckily in many of the rides you got wet allover so that cooled you very nicely. There are only roller coasters in the park and all together there are 38 of them. Never in my life have I seen so biiiiiiig roller coasters. I mean, they were so big that you couldn’t even figure them out while standing in one place. There was always extra excitement when you sat down for a new ride because you had no idea about what was ahead. :D



I did survive and had lots of fun even though my head still hasn’t fully recovered. Hah! :D I recommend this place to everyone who’s traveling to California! It beats all the Disnelylands and Univeral Studios with flying colors!

Everybody have a great weekend!! This coming month will be full of surprises!

xoxo

/S


Direct link to this post: www.adamtopia.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sauli&thread=629&post=230806