Teach the children well
Few things have taught me as much Canadian history in such an entertaining fashion as the "Heritage Minutes" that one occasionally sees on TV here. The American readers should particularly notice the Deadwood-style heritage minute "Sam Steele" since it has an American character in it. Watch out Sam, he's an American!
When I was a kid, our local library had several series of books meant for boys, and of course I devoured them all with enthusiasm. One series included translations of the "Tarzan", "John Carter of Mars" and "Pellucidar" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The same series also included books that I only recently found out were from the British series of "Just William" books. (I am sure there was some logic why these books were in the same series.) Now that I browsed through the Wikipedia page, I bet I would enjoy "William Clears the Slums", just not the way the authors probably intended.
Though I did read several William stories, I can remember only some of the content of only one book any more. In that story, William's university-age big brother announces that he is going to join the socialists and live in a commune. William's middle-class father, instead of going ape over this, takes the news calmly, just sitting in his chair and reading his paper. Eventually, the elder brother comes back with his tail between his legs, not so very enthusiastic about socialism any more. The father casually explains to William that socialism is great when you are in the receiving end, but it's not so much fun when you are the one who has to give, and then goes back to reading his paper. Very educational!
When I became a university student myself, I gradually came to realize that most books, shows and movies that I had so much enjoyed as a kid were total crap. (This realization hit in completely when I saw the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die" again about twelve years after I had seen it as a kid.) I guess that is part of growing up. For this reason, I have intentionally avoided rereading Tarzan and John Carter and Pellucidar books, since I want to maintain the great memories I have about these books. The same applies to books of Jules Verne, which I also remember enjoying.
One particular Jules Verne book that I remember well is "The Begum's Fortune". It didn't seem that funny or surreal at the time, but when I was older even the thought of this book was quite amusing. In this book, a Begum of India leaves a massive inheritance to a German and a Frenchman, and both men use their money to build a city of their liking. The German city is basically a giant military fortress made of iron, and it is ruled by a strong discipline and order. The French city, on the other hand, is a light and airy suburb of modern freedom and equality. In the French city, no Chinese are allowed so that the general intelligence level of the population remains high. (This might explain why when I later went to the library as an adult, this book had mysteriously disappeared from the shelf and all records.) The German really hates the French city, so he builds a giant cannon and aims it at the French city, but our heroes manage to disable it and save the day. The German is insta-frozen in his office by a leak from one of his icing shells, pen still in his hand and ready to sign the order of destruction. (The book included a picture depicting this which I probably take to my grave.)
Another series of smaller-print books that I remember reading included several classics such as Tom Sawyer (of course), books by Jack London and J.F. Cooper (good thing it wasn't D.B. Cooper) and many other books which I enjoyed and bet are some kind of literary classics, but can't really name any more. I only remember that there sure were many and I read at least most of them. Funny thing, when I saw a made-for-TV movie of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn a few years ago, certain aspects of this movie were very different from what I remember reading in these books as a kid.
When I was a little kid, we didn't have Sesame Street back then (I think they have it now), but the number one children's show was "Pikku Kakkonen", whose mailing address theme song every single university student in Finland can still sing by heart. This show also included some East European animations, such as a stop-motion animation that I later learned came from East Germany. This one wasn't particularly political and was actually technically kind of good (with the same caveats as above) so that in each episode, the Sandman sprinkled sand on kids who went to sleep, and then took off in some vehicle that was always different (helicopter, sled, submarine etc.)
One Eastern European animation which actually was really good, and not just in an ironic manner, was about a Mole and his animal friends. (I wonder if he was the famous "mole of socialism".) The character is kind of cute and would make a good product line even today. Again, I remember one episode which wasn't funny at the time but which at an older and wiser age was absurd to even think about. In this episode, Mole and the other animals were playing in their forest when they heard a rumbling of machines from the distance. Human workers were coming to pave the forest in name of progress. Mole and his friends went to see the leader (who looked to a surprising extent like Stalin, if my childhood memories were correct) and asked his help. The leader explained that people need to live and work so the forest unfortunately has to go, but then he got an idea. The leader ordered an artificial forest to be built out of plastic and junk, and in the end of the episode, Mole and the other animals were happily playing, dancing and laughing in their new plastic forest. Now that I think of it, I bet that there was a lot in that episode that was said between the lines, and I can imagine how some party officer had read through the script and approved it, unaware of the ironies and criticism that it contained.
One important cultural difference between Finland and America is that in Finland, Donald Duck is indescribably huge. The magazine would have to have a circulation of something like 30 million to be equally big in USA, with respect to the population size. There is the weekly magazine that goes back from the fifties, printing mostly American and Nordic-produced stories of Disney characters. In addition, there is a series of softcover pocket books which contain stories written and drawn by German and Italian artists. These comics are official Disney products and conform to all their requirements and restrictions (which, by the way, I would really like to see some day ever since I read the Marvel comics instruction book which said that when drawing a female character, you should draw the head smaller and breasts larger), but their overall tone and spirit is somewhat different from the American stories. And they sure were great, at least the first 100 books of the series, the stories and one-liners of which are eternally burnt to the subconscious of most Finnish thirtysomethings. Now those books I would really like to get to read again some day.
When I was a kid, our local library had several series of books meant for boys, and of course I devoured them all with enthusiasm. One series included translations of the "Tarzan", "John Carter of Mars" and "Pellucidar" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The same series also included books that I only recently found out were from the British series of "Just William" books. (I am sure there was some logic why these books were in the same series.) Now that I browsed through the Wikipedia page, I bet I would enjoy "William Clears the Slums", just not the way the authors probably intended.
Though I did read several William stories, I can remember only some of the content of only one book any more. In that story, William's university-age big brother announces that he is going to join the socialists and live in a commune. William's middle-class father, instead of going ape over this, takes the news calmly, just sitting in his chair and reading his paper. Eventually, the elder brother comes back with his tail between his legs, not so very enthusiastic about socialism any more. The father casually explains to William that socialism is great when you are in the receiving end, but it's not so much fun when you are the one who has to give, and then goes back to reading his paper. Very educational!
When I became a university student myself, I gradually came to realize that most books, shows and movies that I had so much enjoyed as a kid were total crap. (This realization hit in completely when I saw the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die" again about twelve years after I had seen it as a kid.) I guess that is part of growing up. For this reason, I have intentionally avoided rereading Tarzan and John Carter and Pellucidar books, since I want to maintain the great memories I have about these books. The same applies to books of Jules Verne, which I also remember enjoying.
One particular Jules Verne book that I remember well is "The Begum's Fortune". It didn't seem that funny or surreal at the time, but when I was older even the thought of this book was quite amusing. In this book, a Begum of India leaves a massive inheritance to a German and a Frenchman, and both men use their money to build a city of their liking. The German city is basically a giant military fortress made of iron, and it is ruled by a strong discipline and order. The French city, on the other hand, is a light and airy suburb of modern freedom and equality. In the French city, no Chinese are allowed so that the general intelligence level of the population remains high. (This might explain why when I later went to the library as an adult, this book had mysteriously disappeared from the shelf and all records.) The German really hates the French city, so he builds a giant cannon and aims it at the French city, but our heroes manage to disable it and save the day. The German is insta-frozen in his office by a leak from one of his icing shells, pen still in his hand and ready to sign the order of destruction. (The book included a picture depicting this which I probably take to my grave.)
Another series of smaller-print books that I remember reading included several classics such as Tom Sawyer (of course), books by Jack London and J.F. Cooper (good thing it wasn't D.B. Cooper) and many other books which I enjoyed and bet are some kind of literary classics, but can't really name any more. I only remember that there sure were many and I read at least most of them. Funny thing, when I saw a made-for-TV movie of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn a few years ago, certain aspects of this movie were very different from what I remember reading in these books as a kid.
When I was a little kid, we didn't have Sesame Street back then (I think they have it now), but the number one children's show was "Pikku Kakkonen", whose mailing address theme song every single university student in Finland can still sing by heart. This show also included some East European animations, such as a stop-motion animation that I later learned came from East Germany. This one wasn't particularly political and was actually technically kind of good (with the same caveats as above) so that in each episode, the Sandman sprinkled sand on kids who went to sleep, and then took off in some vehicle that was always different (helicopter, sled, submarine etc.)
One Eastern European animation which actually was really good, and not just in an ironic manner, was about a Mole and his animal friends. (I wonder if he was the famous "mole of socialism".) The character is kind of cute and would make a good product line even today. Again, I remember one episode which wasn't funny at the time but which at an older and wiser age was absurd to even think about. In this episode, Mole and the other animals were playing in their forest when they heard a rumbling of machines from the distance. Human workers were coming to pave the forest in name of progress. Mole and his friends went to see the leader (who looked to a surprising extent like Stalin, if my childhood memories were correct) and asked his help. The leader explained that people need to live and work so the forest unfortunately has to go, but then he got an idea. The leader ordered an artificial forest to be built out of plastic and junk, and in the end of the episode, Mole and the other animals were happily playing, dancing and laughing in their new plastic forest. Now that I think of it, I bet that there was a lot in that episode that was said between the lines, and I can imagine how some party officer had read through the script and approved it, unaware of the ironies and criticism that it contained.
One important cultural difference between Finland and America is that in Finland, Donald Duck is indescribably huge. The magazine would have to have a circulation of something like 30 million to be equally big in USA, with respect to the population size. There is the weekly magazine that goes back from the fifties, printing mostly American and Nordic-produced stories of Disney characters. In addition, there is a series of softcover pocket books which contain stories written and drawn by German and Italian artists. These comics are official Disney products and conform to all their requirements and restrictions (which, by the way, I would really like to see some day ever since I read the Marvel comics instruction book which said that when drawing a female character, you should draw the head smaller and breasts larger), but their overall tone and spirit is somewhat different from the American stories. And they sure were great, at least the first 100 books of the series, the stories and one-liners of which are eternally burnt to the subconscious of most Finnish thirtysomethings. Now those books I would really like to get to read again some day.
Is it true that all Finns must have at least four 'k's in their name somewhere?
Posted by beenaround | 8:54 PM
Love 'em or hate 'em, one thing that's clear about the Harry Potter books is that they appeal to both children and adults. And that is a very difficult feat.
Peter
Iron Rails & Iron Weights
Posted by Anonymous | 9:32 PM
When I became a university student myself
If you want to write American English, you say "college student". It is very rare to say "university student" in American English.
Posted by Anonymous | 2:17 AM
The university system in Finland is quite different from what it is in USA. No colleges.
Actually, the word "college" has occasionally been used of the schools below the universities and above the trade schools.
Calling young Ilkka as a college student would simply be wrong.
However, keep nagging on his grammar. It is very educational. You're welcome to correct me too.
Posted by Porky-Pup | 4:19 AM
Is it true that all Finns must have at least four 'k's in their name somewhere?
The letter 'k' is indeed quite common, although it is not a requirement. :-)
Posted by Ilkka | 10:03 AM
Ilkka, your last name is nowadays the Finnish nickname for members off the Finnish Conservative Party Kokoomus = Kokkarit.
Posted by Anonymous | 11:33 AM
Are you aware of the "Pikku kakkonen" theme song's version for the new age?
Pikku kakkosen U-R-L |
h-t-t-p kaksoispiste |
kautta kautta w-w-w |
piste yle piste fi |
kautta tilde ransu
You can actually sing it like the mail address song! :-)
Posted by Anonymous | 5:23 PM
I think nagging on grammar is a good thing. We are here to learn and how could we learn without naggers?
:)
Posted by Hucleberry Finn | 6:36 PM