CDP Theme Day 2009 / November: Doorways

Soldiers are marching to a temporary historical military village at Suomenlinna seafortress UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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CDP Theme Day 2009 / October: Contrast

Finnish band Leningrad Cowboys performing with a Russian air force choir. Photo from the Helsinki International Airshow 2009.

Back in 1993 Leningrad Cowboys and the (Russian) Red Army Choir attracted 70 000 people to Total Balalaika Show concert in one of the most memorable events in Helsinki’s history. Right after the collapse of Soviet Union it felt unbelievable that the Russian army would have any kind of co-operation with their total opposites.

During the cold war Finns had fears that one day we would be forced to see the Red Army at the Senate’s Square but in 1993 Finns rushed there to see them.

You can read more about the band and its relationship with Russian military choirs from my earlier entry.

It’s a city daily photo blog theme day so click here to view thumbnails for all participants

CDP Theme Day 2009 / September: Big

Many small can become big.

Helsinki Samba Carnaval 2009 crowd at the stairs of Helsinki cathedral.

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CDP Theme Day 2009 / August: Night

A night at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. This is not a recent shot as during the summer it really doesn’t get dark in Helsinki.

It’s now exactly one year from the day when this blog went public and since then I’ve posted a photo every single day.

I started with a too ambitious project Helsinki Olympics Today because the 1952 and cancelled 1940 olympics have left a big mark on the smallest city that has ever hosted the Olympic summer games and in August 2008 Beijing olympics were held.

Have a look at my favourite images from 2008 and first half of 2009.

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CDP Theme Day 2009 / July: Empty

Four minutes to midnight in Pasila. The sun has set for a few hours but the glow you can see in the windows is still from the sun.

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Finns are often asked how can we cope with our depressingly short winter days and I’m always tempted to answer with a question: “How can you cope with your depressingly short summer days?” From Helsinki it is still a long way to the arctic circle where the sun doesn’t set at all during the summer. In Finland you can enjoy midnight sun in the city of Rovaniemi or any place to the north of it.

Unfortunately this theme day came too soon as there is a huge temporary empty space in Helsinki right now but I have to show it to you later and similarly my midnight photo was supposed to contain something more interesting.

I’ve also made a collection for my 12 personal favourite images from this blog’s entries during the first half of year 2009.

Where Is Our Blogger?

A member of our City Daily Photo blog community in Tehran has gone missing in the aftermath of the Iranian elections – or at least he hasn’t been able to update his blog tehranlive.org since 17th June 2009. It is possible that he got into trouble because of his photos.

Before the elections it was interesting to see his images from a country that is not so well-known despite the news coverage it has got during the past decades. His Tehran was lively, beautiful and much less fanatic than the Tehran of the tv news – until the campaigning and protests started. Unfortunately when the times get rougher the photos get better.

Many of us in the City Daily Photo community are concerned about his well-being and the situation in Iran. A special blog day is organized today on 28th June 2009: click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Please have a look at the missing blogger’s photos at tehranlive.org.

EDIT 28th June: Great news, he is at home.

CDP Theme Day 2009 / June: Feet

These feet were made for running: 9 olympic gold medals, 3 silvers, numerous world records.

Long distance runner Paavo Nurmi is considered one of the best olympians of all times. Before WW II long distance running was not dominated by Kenyans or Ethiopians: It was dominated by the Flying Finns.

In my opinion his most amazing achievement was done while he was preparing for the 1924 Paris olympics where 1500 meters and 5000 meters were run during the same day on a very tight schedule. Finns believe that this was intentionally done so that the Flying Finns would win less medals. In Helsinki at Eläintarha track Nurmi made an experiment whether he can run both distances using the olympic schedule. After it he was very confident: He had just ran new world records on both distances! It’s needless to say that he also won both distances at the olympics.

Nurmi was a pioneer in training methods but he was also banned from the 1932 Los Angeles olympics because of allegations that he was a professional athlete.  In 1952 Helsinki olympics Nurmi ran the olympic torch to the stadium and lit the olympic flame that was on the ground level (there was also another one at the tower).

On his 70th birthday Finnish broadcasting company wanted to interview Nurmi. He didn’t like the media much so he said that he must be inverviewed by the Finnish president. The interview was done.

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CDP Theme Day 2009 / April: Yellow

East-Helsinki is now full of these crazy polar bear photographers. This returning photographer was shot from a tower - I was hoping to see the animals from a safe distance but I was too far away.

Some polar bears were spotted at the border of Helsinki last Monday. Earlier they have avoided humans but now end of winter and global warming have made them starving and they are ready to take risks by coming to our cities.  Many would like to shoot them but the European Union legislation practically prevents us from doing anything about them.

Kids who live near the polar bear areas are transported to their schoolds directly from their homes by parents who have organised car pooling. Legendary reindeer taxis of Helsinki no longer operate because the drivers are afraid that their “engine” will be eaten.  The polar bears have already destroyed a unique penguin colony near a Swedish speaking fishing village of Torvalds just 10km from Helsinki.

Our neighbours are also worried: The Swedish parliament has started serious discussions about the potential threat and the Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has promised us an elite sniper team that he would lead personally. The rumor is that he has always wanted to shoot a polar bear himself.

But many Helsinkians couldn’t care less as a rare seasonal delicacy silli and kuravesi is finally available at the restaurants today.

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CDP Theme Day 2009 / March: Glass

The ghost of C.G.E Mannerheim hasn't left Helsinki yet.

Mannerheim was in charge during many crucial moments of the young Finnish nation. Right now he is also being spoken as Hollywood director Renny Harlin is making a movie about his very eventful life.

Or they are trying to make a movie as they are struggling to get the needed money. The latest development is that they are going to sell overpriced tickets in advance for those who want to support the movie.

I’m going to spoil it for you and tell that the ghost is actually just a reflection from here.

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CDP Theme Day 2009 / January: Paths and Passages

Seurasaari island yesterday moments before sunset.

Yesterday was a really beautiful sunny winter day and there were a lot of people enjoying the outdoors including the Finnish president. Finally sun, snow and real winter temperatures. It was between -10 and -15 degress Celsius so many had big red spots on their cheeks.

I have been now following the city daily photo blog path for six months so I’ve posted an entry about my experiences.

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