Helsinki; Finland; London, England; Dublin, Ireland; Toronto, Ontario; Fairfield, Iowa
Mei Lin: Lunch to catch up on news with Satu in advance of teaching class at Metropolia tomorrow. Students are mid-career professionals interested in practical international experiences, as tighter university budgets mean fewer lecturers from abroad. Industrial Management program will move from historic Bulevardi building out to Leppävaara campus in 2018. Chinese cuisine from Chongqing region included cumin lamb, unusual. (Mei Lin, Lönnrotinkatu, Helsinki, Finland) 20161201Juttutupa: Meetup with some 2nd year students from the Systems Thinking 2 February class, and a few more from the 1st year of the master’s program in Creative Sustainability. Glad to hear that knowledge they gained was useful in subsequent studies, as they then explain concepts to other group team members who didn’t take this session of the intensive course. This restaurant a quieter place to talk, until an excellent band started playing after 8 p.m.. (Juttutupa, Säästöpankinranta, Helsinki, Finland) 20161201Metropolia U., Bulevardi campus: Lectured in Industrial Management master’s program, collaborating on generative pattern language writing for an hour, after 90 minutes of lecture. Students are mostly working professionals with practical experience, so we jointly felt our way through using the format for service systems thinking. We’ve come a long way since the program was initiated in 2006. (Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Bulevardi, Helsinki, Finland) 20161202Kiasma: Brian Eno (1999) Memory Flowers is 16 speakers facing upwards on stems, playing ambient music. First shown in 2000 in a solo show, brought out of storage for Kiasma Collection Exhibition. Emmi and J.P. came in late afternoon for the first Friday of the month free admission, well-timed to avoid the 5 pm crush at the coat check. (Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Mannerheiminaukio, Helsinki, Finland) 20161202Vanha Kauppahalli: Buying salmon in the same way that Finns have since 1889 when the Old Market Hall opened. Also bought little fried vendace at the next stall, to be used in an appetizer. Saturday afternoon sees a lot of tourist visitors, many eating salmon soup facing out from the renovated stalls to become part of the scenery (Kalakauppa E. Eriksson, Vanha Kauppahalli, Eteläranta, Helsinki, Finland) 20161203Lapinlahdenkatu: Dinner with all Finnish ingredients (unless the salmon came from Norway). Discussed 2016 as a transitional year with lots of change, released now positively towards 2017. Missu the cat hid for most of the dinner, either not enjoying the streaming jazz, or suspicious that the catsitter would take him away. (Lapinlahdenkatu, Helsinki, Finland) 20161203Moomin Shop, Helsinki Airport T2: Looked at plush toy, saw “Design from Finland” but no country of manufacture. Phoned to wake up DY at 4 a.m. Toronto time to ask if 15cm 100% polyester figure was worth the money, she said no. Suggested Moomin shopping bags hanging outside, with tags saying Made in PRC, DY declined. On walk back to T1, noticed Moomin troll toys also available in the duty free shop. Not a motivated shopper today. (Moomin Store, Gates 26-27, Terminal 2, Helsinki Vantaa Airport) 20161205Niven’s: From online The Ecology of Systems Thinking group to meeting in person, PJ came for a coffee, talking while watching me eat a full English breakfast. Worked through jams of orange marmalade vanilla, raspberry rose, blood orange marmalade, pear. Discussed history of science within the systems thinking community and the variety of notable figures, up to current day theoreticians and practitioners. (Niven’s, King Cross Road, London, England) 20161206Tate Britain: Anish Kapoor (1981) “As If To Celebrate, I Discovered A Mountain Blooming With Red Flowers”. Located on the granite floor of the Duveen Gallery, the central corridor for the museum. On a British late afternoon, not as well lit as the Turner Prize candidates with the crowds, but the bright red and yellow stand out. (Duveen Gallery, Tate Britain, Millbank, London) 20161206Tate Modern: Louise Bourgeois 1989-93 “Cell (Eyes and Mirror)” and 2001 “Legs”, on the 4th of 10 floors in the Switch Tower opened in summer 2016. Crossover level happens on the 4th floor over the Turbine Hall, Boiler House to the north. Circular stairs complement the elevators down to ground level. Big space, lots of room to show more art. (Switch Tower 4th floor, Tate Modern, Bankside, London, England) 20161206Gagosian Britannia: Richard Serra (2016) “NJ-2” is a labyrinth that each visitor can walk into. The twists and turns are surprising, as I entered from the west and exited from the east. The walls are weatherproof steel, so removing backpacks to carry by hand is superfluous to damaging the imposing structure. (Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street, King’s Cross, London, England) 20161207Pure Cyprus: Meeting @fortyfoxes in person unintentionally coincided with @wardcunningham weekly videoconference. Humble Greek restaurant had free wifi, so connection to our corner was good. Couple dining at other side of restaurant not concerned. Waiter was friendly, offered two shots of ouzo for dessert. (Pure Cyprus, Goodwin Street, Finsbury Park, London, England) 20161207Irish Museum of Modern Art: Eva Rothschild (2004) “Stalker” @IMMAIreland is made of wood and plexiglass. This museum is housed in prior Royal Hospital Kilmainham founded 1684, impressive courtyard. Location west of central Dublin have opportunity to ride Red Line tram. and see more residential areas. (Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland) 20161208Smurfit School of Business: Karin Knorr-Cetina #ifipwg82 on 3 technological transitions from ticker tape to scopes to algorithms in foreign exchange history. Performative view of technology with (i) temporalization, (ii) mediatization, and (iii) rescaling of social form. Keynote talk on first day of IFIP WG8.2 working conference. (International Federation for Information Processing, Working Group on Information Systems and Organizations, Smurfit School of Buisness, University College Dublin, Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland) 20161209Smurfit School of Business: Tim Ingold #ifipwg82 comparing intention to attention, with life happening along the way. Sketch of banks or a river, to imagine flow orthogonally. Keynote talk on second day of IFIP WG8.2 working conference. (International Federation for Information Processing, Working Group on Information Systems and Organizations, Smurfit School of Business, University College Dublin, Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland) 20161210Dublin Airport Gate 409: Boarded Airline 747 bus in morning darkness, so at gate before sunrise. Was denied access to Aer Lingus lounge with Star Alliance Gold status, attendant said I will get Air Canada points on codeshare, but no other privileges. Half anticipated, had leisurely breakfast in apartment before packing and leaving keys. (Dublin Airport, Ireland) 20161211London Heathrow Terminal 2: Serious roadblocks to guide traffic away from active runways. View is from Terminal 2 gate area B, west view towards Terminal 2 check-in area. There’s a long walk with multiple speedways from the main building, underground to the airline lounges and gates. Photo taken with digital zoom on. (Terminal 2, London Heathrow Airport, Britain) 20161211Canadian Tire: Long debate on skillets. Eggs don’t stick on older black surface, while white ceramic is better for son #3 who uses one pan for everything. Decided to get both 10″ black and 12″ white. Shelf tag mislabeled, so two trips to cashier. Shopping for 90 minutes was a couples event with spouse, in parallel with oil change, as I have been away for a few weeks. (Canadian Tire, Leslie Street and Lakeshore Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario) 20161212Michael’s Lapeer MI: Rest stops at crafting stores on drives across Michigan, Indiana and Illinois relieve the tedium on the way to Iowa. The chains have branches in many small towns, and rest rooms in the strip malls are well kept. DY checks out the clearance section for random deals. (Michael’s, Main Street, Lapeer, Michigan) 20161213Indiana Welcome Center: Rest stop exiting the state found Christmas tree decorating contest judging. School buses parked outside, hundreds of teenagers milling about. Also an ugly lamp contest. (Indiana Welcome Center, South Shore, Indiana) 20161214Hoang Anh: Slight diversion into Quad Cities for Asian supermarket revealed well stocked inventory for Viet, Chinese and Thai cuisine. Staff filling orders suggests wholesale fulfillment to local restaurants could be the larger part of the business. Location is well off the beaten path on a small main street in East Moline, a long way from freeways. (Hoang Ahn Foods, 15th Avenue, East Moline, Illinois) 20161214Salina, Iowa: Out west window, dusting of snow from prior days and pond frozen over. On north side, cows grazing in -12C/+11F frigid temperatures, we’re inside with the furnace stoked with firewood cut on the property last year. One of two Internet service providers functional, maybe the technicians don’t want to scale the tower until it warms up. (Salina, Iowa) 20161215Taqueria El Zarape: Rico tacos (carnitas, chorizo, asada), cecina rice+beans dinner clearly made to order, for neighbourhood Mexican lunch amongst many local postings on Sunday afternoon. Routing off I-80 well worth the detour for most memorable meal in a while. Welcomed break in the middle of an 8 hour travel day. (Taqueria El Zarape, Jefferson Street, Joliet, Illinois) 20161218St. Michael’s Health Center: Enjoying preventive healthcare under socialised medicine, with opthalmologist checkup. Routine of old persons couples date, as spouse is more diligent about details than I am. Readjusting to urban services and pace, after week of roaming American freeways and suburbs, and Iowa farmland. (St. Michael’s Health Clinic, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20161220Chen’s Acupuncture: On treatment bed facing up instead of down, needles in ankles, tops of feet, on forehead. Insertion into spot beside upper shin especially hot, acupuncturist said it’s a famous spot. Diagnosis was for excessive heart fire. Vision and mind are now clear. (Chen’s Acupuncture, Gerrard Street East, Toronto) 2016122Congee Queen: Family lunch with all of our sons out of town. Only two dishes, yet no leftovers from beef brisket chow mein, and braised fish hotpot. Continued conversation at aunt’s house, after brief stop to pick up from Chinese bakery. (Congee Queen, Agincourt Mall, Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario) 20161224Aikido Shugyo Dojo: Adult basic martial arts class of one hour is long when it’s one-to-one with senior instructor. Dojo remains true to posted hours during holiday season, even with regular class leaders away. Learned stretching, moving, then wrist locks. Many details to perfect over time. Had tried out dojo last spring, my attendance should more predictable over the next few months. (Aikido Shuygo Dojo, Carlaw Avenue, Leslieville, Toronto, Ontario) 20161229Glorious Chinese Cuisine: Fish in tank by entry of restaurant shouldn’t expect a long future, with hundreds of lunch patrons inside. Saturday on a holiday weekend led us to choose a less popular venue, wait time was 10 minutes for a table for 7. (Glorious Chinese Cuisine, Denison Street, Markham, Ontario) 20161231
Glorious Chinese Cuisine: Family lunch, after sons returned from foreign travel, and before farther departs. Catching up on friends and families from afar. Lunch special of barbeque duck with dimsum, plus a noodle dish more than sated appetites. (Glorious Chinese Cuisine, Denison Street, Markham, Ontario) 20161231
