Helsinki Complaints Choir (Humor)

Hey, thanks! At least someone read this. Too bad you don't like Finnish choir music, books about famous Jews (well, that figures), or European politics. You could have tried beyond my front page, maybe there is something there worth at least a 2....

But I can understand that a true patriot has no time to waste on such petty matters. Duty calls, and giving out three 1 ratings is all you have time for in your busy schedule.

Here's to maturity. :-)

Aniko - looks like the comment you respond to here got cut. Must have been a humdinger.

I loved the complaint choir. And to think, if I hadn't been searching for your birthplace I never would have heard it.

You can tell me. I cook Kukkakaalilaatiko.

Aniko, I love the humor with which you received the visit from whoever that was. I don't have the ability to view the video or hear the music from home, but next time I'm at the library I will surely follow that link (with headphones, of course.) I'm leaving this comment so I can find my way back here... rather like Hansel's breadcrumbs.

Thanks for the comments, guys. No, there was no comment before mine, just a "1" rating on this and my two previous posts--in other words, the three that people see if they click on your name. The usual story: a shower of "ones" after you leave a comment on someone else's article. As I don't leave that many that would invite such behavior, I know who (or whose "friends") this had to be, hence the parenthetical remarks. I know it's pointless, I just couldn't help it...

Danielle, I hope you will get to listen to it, it's worth the extra effort...

Charles: I think I did tell you--did you look in my profile? It's not as bad as "Kukkakaalilaatiko", I think. I have no idea what that is, by the way--though it seems (no thanks to google, which does not allow wildcard searches) that it does contain cauliflowers. In other words, that's the wrong language, though it *is* the right language family. :-)

As far as I know, there's only one other language in the Finno-ugric family. That's Hungarian.

I haven't been back to your profile. Let me check. (hummm, hummm, hummm - humming tunelessly while I check - humm humm)

Yes! Thanks, I wouldn't have guessed otherwise.

Do you speak Finnish, and, if so, was it easier for you to learn?

Kukkakaalilaatiko is this great casserole with cauliflower (you're right) rye bread, cheese, and beer. I gain two pounds just thinking about it. I only make it in the depths of winter when, theoretically, I could burn the calories by going out and shoveling snow. Then I lie around inside instead of shoveling, too heavy to move.

Well, you already know you guessed right. There are other Finno-Ugric languages, but only one other, Estonian, has its own independent state (and only recently, at least in our lifetime). But Estonian is closely related to Finnish, so they probably wouldn't have to ask you questions or google words... Statistically speaking, Hungarian would have been your best guess anyway.

Hungarian is very far from Finnish, on the other side of the language family (Ugric), and you wouldn't realize they're related unless linguists convinced you based on systematic correspondences in very basic vocabulary. I don't speak Finnish, but I have friends who do (they're Finno-Ugric linguists, actually) and if I recall correctly from when they were learning it, they were mostly complaining about how complicated the case system was. Of course, it might still be easier for Hungarians than for English speakers, but just because Hungarian also has complex conjugations and case endings, (and polysyllabic words), not because they are similar in any practically useful way.

The languages most closely related to Hungarian are the Ugric languages Khanty and Mansi, spoken by a few thousand people in Russia (Western Siberia), but even those are not mutually intelligible with Hungarian (obviously--the separation probably occurred about 2000 years ago).

The wikipedia article on Finno-Ugric languages is fairly good, and they seem to have finally gotten rid of the Finno-Ugric denier who used to wreck it on a regular basis (most likely a Hungarian who would prefer to be related to the Sumerians, or some other respectable civilization-originating folk, instead of Siberian fishermen).

The casserole sounds delicious, by the way. You could share the recipe one day, though there's no snow here to even *plan* to shovel. I found a few on google, but they don't have the cheese, which would be a pity. They are intended to be low-fat or something. (They also have and extra 'a' and 'k', that's why I didn't find them before. :-) Copied and pasted: Kukkakaalialaatikko.)

I used to spell it "Kukkakaalialaatikko," because that's how it was in the cookbook, but a Finnish friend said that was wrong. At least he said he was Finnish. Maybe he said he was done. Something like that.

Charles, is this the stuff?

Kukkakaalilaatikko (on RecipeZaar)

Sounds delish!

The choir is hilarious!