Taiga the Fox

It has been bit like this lately...

2008-06-12T22:38:00.003+03:00

...but now I'm on holiday!
Woo-hoo!

I'll mostly plant trees and drink bubbly in my rose garden, but there will be some photos from Denmark too. See you in August!

summer
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

xxx

Bit older feet, but still a summer feeling

2008-05-30T00:01:00.001+03:00

Julie Rrap: Overstepping, 2001

Modified Social Benches

2008-05-07T21:24:00.002+03:00

We have now 10 of these surrounding Kiasma.
Made by wonderful Jeppe Hein.
More photos will follow sooner or later, when the exhibition opening is over.

Happy Vappu!

2008-04-30T16:14:00.002+03:00

I'm out of office with my balloons and bubbly drinks!

Escher's Relativity in Lego

2008-04-29T20:17:00.003+03:00

by Andrew Lipson & Daniel Shiu

Mommy makeover

2008-04-27T22:11:00.005+03:00

This weekend I have mostly been watching hot air balloons passing by, eating candy floss and gardening. I also potted the first balcony plants this year. I was just finishing with Sweet alyssum when the younger cub came to see what I did.
A. Fox: How did you do that?
T. Fox: Do what?
A. Fox: You are the most amazing mother in the world!
T. Fox: Oh?
A. Fox: You can grow flowers in the rock!
T. Fox: Darling, that's plastic.

First balcony plants this year
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

Plastic reminded me of reading about this:

"My Beautiful Mommy is aimed at kids ages four to seven and features a plastic surgeon named Dr. Michael (a musclebound superhero type) and a girl whose mother gets a tummy tuck, a nose job and breast implants. Before her surgery the mom explains that she is getting a smaller tummy: "You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn't fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better." Mom comes home looking like a slightly bruised Barbie doll with demure bandages on her nose and around her waist. "

From Newsweek

I think I need some chocolate now.

Heavy Helvetica Dropping Into Water in Super-Slow-Motion

2008-04-23T12:06:00.002+03:00

I am ill and watching how the minutes slip by.

Forget graffiti, here comes public embroidery!

2008-04-17T22:47:00.004+03:00

Ulrika Erdes' fabulous cross stiching performed on seats in buses and trains.
Grab your sewing kits and go!

New Perspectives on Life

2008-04-15T21:41:00.005+03:00

The Pond of the Pregnant Oyster

2008-04-13T21:38:00.006+03:00

and some other Berlin photos now available here.

Anyway, the city was brilliant. Last time I was in Berlin it was around year 1995 and I remember it was all grey and rainy. The streets were too wide and there was nothing to see, really.
Well, now... it was grey and rainy and the streets were bit too wide and the city was full of huge, shiny and new buildings, but there was definitely much to see. Except that the thing we went to see, the Berlin Biennial, was... erm... empty like Berlin in 1995. I wonder where the art was?
Well, because the Biennial was slightly shitty, we run through around 30 galleries instead, but really can't remember anything anymore, except Chiharu Shiota, whose work we'd love to see in Helsinki soon.

Gallery Dog
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

I also visited Deutsche Guggenheim, which was erm, bit tiny. Because it was like that I saw the huge Hamburger Bahnhof. To be honest having a golf cart would have been handy there. I also visited the Pregnant Oyster, Martin-Gropius-Bau and Neue Nationalgalerie collections, where I saw some wonderful works of Rebecca Horn of many. We also met lovely Ann-Sofi and visited Jeppe's wonderful studio.

I will always be in shame, because when I was so concentrated on finding the right U-bahn, I forgot to take my camera with me, when I met lovely Bowleserised and darling BiB, who were utterly fabulous and great talking about sauna, vodka and blogging and other essentials of life.

I am in the eye
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

Shiny happy table

2008-04-05T22:44:00.003+03:00

Auf Wiedersehen. My new love and I are going to visit Berlin.
Whilst waiting for new photos to arrive you can look at the four clumsy practice shots.

shiny happy table
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

hot potatoes and political garden stuff

2008-04-03T00:38:00.005+03:00

Finland's foreign minister was sacked on Tuesday after media published the text messages he had sent to an erotic "Scandinavian Dolls" dancer. Mr Kanerva sent around 200 messages from his office mobile, one of which demanded to know what she was wearing under her tight dress. The rest of them were like this: "Sounds almost like fantasy. Have you taken good care of your garden?"

Some time earlier our Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, 52, dated too. Her mistress said that they met through an online dating service, and that he dumbed her by a brief text message: "It's over." Mr Vanhanen said that they actually met at IKEA.
Yes, yes. That's more like normal Finnish behaviour. Speak nothing. Dumb by a text. Blame Sweden.

Well, after this she published a kiss-and-tell memoir detailing his romantic emails, text messages
and how he once passionately compared her to an oven-baked potato, his other great love.

Oh, can you guess who he is?

It's spring!

2008-04-01T00:01:00.002+03:00

It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring!... [bling]
I want these wallstickers! [/bling]... It's spring! It's spring! It's spring! It's spring!

link

Wet Dog Wine, anyone?

2008-03-29T22:13:00.005+02:00

T Fox: Why is it always so that I have an idea and if I don't write it down as soon as I can, it disappears somewhere?
Mr Fox: Write up, not down, you're speaking Finglish.

Yep, why is it so? Why do you write something down and we write it up?

Actually that wasn't the topic for this post, but as I said it disappeared, almost like my entire day, which I spent by cleaning up, really properly. Whilst doing it I drank some wine, which was nice, but eventually I got so tipsy I messed everything up and missed the only fantastic happening this week, because I had to take a nap. Buggeringly enough I even got a ticket for this: Drawing Restraint 9. Well, I missed the Turing Machine Opera as well, but never mind, I've got tickets to Horton for tomorrow. Yay!

Actually now when I am here I might ask you a question as well. It troubled me when I was drinking that wine, which was something flowery Riesling from Alsace area: smooth, mellow and pleasantly round. What is the term for that wine character, the feeling when you have swallowed the wine and your mouth is filled with almost an oily or buttery aftertaste? No, not a taste, but a feeling. Anyone?

I tried to find it out, but found this clever wine aroma wheel instead.

Hmm.... I don't know how to use that exactly. Well, you could always play some kind of wheel of fortune game with that thing. After spinning the wheel you have to drink that kind of wine. Glass of skunk wine, here you are. Mmmm...

Hopefully the frames aren't from Ikea

2008-03-27T19:18:00.007+02:00

Few weeks ago I was asking on Facebook: "Denmark or Croatia?" Nobody answered and I decided Denmark it will be then. Actually I didn't, but the boys want to see Legoland and I think seeing Fyn and West-Jutland wouldn't harm me either. I have no idea where is Köge, which would probably make all Danish people very annoyed. Well, at least Ikea made them annoyed, naming their doormats after Danish villages and cities. Some Danes claimed that the Swedish names are reserved for the better products and that even Norwegian names can be found at least from the bed department, but the lesser products bear Danish names. "The stuff that goes on the floor is about as low as it gets."

Oh really?

a) Viren
b) Virén

Well, he won the four Olympic gold medals the year when I was born and it is quite a long time ago...
That wasn't really the reason why I started Pilates again this week, but I think this would suit me better or what do you think?

ILLOIHA fitness club
Tokyo
by
Nendo

T Fox unintentionally seems to collect... ( Part 1)

2008-03-20T20:14:00.004+02:00

... old tin boxes.

I thought it would be nice to wish you all Sunny Easter by adding a photo of one old tin box decorated with Easter Bunnies.

Easter Bunnies
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

There was one with daffodils as well.

Box of Daffodils
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

Also one bright yellow with roosters...

Roosters
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

Hmm, I seem to have collected quite many old tin boxes.
Actually, I haven't collected them, they just somehow stuck with me and have decided to stay with me [like all the excessive stuff around me. Sigh.].

Herman Hesse's grandfather rests here

2008-03-16T10:26:00.002+02:00

... The cow with the crown and other snapshots from the past Estonian excursions uploaded on my Flickr home.

The cow with the crown
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

Uncle Lenin has a nap

2008-03-12T20:35:00.004+02:00

...and other snapshots from Latvia finally uploaded on my Flickr home.
It took just 9 months to do it. People tend to have babies faster than I virtually glue my virtual photos to my virtual album. [sigh]

click the photo

I always wanted to have a photoblog...

2008-03-12T17:27:00.006+02:00

Just a thought
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

... well, actually I had one a long time ago, where I posted photos of Helsinki, but then I quite accidentally deleted it.
Anyway, the point of this post was to add a link to OPC, who has started something I would call Cornish photoblogging.

Floating Music for the Endless Summer Nights

2008-03-11T11:25:00.004+02:00

Ooh, I have found music, which I like very much.
Music, which sounds to me like it should be listened to

when running through the fields...

... making a strawberry straw

... or wandering in the garden alone

... near the nightly scent of the Philadelphus

... under the night sky.

Decide yourself: The Dø

I kind of oddly miss seeing the yellow glasses

2008-03-11T09:41:00.004+02:00

Phew. The exhibition is ready and open for the visitors. If you visit Helsinki you might want to see why I have been so busy for the last 3½ months.
If you want to have a peek to the exhibition and listen to some Finnish, here you go.

Last week was really schnabulous, that's all I can say. Parties almost every day, meeting up with lots of famous people, good food and champagne. I wish I could remember more, but apparently not, because I am having a flu, the infamous Nach-Schnabel-Schnupfen, and have been sleeping for three days and forgotten everything.

A Typical Day of the Curator with Leggingsless Legs

2008-02-29T20:45:00.006+02:00

7.00
Taiga Fox wakes up
shower, breakfast, dog, clothes, daycare, school, metro
9.oo
meeting with a German art handler
9.45
meeting with an American art handler
10.30
trying to start drinking a cup of coffee
replying to twenty-ish e-mails
answering the phone
checking out an invoice
writing per diem papers
answering the phone
checking out the situation with the budget
deciding about the prize of the book published next week
answering the phone
trying to finish the coffee
checking out the colour corrections of the photos
answering the phone
checking out the press photos
trying to find out why e-mail from France bounces back
checking out the installation situation
proof reading the press text
proof watching a poster
sending information to a journalist
answering the phone
collecting mail
answering the phone
trying to think what to wear next week on a reception
answering the phone
replying to ten e-mails
finding a phone-number to an art-handler in Zürich for an American art-handler
throwing the rest of the coffee away
having a sandwich
answering the phone
13.30
having a farewell coffee & cake break
14.00
checking out if all the hotel rooms have been booked
sending various e-mails to USA and UK regarding the hotel rooms
wondering where the tape man has gone
saying no to a suggestion of meeting up with some Swedish guests
feeling bad about saying no
answering the phone
feeling relief that the museum dont't have a 1 cm lower sidewall
having a conversation with a Head Technician
trying to send an e-mail to France again and seeing how it bounces back
having a worried phonecall from London
making a phone call to a gallery
phoning to London
getting new installing suggestions from the artist
trying to tell the technicians they might have to do everything all over again
sending an artist information kit to the boss
sending similar kit to the opener of the show
answering the phone
sending e-mails
collecting unused taxi-cards
trying to solve out an insurance thing
collecting the undone stuff waiting for Monday
having a chat with the Head Technician
17.00
metro
17.40
remembering an important thing which had to be done
17.50
finding an empty home
17.53
heating up a dinner
17.54
remembering that the articles which had to be read during the weekend were left on the desk
17.55
reading a magazine

In the magazine Harriet (27) says she spends three hours a day by doing her make-up and hair.
Taiga Fox wonders how anyone can have free three hours for make-up.
Harriet also says:" Before the leggings became fashionable, I saw a photo of those in Elle. Sometimes you have to travel abroad to find something and I finally managed to find them from London."
Taiga Fox wonders why Harriet didn't ask her, because she still has authentic vintage leggings somewhere in the basement.

Suddenly she feels she has turned to be her own mother.
Year 1986 Taiga Fox: I have to have a belt like that. Mother Fox: I had a belt like that in 1965, you can have it if you want.
Harriet and her 3-hour-face smile at Taiga Fox.
Taiga Fox wonders why she don't have a birthday on February 29th. She would be only 9. She apologises if she miscalculated her fictional age.
She can't really any Maths. Of course that's normal if you're just 9.
18.30
Taiga Fox realizes she has spent her free 35 minutes on thinking about that.
The dinner is cold.

On Thursday Night

2008-02-25T21:57:00.004+02:00

Nekku
Originally uploaded by Taiga the Fox.

I never forgot the day you came to us.
Someone didn't want you, put you and the other kittens inside the bag and left you on the highway, but you were lucky and saved by a stranger. You were already one year old when you arrived, but so tiny, so cute and named as a candy. I never forget your sweet chirrups.

You were always afraid of noise and traffic, but finally agreed to go out. When you were older, you always sat on my flower border, next to the hyssop. You didn't mind living with the big dog, who always tried to eat your food. You didn't mind living with two big tomcats, who ate your food. You didn't mind living with two little kids, who tried to eat your food and wanted to stroke your velvety fur. You loved the smell of their toothpaste.

When you were younger, you always slept on my pillow. Your tiny paws tickled my ears. You were like a furry, black night hat. I never forget the day the doctor said you're going to die and you might have either ten days or ten years left. You chose the latter one. During your last weeks you slept on my stomach for all the nights long. I never forget how warm you were. I never forget you, Nekku.

On Friday I will bury her

2008-02-20T20:38:00.003+02:00

Nekku.
Here she is, a day after she arrived at our home.
14 years later she's still with us.
I wish I could make her last day somehow special.

The day when it looks like the Fox blog becomes the Official Equus Judo Site

2008-02-19T19:40:00.005+02:00

You can start discussing about it here.
Look how much space! Aren't I generous?