Donna Reed, Bastard, DUCK!

Right..so I am hopefully going to be submitting my citizenship application fairly soon (depending on when the frakin' permanent residency permit is finished processing..but that is a horse of a different colour). Whilst going over the application, and being sure of satisfying all of the requirements: Crazy? (check), Pay insane taxes (Check), etc, - I came across the section asking for my parents' information. This info was asked on all of my residency permits too..except when I went past the standard portion of Name, where they live, country of citizenship, date of birth etc..there is another section (2.3) asking:


Ovatko edellä mainitut vanhemmat keskenään avioliitossa tai ovatko olleet? • Är de ovannämnda föräldrarna sinsemellan gifta eller har de varit sinsemellan gifta?
Kyllä, vihkimispäivä ja -valtio
Ja, vigseldatum och stat ___________________________________

Ei • Nej

Eronneet, avioeropäivä ja -valtio
Frånskilda, datum för skilsmässa, stat ___________________________________


Now, I realize wanting to know where my parents live, nationality, and date of birth, is standard (wouldn't want me bring over unsavory types after obtaining the brass ring of being a citizen of Suomi) but what the hell do they care about;

a: Are my parents are still maried - their wedding date and what country - who gives a flying frak in a donught hole?
b: If they are not married (and I am a bastard...well I am a bastard, but not in THAT sense)
c: Are my parents are divorced - the date they divorced, and in what country - see snarky comment from item "a"

I can just picture this conversation:
"Mum..um..ya know that guy you were married to for 11 years, still can't stand to be in the same room with him 30 years later, refuse to call him by his name and just refer to him as "THAT Man" when the topic of my paternity comes up?...Um..er..what is the date of your divorce?"

So..either it is Donna Reed, I am a Bastard or I better really duck fast after asking Mum that gem...although I suppose it will just be an ear chewing considering I am 5000 miles away :)

IMPEACH!!

Before you get all pissy and say "But Fusche..you live in Europe and pay taxes there." - I still have a right to be outraged. My folks - who should be retired by now damnit, but can't due to healthcare insurance needs - my brothers, my sister, my cousins, my friends, etc are all presently footing this cost.. This is a disgrace.

One step forward..

48 to go!

Next to go DOMA

Here's to being an optimist.

Fuggedda 'bou dit..

SO I was reading my daily dose of vapid entertainment news and I noticed that Dennis Farina got arrested.. How stupid can one be? I have to admit, that everytime I have seen him, my first thought is "made man". Then I read..he used to be a cop for 20 years.. Hell-ay's sunshine and dinners at Mr. Chow must have addled his brains..

This got me thinking about mobsters. Modern 'merican history is rife with tales of the modern day mob. I will admit, one of my favorite movies is Goodfellas. "What am I a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? Funny? Funny how?" BANG! - gotta love Joe Pesci. Then my mind wandered to my new country and it's history of "mobsters" (organized crime).

Here is a breakdown of the the organized crime families in the States (the list is long..feel free to just skim):
New YorkFive Families
Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese
Buffalo crime family ( AKA The Arm )
Morello crime family (extinct)

New Jersey
DeCavalcante crime family

Chicago
The Chicago Outfit, Genna crime family (extinct)

Pennsylvania
Scarfo crime family (Philadelphia) ,Bufalino crime family, Pittsburgh crime family

New England
Patriarca crime family

Cleveland
Cleveland crime family, Porello gang (extinct)

California
Los Angeles crime family
San Francisco crime family (later incorporated in the Los Angeles crime family as a crew)
San Diego crime family (later incorporated in the Los Angeles crime family as a crew)
San Jose crime family (later incorporated in the Los Angeles crime family as a crew)

New Orleans
New Orleans crime family

Missouri
St. Louis crime family

Kansas City
Kansas City crime family

Florida
Trafficante crime family

Detroit
The Detroit Partnership ( AKA The Combination )

Seattle
Colacurcio crime family (alleged) - the "alleged" cracks me up

Wisconsin
Milwaukee Crime Family


Finnish Organized Crime:
The Obtshak, a consortium of the Estonian Mafia and Russian Mafia holds a prostitution monopoly in Finland. They may also employ Finns as "minders", that is, gangsters.
There are a few motorcycle gangs as well..but let's face it...the Ruskies and Estonians are the predominate ones and they are in cahoots. 1 frickin' consortium? Sheesh. Fuggedda 'bout dit..

I then took a look at the crime statistics in Finland. For a country whos citizenry firmly believe that Finland is a relatively safe country (and for the most part it is: (per wiki) In Finland, 101 crimes per 1,000 people are reported annually, which is third highest in the world. Finland also has the highest homicide rate per capita in Western Europe being three times that of Switzerland for example.

I read this statistic and I was thinking to myself: HOLY CRAP! Then I took into account:
US total population as of July 2007 - 301,139,947
FI total population as of July 2007 - 5,238,460

...just a rambling thought today...

Getting my Geek on..

For those of you who know me, know I am a geek. Seriously..a geek of EPIC proportions (for a girl) in some ways. Needless to say, having moved to the land of Santa and Reindeer has caused my geek to morph in a few ways but for the most part I am still a big -ole - sci-fi/fantasy loving G-E-E-K.

My friend Kati has been enjoying the hospitality of the Sunshine State for about 3 months now on a research fellowship with a university there (back in July). We are in email contact and have been having interesting conversations on the finer points (both good and bad) of the red, white, and blue culture (specifically in the south) - bagels(good), vapid small talk(bad), a gazillion choices in the supermarket to feed your junk food addiction(good and bad), 8796 channels of television - in particular the SciFi channel (GOOD! GOOD! GOOD!). Now, Kati is a member of the geek patrol as well - one can't be a geneticist and NOT be a member. I think it has something to do with using long scientific words in your work being an auto-go-magic membership getting factor.

So, I get an email from Kati 2 weeks ago lamenting that her social interactions have been a bit strained/difficult and she believes she has succeeded in offending people at every turn. For those of you who aren't familiar with Finnish culture, I will briefly explain a finer point of said culture - as much as this is a generalization and I mostly hate them, most any Finn will agree with the following assesment of their beloved Finnishness - Finns don't do small talk. Actually Finns really dislike small talk and as a result are not very good at it - unlike Americans. Now, an American will go around the block and speak to you for 5 minutes without really saying anything until they feel comfortable enough to ask you what they really wanted to ask you (after all the questions about how you are, how is the family, isn't the weather lovely..etc). A Finn will just come right out and ask you - full stop. If a Finn wants to know something they will ask you and it is a real question - if they ask you how you are, they really want to know and the obligitory "good and you?" answer isn't really what they are after. Needless to say, there can be a bit of confusion or perception of rudeness of a Finn because of their inability to do the small talk thing and answer your question directly. This has led to Kati feeling she has offended everyone in the Uni by being direct and honest - I informed her that she should NOT learn to be disingenuous but possibly be a bit more understanding of the cultural difference - it is a 2 way street after all..but I digress... (as usual)

Okay..so in that email, Kati mentioned how she is enjoying a nice glass of wine and that Battlestar Galactica(BSG) is about to start so she is sort of in a heaven of sorts :)

Now..I must admit that I think I have some geek demerits on my record at this point because I hadn't seen the new BSG at all. I was one of those die-hard original series fans and didn't want to watch another re-make of a series that I loved as a young adult which I felt would disappoint me. A fact which I relayed to Kati.

The following weekend, her sister Satu sends a text message that she has Season 1 and Season 2 on DVD from Kati's flat here in Helsinki for me to watch. Kati had emailed her sister and asked her to drop by her house and bring them to me. Talk about a sweet thing to do! Now, my 'merican cultural upbringing obligates me to watch at least the mini-series introduction to the new BSG..it would be rude not to right?

2 Words: FRAK ME!

I must say..I have been really pleasantly surprised.

One thing...not so sure about Starbuck being a chic. - Disclaimer - my feminist-comfortable shoe wearing sensibilities LOVE that there is some eye-candy that isn't vapid and forgetable... HOWEVER...Starbuck (go Dirk!)was one of my favorite characters from the original series and I am having a hard time with the fact that it is a girl...