If you wish to see the videos in better quality, this is best done by accessing YouTube directly.
Copy the URL location, given below, and then paste it into the URL box of your web browser. When you click, you will go to the video on YouTube.
At the right, just underneath the picture, there is a link "watch in high quality". Click on this link to watch in high quality. If you want the video to cover the full screen, then click on the little icon just above the word "high"; it looks like a rectangle inside a rectangle.
URL locations:
Young Musicians - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JzAvVrtLgk
This Old Man - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS7c4vLBNOQ
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Heading East
A part of Elk Street Ltd will soon be heading east.
For those not lucky enough to be joining us, below a brief itinerary. (Click on the picture to make it bigger)
Elk's Street are certainly looking forward to the trip; some for the food, some for the people, and some for the adventure.
Watch this spot for more news!
For those not lucky enough to be joining us, below a brief itinerary. (Click on the picture to make it bigger)
Elk's Street are certainly looking forward to the trip; some for the food, some for the people, and some for the adventure.
Watch this spot for more news!
The pianist
The local music school had a concert for its youngest pupils and one of the participants was Henry.
He accompanied a young cellist in one piece and later played a short solo.
Below the piece, Liisukka. (Video photography by H-M.)
The most difficult bit seemed to be finding out where on earth the cellist was hiding!
Henry's solo was "This Old Man". (Video photography again by H-M)
Performed with some aplomb! Well done, Henry!
He accompanied a young cellist in one piece and later played a short solo.
Below the piece, Liisukka. (Video photography by H-M.)
The most difficult bit seemed to be finding out where on earth the cellist was hiding!
Henry's solo was "This Old Man". (Video photography again by H-M)
Performed with some aplomb! Well done, Henry!
Monday, 24 November 2008
An Unwanted Gift
Beep, beep! A Nokia mobile phone SMS message.
Sender: After-School Club.
Message: Many children in the group have been found to have head lice. Please check everyone's scalp. Washing with lice shampoo recommended. Best regards, After-School Club.
Just the sort of message to lighten up your day!
So, off I went to the chemist's shop to buy the shampoo. Only to find that they had sold out. No problem. Through the damp, dark night I went to the next pharmacy. Armed with bottles of Nix shampoo (total cost - 36 Euros!) I returned and the cleaning began.
Everyone had to wash with the shampoo, all the bedclothes had to be changed and washed. All headgear, woolly hats (it's cold in Finland), hoods etc. had to be washed, as all the stuffed toys. The latter caused some complaints, our boys are really fond of their animals.
Below a photo of the animals drying after bathing in the washing machine.
From top to bottom, left to right: Luigi, Pilchard, Sam Squirrel, Muumi Mamma, unnamed monkey, Stanley, Softie, Aki Buah, Hippo (legs visible only), Musti, Gustav, George the Dog.
Below the same animals with the proud owner of some of them.
In case you were wondering, no lice were found in our household, but better safe than sorry. The joys of being a parent!
Sender: After-School Club.
Message: Many children in the group have been found to have head lice. Please check everyone's scalp. Washing with lice shampoo recommended. Best regards, After-School Club.
Just the sort of message to lighten up your day!
So, off I went to the chemist's shop to buy the shampoo. Only to find that they had sold out. No problem. Through the damp, dark night I went to the next pharmacy. Armed with bottles of Nix shampoo (total cost - 36 Euros!) I returned and the cleaning began.
Everyone had to wash with the shampoo, all the bedclothes had to be changed and washed. All headgear, woolly hats (it's cold in Finland), hoods etc. had to be washed, as all the stuffed toys. The latter caused some complaints, our boys are really fond of their animals.
Below a photo of the animals drying after bathing in the washing machine.
From top to bottom, left to right: Luigi, Pilchard, Sam Squirrel, Muumi Mamma, unnamed monkey, Stanley, Softie, Aki Buah, Hippo (legs visible only), Musti, Gustav, George the Dog.
Below the same animals with the proud owner of some of them.
In case you were wondering, no lice were found in our household, but better safe than sorry. The joys of being a parent!
Monday, 10 November 2008
Fathers' Day
Sunday was Fathers' Day. The Chairman was in Helsinki to watch a modern dance performance so only the boys were at home. Woken at 7.15 a.m., I was instructed not to move from the bed. Two little chaps went downstairs and there were sounds of damage and destruction, interspersed with giggling. Then, true to Finnish tradition, they arrived with a tray with a cup of freshly-made coffee, Fathers' Day presents made at school, and Fathers' Day cards, see the picture below.
The dog card was by Henry, the green card by Thomas. Note also the neat arrangement on the plate - brown crystal sugar, a Marianne sweet, and a Fazer truffle which had been carefully hoarded since Christmas.
And before you ask, it is indeed an Everton F.C. mug.
Happy Fathers' Day to all!
The dog card was by Henry, the green card by Thomas. Note also the neat arrangement on the plate - brown crystal sugar, a Marianne sweet, and a Fazer truffle which had been carefully hoarded since Christmas.
And before you ask, it is indeed an Everton F.C. mug.
Happy Fathers' Day to all!
Trick or treat?
This year Halloween came early for employees of the university. At 14.03 on 28th October all employees received the following email.
"XYZ University has decided to start co-operation procedures concerning the university's entire personnel in order to rationalize its operations and improve competitiveness. A briefing concerning these procedures will be held today at 15.00 in XYZ Hall.
- Rector XYZ"
So, what are "co-operation procedures"?
They are negotiations between staff representatives and the employer that are obligatory under Finnish law when employees are to be made redundant.
Needless to say, the email caused some considerable consternation.
Elk's Street was unable to attend the meeting at such short notice, although did spy a national broadcasting corporation vehicle heading in the direction of the university. In an atmosphere of silence, staff were told that 30-50 people would be fired and the redundancies would affect all units and all staff, including researchers and teachers.
The announcement was big news in the local media with headlines such as "XYZ University staff silenced by surprising lay-offs" and "News of lay-offs surprises university staff".
And then the spinning began.
With gobbledegook messages such as:
"The co-operation procedures are a result of the implemented measures above and pending long-term plans. The aim is to create the best possible operational preconditions for the expertise that supports the university's strategy. For this reason, the university has decided to strengthen the resources of functions which support the university's targets and core know-how."
And the appearance in newspapers of statistics of mysterious provenance and of an accuracy that would make Brezhnevian bureaucrats blush, under headlines of "Administration swallows in XYZ twice as much as in comparison university".
When unions representing workers pointed out that the university was not under such financial strain that immediate lay-offs are unavoidable, and when it became clear that the university does not yet have a defined strategy, the propaganda spinning accelerated.
Interestingly, the right-wing student union came out with proclamations such as "students support lay-offs", probably because the neoliberal business theory taught here proclaims that lay-offs of state employees must by definition be good. The caveat that any changes must not be to the detriment of the student body becomes rather untenable in a context where the rector has acknowledged that "compared to international standards the teacher-student ratio is dreadful."
What does Elk's Street think?
This farce has been extremely damaging for the image of the university. There was absolutely no need for such grand announcements; rationalisation measures could just have well been carried out by not replacing retiring workers and transferring workers from one function to another, particularly since the redundancies seem to be affecting the support staff more than teaching or research staff. Following the disastrous implementation of the so-called new university pay scheme, this has been another example of the unbelievable incompetence of university management.
While the university will still be able to attract students - today's news is tomorrow's chip wrapper - the effect on staff will be more long-term. Motivation has already been affected, there is no point working hard if you are in for the chop, and people are honing their CVs and tending to their network of contacts. The ability of the university to attract and retain good members of staff has been badly damaged. It is already difficult enough to get good people to work here. The location is remote, in a small town in the middle of the forests, and the salary, with the exception of those on professor pay scales, nationally and internationally uncompetitive. As it becomes evident that the university had no clearly defined strategy when the announcement of redundancies was made, it is increasingly obvious that the aim of any strategy is to reduce the number of employees; research and teaching considerations are secondary.
How will Elk's Street be affected?
Elk's Street is unlikely to be made redundant in this round of lay-offs but the outlook for 2010, when the new Finnish university law comes into force, is somewhat stormy. The new law is ostensibly to give universities greater autonomy but is basically a Helsinki-based money grab. Only the new so-called "peak" university, an amalgamation of three existing universities in the metropolitan area, has been guaranteed funding, with the regional universities left to fend for themselves. University staff cease to be state employees, meaning a considerable reduction in benefits (pension, medical etc) and protection against redundancy.
There is one last thing to note - Finland is going through a wave of announced lay-offs and retrenchments, with daily announcements in the past weeks. The fact that the announcements started immediately following the elections, when the usual suspects were returned to power, is of course entirely coincidental.
"XYZ University has decided to start co-operation procedures concerning the university's entire personnel in order to rationalize its operations and improve competitiveness. A briefing concerning these procedures will be held today at 15.00 in XYZ Hall.
- Rector XYZ"
So, what are "co-operation procedures"?
They are negotiations between staff representatives and the employer that are obligatory under Finnish law when employees are to be made redundant.
Needless to say, the email caused some considerable consternation.
Elk's Street was unable to attend the meeting at such short notice, although did spy a national broadcasting corporation vehicle heading in the direction of the university. In an atmosphere of silence, staff were told that 30-50 people would be fired and the redundancies would affect all units and all staff, including researchers and teachers.
The announcement was big news in the local media with headlines such as "XYZ University staff silenced by surprising lay-offs" and "News of lay-offs surprises university staff".
And then the spinning began.
With gobbledegook messages such as:
"The co-operation procedures are a result of the implemented measures above and pending long-term plans. The aim is to create the best possible operational preconditions for the expertise that supports the university's strategy. For this reason, the university has decided to strengthen the resources of functions which support the university's targets and core know-how."
And the appearance in newspapers of statistics of mysterious provenance and of an accuracy that would make Brezhnevian bureaucrats blush, under headlines of "Administration swallows in XYZ twice as much as in comparison university".
When unions representing workers pointed out that the university was not under such financial strain that immediate lay-offs are unavoidable, and when it became clear that the university does not yet have a defined strategy, the propaganda spinning accelerated.
Interestingly, the right-wing student union came out with proclamations such as "students support lay-offs", probably because the neoliberal business theory taught here proclaims that lay-offs of state employees must by definition be good. The caveat that any changes must not be to the detriment of the student body becomes rather untenable in a context where the rector has acknowledged that "compared to international standards the teacher-student ratio is dreadful."
What does Elk's Street think?
This farce has been extremely damaging for the image of the university. There was absolutely no need for such grand announcements; rationalisation measures could just have well been carried out by not replacing retiring workers and transferring workers from one function to another, particularly since the redundancies seem to be affecting the support staff more than teaching or research staff. Following the disastrous implementation of the so-called new university pay scheme, this has been another example of the unbelievable incompetence of university management.
While the university will still be able to attract students - today's news is tomorrow's chip wrapper - the effect on staff will be more long-term. Motivation has already been affected, there is no point working hard if you are in for the chop, and people are honing their CVs and tending to their network of contacts. The ability of the university to attract and retain good members of staff has been badly damaged. It is already difficult enough to get good people to work here. The location is remote, in a small town in the middle of the forests, and the salary, with the exception of those on professor pay scales, nationally and internationally uncompetitive. As it becomes evident that the university had no clearly defined strategy when the announcement of redundancies was made, it is increasingly obvious that the aim of any strategy is to reduce the number of employees; research and teaching considerations are secondary.
How will Elk's Street be affected?
Elk's Street is unlikely to be made redundant in this round of lay-offs but the outlook for 2010, when the new Finnish university law comes into force, is somewhat stormy. The new law is ostensibly to give universities greater autonomy but is basically a Helsinki-based money grab. Only the new so-called "peak" university, an amalgamation of three existing universities in the metropolitan area, has been guaranteed funding, with the regional universities left to fend for themselves. University staff cease to be state employees, meaning a considerable reduction in benefits (pension, medical etc) and protection against redundancy.
There is one last thing to note - Finland is going through a wave of announced lay-offs and retrenchments, with daily announcements in the past weeks. The fact that the announcements started immediately following the elections, when the usual suspects were returned to power, is of course entirely coincidental.
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