I get the feeling Finns aren’t so much into vicarious stuff

I would not say Finnish isn’t a language of love (or conflict/intrigue/whatever) per se. Instead the key issue is that certain kind of shows have not been produced in Finland before the recent years. People have got used to detach themselves from the (foreign) entertainment they’re enjoying. For this purpose language plays a big role. TV shows in Finnish just feel more down-to-earth so it is not as easy to just sit back and watch “something completely different” without feeling awkward. Things might change when times goes by and people feel more familiar with reality shows in Finnish. So basically these shows don’t meet the expectations people have (which does not mean the expectations/standards could not change).

Perhaps the most clear example of the above would be a non-humorous sci-fi movie in Finnish. You just can’t take it seriously if a starfleet captain Pekka Virtanen unsheathes his light sabre to fight his enemy Tapio Kähkönen (well Dune has Harkonnen derived from Härkönen, but that’s an exception for the rule). You really need d and g letters and lots of apostrophes for credible sci-fi or fantasy names. Perhaps for this reason movies/series shot in Finnish are often intentionally realistic.

PS I hope Esa does not leave the house soon .

PPS It would be interesting to hear more about your board game enthusiasm. What games do you prefer and why? And a political approach to themes/mechanics might be interesting as well (ameritrash vs. euro/german and so on)…

You forgot the price money. I bet there would be much more interesting people in big brother if the price money would be million euros instead of some measly 50 000 euros.

@Mikko – I’m into Euro/Germans. Here’s my BGG profile: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/pschwar

See anything good on there?

Suomi troops are in a bad reality show in AFfuckingGanistan,engaging in genocide against native population…Time for Finnboys to come home to Suomi!
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/09/rpg_attack_on_finnish_peacekeepers_1017428.html

Actually love the Finnish reality shows: The Bachelor and Big Brother to be exact. I find them quite entertaining. Plus, they afford me the opportunity to improve on my Finnish.

The charactrs tend to be a bit quirky, but to me, that makes it all the more interesting.

Euro/Germans is cool but jeez that BGG page is a useless eyesore. I’ve a couple of Winter War games but haven’t had a chance to actually play them. And SPI Eastern Front, fuggeddabouddit. Something like SPI WWII is a nice, light way to rewrite the history of the Western world.

Because they ARE embarrasing. I am embarrased for those people.

and besides, if they were serious about their exhibitionism there’d be tons more BB pr0n

Has anyone watched the Finnish “Talent” last Sunday? Now, that was a real crap by any standards.

Oh, but Icelanders got their own “Reality Show” already in the sagas. Now its bad living in a small village everyones your cousin, its worse going to town and meeting an eligible partner, but kind of priceless then knowing whose great-great-grand-folk stole whose sheep… and thats why you don’t get laid.

This is for those who think that finnish girls are ugly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-a8pnAPLPg&feature=related
If you think that they are ugly, then you have to be a gay.

For those who think that Finns never share their feelings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4sbwOOizgo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPa11MgBaxg

You should remember that there is many kind of people in every country. In finland is rude and shy persons, but also nice and warm-hearted persons. Every country have it´s good and bad sides. You may think that finnish are rude,shy,drink a lot of alcholol,have bad sense of humour etc. And finnish people may think that people from US are fat,smell bad,look ugly,eat only fast food,hate sports etc. But the truth is different. If you meet 10 rude finns, dont expect that all of us are like those 10.

To JustOneGirl,

I think that you are stating a rather obvious thing…

Having been living in Finland for most of my life and having been traveling and staying around the world, I have only come to this conclusion that generally Finns just aren’t every expressive as a nation. It’s a character of theirs. Or culture if you will.

Anyone who has lived in another country (other than Finland) may have observed this..

Small pool is the problem. Americans just have such a high ratio of absolutely fucktarded people to pick from. Allthough this years Big Brother is trying very hard to bring the stupid in a big way.

Like nobody is embarrassed because of Kola-Olli. He’s just goddamned funny and pathethic. He is fucked up and completely unaware of himself in that american, good-for-tv way.

Anyway, reality tv has gotten really stale. Gladiator battles to the death (for money), thats where the future is.

Also it just occurred to me, that one of the best reality series ever is My Super Sweet 16.

Its a really good look into american culture and the people there.
No matter how stupid, annoying, evil or brattish you are, if you’ve got the money you will get the uncontested admiration of your sycophantic peers, who will ridicule themselves over getting an invitation to pretend to be your friend.

Now that, if any, is the american way.

jenkki dogg

but did they build a Sauna???????

I want to see The Gay Bachelor. Seriously. Then I’ll watch.

JustOneGirl – your trick with a YouTube video to prove that Finnish women are prety was rather pathetic. You can find similar videos meant for single guys from each nation.

But to find 20 pretty girls is not yet a proof that the rest are pretty. What I see and pass everyday in the streets IS the reality, not any Playboy meant video.

And the streets of Helsinki are not full of pretty females, belive me.

The girls of 15 with too heavy make-up might appeal still to some younger guys but Finnish women of 30+ are TERRIBLE. End of discussion.

Finland babes rule! Whether you want to be ruled, that’s only for you to answer

Here’s some reality newspaper for ya: Finnish billoneers’ (hi, winnie!) family matters:

http://tinyurl.com/nz9sqn

Pretty harsh.

Who isn’t embarrassed by anyone’s reality TV?

What I can’t stand is people that start sentences with “Now, I hate reality TV shows, but I became addicted to (insert dumb show here)…” and then they go off about whatever it is they found so fascinating.

Reality TV was a brilliant idea that executives came up with to eliminate those pesky writers (and their paychecks)… “Hey!” they thought “Let’s just put a camera in a room and SEE WHAT HAPPENS! It’ll write itself!”

Unfortunately it worked.

You know, though, the episodes don’t really write themselves. Producers inject scenarios and “problems” that these people need to traverse during filming, and then the narrative loose ends are “tied up” though those “one-on-one” camera “confessionals,” voiceover narration and slow motion camera shots.

I know, it’s “just entertainment,” but it is also a big, steaming pile of shit regardless of nationality.

@19 I think that a man has to be a real faggot to allow anyone to rule him. Especially his Finnish babe (rather huges babies you have here;)Hence so many poofs in Scandinavia.

Same said,
‘And the streets of Helsinki are not full of pretty females, belive me’

Hmm..look. Take it from an outsider, Finnish girls really are quite beautiful. I know beautiful women, my wife is Swedish after all. I spent most of this year in Sweden then had a brief 4 day stopover in Helsinki on my way back to Australia.

Finland was very good and the women were very nice. There are more individuals in Finland than in Sweden. The women in Finland dress more sexually than the women in Sweden. The women in Sweden mostly wear male-type clothes with a few female accoutrements. Also there aren’t that many fatties in Finland compared to the English-speaking countries.

Be thankful that you live in a really fine country. Be thankful for the beautiful women. I had a really hard time trying not to stare at the beautiful women as I walked around with my wife.

To same – You think that here is only ugly ppl in finland? You really think that all older than 30 years old here are ugly? You seem to know nothing about finns. And if 15 years old girls wanna use lots of make up, then why they shouldnt? Here people may dress like they want and look like they want to look. In US all ugly ppl may go to plastic surgery only because they want to look pretty for you but why people here should do the same? If some1 is ugly and happy like that, then it dont really matter what she looks like. Here is ugly people in finland, i agree that, but not ALL of the people here are ugly.

#17, not going to take long, theres been already gay pairs on the “Bride for the farmer”

Let me get one thing straight: I am not from US so your comments OnePoorGirl are quite childish.
Another thing: you are full of contradictions: either you say that the women here are beutiful – then you defend that if they are ugly so what? In US it’s a crime to try to correct your looks with surgery but in Finland 15 yera old can look like a painted clown and it’s fine.
Decide which you choose.

I come not from US, not from Sweden, not from Finland. I have lived or travelled most of my life in Central EU countries where women are pure perfection. Sorry lady, no Finnish chick can even try to compete with the beauties from those parts.

If you tell me that all the angry bitchy looking, mostly overweight, dressed in plastic outfits and running shoes creatures are pretty, well we must have different perception of what’s pretty and feminine. Same goes to Foreign Misfit.I would also suggest to skip the Foreign part of the nick.

Tussumussu my dearest, the reason why you continue to rant and rave about the ugliness of Finnish women is most probably your belief that people named Jaska are female.

‘Same goes to Foreign Misfit.I would also suggest to skip the Foreign part of the nick.’

I would suggest you improve your English so I can understand you.

It is true; young girls in Finland put on way too much make-up! When I look at them, all I see is a thick mask of make-up on their faces.Please reduce the make-up and allow your faces to breathe.

Possibly, that is why they look so old by the time they are 30 years old. If you paint up your face with heavy make-up every day, from the tender age of 13, then your skin will obviously be very damaged by the age of 30, making you look damn old.

Beautiful women do not abound in Finland! The women here may be very intelligent, but in the looks department, they score a big fat zero! Of course, there are exceptions here, but most women here are not beautiful.Maybe it has to do with the fact that they believe that by merely being blonde, that makes them beautiful.THINK AGAIN MY DEAR FINNISH LADIES!!

RegularGuy – I cannot agree more with all your comments:) You are very right about those plastic masks on young girls, which is one of the cause that later the adult Finnish women have terrible skin.
There is one other factor that destroys their skin to great extent – with a lot of promiles in it.
We are discussing the beauty of women and how can any drinking woman look nice? Red nose, puffed eyes, stinking breath – should I continue? We have all seen those “ladies” on a Friday night in Helsinki centre.

Anyway, I know there is loads of guys, Finns and not Finns, who share our opinion. Only some real dicks here try to defend the obvious crap. And the reason any foreign guy may confuse Jaska with a female is because often looking at a Finnish woman you are not sure if you are looking at a female or a male.

Here is something about the beauties:
http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2009/09/08/finnish-women-drinking-more/

Research was made by Finnish National Institute of Health and Wealthare, not me.

SUOMI is made for TAPA-ing those fucking coommie russians!

Get that harelipped guy off the front page. He is disturbing.

nice one dave! number 33,that hare lipped guy must be a finn he is so fucking ugly and does stupid things,is he antti ylonen or samuli ylonen from kipparinkuja,espoo ,those 2 fellas are also stupid finns.has anyone ever seen mikko alatalo?well he is a typical finnish ugly dollup of festering shit..

do the world a favour and turn a finn into a makkara,and give the makkara to all the animals in the world that eat meat..

Frankly, I hate just about every American reality TV show out there. They are symptomatic of the dearth of American intelligence. About the only thing I’ll consider watching is The Amazing Race. I’ll just pull the plug on the rest of them.

P.S. I still can’t believe that they’re airing Survivor. That show ran its course a long time ago. Yet people are still watching it (unfortunately).

“3. Little original content – Most of the reality shows are just localized from the United States (and as I saw from tonight, Japan as well). How about some original content, made by Finns, for Finns?”

From United States, huh?
you must be talking about these “American originals” then

American Idol (localized from Pop Idol, UK)
X-Factor (UK)
Survivor (Expedition Robinson, Sweden)
AMERICA’s Got Talent (Created by brits for US market)
Big Brother (Netherlands)
Dancing With the Stars (Strictly Come Dancing, UK)

Where Moomin are? Kittos

What the hell is with that damn osama bin barak obama logo man. Get rid of that crap. The Turd is screwing U.S up.. Get rid of that damn ugly osama bin barak obama crap.

Even on a basically Finblog I gatta see that mongrels name ?
Thank god you dont put his butt ugly wifes pic up..she bloody looks like samuel jackson for jigs sake…

has anyone seen the finnish film strictly come wanking?

Iceland tried doing “the Bachelor” but as you correctly guessed, it didn’t work out. Every randomly picked person on the show – “surprisingly” knew each other and all of the girls knew the so called bachelor to be a wanker before the show even began.
And yes it was excruciatingly embarrassing to watch.

To “same”…
After reading your so called facts about Finland, I became quite sure of you being just another fat-ass, pissed off bitch that lost her prince charming to a finnish girl. Which in any possible way has probably been the best choice that prince ever made. Your kind of a woman is a type, a man says “he’d die for” before knowing you and as time goes by, he’ll start to hope he would’ve done it earlier. You could change your nick to “lame”. Your babbling doesn’t serve any other purpose than showing us others that idiots are alive and kicking.

this article is written by a retarded american. That automatically makes any of his deluded stupid opinions invalid and lame. I presume your name is phil…. you are fugly.