A painting, a song & the happiest people

This did not set out to be a post about Finland. It began by accident when I learned that Finland has replaced Norway as the country with the "happiest" people and chose to probe into it a bit. I then decided a good way to illustrate the post would be with a painting by a noted Finnish artist. When I saw this piece -- "Kesailtana" (Summer Evening) -- done in 1883 by Albert Edelfelt, I ended my search: I love water / I love boats / I love a full moon / I love history / I love women .... I guess that sort of covers it. Edelfelt's works often were scenes from Finnish history, and many credit his art with bringing the culture of his country to international attention.

By coincidence, a symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland, Nightwish, is in the midst of its "Decades World Tour." It will perform in Saint Paul next Friday. I will be there to watch/to hear the concert. Already videos are appearing on YouTube from shows held at earlier stops on this tour, and I have selected the song, "The Kinslayer," from March 16 in Philadelphia for this post. Floor Jansen is the vocalist. Frankly, I think Nightwish without Tarja Turunen is just another band among many good ones, but not a great one. Also present is a video which has Tarja doing the same song at the Taubertal Open Air Festival near Rothenburg, Germany, in 2005 .... after viewing these two performances, make your own judgment.

Finally, according to a profile compiled by the United Nations, Finland is the home of the happiest people in the world. Read on to learn more about that.

Find me some happiness .... please ....

[Part 1 of (maybe) 2]

Anyone looking for a definition of the word "happiness" probably will be disappointed. According to the Oxford and other dictionaries, the definition is this: "The state of being happy."

A list of synonyms include these: "Contentment, pleasure, contentedness, satisfaction, cheerfulness, cheeriness, merriment, merriness, gaiety, joy, joyfulness ...." The list goes on to include several other words, but I assume you get my drift.

I have my own thoughts/beliefs/feelings about the concept of happiness. Since the birth of this blog, they have appeared here with every post .... on the right as the reader views this page under the heading, "Happiness is momentary, from Fram."

For me, happiness always has been an elusive quarry and I really do believe it is momentary for most of us, if not actually for all of us. Whatever .... it interested me when I recently read that Finland has moved ahead of Norway as the county whose people are ranked the happiest in the world.

The list has been compiled annually since 2012 by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations. To make the list, statisticians rank six variables: Income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom and generosity.

Right behind Finland and Norway -- who was first on the list last year -- in the rankings are Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Austrailia, Austria, Costa Rica, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the United States, which fell from 14^th to 18^th this time around. The United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates round out the top twenty.

A few others .... France is 23^rd, followed by Mexico; Brazil comes in at 28^th; Spain at 36^th; Poland at 42^nd; Italy at 47^th; Romania at 52^nd; Russia at 59^th; China at 86^th .... and on and on and on ....

At the bottom of the list are Yemen, Tanzania, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Burundi.

Anyone who is curious about this report can do a bit of research and find it on the internet.

As for me, I do not think it will help me or change me if I should pack up, pay up and move off to another country like Finland or Norway. The only solution for me, I am guessing, would rest in genetic manipulation .... and, I sincerely doubt that will be available any time during my life time ....

"Nothing good's gonna last forever"

The birthday concert .... well, sort of ....

I had considered writing here that this painting was done at my birthday party last year -- that the man sitting at the table was me and that a group of well-wishers was singing the "happy birthday song" to me .... but, I figured no one would believe me, so why bother? Actually, the name of the painting is, "The Concert." It was done in 1623 by a Dutchman, Gerard van Honthorst, whose nickname was Gherardo delle Notti (Gerard of the nights) because of his frequent depiction of artificially-lit scenes. If the style looks familiar, it might be because he was influenced by one of my favored, the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. This painting is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Today is my birthday ....

When I was a college boy, I occasionally told girls I had been born in 1492. I picked that date because the year Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas was easy to remember. I think a few girls actually believed me. I know there were a few nights when I actually believed me .... hmmmm .... the beguiling power of Southern Comfort on a sandy, windswept Lake Superior beach beneath a full moon ....

March is/will be a good month for me in a musical sense .... in fact, the entire year is off to a good start in that regard: On December 30, I saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert in Saint Paul. I am counting that as my "January event." On February 22, I saw Robert Plant and his Sensational Space Shifters band on stage, also in Saint Paul. On March 10, I saw Uriah Heep perform in Minneapolis. On March 30, I will see a Nightwish performance at the Myth Nightclub in Saint Paul.

I never have been to the Myth, but my understanding is that the capacity is about three thousand, five hundred, which suits me fine. Actually, I would rather attend smaller concerts -- the cozier, the better ....

I am an aficionado of Tarja Turnunen more than of the band itself, and Tarja has not been the vocalist since 2005. Nightwish without Tarja is not the Nightwish I would prefer to see, but the world is aeons away from being perfect and I seldom am at the right place at the right time. It sort of will be like seeing Boston without Brad Delp or Deep Purple without Jon Lord, but a guy takes what is available when it is available .... or whatever ....

The songs here today are three: Diana Ross, the prima donna among all women in the musical world, from my point of view, singing, "Touch Me in the Morning;" Johnny Cash, who lived a hard life, but by its end was beloved by millions, singing the, "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face;" and George Harrison, the "Hare Krishna" Beatle, singing one of his own compositions, "Here Comes the Sun." It has been a long, long winter and I am ready for wind, water and a golden tan from the sun ....

The title of this post came from the lyrics of "Touch Me ...." The complete line is: "Wasn't it me who said that Nothing good's gonna last forever?" Incidentally, I do not recall mentioning it at the time, but I saw/heard Ms. Ross in Minneapolis last July. The show had an additional benefit in the form of her daughter, Rhonda, being part of the performance.

So, back to my birthday .... hmmmm .... other than for that, it is/has been/will be a rather quiet/routine/mundane day .... rock on, baby ....

Life is music ....

As much as I whine and cry about the snow and the cold of winter, in all honesty I relish and appreciate living where there are four distinct seasons to each year. To that end, I found another lost and lonely painting of sorts drifting along on the sea of blogs and brought it home with me to illustrate, hopefully, the changing seasons. There was a time when I was enthusiastic about photography and would experiment taking shots of the same landmarks during each season .... and of the same location at the same time and on the same day each year .... and from the top of a hill rotating to include all directions at various times of the day or season or year. But, my enthusiasm for photography has largely waned, and now I usually settle by rounding up wandering illustrations.

Watching the seasons change

I have no idea what you are doing these days, but I am waiting -- rather impatiently, in a sense -- for spring. February has been listed as the tenth snowiest and the second coldest in Minnesota since records have been kept. As I wrote earlier, I appreciate living where there are four distinct seasons, but some years the length and the severity of winter try my patience. The end of March brings the end of FramWinter, although one of the heaviest blizzards in my memory came on April 14 and I recall measureable snow Memorial Day week.

My mind is pretty much empty at the moment. I have been watching films, reading books -- most of them gathered in years past, but set aside then for lack of time to read them -- listening to music, and watching the seasons change. Simply to prove to the world that I have not died and moved along to another existence, I am putting up a sort of nonsensical/whimsical/illogical post -- which seems to have become my trademark ....

In the meanwhile ....

Ever hear of Uriah Heep? Hmmmm .... it seems to me I wrote words similar to those in another post not too long ago.

I am not thinking of the Charles Dickens' character in the novel, "David Copperfield," either. I am referring to the English classic, melodic, rock band formed in 1969 by a nineteen-year-old guitar man named Mick Box. Like a very few musicians from that era, Box, now age seventy, continues to make music and to perform on stage with Uriah Heep.

I think you have guessed where this is going. Uriah Heep will be performing at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on March 10 and guess who has a ticket? Yep .... me ....

A Canadian, Bernie Shaw, is front man and vocalist for the band. At age sixty-one, he is sort of a youngster. He has been singing with Uriah Heep since 1986. Otherwise, the lineup has been the same since 2013.

Did I mention that I have seen this group perform live once before? Well, I have, a couple of decades ago which is sort of long ago and far away. (I think I have heard those words before, too.) Put it this way, sometime and somewhere in Michigan when I was living a very different life and in a very strange incarnation ....

I am including two songs here, one from 1989 at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, and the other from February this year in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Box is the rhythm guitar man as opposed to the bass player, and usually to the left of Shaw as you look at the video ....

 

I absolutely love the words on Shaw's shirt in the 1989 concert: "Life is music ...." Box always has been thought of as one of the best guitar players in the business; Shaw, I think, always has been underrated as a singer .... but, as you will be able to tell when comparing his 1989 voice to his 2018 voice, it no longer has the power or the quality it once did.

I have no doubt seeing and hearing Uriah Heep on stage will stir many memories for me and, very likely, create some new ones ....

By the way, today, March 5, is my son's birthday .... Happy Birthday, kid .... see you at the concert ....