Finland, Finland, Finland...a country where I want to be...

Departed Brisbane on QANTAS for Singapore on 5 October. I transferred to the main carrier for my flight there, bound for Helsinki.

Finnair are so naive and trusting in this cautious, cocooning world that cowers in the wake of 11 September 2001:

your meal is finished... what do you want to do now with that sharp metal bread knife?

(An imagined conversation from the headspace of another unhinged passenger in economy class)

Not only was this airline flatware a little unconventional for the 21st century.. I noticed a discarded cigarette lighter under a seat as I walked through business class to the pleb seating section.

Finnish nationals who sat alongside me wondered why I took a picture of my empty meal tray. I explained that QANTAS and most other airlines don't serve potential weapons with their economy class meals anymore. Butane lighters are not permitted through checkpoints in Australia; not even knitting needles.

I got very close to Norway at the end of this flight (I won an award for that you know). I didn't see Norway or any of the fjords I designed, but did capture some Finnish interior design at Helsinki International:




prices on these shelves begin at 50 euro - this is a good philosophy also to guard against the dropitism phenomenon








A little stool with a big price - it fits in a flat-pack box which you see on the left. An Alvar Aalto design original, yours for just 94 euro....or you can buy the IKEA stolen- idea- without- licensing- from- the- patent for about 1/8 to 1/10 of the price : )