More... Wife Carrying World Championships

As promised... our video.

Photo Shoot

My wife got an opportunity to enjoy her anniversary gift, to have her photo taken by photographer Barry McCall (the Annie Leibovitz of Ireland).

Isn't she beautiful?

Grafton Street

Back in Dublin I came across this stationary wind-blown street performer in city center...

Finlandia

Jean Sibelius is a national treasure in Finland and is instrumental in forming a national identity for Finland. His "Finlandia" heard here is Finland's national anthem and was written in protest of encroaching censorship by Russia. As moving and stirring as "The Star-Spangled Banner" it was featured in the film Die Hard 2 (directed by the Finn Renny Harlin).

Helsinki

- Sibelius monument

- Finland's favorite son, composer Jean Sibelius

- wife and husband in Sibelius Park

- Excellent seafood restaurants... this is one of them

- Rock Church (carved in rock and with a copper ceiling)

Amores Perros

I saw this film when it was originally released ten years ago and recently had an opportunity to see it again. I rarely revisit films but made an exception for this one as it was (and still is) one of my favorite films.

It's raw, it's engaging, and it's cinematic art.

Set in Mexico City it centers on three separate stories that by chance bring everyone together in one horrific car crash that opens the movie.

The title translates to "Love's a Bitch" and though violent and gritty, this film does address love in all of its many forms. Dogs frequent the film and you can usually tell the type of person someone is by how they treat their dog.

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriago; this is the film that brought this talented pair to the attention of the rest of the world.

This duo later collaborated on 21 Grams and Babel.

16th Annual Wife Carrying World Championship

My wife and I headed off to Finland to compete in this year's Wife Carrying World Championships. I'll have a video for you in a later post...

We were in a city 6 hours north of Helsinki. It never got dark and it was surprisingly quite warm (30 degrees Celsius).

Needless to say, good fun was had by all...