So here I am in Finland. I have met up with M. John Harrison in a bar. Various Finnish notables including Jukka Halme and Toni Jerrman were also present. Beer was consumed, at least until the live band started, and which point people decided to go elsewhere, despite the guitarist doing some very respectable covers. If we’d sat there long enough he would probably have played all of my favorite Clapton songs.
Our Finnish friends had reserved us a special table which was known to be a favorite of Communist revolutionaries. It is probable that Lenin and Stalin have both sat where Mike and I were sitting this evening.
Jukka asked me if I knew any embarrassing questions he could ask Farah when he interviews her on Saturday. I contemplated various ways in which I might end up dead.
Tomorrow: press conference and then on to Tampere.
Shh, she might hear. And anyhoo, it was that tackless Mr Lipton who asked those impolite questions.
You missed a very nice restaurantboat we finally managed find (an open one, that is, as we did find two closed ones prior to S/S Relandesgrund) near the Uspenki Cathedral. Good talking and cold beer. Mmm…
“Tackless” is of course the word we use when we talk about Mr Lipton, who is both “tacky” AND “tactless”. Hence: tackless!