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In the news today: Italians and Finns actually eat quite similar diets, and neither nationality reaches recommended amounts of vegetables. A nutrition specialist stated that “Finns are pretty well educated on what would be a healthy diet, they just don’t follow the recommendations – Italians, again, just eat”.
The funniest thing in the Internet I have seen in a while was an American asking if there’s a medal chance for America in bob after Johannes Lochner completed his 4th heat 😂 anyway, congratulations to Germany for another podium sweep. We love to see it.
It’s still snowing. I was out walking yesterday and it’s fun to see wild animal footprints on snow. Bunnies have these long prints that are rounded or even a bit triangular on the tip. Cranes have large, fat feet. Deer footprints are split in half, as is expected.
I also saw a pretty fresh looking cat corpse on the train tracks. Someone will miss her. I don’t know what I would do it I saw a missing cat poster for a cat that looked like this one. What would you do? Would you call the owners? Or would you let them keep looking? I think I would like to know but I would also keep looking because you never know.
I just watched the semi finals of the speed skating men’s team pursuit.
That’s a really strange event! I wonder who actually invented some of these sports? 3 guys skating in a line with their hand on the butt of the guy in front of them…
I found a bamboo infestation in a public park; the forest was so thick, you wouldn’t be able to walk through it. One of the signs mentioned that they’re invasive; I’d think they’d gotten rid of them if they really wanted to. They should be easier to remove than kudzu. Funnily enough, the kudzu vine that has swallowed entire hills doesn’t dare grow on the bamboo.
Gruesome fact: There’s allegedly a method of execution in East and South East Asia that involves tying the victim up above a young bamboo shoot. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. The plant can grow by 40 mm in an hour, so you can imagine what would happen in a day or two. I’ve not found proof this has actually occured.
And oh yeah, this park’s creek is also not up to state safety standards. There’s not much trash and geese poop (well they haven’t come yet), but it was very murky. I hope chemicals and microbes don’t kill what fish that want to live in it.
Last night I as watching Sweden and Latvia play ice hockey, and as the game was getting out of hand and Sweden’s lead increased to 3-0 my mind started to wander. The Finnish commentators very often refer to the Swedish ice hockey team with their nickname, *tre kronor*, which you might guess means “three crowns” in Swedish. Three crowns are their national emblem. I realised I have no idea why. Why three crowns?
I started reading up on it and it turns out, nobody really knows where it comes from or what the crowns mean. Some theorise it might originate from the 12th century, when one Swedish king used a coat of arms that featured three crowns, although not in the same layout as later. Another theory is it might have originated from the 14th century, when a Swedish king became the king of Sweden, Norway and Skåne. Three crowns perhaps representing the three kingdoms.
But nobody really knows. And I love that for them. I think it’s really fun when there’s just old shit around that nobody really knows the meaning or history of.
According to family history study some relatives of mine have made I’m a descendant of Birger Jarl. He was the regent ruler of Sweden in the 13th century, a very important figure in the country’s history who consolidated Sweden into a unified state, lead the 2nd crusade to Finland which brought the Finnish tribe I coincidentally belong to under Swedish rule, founded Stockholm, and two of his children would become kings of Sweden later on. Because of this royal blood flowing through my veins it is important for me to know the history of the Tre kronor symbol, as there’s a chance I will be in power in Sweden one day.
But, I’m not the king of Sweden yet, so instead of rooting for Tre kronor I’ll be watching our Finnish team hopefully win against the Swiss tonight.
I started running regularly about 3 weeks ago (3-4x a week, about 30-50km) and i’ve never felt better.
This week I’ve kinda slacked due to my WFH job, but I noticed still lost 1/2 kg this morning. And then the next day or two i’d gain that back. But I’m still down 3kg in total regardless.
I’m pretty happy about my progress so far. I am hoping to run a 10km marathon comfortably by the end of the year or at least start half marathon training if I achieve the 10k earlier.
I don’t go to the gym or anything.
I was in the 4th district (Wieden) and went to a japanese import shop. Import fees makes their stuff pricey but trying something new every now and then is worth it I think. I picked some stuff I never had so I’m curious.
The full parking lot of the Catholic Church I pass by on my way to work reminded me that it’s Ash Wednesday. Attendance at the office is sparse the day after Mardi Gras, I guess because some people wanted a five day vacation for the price of just one day of PTO.