[TheForge] Mastermyr photo question...

[Andy Vida]

Ries Niemi wrote:

> One of my favorite descriptions of the character of Finns is in Neal
> Stephenson's book Cryptonomicon- also one of the best books I have read
> in the last few years.
> When Bobby Shaftoe is stranded in Sweden for six months with a Finnish
> girlfriend, there is a page or so description of the Finnish national
> attributes, ending with the fact that they naturally had to invent
> their own submachine gun, as no other countries product could be
> trusted to be lethal, reliable, and available enough.
> Plus it makes a different sound, so you can tell by sound who to shoot
> at.

	I gre up weith a Finnish aunt, Aina.  She was a piece of
	work and I loved her very much.  I found out from my sister
	that she was a bit of famous in Finland.  After the war
	she took up spying on the Russians, of all things.  She
	worked as a maid in a Russian embassy, eaves dropped in
	on their conversations (they didn't know she understood
	them) then on the weekends would trek over the mountains
	to her home town where her USA contacts would debrief her.
	Someone finally dropped a dime on her and the (CIA?) bailed
	her out to the USA where she met my uncle Leif, my father's
	brother, fell instantly in love, and got married.  She was
	one of the dearest people I've ever known.  Quite a character,
	too.  Every day after school, I'd stop by for tea and cookies.
	It was a daily ritual with us.  She was wonderful.