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IT’S CALLED “HELLSINKI” for a reason: Finland’s heavy metal fans placed masks on four giant statues in the capital city to honour hard rock group Kiss last Friday.
State-owned railway operator VR invited four fans of the US band to paint black-and-white Kiss masks for the imposing figures that stand guard outside Helsinki’s main railway station.
The statues, officially called “lantern bearers” but better known among Finns as stonemen, were given their makeover to mark the band’s 10th concert next week in the Nordic country, which has one of the world’s highest concentrations of headbangers.
Kiss celebrated the statue tribute in a video post shared on the group’s Twitter account.
One of the four selected, 46-year-old Sannaliina Kuussaari, said she was 13 when she attended her first Kiss concert and she is planning to take her daughter to see the band on 4 May.
“I’m a designer (by profession) and usually when I work, I listen to music at the same time. Kiss is very energising for that purpose,” Kuussaari told AFP as she was preparing one of the masks at the railway station.
She has been an active member of the band’s Finnish fan club, Kiss Army Finland, originally founded by the lead singer of Lordi, a Finnish hard rock band.
Heavy metal is hugely popular in the Nordic countries but particularly in Finland, which selected the rock ensemble Lordi, with its gruesome monster costumes, to represent the nation in the 2006 Eurovision song contest.
Lordi, with stage pyrotechnics and the catchy anthem “Hard Rock Hallelujah” became the first hard-rock contestants to win the competition.
Almost a carbon copy of what happened to me during the week. Went to the credit union asking what I owed on 12yr old car, the credit union was closed, so I went home.
That’s terrible, Pingo. How dare they treat you this way. I suppose you’ll be off to the High Court to pi55 around for a few months while you drive somebody else’s car?
That’s only fair.
#justice4Pingo
Favourite comment in ages!
Should we have a whip around?
Is there anything to be said for saying another mass?
basil fawlty and the poor box comes to mind :P
A bog standard car no doubt :)
The answer is a lot more than when you started playing ducks and drakes with the law trying to avoid paying back what you borrowed. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to bring soo many cases at no personal cost using knowledge of the law that was supposed to be for the common good. Handy hint, if you borrow money then pay it back when it’s due or face the consequences
Most logical and balanced comment I’ve seen here in a long time
‘Handy hint, if you borrow money then pay it back when it’s due or face the consequences’
Handy Hint No.2:
If you aren’t in the middle or lower class ignore the above. No consequences attached
I say your honour didnt we go to the same school/club/masonic lodge/libertine parties/share mutual “friends” whatho free get out of jail card.
John,,,, i agree with your comment ” you borrow so you should pay back” but should that also apply to the private banking debt that enda kenny signed over to the public to pay for , for generation to come , after all they borrowed it so they too should pay it back not the citizens, that action by kenny was one of the worst acts of treason against the irish any goverment has ever done
Diarmait mac murchada of 1169 ireland would be proud of kenny
Mac murchada let the normans into ireland
Herr enda brought the germans
Andrew it was always said if you owe the bank a quid it’s your problem, owe them a million it’s theirs.
Agreed. And he spends three minutes considerng his debt. We spend a lifetime paying it back
You’d have thought he’d have rang ahead and made an appointment.
I mean, if the media were there, I presume he told them he was going. You’d think he have told Mr Kavanagh, Fennell or Jennings he was popping in and arranged a suitable time.
Almost like he was hoping there would be no-one to answer his question.
Maybe.
But you’d have thought equally that if a guy turned up the door about money he owed you, you’d slide down the
banister to meet him.
And, you’d assume that as the creditor you’d be interested in resolving it…………oh, wait………
He owes BoI money, not Deloite.
> …if a guy turned up the door about money he owed you…
Unannounced? With the media in tow?
Seriously, now.
Complete stunt, no appointment no right to access offices of a private company.
You have to wonder about this chap’s business acumen if he’s unable to keep track of his own business dealings.
You owe quiet a bit.
Quite*
Ahh Sshh
How did the media know you were there?
Because they’ve been hanging around outside the house watching his every move for the last month, maybe?
Or the League of Landed Loons called them.
How is this man still referred to as a “solicitor”? How has he not been struck off yet?
You owe enough to warrant taking your mansion! looking for sympathy for 3 minutes of nicely asking after 4 years won’t be found here!
I have a limited amount of sympathy for him. That house is going to be sold for a fraction of what it was once worth, and while he brought that on himself, it must be deeply humiliating to see this happening and have the likes of Vincent Browne leading a walking circus through it for a cheap light.
*for a cheap laugh.
If you or I told the pack of lies to the courts that O’Donnell did, we’d be hoeing the garden in the Joy. If the extent of his punishment is that we have a cheap laugh at his expense, I’d say he’s got off lightly.
Maybe, if that’s the case, but since he hasn’t been convicted or even charged with lying at this time, we don’t know. I suspect his biggest crime is being extremely naive about how the world works. Hardly the crime of the century.
Also, if anybody did lie or do anything else wrong, it’s not for Vincent or his ilk to summarily convict and administer punishment.
I find it hard to see how you can have any sympathy for him at all, Neal.
He wasn’t that niave – he knew how to play the system and take advantage of the tax loopholes that were out in place through government legislation to aid the wealthy not pay their fair share. Tax avoidance for the equals tax evasion for the poor.
I though I just explained why, Alan.
** Tax avoidance for the wealthy
I don’t have any sympathy for him or his wife I have very little knowledge on how the court system works just looking from a bystander view point I feel this guy not only used the courts time on a merry go round but got their children involved with a story of how simple their lives were growing up in a daily newspaper Looking at this mansion both of them are top earners in good professional jobs nothing could be further from the truth.
Never heard of a naive solicitor …. Is that like a hen’s tooth …?
It took me 3 minutes to find out I was broke too. I emptied my pockets and there nothing in them….
Were they your pockets or the pockets of a pair of trousers you used to own but sold to a sibling so you could buy more trousers?
Alan, I like your style :-D Real knowledge of the subtleties of ‘High Finance’……
They were my siblings hand me downs and rumour had it he kept a stash of old pennies from his communion 50 years ago. Alas, he clearly found another hiding place before handing them down.
But you should probably claim they’re still worth the cost of the trousers new plus the worth of the pennies anyway…
How much is that bog standard mansion worth?
Just shows the attitude this man has to his finances that he can loose track of how much he owes, which seems to be in the region of 70 million! I dont know about anyone else here, but I know exactly how much money I have going in and out, and how much I owe on loans. If I missed one payment on my student loan, ONE payment, I would be very promptly reminded. His attitude and actions from the moment he had the thought that he was entitled to borrow to the hilt to keep his luxurious lifestyle with no consequences, is a show of how arrogant these rich fe***rs are. The fact that it got to 70 million before anything was done just shows how there is one rule for them, and another for us plebs.
No sympathy. Not an ounce now or ever.
Its probably not that hard to lose track of what he owes, when banks and whoever start seizing properties and flogging them for whatever they can and don’t tell him how much is debt is reduced by. I’m assuming that’s the info he’d looking for. A bit different from your car loan.
He said he hasnt known for four years. Its very different from my loan in the sense that I was sensible and borrowed what I could pay back to create a career that would give me the ability to survive. He borrowed for his holidays and expensive suits thinking that they would just let him off without repaying it. He didnt keep track from the start because he didnt think he had to. I know I have to, and that as a responsible adult I should. Looking for info now that he knows he isnt going to get away with it is the greatest show of arrogance.
He doesn’t owe anyone anything any more – it has all been taken off him, and the receiver is distributing it as he sees fit and it is none of Brian’s business. They have been made bankrupt because they owed more than they owned, and now someone else if minding the finances and seeing the blatant and potentially illegal shifting of money and assets to their kids they are tightening down and having to go to court to stop this constant legal stalling.
The sad part is they completely believe everything is still theirs, and are clutching onto their contacts in the legal and political circles to make this happen for them.
Amy, you are making an assumption that he didn’t care what he owed because he can’t get the figures. A multi million portfolio of investments is a little bit more complex than your bog standard student loan.
Amy,
If you,I or any of us so much as missed a week’s rent or mortgage repayment, the treat of being f*ucked out the door would actually be real. These jokers have been left stay in their mansion after every court hearing. They OBVIOUSLY have zero intentions of handing the house over. How in God’s name can a man end up owing over €70 million and be allowed to stay in a house worth €7 million for this long?
I heard one of that family on radio talking to Maria Finnukey and the sense of entitlement is unbelievable.
‘Maria Finnukey’, who in the name of jasus is that?
The law profession in Ireland are the greatest crooks of all.
Their fees are made up as they go, the simplest cases are dragged on and on for no real reason, bar pushing up costs. Their arrogance is second to none and everybody just excepts it.
It’s a closed circle and none of them are going to rock the boat.
I’m not one for conspiracies etc but I believe that the legal system is even far ahead of politics for greed, self importance, and shady dealings
Pay me €300k (cash) and I’ll let you know there bud.
If you don’t know how much money you owe….. You owe too much!
So if a rich fella loses his money it’s his own fault, but if a poor fella loses his money it’s the fault of the bankers, government, etc.? I don’t expect this comment to get many green thumbs but at least think about it before reacting.
@Bert As a matter of public interest, how did it take a full 3 minutes to cop that your pockets were empty? Were you not wearing trousers when you first checked?
I recently bought one of those plastic shed type garden storage units. They’re very handy, you could nearly live in it if you were stuck…I’ve named it Gorse Hill, ’cause it’s only the bog standard model.
I suppose its whether the receiver is under any legal obligation to disclose anything to the person who previously owned the properties but was unable to keep up the repayments.
Hardly matters because I’d say the chances of you paying it back are slim to none.
Jeasus the dogs in the streets all know by now how much he owes….
Bernie Maddock springs to mind , Lee Majors also.
Isn’t it possible that he spent three years trying to find out how much the bank got for disposing of his assets only to be stone walled and this ‘stunt’ was to highlight that even though the banks say they are engaging, they are not really.
Asking how much he owes? 70 odd million you tit and you having no intention of ever paying it. F**k off back to London and take your spoilt kids with you. Oh and if you could take that Fianna Fáil b******s beads with you that would be great.
Great support for the “righteous” O’Donnells. RTE, The Indo, M Finucan et al all so worried about the ordinary folk. If it were you or I we would be out on our asses but media, judges and all so want justice for those with a mere 71million debt. The law is for the little people.
The o Donnells have to pay their debts- just like any ordinary joe soaps. But shur of course O Donnells will get away with it- and the normal folk who don’t pay their TV licence will get a jail sentence
Vinnie Browne is buying it .
Vin B actually sold his family home to pay the debts of his failed business!
He should get in contact with a good psychiatrist ,boi.. It might help him with the process of letting things go..Does he know one,like ?
Sap!
Does he want to clear his debts ????.
The king is dead Long live the king
i wonder how many millions he stashed away and if you think he has not YOUR IN DISNEYLAND.
Bank of Ireland private banking ??? They should be a case there . How can this bank be private ??
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