Found: Stevie Wonder in Helsinki!

I have officially found my favorite thing is Helsinki and, duh, it has to do with Stevie Wonder!

I was flipping through my new favorite free guide, We Are Helsinki (super cool mini mag + website), when I saw this photo:

I tried to catch my breath as I blurted out,"Um, where is this??? I need to have a beer at this bar immediately."

My Finnish friends probably took this as alcoholism rearing it's ugly head. (They're used to that here.) People who don't know me all that well (or maybe even people who do) probably wouldn't understand the urgency in which I needed to see this place. But please, take note: if there is anything (especially a cafe slash bar) with a dope ass Stevie Wonder mural within 30 miles of me, I need to see it. NOW. No, really, right NOW.

So we made our way to Cafe Aula Bar near Kamppi so I could witness the glory in person. You see, for me, a Stevie Wonder mural is the equivalent of someone spotting the Virgin Mary in her morning toast or seeing God appear on Google street view. And it's the "glory days of funk" Stevie, not the "wait, is my stylist blind, too?" Stevie.

In fact, I'm so much of a nerd, I even know the original photo the artwork is based on.

Bonus nerd points: I also know this photo was taken the same day as the cover shot for Funkafied Rainbow, a live bootleg album that I've actually even blogged about before. (Wow, obsessed factor is officially through the roof.)

Anyway, when we got to the bar, it was somehow even better than I was expecting. It wasn't a mural, as I had originally thought, but Stevie's shadow reflected on the wall through a brass silhouette cutout. Ohhhhh emmm geeeeee.

This was created by Kalle Taivainen and yet another example of how friggin' cool Helsinkians and their designs are. In my next life, I think I would like to come back as a Scandinavian. (Note: the artist's website, which was less than helpful as it was, is now mysteriously down.)

Close up for detail:

I haven't figured out how to acquire one of these for my living room -- yet. Because before I leave Finland, this will be mine, oh yes, this will be mine.

Here are more Stevie photos that make me happy. Because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want.

With Michael Sembello, his dope ass guitarist:

Being all-around amazing:

Appearing in my morning toast:

With the future King of Pop <3

If I could pick one photo to live in, for all eternity, it would probably be this one.