It's that time of the year again

Could someone kindly tell me where did the whole of April go? It can't be this late in the month already - it was supposed to be a long while before this year's prep course begins, and now it's finally dawned on me that it starts next Wednesday. Sheesh.

This year's course has more students on it than I had last spring. Maybe it has helped that my course was mentioned in the company's brochure as a course with a record-high acceptance rate into the University. Apparently my 70% result was pretty good - and of course it was. I was stunned myself. Anyhow, now I have at least 16 eager wannabe-historians to coach, starting next week. The course will take the whole May, three evenings a week, so I foresee a lot of stress and scurrying to get everything done, but heck, the course will be so much fun to teach. And while at work I can now concentrate on the kiddies (7th graders' history is all I have in my schedule), who don't need to write dozens of essays, I may be able to survive everything. :)

Oh, and marvellous news on the "real" job front. It is now almost 100% certain I'll get the fulltime job for next year! Wheeee! It seems I beat a few PhD's to it - nobody else has the required subject combination of both history and Finnish. This is very good news, also in the sense that now I know there aren't that many people around with the same competence as I have. Hopefully it'll be an ace in my sleeve also in the future. And to be able to say I've got two full academic years' worth of experience teaching both subjects in both junior and senior high - it can't be bad. Yay!

All in all, a good day today. Got my tax papers: come December I'll be getting a considerable tax refund (well, considerable by the scale of my current budget) and then at work, the principal asked if I could take a few more extra lessons into my schedule next year, which definitely means I'm as good as hired. This is brilliant!

Oh, and I got my first postcrossing card yesterday. It came from the US.


Pretty, isn't it?

Now I'm just waiting to receive more cards - and a few of my cards to be delivered, so I can get a new batch of addresses.

The internet generation goes retro

Yay. I got a new hobby for myself. Postcrossing. I heard about it quite some time ago, managed to forget all about it until a couple of my friends began talking about it. And yesterday I finally registered.

So what's it all about, then? Well, simple as this. You register, you get an address where you'll send a postcard and in return you get a card from someone from somewhere in the world. Repeat as often as you want - as long as you keep the cards going, you'll be getting them too. I've now got five cards waiting to be sent tomorrow, to Canada, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Wonder where I'll get my first cards from?

It'll be so much fun getting old-fashioned mail. In this era of lightning fast communications and easily deleted emails, a real postcard or a letter is just wonderful. It's something you can touch, you can see the touch of the sender in it and it's an actual piece of that other culture sent to you.

I love communicating with even my most distant friends via my blog and lj, emails or icq / messenger, but the magic of mail has not vanished. I remember clearly how much fun it was to receive and write letters when I was younger - and when there was no internet. Many of my friends remember how they also had bought international penpal addresses, just like I did. I remember getting my first English language penpals around the age of 9 or 10 or so, through a special organisation. I was in elementary school, and had only studied English for a couple of years. I think my first longtime penpals were from Australia, England and Germany. I also remember writing to a girl in Canada for quite a while, to a girl in the US for a shorter while and only a couple of letters to a boy in Egypt. I think I may have to try and find those old letters one of these days.

I recall the absolute excitement of ordering those addressess - you could wish for penpals in specific countries, I think my "cool countries" were (already back then) Australia, New Zealand, Egypt and Great Britain - and then waiting for the first letters to arrive. And the same goes with the letters that would come from friends in Finland. For years and years I, for example, exchanged letters with my dad's second cousin, who shared my enthusiasm for horses. She later owned quite a few horses herself and the letters would be full of news of their life (in addition to the other regular topics, such as school and boys, heh). And getting them was always a thrill. Oh, the days when the treasure chest that was the mailbox had several letters to offer on a single day. That was loads better than for example any normal Wednesday, when the Donald Duck mag came (I had to negotiate with my brother who'd get to read it first...) - and the mag was the highlight of many a week.

The most recent experiences with proper letters I have are from my exchange year. No internet back then, not that I was aware of it, anyway. And to avoid skyrocketing phonebills on both sides of the Atlantic, letters were the best way of communicating. Imagine how happy I was to receive thick envelopes full of news from home from mom&dad or my friends. A tiny bit of home brought to me by the kind postman.

What is it that makes the old-fashioned mail so enchanting? I think it has to be the time and effort put into it. It's so easy to just quickly type a short email to a friend that the trouble of writing a letter is somehow overwhelming.

First of all, there's the language. Whether it be in Finnish or English, letters (at least in my opinion) demand a little bit more from the writer. I may be an uptight Finnish teacher, but I've always preferred letters that are written properly. I don't mind grammatical errors and such in netspeak nowadays (my own email language is horrid at times, and I'm more than willing to admit it), but letters, that's a whole different matter. Or at least so it feels to me.

Perhaps it's just the way I'm "built" around language. Words are so powerful and even more so on paper. It's the reason it's extremely easy to impress me with smooth writing (if there are no mistakes in the Finnish compound nouns or punctuation in the writing, I'll probably have a positive attitude towards the writer) and equally easy to disappoint me with simple mistakes. I'm quite certain that I'd fall for a guy who could write me an old-fashioned love letter, with no grammar mistakes in it, written in a skillfull and witty style, combined with original thoughts. (Right, I'm not asking for much, am I?)

And in addition to the language, it's a question of taking the time and concentrating on something - the other person. It really makes a letter (or even a postcard) so much more personal. Especially a handwritten letter. The writer has taken the time out of his/her schedule to sit down and scribble a letter to you - how wonderful is that? There's no "cut and paste" -option, but only the writer's skill to plan his writing.

With emails the conversing is quite often fast enough to be just that - a conversation. We sit by our computers all the time, and immediate replies are easy to send (at best it's almost like using a messenger or something). And the conversational aspect of it is enhanced with quotations from previous emails and so on. It's easy to remind the recipient of their own words, when you can just "quote it inline" and write your comments in between. What else is it, if not a written conversation, with its more direct reactions and immediate responses? But when writing a letter, you have a blank page in front of you and you have to form your message so that it will remind the other person of the original question or thought and yet mainly concentrate on what you want to say about the matter.

Now that I think of this, perhaps in this lies a small fraction of a reason why the results of the Finnish exams are getting worse by the year. I've already seen the level of writing skills of the average senior high student, and I must say, it's not very impressive for the most part (however, there are always brilliant exceptions, fortunately). And when the most important writing skills that are practiced in school are different kinds of essays, in which it is often necessary to be able to parafrase a source's ideas in your own text, in your own words - perhaps my generation got more practice in it just by writing letters? Probably a far-fetched idea, but an idea nevertheless. I think I'll discuss this with mom later this weekend...

So, to sum it all up. I love the idea of getting postcards from around the world and letters, well, they have the magic. :)

Another new thing in my life. A very good CD of wonderful music. I bought the CD Mi sangre by Juanes - you may know the guy, looks like Antonio Banderas and sings the song "La camisa negra". This is my spring CD. I've listened to it several times in a row now and it brings a smile on my face and makes me want to take a few dance steps every once and a while. Perfect!

Now that I have spring music, I'd like to have spring, too. It's been a ridiculously cold and snowy (!) April so far. It snowed today, and there have been huge rags of sleet in the air several times this past two weeks. Icky. Luckily most of it melts away pretty soon, but the mere sight of fresh snow on the ground is so depressing at this point of the year. I want sunshine, pretty flowers and days when I don't have to wear my warm winter coat and my hat or my thick scarf anymore!

Or perhaps it's just Mother Nature's way of telling me to quickly finish up my knitting - I've got about three more sets of stripes to go before I'm done. Hmm. I'd better get knitting then, if that's what all this snow is about.

What I have been thinking about

I've been shamefully neglecting my blogging lately. It's not like I would've been exceptionally busy, just standard busy I think, but there have been a few reasons I haven't posted anything for a while. First of all, I haven't felt like I have anything to say. I've had a few things I've thought about quite a bit recently, but somehow I haven't felt like blogging about them. Secondly, my "therapeutic" writing has lately been silly fanfic-stuff - and that is a whole different world which will never see the daylight of a wider public. So, what this has resulted in is a lazily updated blog. Sorry about that.

To compensate, a post about all sorts of random things I've been pondering about since my last post.

About owning a car

Or to be more precise, not owning one. Getting to and from work is a combination of getting rides from coworkers who happen to have similar schedules and catching buses, that have even remotely reasonable schedules. The trip to Nousiainen, which takes me 20 minutes by car (one way), takes me at absolute worst almost an hour and a half.

Today, once again, as I was standing at the bus stop in Nousiainen, waiting for the bus which was some 7 minutes late, I amused myself by watching the cars that drove by. There were quite a few of my students, one driving a fancy Alfa Romeo, one driving a shabby Fiat, one very tall guy cramped in a tiny little car of some sort (perhaps an old VW Polo) and two students in a sporty car of some other sort. Most of them waved at me when they drove by. A nice gesture - an old teacher lady like myself always likes it when young and handsome men smile and wave from cars that drive by... Hah.

No, but seriously, I'm so itching to get a car. And while I can't have this before I win some serious lottery money, I would settle for something more compact, too. Just as long as it is an automatic, airconditioned, 4-wheel drive more compact something. With proper stereos and wheels and loads of chrome... Oh wait, what was my budget again? Doesn't exist? Ahem. Well. Anyway, I'm just saying I want wheels!

About the joys of having to be in the bus with other people

Oh, and today I wanted wheels more than in a while. The bus I took home picked up about half a dozen junior high school kids from Masku and among them was the rudest, most obnoxious little brat ever. He was clearly seriously lacking in braincells. He stomped in, rudely threw his ticket at the driver ("So it's ripped, I don't give a f***, it's your effin' problem, not mine, bitch..." etc.) and went to the back of the bus, followed by his giggling (almost equally obnoxious) court. He then began to (loudly) bitch about how he had been treated in the morning by the busdriver (not the same guy driving this particular bus) and without exaggerating one bit, at least every other of his words was a swearword.

My god, it was disgusting. I grinded my teeth - I didn't want to get involved, because I have my share of obnoxious junior high kids at work and I don't want to be educating someone else's students on my free time, but the driver just pulled over and shared a few thoughts with the kid. One of them being a suggestion the kid could take a hike right away. I warmly (but silently) seconded that thought, but unfortunately the kid chose to remain in the bus (and continued bitching only a little less loudly). A couple of bus stops later, when he and a couple of his friends were going to get off, one girl hissed at him to shut it up. But alas, to no effect. As his last words the incredibly stupid idiot of a git yelled to the driver something along the lines of "Thanks, fu**er for the f****ng ride, f****ng queer whore!" Can you imagine? I was just furious.

What is it with kids today? I mean a kid like that has to have some problems at home or something, but still. It just doesn't fit in my head that some thirteen-year-old little snotnose thinks that it's somehow cool to act like a brainless moron and be rude to adults. Does not compute. Makes me mad. Grr.

About applying for a proper job

I've been anxious about my job situation, too. This part time job I've had this past academic year is going to be a full time teaching job next year. Which would suit me better than fine, because well, a full time job would bring in about double the money (and god knows I could use it). If only things were so simple. They're not.

So, I was asked by both principals if I would be interested in continuing at both the schools next fall, with the remarkably welcome addition of some 10 courses of stuff to teach to the courses I currently have. Barely able to remain still and behave respectably as a sudden urge to hop around happily like a hyper-active bunny almost overcame me, I managed to simply reply "Of course I am interested!", smiling like a cracked pumpkin. Both of the principals were very pleased to hear I would be available, but as it is, their word isn't final in this matter. In other words, "my job" is now open for anyone to apply for and I'm having angst attacks about not getting it.

Why? Well. It all comes down to that one little book I have to write first. And with my current plans of working on it all summer, I'll graduate at the earliest in late September, early October. And if there is a person with the same qualifications I have (qualified to teach both history and Finnish), but with the small extra of being a MA when I'm only BA till October, I'm out of the game, no questions asked. Granted, I do have the weirdest combination of subjects I can teach (history and Finnish used to be a lot more common combination), but it still doesn't guarantee there isn't someone that will run over me in the race for the job. Agh.

Today I took my application directly to the person who will be handling it and now I have to sit on my bum and wait for a couple of weeks. Much nervousness will be experienced before the "results are in". Hngh. I'll keep you posted, though.

About what I'm going to do with the money if I get the job described above

Ah. First of all, if I get the job, I will go and buy a laptop in August. :)

Then I will begin saving up so that I can travel. No later than in the summer of 2007 I will leave this country for at least some time. Be it to Malta, London or a tour of Wales and Scotland, I don't care. I'm going. I'm so going. Whoever wants to come along, better start saving up, too. :)

Although I'm afraid all my plans can go miserably wrong in a million ways (the first of them being not getting the full time job), but I don't care. I want to plan a wonderful trip nevertheless. A girl has got to dream.

About Harry Potter and his chums

Yes, I've been thinking about Potter a lot lately. I've been rereading the whole lot (at the moment I'm in the middle of The Order of the Phoenix, on my way to finally read the Finnish translation of The Half-Blood Prince) and I'm enjoying myself more than on the previous readings. It's only the second time I read some of the books (in English, that is) and I'd forgotten quite a lot of details and even some major plotpoints, which one tends to forget if one only watches the movies and doesn't freshen up the reading experience in the middle.

In any case, in addition to reading (and writing) about the world of young Mr Potter, I've also been knitting (!) according to Potter-verse. My scarf is now about 160 cm long and I've still got some way to go. I haven't knitted in well over ten years before this, but I suppose when all sorts of madnesses hit me, I'm ready to do quite surprising things. Like knitting a (movie) GoF -styled scarf. My only regret is that I probably won't finish it before spring properly begins (even though it's very kindly delaying its progress for me), so I won't be able to use it before next fall... In any case, being over-the-top fannish is sometimes so liberating. :)

And on Wednesday - time for the Goblet of Fire DVD! Whee! I'm so buying it asap and I will watch all the scenes with Viktor Krum in them that same evening! *lol* Watch, rewatch and rewatch... Including all the possible extras... Ah, it's good to be a nutter. :)

Well, I suppose it's always good to stop writing, when one's true nature becomes too obvious. In order to try to preserve at least some of my credibility somewhere, I will shut up now. Hopefully to be back a little sooner than after a month.

If it comes in pints, I'll have one (or two)

What a great evening I had yesterday. It pretty much made up for the less than great winter vacation I spent mostly fighting off a cold and other ailments and studying for a boring exam. (Which, if I'm extremely lucky with my guesses, might get a passing grade - I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)

First of all, I started my evening at the housewarming party of Kaisa and Tero. Loads of friends and excellent discussions, heaps of tasty snacks and plenty of beverages, of which I didn't drink that much at all, due to my plans for the rest of the evening. But during the couple of hours I stayed at the party I was once again convinced that K&T sure know how to throw a good party. A room full of likeminded people lively chatting about lj's, Harry Potter, fanfic, translating literature, thesis writing problems (problems I share with Anckyria), television series, cars - you name it, it was probably discussed during the evening.

In other words, I know I left an excellent party behind, when I headed out for my "Muggle Evening" with my darling friend Satu. We had a leisurely plan: a movie and a couple of beers in a local Irish pub.

We went to see the movie The New World by Terrence Malick, starring such names as Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, David Thewlis and Q'Orianka Kilcher. I didn't know what to expect from the film, since I unfortunately haven't seen the previous movies by Malick and I hadn't read that much about this particular movie, either. Only that it is now Oscar nominated and highly praised by at least some critics.

What we saw was a breathtakingly beautiful, quiet, yet powerful movie. The story is, of course, a retelling of the story of "Pocahontas" and John Smith, in early 17th century settlement of Jamestown in Virginia.

In 1607 a small group of English settlers arrives in Virginia. Their aim is to build up a fort and lay down the foundations for a larger settlement. They don't arrive in empty lands, though. They encounter natives, of a tribe lead by a respected chief, Powhatan. His most beloved daughter, Pocahontas, eventually saves the life of an Englishman, John Smith. The incredients of one of the most famous love stories of all times are in place. Smith and young Pocahontas learn from each other and fall in love, only to be separated by life. Smith refuses to use the princess as a hostage and doesn't dare to think of a life with her. He returns to England by his king's command and asks that after two months time Pocahontas will be told he has died at sea. Pocahontas crumbles at the news and continues living in the settlement, subdued and hopeless, bound now by the standards (and corsets) of the English life style. In the end she accepts the proposal of John Rolfe and becomes his wife and the mother of his son. The life of the proud princess, now named Rebecca, ends in England, however, as the king and queen of England request her to present herself in court. Rebecca and her family travel to the land of her husband, where she is a success in court, but where she finally falls ill and dies far away from her native lands.

Terrence Malick is said to be a director who is obsessed with nature and quite possibly slightly too ambiguous in his storytelling to appeal to larger audiences. I think this is clearly visible in The New World. The movie is at times almost as a nature documentary, with the vibrant sceneries of Virginia in lead role. Combine this with stunning sunsets and sunrises, expert use of light, shade and camera angles in all the scenes and the sounds of nature all around, and you've got an aesthetically extremely pleasing film. This is only accentuated by the slow paced storytelling and the lingering close-ups of the characters. The whole movie is almost like a poem, and I felt very calm when leaving the theatre.

The casting of the movie is also excellent. Q'Orianka Kilcher is just about perfect as Pocahontas. She isn't overshadowed by her more experienced fellow actors (this was her big screen debut), but is able to build a believable and lovable character. Her Pocahontas is innocent, tragic, frail, strong, loving and human. And the camera seems to love her features.

I was also quite impressed by Colin Farrell - or at least by his eyes. He seemed to do most of the acting with his eyes in this one. There isn't that much dialogue to start with (most of the spoken words of the movie are voiced over thoughts of the characters, not in dialogue form), but Farrell is the sometimes confused, sometimes tough and sometimes very gentle man John Smith is depicted as in this story. Quite expressive eyes, he has. (And not bad hair, either...)

All in all I thought the movie was beautiful. It is not a wild adventure or a thrilling drama, but it's a thoughtful description of two cultures meeting and a touching love story. If you think you can handle a less direct way of storytelling and enjoy a quiet journey, I recommend you go see this one.

Satu and I continued our evening at The Castle, a new Irish pub quite close to the movie theatre. It turned out to be a place worth visiting and we were doubly delighted when we noticed it was actually an evening with live music there. So we got our drinks (a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale for me, thanks) and wandered to front row to listen to the band playing Irish music. At best it almost felt like we were in a real Irish pub in Ireland - even though we haven't been to Ireland. But it felt like it, alright. And we weren't approached by more than one drunkard, who amused us to no end claiming he was very cute when he's sober. Satu was all pins and needles and I almost spilled my beer trying not to laugh out loud when she calmly said to the guy that cuteness clearly was a feature which is accentuated by being sober. I could see the guy's brain try to work that out, hah. We're not an easy couple of gals to approach, if we don't want to be approached. Which usually is the case when someone has had a lot too much to drink.

We stayed till about 2.00 a.m. and headed home both feeling good and happy. A perfect evening. Must go back to The Castle soon. A nice pub, indeed.

What else could one want from a Saturday evening? Good friends, an excellent movie, couple of pints of good beer, jolly good music and everything. I think my annoyingly good mood will continue, even though it's back to work tomorrow.

Words in a cloud

My word cloud. Very appropriate, methinks.

You can make your own here. Thanks to Tigerlily for the idea. (Just what I needed to avoid studying for a couple more minutes, heh.)

Motivational problems

I have an exam tomorrow. It should be the last political sciences exam I ever have to take - if I pass it. I haven't got a hold of two of the four books I'm supposed to read for it and only the other one of the two that I've got is actually interesting. So things aren't looking too good, if I really think about it...

In other words, I'm suffering from extreme lack of motivation to study. Even though I know this could well be the last time I ever have to read about IGO's and INGO's (and even BINGO's, as I learned just a while ago) and it all takes me one step closer to graduating - I just feel utterly, completely and devastatingly BLAAAGH.

It could be also because this is not exactly my idea of a nice winter vacation. Here I am, sitting by the books, still suffering from the aftermath of a bad allergy attack and a cold, while it's gorgeous outside (only about -1 degrees or so, sun shines and everything is brilliantly wintery, with just the very slightest touch of spring in the air) and I have a million other things I'd rather be doing. Including walks outside (maybe I'll take a risk later today and despite my cold go for a short walk...), knitting, reading novels and short stories (the latter being work-related reading), writing silly fics or just about anything else. And yes, this entry is also a way to have a break from studying - just to keep me from falling asleep on top of the stupid book on international organizations.

I don't know what happened to my enthusiasm about studying somewhere along the line. I used to be a very motivated student (well, at least in high school) and I used to have no problems reading for exams. It can't all be because some of the minors I've been forced to take to qualify as a history teacher (economics and political sciences, that is) aren't my favorites. I should be able to concentrate nevertheless. I guess there's just too much going on in my head nowadays. I need a Pensieve, from the Harry Potter universe. A place where I could store all the extra thoughts while I need to study.

Ah, well. Enough ranting, back to the books. Blergh.

You are important to me

It's that one day of the year again when even the Finns, who are usually falsely considered grumpy and cold, tell their friends and loved ones they are important to them. Probably not in so many words, but little by little also our Northern nation is falling under the spell of the American candy-sugar-lovey-dovey Valentine's Day.

I went to town today and was genuinely happy to see so many people who had clearly bought flowers for their loved ones. Such a simple gesture, but effective nonetheless. I didn't get any flowers this year, since there is no one to buy them for me, but I did get to spend time with my friends (and Tytti even had bought me a chocolate heart - thanks, sweetie), which is always nice and even more so today.

I actually appreciate the fact that the whole Valentine's Day is known as "Friends' Day" in Finland, because otherwise it'd be so depressing to be single today. But since I have been feeling very cheerful lately (for no particular reason - I suspect there's a bit of spring in the air, who knows) , I refuse to be depressed by not getting any flowers from a Special person. Maybe I'll get some next year. :)

In other words, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. You are important to me, even though I may not always remember to say it out loud.

***

Ja loppuun vielä muutama päivän teemaan sopiva sana Wendy Copelta, runokokoelmasta Vakavia asioita (Loki-Kirjat 1995).

Kirotut äijät

Kirotut äijät kuin kirotut bussit -
saa odottaa kuin nousevaa kuuta
ja kun yksi vihdoin lähestyy
tulee myös pari, kolme muuta.

Ne vilkuttelevat valojaan,
jos vaikka sanoisit: "Kiinnit veti!"
Siristelet nähdäksesi määränpäät,
mutta päätös on tehtävä heti.

Eikä takaisin voi enää palata.
Hyppäät pois, katsot kun muut
taksit ja rekat vilistävät ohi.
Ja tunnit, päivät, viikot, kuut.

Kukat

Ei se monille edes pälkähdä päähän.
Vaan sinulle se sentään juolahti mieleen.
Vakuutit, että ostit jo kukat
melkein - vain jokin oli mennyt pieleen.

Kauppa oli kiinni. Tai epäröit -
niin tyypillistä meille, eikö vaan?
Varmaan jotenkin kuvittelit,
etten sinun kukkiasi haluaisikaan.

Hymyilin ja halasin sinua silloin.
Nyt hymyilen enää kaihoisasti.
Mutta kukat jotka melkein ostit
ovat kestäneet tähän asti.

Niin makeaa

Me ollaan niin samanlaisia -
sukulaissielut, kuin peppu ja paita.
Hyvä on, me hymyillään tuolle.
Mutta juuri niin on asianlaita.

Tohtori sanoi suhteestamme:
Sen toisin analysoisin.
Nimittäköön sitä miten haluaa
se on sama sanottuna toisin.

Kaipaan sinua, ääntäsi, hani.
Narsistinen objektivalintani.

Ja taas onneton valinta

Olen pihkassa A.E. Housmaniin.
Tilanne on pahempi, vaikkei uusi.
Se ei koskaan kajonnut naisiin
ja kuoli vuonna kolkytkuusi.

Ystävänpäivänä

Sydämeni on tehnyt päätöksen.
Ja pelkään pahoin, se olet sinä.
Miten vain kaavailitkin sen
Sydämeni on tehnyt päätöksen.
Nyt jos sinua voi varata en
ensi vuosikin käy, sanon minä.
Sydämeni on tehnyt päätöksen.
Ja pelkään pahoin, se olet sinä.

Yhdeksänrivinen trioletti

No pakko on tätäkin koittaa:
Kulta! Sa oma niittykirvinen!
Jne. Pitää esteet voittaa.
No pakko on tätäkin koittaa,
kuin viululla ilman mitä soittaa.
Taiteen sääntöjä irvinen.
No pakko on tätäkin koittaa.
(Sääntöjä kuin ei jättää voi taa.)
Kulta! Sa oma niittykirvinen!

Siinä teille muikeita runoja päivän kunniaksi, ystävät armaat. Kokoelma on kerrassaan ilahduttava, suosittelen lukaisemaan läpi joskus. Saa vaikka lainaan minulta.

And to you, my friends less skilled in Finnish, I recommend trying to find the English original poems - in other words, poems by Wendy Cope, from her collection Serious Concerns (1986).

Mrs. President, congratulations!

The results are in, Tarja Halonen will continue as the president of Finland for the next six years. Yay!

Love in the Brokeback Mountain

I have just seen the movie I would give all my votes to, if I had any to cast when the Oscar winners of the year are chosen.

Brokeback Mountain. Worth every good word I ever heard of it. Beautiful, touching, heartbreaking, breathtaking - simply an incredibly good movie.

If you are scared of plot spoilers, I warn you at this point. There will most likely be some in this post. If you don't want to be spoiled, go and see the movie first and come back to this post later. I want to get this out of my system right away, or at least the first impressions.

I heard about this movie quite some time ago. I think my first thought was "Heath Ledger? Jake Gyllenhaal? Gay cowboys? How's that ever going to work?", not because I would've doubted the story (I was in fact extremely interested of the story right from the beginning), but because I couldn't see those two actors in the roles. (Of which I knew basically nothing at that point, to be honest.) But as I saw teasers and finally a long trailer of the movie, I began to think I might have been wrong in my suspicions.

And so I was. I've never had anything against Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor and Heath Ledger - well, I just hadn't seen him in that many movies at all, but I didn't quite picture him as an actor to be taken seriously, for whatever reason. But in Brokeback Mountain they both did an amazing job. Subtle, yet complex, quiet but very expressive.

The story, naturally, is based on a short story by Annie Proulx. (I have to find it now and read it, that's for sure!) It tells the story of two young men, who are hired to look after a few hundred sheep during a summer pasture season in Brokeback Mountain. The other, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger), is a quiet and reserved fellow, who is going to be married come November. Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) on the other hand is a rodeo rider, and the more outgoing of the two.

As the summer passes, the two men find themselves in a relationship that would never be understood, let alone accepted, in the society of 1963. They have fallen in love, maybe a bit reluctantly at first, but the end result is clear. They are in love. I suppose the song title "Truly, madly, deeply" would describe the situation pretty well.

The summer, however, doesn't last forever. Any possible plans of a future together don't stand a chance. Ennis is going to get married to his Alma and Jack is going to return to his odd jobs of being a ranch hand and a rodeo rider.

Four years later Ennis receives a card from Jack, who is going to come and visit Ennis. The reunion is like a rekindled flame, burning with a force of its own. Unfortunately Alma happens to witness the first passionate kisses between the long separated lovers. It's the beginning of a slow end for their marriage.

In between the "fishing trips" Ennis and Jack take in the mountains, the men have to fight to keep their "normal" lives within the accepted framework - in this case meaning supposedly happy marriages, with children, for both. It tears especially Jack apart, piece by piece. He suggests they start a farm of their own, but Ennis won't budge. He's bound up with his responsibilities and the struggle of getting money to pay the bills and eventually, after divorcing Alma, also the child support.

The situation frustrates both men and towards the end of the movie director Ang Lee has chosen to show more of the bitterness that shadows the relationship of the men. We know that Ennis and Jack have been in the mountains for a week, but only when they are packing their pick-up trucks, the desperate emotions surface. Each separation hurts them more and more, until both of them are very close to a breaking point.

How I wished the story of Ennis and Jack could've had a happy ending. How I wished, even though I knew it wouldn't be possible. In the end true love, wide open mountain views and a possible future together have diminished into a blood stained shirt, a postcard view of Brokeback Mountain and a tiny slice of a grassy plain seen out of the window of a lonely trailer home. The sheer sadness of it, of all the lost moments of happiness...my gosh. I sat with tears in my eyes while the end credits were rolling.

One of the best things about this movie was the fact that it was very easy to feel for all the characters of the movie, not just for Ennis and Jack. Ennis' wife Alma sees how her husband lies to her about his fishing trips, which are really just lovers' getaways; Ennis' daughter grows to have a close relationship with her father despite everything; Jack's mother's short appearance is enough to create a sense of a forgiving and understanding mother... Actually the only character that remains somewhat shallow is Jack's wife, who is basically portrayed as a number-crunching heiress who has a bossy father. Not that her character really would make much of a difference in the story, since she is always left behind when Jack drives from Texas to Wyoming to meet Ennis.

In short, combine all these concealed emotions and suppressed passion to excellent acting and characterisation, plus magnificent sceneries, you've got a movie I recommend you don't miss out on. Go see it. Honestly.

And an un-related note here at the end (I must go and ponder the movie more before I continue on that topic). I have to squee a bit. The new Battlestar Galactica seems to be getting very addictive and interesting. The second part of the prologue-type miniseries was on tonight and I'm captivated. Very exciting. (And woohoo for Jamie Bamber, aka Lee "Apollo" Adama! He's done some growing up since the Hornblower series, for sure. Mmm-mmm.)

This coming spring is probably going to be see me getting addicted to a number of tv shows. I've already fallen for the Italian Elisa di Rivombrosa, yesterday's first episode of Lost made me want to see more of that story, BSG will be a show to stay tuned to and I'll even give Deadwood the benefit of a doubt for at least a few more episodes. I'm not yet sure I like that one after seeing two episodes. I love quality tv entertainment!

But what I probably love even more is quality dreaming, some of which needs to be done asap. Tomorrow's going to be a fun & busy day, with the science fiction society's grand dinner and all - I need loads of beauty sleeping before that. :)

Alchemist, finally

I've been meaning to read Paulo Coelho's Alchemist for years now. I've fiddled with the different editions in bookstores, trying to decide whether I should buy it or not. Last Wednesday I finally did and I finished reading it last night.

What a touching, elegant, warm and comforting story it was. The text flowed and ebbed in a very natural rhythm, just like life usually does. The decisions and (mis)fortunes the boy has to face were easy to relate to, because I think all of us know what it feels like to not be able to follow one's life's path (I don't know how it's translated in English, as I read the Finnish version), because of whatever reason or excuse.

I for one can say my life reminds the life of the man selling crystalware. He had a dream of a pilgrimage to Mecca, but had decided to earn some money before he would go to the holy city. He would see the poor pass by his store, on their way to fulfil their duty as moslems should, but he would not go, because he had an excuse. Eventually, when the boy helped him earn plenty of money, he understood that he'd never go to Mecca. The time for that had passed.

In my life I quite often feel like I'm living a "I'll do it when..." -life. I'll travel when I have money. I'll do this and that when I have achieved this and that. For the most part my excuses for not doing what I've dreamed of are, unfortunately, money related. And I don't have any sheep to sell to get money for tickets. So the story continues, as it ever has: I'll go to London or to New Zealand when I have graduated and have a steady income. I hope I won't wake up one morning and realise that I'm the crystal guy and that my time to follow some of my dreams has passed me by.

What also makes me wonder is the courage needed to follow one's dreams. Have I become so attached to my current life, a life that just plods safely along with no big news year in and year out, that I wouldn't have the guts to do something different? The thought is somewhat worrying. I think I'd like to at least think I would be able to do even radical changes, if needed.

One such radical thing would be moving out of Finland. I have been, occasionally, thinking about moving to England to study & work for a while after I graduate. There's this program for studies in international publishing that sort of interests me. Granted, I haven't graduated yet, but when I do, will I have the guts to take the more difficult road (instead of, say, a secure teaching job somewhere around here) to find out if that would actually be the career & life I'd like to pursue? I'm not much of a risk-taker, that's for sure, and yet even the mere thought, a mere speculation of a situation where I end up following my countless excuses why I shouldn't do something a part of me would really like to do, is terrifying. I'm so glad I got to go to the States as a teenager - I might not have the guts now! Back then it really didn't seem like "any big deal", living in a foreign country for a year. Sheesh. I'm getting old, aren't I?

Well, in any case the book will be given a comfortable home in my bookshelf. I think it's a story I should return to every once and a while, just to remind me that life can be magical and that some dreams really should be followed (or just to check how close I am of turning into the crystal guy...). Listen to your hearts, people. And if you haven't read the book yet, go already! You shouldn't miss out on this one. If nothing else, it's a beautifully written story about a boy and a treasure. Make of it what you want.

(On a slightly lighter and less philosophical note, go visit Wired Temples this weekend. I'm a guest blogger on the Malta blog of my friend Robert. Lots of stuff about the Knights in my life and so on.)

Winter wonderland

Do sane people drive altogether 1800 km just to be able to ski about 50 km? Yes they do. We did. And the trip was worth every single bum numbing moment sitting in the car.

It took us about 13 hours to drive up North. Dad insisted on driving the whole way himself, so I spent my day watching the sceneries and drowsing off every once and a while. Quite relaxing, actually.

It's nice to travel to Lapland (I'll just use that name, even though I know most people don't consider Kuusamo as being in Lapland - it's too far South, funnily enough) with mom and dad. They've been up there many times and are beginning to be quite familiar with the route already. They know which gas stations have nice restrooms (something you do appreciate when you travel through Finland via route 8) and which roadside restaurants are worth stopping by for lunch or what have you. Very convenient.

The further up North we got, the more beautiful the sceneries became - at least when judging by the amount of snow on the ground. The final 300 km or so was truly amazing. It was sometimes hard to tell the sky apart from the ground in the dusk. The sky was constantly grey (we didn't see a glimpse of the sun during our trip - which should come as no surprise to those who know what the Finnish winter is like in Lapland) and when the darkness began to creep in, the snow would look darker too. In the middle of these two, there were the trees. With tons of snow on them. And I'm not kidding either. There was plenty of "tykkylumi" in the trees, or in other words heavy snow, which has settled down on the trees with no intention of falling down (not before the temperature rises above zero, that is). The snow can literally weigh tons and it bends down the trees, some all the way to the ground. So in fact the whole world seemed to be made out of different shades of white and grey, with only tiny specs of black in between.

The surroundings were very nearly eerie, when it really got dark and the headlights of the car were lighting the woods by the road. I wish I could've captured it on film somehow. (My camera was in the trunk of the car in my bag, so I couldn't even try to use it.)

When we finally arrived in Ruka, I was quite surprised to see that the place was quite like any central European skiing resort I could imagine. I've been to a couple of Finnish skiing resorts before, but Ruka was the first one that is clearly more centered around downhill skiing, right down to the general feeling of the place. Lots of young people, lots of Russian tourists and not too many people on the cross country ski tracks. I suppose Ruka is still one of the "coolest" resorts in Lapland, where one should be snowboarding to actually be "in".

Oh well, we weren't there to impress anyone, just to relax and ski. Our cabin was very nice. Four bedrooms (for 8 people altogether), two livingrooms, a tiny kitchen and a sauna. The cabin belongs to two families my parents know and we got it for a very reasonable price for the few days. It was just perfect, as it was also quite close to everything, but in the same time in a very peaceful area. Or maybe the peacefulness of the place was due to the fact that this past week isn't exactly high season.

During the three days time we managed to ski about 50 km. Not too bad, I'd say. It'd been a couple of years since I last had been cross country skiing, but it's a skill exactly like biking. Once you learn it, you can't forget it. I'm not saying my technique is worth mentioning (because it most certainly is not), but I don't fall down, I can cover fairly long distances in an easy pace and I don't have to walk down any downhill tracks. Which is already enough to make the whole experience very enjoyable.

And besides, how could you not love those long ski trips, when the surrounding nature looks something like this? (I'll post my own pics later when I get them, but until then these links will have to do.) Just wonderful. Although the heavy snow on the trees isn't just breathtakingly beautiful, it was also causing all sorts of problems. There were power failures all over Northern parts of Finland, as trees and branches were falling on powerlines. For us the problems weren't that acute, since the Ruka maintenance people did clear out the few trees that had fallen on ski tracks and we weren't living in an area that was really suffering from power failures. Sure the lights blinked a bit, but we didn't end up sitting in candlelight, huddling in our sleeping bags in front of the fireplace during nighttime. Lucky for us, I suppose.

Yesterday morning we got up around 7 a.m., packed our bags, cleaned the cabin and left for home. Exactly 11 hours and 54 minutes later dad drove the car up our driveway in Nousiainen. During the day I felt a bit like Tolkien's Treebeard the Ent, since he said he always enjoyed going South, because it felt like going downhill. That's how it felt, if for no other reason, then because we made the trip South in less than 12 hours and it took us a bit over 13 hrs to drive up. (The difference can easily be explained by one more stop on the way and one longer stop for shopping some groceries for the cabin. But that's the boring version, heh.)

If you're ever in need of a month's vacation in just two weeks' time, I recommend this sort of thing. One week of holidays with family and friends and then an ex tempore -trip for a few days. Made the week seem very long and on Monday, when I go back to work, I'll feel doubly refreshed. A good deal, this was.

The year comes to an end - with pics!

Another year went by. It seems it wasn't all that long ago when some of us gathered here at my place to celebrate the beginning of 2005. Twelve long months and what do I have to show for it? Ah, well. Let's see.


First, there was spring by the seaside. I borrowed dad's car, took my camera and drove to Ruissalo (one of my favorite places in Turku) to see how everything looked. This was around easter.


Then came June and I had to part with my dear old car. You can see it parked between the bright red and blue car. The pic was taken from my balcony. Buh-bye, Skoda.


Then there was the Medieval Market. Ye Olde Good Times Were Had by All.


August came, and with it work and my little goddaughter. See how well we were color coordinated already at the maternity ward, heh.


And then there were the Australian GUFFers Damien and Juliette, here seen in the local sf society's clubroom. They were wonderful people and I had a good time showing them around Turku (them and two additional Aussies, Karen and Dave). Evidence as follows.


See all those tiny Aussies in the window of Turku's magnificent medieval castle?


One beautiful early autumn evening our friends invited us all (and then some) to a great party. They had the fireworks to back up their promises, too.


Then I went to Helsinki one weekend. Met the author M. John Harrison and took touristy pics. Here's one.

And the rest of my pictorial year hasn't yet been developed... Although, as you well may remember from my previous posts, the rest of my year has included two additional trips to Helsinki, having international visitors from Malta and Belgium, working, working and working and so on. Not a bad year, all in all, I'd say.

I do have a couple of requests from the Magnificent Fates to make 2006 even better. Would you be so infinitely kind as to
a) kick my butt enough for me to get my act together and graduate
b) let me win in the lottery
c) let me fall in love once and for good
d) keep my friends happy and sane (and me along them, naturally)
e) bring peace to the world
f) choose at least one of the above for your serious consideration.
Thank you ever so much.

With this I wish you all a very happy new year. May it bring you joy, happiness and success.

(I'll see you, when I begin my new year of blogging. It'll be in about a week, because on Monday, I'm off to Lapland to ski for a few days with mom and dad. I'll be back on Saturday. No computers, no stress, just snow and nature (and about bazillion tourists in Ruka...) Whee!)

Awwwwww

Thanks to Tigerlily who kindly pointed out this site and caused a wave of squeeing, awwwing and other funny noises. Go and melt yourself into a puddle of goo.

This was one of my favorites. There are no words...


Just how cute can a baby seal get?

It's the season to be jolly...

Tralalalalaa and so on. We have, once again, come to the point where I notice that almost a full month has gone by. In this case, I don't mind it, because it's Christmas Eve tomorrow! Yay!

This year, it seems, we'll have all our family members healthy and happy at the dinner table come tomorrow evening. Last time this was the time when I was worrying about mom who was in the hospital. Infinitely better this way.

So, getting ready for everything has been relaxing this time around, I'm happy to say. Today I cleaned up my place, baked some gingerbread cookies and went to the movies with a good friend. We saw Narnia, which turned out to be quite charming, if nothing else. I want a unicorn, too! (I couldn't help pondering whether or not Peter's unicorn was in fact the same horse that was Shadowfax in LotR, since the battle scene was at least one of the scenes filmed in New Zealand and Peter rode bareback, just like Gandalf. The horse would have to be used to that sort of thing. I may have to do some digging up of facts...) And what an appropriate name the movie has - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Me and my friend, at least, were checking out the clothes of the characters at all times. I need a dress like Susan had, so I can be a believable archer next summer... ;)

Anyhow, it's time to go and wrap up the last of the presents and go to bed. Tomorrow will see me happily listening to the Declaration of Christmas Peace, eating way too much of delicious food and hopefully opening some nice presents, too. And having said that, I must confess I'm going to try and not sit by the computer during this upcoming weekend! There'll be other things to do, books to read and movies to watch, I'm sure.

In other words, I wish you all can enjoy a warm and joyous Yuletide with your families or loved ones.


Season's Greetings from Turku! The picture isn't very wintery, but this is just a reminder that it will look like this again in about six months or so. Days are already getting longer!

We have a debt of honor

This is what a young Finnish athlete said in an interview just a while ago. He had been invited to the president's independence day reception, thanks to his success in the world championships this past summer. He was answering a question about the meaning of independence and referring to the generation of Finns who sacrificed their youth to defend our independence in the last wars. I agree with him, today more than ever.

A veteran of the Continuation War gave a speech in our school yesterday. He told us of his own experiences in the fierce battle of Tali-Ihantala (in the summer of 1944), in which an estimated 8500 Finnish soldiers and around 18000 Soviet soldiers lost their lives or were wounded. It's the largest ever battle fought in Scandinavia and he survived it. Truly humbling story, really. My grandpa, who is also a veteran of the Continuation War, has never really told me stories of the battles he fought in his time. I think he really doesn't want to talk about that part of the war at all - and I don't blame him.

Today, however, grandma told us about her experiences, which is very rare. I don't think I remember her telling us stuff like that before. She gets to speak up more now that grandpa is getting quieter and quieter all the time. She told us how she had taken her little puppy with her to the bomb shelter, even though it wasn't allowed. I didn't even know she had had a dog then. But the image of grandma and her family fleeing from their home, because Turku was bombed heavily, is just chilling. Especially when she told that they were forced to walk towards the city to the nearest bomb shelter, because the area where they lived didn't have one. Which then meant they were actually walking closer to the areas that were bombed, rather than running the other way. It must've been scarier than I could ever imagine.

To complete my patriotic and emotional independence day I watched the old movie version of the Unknown Soldier earlier today. I absolutely love the book and I finally remembered to tape the movie for future use in school. Oh, how I cried. It's an old black&white movie, which makes it very much like the old document films we see of the war. Which then makes it feel very real and made me think about all the young men (and women) who actually were in the war... You see what I got myself into? An emotional trap. I watch a movie - movie gets my imagination running - I get emotional... Argh.

Oh well, I suppose being emotional over Finnish history is very appropriate for the occasion. And besides, I love being a Finn. I absolutely LOVE it. Anybody notice that lately?

Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää kaikille!

All those pretty men

What a fun weekend I had. Pretty men a-plenty. Never fails to cheer me up, such a weekend.

The first pretty men were lots prettier than I am, for sure. Or at least they had more makeup and dresses that glittered more than my average costume for oriental dancing. Not to even mention the stunning bling-bling of jewelry, which I could hardly compete with, not even with chandeliers hanging from my ears.

Yes, I went to see a drag show on Saturday evening, for the first time in my life. The guys were stunning. The costumes, the impressions, the humour... All glitter, all glam. Go see here if you don't believe me. My personal favorites were the short appearances of Tarja Turunen, Tina Turner and Ville Valo (although Ville doesn't exactly count as being in drag, I suppose). The traditional Finnish singers, like Paula Koivuniemi, Katri Helena, Marion Rung and so on were also hilariously accurate. I can warmly recommend you try to catch this show, when Linnateatteri hosts the guys again. If not for anything else, then for the excellent mix and match of the dry, sarcastic humour of Jarkko Valtee (for those of you who don't know it, he's one of the judges in this years Finnish Idols -competition) combined with the delightfully perky and bubbly character of Osku Heiskanen. Entertainment guaranteed!

I may have laughed less, but last night's chick flick entertained me just as well as the Men in Drag. I finally got to see Elizabethtown. And this is what followed from it: "Huh? Movie? Was there a plot? I suppose it was good, must've been. But did you see that neckline as he tilted his head to sleep in the plane?" *omgsqueedroolswoon* Yes, yes, it's time for some completely adolescent and unashamed fangirling. Orlando Bloom rocks my world! (As if you didn't know it before...)

Seriously, the movie was nice. It was just the kind of harmless movie entertainment one needs on a Sunday evening when at the movies with good friends. Not a tear-jerker as such, but definitely endearing and amusing. A bit slow-paced at times, but on the other hand that sort of goes with the laid-back feeling of Kentucky. (Too bad I didn't visit Elizabethtown when I was in Kentucky, celebrating the New Year's in 94-95.)

And what's more important, Orlando had plenty of screen time (well, duh!) and this time without a helmet of any sort, without a blond wig or period clothing. Instead, a few very nice regular t-shirts (guuuuhhhh) and few well made suits. It really should be illegal to look that good. Normal, sensible women like myself will suffer from irrational gigglyfits and get all lightheaded from all the sighing. Not fair, I say. Not fair, d'ya hear?

Where did November go?

A long time since my last update. I can't believe it's this late in November already. You can directly see the relation between my increased workload at school (got those two extra 7th grader groups to teach from November 1st on) and the hibernation of my blog. Sorry about that, folks.

The good thing about this is that the weeks go by so fast it always seems to be Friday, which is not bad. I and a colleague of mine already joke about it. Today when she came to the teachers' lounge in the morning we didn't even have to say anything, we just both burst into laughter. Which then made the principal and other teachers look at us really puzzled. I don't know if our explanation of "Well, it's just because it's Friday!" made that much sense to them. Or maybe it did, considering the fact that (despite the probably quite popular belief) also teachers are happy when it's Friday.

But next week marks the change of study period for us. Which, for me, means a return to a more slow pace and considerably less work at school. Considerably more work at this desk, though, since I need to get my studies going once more. I've got a few more exams to pass before I can graduate, after all. However much I like teaching, it'll be relaxing to be the student for a while, even if it means studying alone at home.

High stress levels also require high relaxation levels. Last week's chosen method for relaxation was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Dum-bledore-de-dum. Excellent entertainment, that movie. I have liked the previous movies, too (although not as much as the books), but this one became the first Potter-film I'd actually like to see in the theatre again. The previous movies didn't make me want to go back, I was more than content with waiting for the dvd's. (Which, btw, I still don't own...)

The movie was mostly pretty fast paced, which served the director's purpose very well. No Dursleys, no dull classes in Hogwarts, no side-stories - it all made the movie feel somehow more streamlined. That particular 2,5 hours went by so fast that I was almost surprised to notice the end credits. "What? Already?"

I'm sure the movie wasn't without its faults, but it was spot-on perfect for me and my stress levels. Besides, the post-movie squeeing and fangirling has been almost as tasty a remedy as the movie itself.

Squeeing and fangirling, you ask? Well. We thought (I went to see the movie with Tytti and her hubby) that the teen-wizards had been doing some growing up since the last movie. First of all, check out the arms of Harry and Ron! They've clearly done some gym work, because when I think of the 14-year-olds I teach... Well, let's just say that Harry & Ron didn't resemble drained spaghetti on a stick as much as an average teenager boy does. Good for them. Let's just wait some five to eight years or so, and some of these young actors are going to be quite the heartbreakers, I'm sure. (And yes, I'll be a dirty old lady talking about them when the time comes...)

And woohooo, bring out the Eastern European team Durmstrang! What an entry. Compared to those sissy Beauxbatons-chicks, Viktor Krum and his buddies were rockin'. It might be just me, but honestly, I thought Krum was pretty yummy. Or mruh, to be more exact. Just the kind of guy that actually fits Hermione's description of him: "Viktor's more a physical kind of guy." Heehee.

The only competition the French witches won without a doubt was the vehicle of choice. Those winged horses, whee! I want some, too! The submerging ship was cool, but those horses were pretty awesome! Too bad they didn't show them more.

Anyhow, I may end up re-visiting Kinopalatsi for a second viewing of Harry and his friends. But before a second helping from the Goblet, I'll go and have eye-candy-a-lot on Sunday, when we go to see Elizabethtown... I've been Orlando-deprived for long enough now, it's time to fix the situation. :)

Book rec

I mentioned some posts ago that I'd managed to get my hands on a future favorite novel of mine. I had the feeling I'd probably like the book, based on only a short description of it. I finished reading it last week and oh my, what a treat! A future favorite has transformed into a current one, based on the excellent reading experience I had.

The book I'm talking about is Keith Roberts' Pavane, originally published in 1966. It's a skillfully written alternative history, which starts at the assassination of Queen Elisabeth I in 1588.

The author, however, doesn't remain in the 16th century for more than the short prologue's worth. In the next part of the novel it's already 1968 and the most sophisticated technology available in England is the steam engine. The catholic church has restricted technical advancements, for example by limiting the use of petrol for fuel.

Roberts paints a fascinating image. He builds a picture of a 20th century world, which in almost all details reminds me more of descriptions of the world of 16th through 19th centuries. Semaphores are clacking away all around England as the most efficient form of communication. The early experiments with electricity and communicating with its help are labelled as heresy and necromancy. The catholic inquisition is in full strength, with all the horrific forms of torture and punishment still in use. When the actions of the court of inquisition are questioned by a lonely monk, an underground movement of somewhat protestant thoughts is born - and duly hunted down by the mother church. Occasionally the reader will, however, notice a surprisingly modern detail, like among a crowd of peasants a girl wearing jeans.

Alienation works miracles in this novel. I found it extremely challenging and refreshing to compare the two worlds, the novel's reality and my own, while I read. The familiar modern reference points were so few (those jeans I mentioned, electric light very late in the novel and so on) that the world was truly strange and I was a stranger in it.

Towards the end of the novel it's revealed that there is a character, who seems to be aware of both realities, the one that could've happened (in other words, the world as our history knows it) and the one that happened in the novel's world. When he reveals this, the reader is once again amazed. Or at least I was.

Through the entire novel I had been in a way "properly horrified" by the idea of such a backwards world - a world without cars, airplanes, pop music (you know, the Beatles and such never existed in this novel) and so on, that it seemed natural to consider it the fault of the catholic church.

I have to confess I didn't think it'd be shown to me that maybe, just maybe, the slow advance of technology and science was actually in many ways good for mankind. Or what say you of a world without Auschwitz, without Hirosima, without nuclear power, without our current problems with, say, the greenhouse gases? What if the catholic church in the novel wasn't the ultimate baddie preventing scientific breakthroughs, but instead an organisation that was trying to protect people by delaying certain advancements till a time when the world would be better prepared for them. The thought made me stop for a while.

In this world of tech-adoration it was honestly a treat to get food for other kinds of thoughts, too. And even though the novel is already almost 40 years old, it's still very current and has lost none of its effectiveness. I strongly recommend you go and read it, because we all deserve the opportunity to rethink our world a bit. An excellent alternative history, in other words. I think I'm going to have to buy it for myself, so I can go back to it again later. I've got a feeling this novel didn't tell everything it had to say on this first round of reading.

In other news, my goddaughter was "officially" named this past Friday in a small family ceremony at Sarin&her hubby's home. I had been given the honor of delivering the speech, which served as the actual naming ceremony. I told Sarin when she asked me to give the speech that I would do it, but that I probably couldn't do it without turning into a sobbing mess. Unfortunately, it turned out, I know myself too well... First three words into the speech and I was already crying. For some reason this situation seemed to be one of the most emotional I've ever faced. I've managed to stay dry-eyed through several weddings now, but giving a name to a child was clearly more emotional. I suppose I knew too much of the background of the story and that made me (empathetic as I am) choke in tears.

I'm glad, however, that despite my teary-eyed performance little Aure's family seemed to like what I had to say. And I hope to god that not one of those several cameras present at the ceremony were filming video clips...

Winter has arrived

First snow today, brrr. Not the pretty kind of fluffy nice snow, but mainly sleetish wet rags of white stuff. In other words, water, sleet, snow - you name it, we got it all today.

Nothing & Much has been going on

"I haven't got a husband (or even a boyfriend), I haven't graduated from the University yet (getting there, though), I haven't got a steady job, I don't own my apartment, I don't have a dog or a nice car (but at least a car of some sort, that's good) and what else... Sounds like I'm a major looser. :) But the heck with it, I'm not! I'm just working my way up to a proper middle class life and it seems to take a while. Next year this time the situation may be completely different, which is a motivating thought."

This is what I wrote a year ago, a couple of days before my birthday. I'm finding it a bit sad that nothing has in fact changed during the past year (well, I do have a job now, but it's only for this one year). Optimism, however, seems to come to me quite naturally and that's why I'm willing to think that it might not be impossible for the things to change within the next year. At least it would be nice to find someone to celebrate my 29th birthday with, come next October 21st. Preferably someone who looks like Ioan Gruffudd, heh. Not many of those around, unfortunately. Must keep searching, then. Tune in next year for an update on this front... (Did I mention my specialty is extreme optimism combined with a peculiarly gloomy pessimism about certain things in my life?)

I did end up having an awesome birthday, though. I even managed to solve the problem I had about the clothes earlier. And to top it all, there was a member of Sonata Arctica who had his birthday on Friday too, and so I got to listen to a full Hartwall Areena singing "Happy birthday to you" on my birthday. Who cares there were only a couple of people singing it to me and not to Henrik! ;)

Nightwishing, part II

So, as is quite obvious, we (me and Maarit, Petra, Liisa and Mikko) went to Helsinki on Friday to see Nightwish perform. What an amazingly great tour finale concert they had for us. The whole Hartwall Areena was packed full and after Sonata Arctica had played their bit, the anticipation and excitement among the crowds was intense. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like it before. I believe the cameraman may have captured some good crowd moments for the upcoming End of an Era DVD (which will, by the way, be on my shopping list when it comes out - we might be on it, too, thanks to our excellent seats...) , if he understood to film the audience before Nightwish came on stage - there was a huge human wave going around the arena, started by a few fans sitting right behind us (we naturally went along with it right from the beginning). The buzz was exhilarating. I kept laughing out loud, because I just felt so happy and excited at that moment.

And surely enough, that's how I felt throughout the rest of the evening. We did have seats, but we sure as heck didn't sit down while Nightwish was playing. There were massive pyrotechnics, impressive videomaterials as backgrounds, a rain of confetti above the audience (not a wall of real water this time as there was last year), stunningly gorgeous clothes worn by Tarja, a touching performance by John Two Hawks - everything boiling down to the feeling of pure energy that flowed on stage and in the audience. Tarja even sang the heartbreakingly beautiful solo song, Kuolema tekee taiteilijan, during which I was almost in tears.

After such a fantastic evening, it was shocking to hear the news from my friend Heli this morning. Nightwish has fired Tarja and is now going to find a new female vocalist, who's going to be performing already on their next album. After some adamant clicking I was able to get to their stuffy website this morning and read the English version of the letter Tuomas and the other guys had written to Tarja to announce the fact that she won't be working with the band anymore.

I can't help but feel so sorry for them all. For Tarja, because this probably isn't how she wanted to be moving on from the band and for Tuomas (and the others), because they had to make a decision like this. I also do think the guys deserve an Oscar for their performance on Friday. There was absolutely no signs of any problems or conflicts when they played, although they knew what was going to happen after the final bows. My god, how awful the situation must've felt like to them, even though the final concert of the tour must've been a bittersweet experience in itself. And Tarja of course had no idea what was brewing in the minds of the others. Such drama, such drama.

I'm glad I was there to see the final performance of Nightwish with Tarja as the vocalist. I hope the new vocalist, whoever she might be, will turn out to be at least as talented as Tarja is. I also hope that Tarja will be able to build her own career without the band, without being known only for being the lead vocalist of an opera-metal band. I, for one, am already waiting for her solo Christmas album. But most of all, I do wish Tuomas, Marco, Emppu and Jukka will be able to continue their musical dream with Nightwish. Best of luck in the future, guys. Change is sometimes inevitable, let's hope it was for the best in this situation.

Turku-Helsinki-Turku-Helsinki-Turku

In addition to Friday's little trip to Helsinki I made the same trip again yesterday. I had a wedding to attend to and it was a bit too complicated to not come home between the two separate occasions. Yesterday the trip also included a couple of hours of shopping in Ikea, because Kaisa and Tero needed to find some stuff for their new home. I was pretty determined not to spend any money going in and was able to stay determined for at least three minutes. Dear lord, what a place that store is. Luckily some of my determination lasted and I only bought a bedcover and this year's first Christmas present, at the total price of less than 20 euros. Go me and my budget. :)

Anyhow, the wedding. Once again, a celebration that felt and looked exactly like the happy couple. The two handsome grooms (yes, this was a gay wedding) had planned a wedding reception that combined good food, nice speeches, dancing and friendship. Very relaxed and warm celebration of their union. I didn't attend the follow-up party, which was probably loads of fun, but I felt like I had a very nice evening anyhow.

What I did think about during the reception was us Finns and giving speeches. There were a couple of excellent speeches delivered, and then some slightly less excellent speeches. The better speeches were well prepared (I think the mistress of ceremonies, Mari, outdid herself this time - she spoke very eloquently) and some of the other speeches were just ad lib at the scene. Which is admirable in the sense that the person actually has the courage to stand up and speak in a public situation (not all can do that, you know). It's also nice because you know the words do come from the speaker's heart when there hasn't been any preparations.

On the other hand, though, I think that all speeches should be planned somehow. By quickly outlining whatever it is you want to say, you avoid the unfortunate rambling. And after two or three speeches that began with "Well, I don't know exactly what I could say to the newlyweds..." (Me: So why are you talking then? You don't need to give that as an excuse, because you've obviously thought of something to say since you're standing there.) and continued with "People usually speak about love and relationships in these situations, but I'm not going to since the couple is not in any way usual..." (Me: People at this wedding usually seem to not speak about love and relationships, I honestly think you could've made an exception to the rule. No? Oh well, it was just a thought.) I began to think that a well prepared speech about love and marriage would've been a show-stopper, something special. Instead we did hear many amusing tales about how different people had met the grooms, which I felt was a bit unimaginative after the same pattern had been repeated by several speakers.

Anyhow, I'm very happy for Tino and Tero. I truly hope their union will be full of love and respect, because that's what good relationships are about. And I'm very glad that they have very outgoing friends, who have the guts to speak in public, prepared or not. It seemed to tell a lot about the general atmosphere of the reception - a lot of acceptance in the air last night.

Kingdom of Heaven revisited

Ah, the ever so wonderful KoH came out on DVD and found its way to my collection, naturally. I was very disappointed because the director's cut didn't come out at the same time, because now I've got to get that version later and become what the movie industry needs - an idiot who spends loads of money purchasing the different versions of the movie. Oh well, I can't not buy the longer version of the movie, just as simple as that.

Anyhow. We watched the movie again with Tytti on Thursday evening. Accompanied by shamefully sinful amounts of chocolaty treats and coffee. The movie was as good as I remembered. And it was nice to be able to comment on different things right when the thoughts came to mind, after all we both had already seen the movie twice.

My favorite scenes remained mostly the same. I love the aerial view of Balian and his men riding to battle in front of the Kerak, as it instantly shows the desperation of the situation and on the other hand the courage (and training!) the riders have.

And the scene where Balian surrenders Jerusalem to Salah-ad-Din. All the meanings of just those few words. "What is Jerusalem worth?" "Nothing." "Everything." If that isn't at the core of the movie, then I don't know what is. It also got us pondering about the world as we know it now. There are these three major religions that all claim the same city as being holy - what would our world be like if Jerusalem hadn't had this role in history? Whose bright idea was it in the first place to have everything happen in this one town? Or to be more precise, whose smart idea was it to think that people could actually be civilized about sharing a cultural past?

I did, again, end up pondering about the character of Salah-ad-Din in the movie. I'm so glad he's portrayed as he is, without making him a "bad guy" of the story. I think he must've been a truly great person in his days, and it'd be fascinating to go back in time to meet him. At one point some years ago I did even think about doing research of the crusades from the saracens' pov, but since I speak even less Arabic than I do Italian or Latin, the idea had to be buried for now. All the more interesting I found the piece of news a friend of mine shared with me yesterday at the wedding. He's planning on doing a research about Salah-ad-Din in the future, after he's learned Arabic. (Can I just say at this point that I want his brains when it comes to languages? He made it sound so easy - and for him it probably is, too. *sigh*) And I think I can promise him he's already sold a copy of the book when it comes out. I'll surely want it for my crusader and islamic history collection. :)

Ah, but about the DVD yet. The extras, that is. Nice ones about the making of the movie, but I didn't much like the first of the history docs they have on the second disc. It was a document made for the History Channel and I got quite annoyed with it. But not so much with the contents as the structure of the document and the host of the show. Ick. The same dull graphics of fortifications and I suppose Jerusalem were repeated time and again, blech. I got so tired by watching it (I watched it already a week ago, and not with Tytti) that when I began to watch the other history doc (which seemed to be slightly better), I ended up falling asleep. Oh well, if the other document doesn't turn out to be any better after all, I won't have any problems selling my copy of the DVD to someone when I need to buy the director's cut...

So there. A proper update of random thoughts. Now I'm going to go and enjoy an evening of doing nothing. Wonderful. Next week promises to be a busy one again, as usual. Meetings, essays to grade, social commitments... Expect the next blog entry some day in December... :)