I've had many "I've got to post about this" moments lately (= during the past month or so) and no time to actually sit down and properly write anything. And consequently, I've forgotten most of the things anyway. (I'm hearing many virtual sighs of relief, heh.) But today I'll try to collect the pieces of my mind that have been scattered around and put them down in a blog post form. Sorry if the end result is a mess. :)
Life doesn't always follow deadlines
Some weeks ago I went to the movies with mom. (We saw Music and Lyrics, since mom likes Hugh Grant, hee.) I waited for her in the cafe next to the theatre and browsed through a City mag while sipping my latte. There was a short story (more like a poll, really) for which a bunch of young people had been interviewed about what is the age they want to have children at.
Yeah, you can guess I let out a silent hrmpf into my coffee mug. When you ask a 17-year-old a question like that, the answer is likely to make a (nearly) 30-year-old single feel very old. "Yes, I'd like to have my children before I'm 28 years old, so I won't be too old and tired to take care of them when they are small." Hellooo, I'm not exactly dead yet, either...
But yes, it seems I'm really getting into this whole cliched crisis of turning 30. You know, even though I have no particular "baby fever" at the moment, there is no escaping the fact that I don't have forever to procreate (yeah, boohoo, only like 10 more years of time...), should I want to try it some day. (Yes, yes, a few minor details have to be settled first, like finding the proper husband / dad material...) Take that thought, add the tiredness caused by work, season with a hint of fear of being alone forever and you have all the incredients for my worst moments. (At this point I need to stress that most of the time I feel just fine, no worries!)
The worst part of this darned "crisis" is that it gets worse when I compare my life with the lives of my friends. Yes, it's the last thing one should do, because there's no one formula for a good life - and no deadlines (well, if one doesn't count the one non-negotiable absolute last deadline, eh). And I know this perfectly well. It just doesn't stop me from comparing. I'm only human, after all.
And what's there to compare? Well, at least 6 babies on their way into the families of my friends within the next 6 months. Argh. It's like the Finnish saying about mushrooms in the rain. I've also described it as the "plop, plop" effect, heh.
I'm really, really happy for all my friends for their pregnancies and I certainly hope everything goes well for everyone, but I'm feeling more and more like an outsider. The odd one out.
I'm running out of friends who are in even a remotely similar situation in life with me. Not only does it make me feel super lonely sometimes (even though I'm really not lonely in the normal sense, I've got plenty of friends, after all), but it also makes it increasingly difficult to plan social activities with those friends. They all get very tired around 9 p.m., can't drink any alcohol, can't get babysitters etc. *sigh* (Love you all anyway, my dahlin' preggers friends who will become my dahlin' friends with tiny babycritters!)
This is not a unique problem I'm having, I'm sure, but that doesn't make it any less significant in my life at the moment.
Ok, I got that out of my system for a while. Thanks for listening. Erm, reading.
On a related note, however...
Right. Consider this. I'm in an age crisis. Which has to be obvious to anyone who read the rant above.
One possible cure would be finding The Right Husband Material. Problem is, it's been a Mission Impossible so far.
Another possible cure is to get the heck out of these old circles, shake things up a bit. That's something I can and will do.
First of all, there's the trip to the UK this summer. It's the first time in my adult life when I have saved up a whole lot of money (yay for proper salaries!) to travel outside of Finland on my own (or with a friend, rather) and I'm seriously thinking it's going to do me a world of good to see something outside my comfort zone between Nousiainen and Turku...
Secondly, the matters have come to the point where I'm facing the fact that I can't live in this apartment forever. It's owned by my grandparents and since grandpa is in a very bad shape now and has to live in a senior citizens' home (specialized in taking care of patients with advanced Alzheimers and dementia), this apartment is a piece of property that may have to be liquidated in order to pay for his care and grandma's living. I've thought about buying it myself, but unfortunately it may be too expensive for me, even though it's not in perfect shape. And there is also the option that grandma will be moving here, because she won't be able to live in the big house alone. In both cases, I'm outta here.
Anyway, this means I'm now apartment hunting. I'm looking for an apartment roughly the same size as this one is, because I refuse to downgrade a whole lot from my current roomy arrangements. I'd like the new apartment to be a "through-the-building" apartment, with a proper balcony, if possible. Windows on both sides of the building make it easier to get an extra bit of "air-conditioning" in the summer, as I've noticed in this apartment. A sauna might be a nice addition to the comforts of living, too. It'd also be nice for it to be on the Eastern side of Turku, I'm especially interested in a few specific parts of the town. I'm hoping my "requirements" aren't too impossible to reach with my budget. Schedulewise I've thought that it might be nice to celebrate the upcoming big birthday (in October) in a new apartment. Or perhaps a new year's party?
In any case, I have that one little writing project to finish before that. With the new topic I'm fairly confident that it'll be done by mid-August, when school begins again. With that done, my salary is going to climb up a few notches and the monthly process of paying back the huge (!!) loan will be easier.
And I'm going to buy a car at the same time. Yay for not being dependent on coworkers' schedules when going back and forth to work!
Talking about severe methods of going from an age crisis into a crisis of "OMG I can't believe I have a loan of bazillion euros to pay back!". But at least I can count on all of this to make me preoccupied enough to not worry about being single. Too much. *grin*
On for something completely different - Vikings and Indians!
This is turning out to be a wonderful spring of theatre entertainment for me. Two weeks ago we went to Tampere with some junior high students to see a play called Kun isoisä Suomeen hiihti ("When grandfather skied to Finland"), last night I went to the city theatre here in Turku with a few friends (only one of them preggers - but with twins, heh) to see the musical Thorin vasara ("Thor's Hammer") and this coming Thursday we'll be going to Helsinki to see Midsummer Night's Dream with the senior high students.
The first play, in Tampere, was a story of a Finnish Jewish family from the last years of Finnish autonomy to the end of the wars (ca. 1905 - 1945). I was a little worried about what the students would get out of it, but at least a few of my students were very excited about the whole experience. And they were able to follow the historical side of the story as well, since we'd just discussed the Finnish wars in class. I thought the play was alright, nothing spectacular, though. I liked the musical numbers, there was enough of the traditional klezmer-music sound to the songs to appeal to my taste of ethnic music. Other than that, the whole production was somehow forgettable. The actors were doing a solid job, but no one really stood out. What I think was most important about the story was to remind everyone that the Finnish Jews couldn't rely on being completely safe in Finland during WWII.
Last night's adventure in the land of Vikings was interesting. I had heard terrible bashings of the production (for example, a history teacher I know had absolutely hated the story and claimed it was utter rubbish etc.), but I was still in a positive frame of mind when the lights went off.
And I'm still in a fairly positive frame of mind about the play. I was entertained, even if not thrilled by it. I loved the pyrotechnics used in the staging (nothing cooler, eh, hotter than to have an actual burning funeral boat gliding through the stage or to have actual fire flare up in the scene where the main characters meet the dwarven smiths on their way to Valhalla), as well as the utterly cool viking ship that rocked gently on the stage in a few scenes. Not to mention the male lead's, erm, fine leather outfit and appearance in general. Vallu Lukka, mm-mmm.
What was disappointing was the music. I had thought based on the promo material that it'd be more "primal", more ethnic. Instead there were only a few pieces that had a proper Viking sound & attitude and most of the songs were bland musical "schlagers". I didn't manage to suppress a giggle, when in one of the more tragical scenes (Sigurd's, the male lead's, body is washed up on the beach and the Viking villagers find it) the lyrics of the song went something like "Whose is this bloated corpse we see stranded here?" You don't get that too often in a musical (nor a half a dozen synonyms for the private parts of men, like in one song, heh) ...
Anyhow, this musical had the same problem as Elisabeth did. Excellent singers, blah songs for them to sing.
And the story? Yeah, well, it was like a jigsaw puzzle. Bits of this and that (Vikings capturing an Indian girl and bringing her to their lands, drinking of mead, scheming gods, a surreal trip to the underworld etc.), hints of "this theme could've been dealt with in depth also, but well, we didn't" (those themes would include otherness, clash of cultures and religions etc.) and definitely no high ambitions about historical accuracy. Sure, the play could be "dated" roughly to the 11th century, when Christianity began to weed out the old pagan beliefs in Scandinavia and yes, Vikings did sail to America before Columbus did, but naturally all of these details had been worked into the fictional story, sometimes quite loosely. But heck, I don't go to the theatre to watch staged history documentaries, but to see what someone has created with the help of a vivid imagination. (I bet the teacher who hadn't liked the story at all has never read any fantasy...)
So, all in all, an enjoyable evening at the theatre with friends.
For Thursday (haha, Thor's Day!) I'll try to forget the Viking world and be ready for the tricks of Titania and Puck & co. I hope it'll be a good version of the play. I've never seen it on stage before, just as a movie (and read it, of course).
Oops, I've spent quite a while writing all this - I've got to get back to work! I'm sooo looking forward to summer vacation! Less than 20 days of work anymore, only one full & normal week. YAY! I'm in serious need of not seeing the students for a long while. Gaah.
When vacation begins, I hope I'll have a bit more time for blogging, too. I'll at least try to post stuff from my trip, but at the moment I'm not sure if I'll do it here or over at LJ. In any case, I'll post pics and such afterwards in both places. But I'm sure you'll hear from me before I head to London and then to Wales. :)
Now, work.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Am I in the target group?
This past weekend was a busy one for me. (Umm, so what else is new?) First there was the cruise I was on as a "guardian" to our junior students and then on Sunday a visit to an event for women at a local conference hotel.
The cruise went well. One of my colleagues was with me (plus some students' parents) and we had a delightfully relaxing 24 or so hours. Dined well on Friday evening at the fancy restaurant, partied till 2.30 a.m. and slept in till almost midday. Did some shopping, smiled at the headachy students who were hanging about in various states of well-being and had another good meal in the buffet with some of the students (they were mostly feeling pretty good, I suppose) and then got home in time for some cleaning up of the apartment. Very respectable.
During the cruise I and my colleague pondered a lot about the curious role we're in as young teachers. First of all, being a teacher sometimes brings up the fierce lioness in us. You know, the kind of ultimate feeling of responsibility and protectiveness towards the young people that would normally be linked with parenthood. Neither of us has children of our own, but we still both have had those feelings of "Do not make me act all teacher-y on you! Because I will, if you don't treat these kids well!" with the students. It really is very odd to feel like that about youngsters one doesn't really know that well after all.
On the other hand, the kids certainly treat us in a more formal way (as is appropriate) than for example the parents who were also on the cruise as guardians. It's not like it's a surprise, but for someone obviously closer to the students' age than the parents are, it's funny to be in a situation where even the parents probably considered us as some sort of authorities. Even though we're only in our late 20's. (I'm trying to avoid thinking I'll be 30 this October, yikes.) But for heaven's sake, we're teachers!
It's an odd feeling of somehow sudden professionalism (meaning I still sometimes wonder if I'm actually adult enough to be a teacher...) to notice that teachers are treated a bit differently and that I also interact a bit differently with all kinds of people thanks to my "status" as a teacher. It's a combination of reservation, no-nonsense and roleplaying. And oh my how the students must've thought we teachers were nuts (or just plain embarrassing) when we danced in the nightclub for almost 3 hours straight. All through stuff like Snoop Dogg, 50cent and whathaveyou.
There was even one young guy (not one of our students) who, for some reason still not clear to me, came to me and asked in an honestly puzzled tone "Do you also listen to this kind of music?" The DJ was playing some hiphop song at the moment and I was having a blast "shaking my booty" to it. I just kinda stared at the guy and blurted out something like "Of course I do." I mean, why wouldn't I? Because I'm ancient compared to an 18-year-old? Did I perhaps look even older than nearly 30? Gosh, it still bugs me that I didn't ask him why he asked. :)
Am I not in the target group for hiphop? Probably not, if one thinks about it really, but hey, I don't plan on gathering moss on my way to the bigger numbers. And I have a background of 10 years of oriental dancing.
Anyway, we young teachers survived the cruise, as did our young students and their older parents, too. Fun was had by all (at least as far as I was able to tell) and we teachers got to do some professional self-analysing on the way. And got to be "bourgeois" while at it, too. Heh. Fancy dinners, a bottle of respectable port for "souvenir" and a taxi home.
The event on Sunday was the other thing that got me thinking what the society expects (or seems to expect) of a woman my age. I got free tickets to the NaisDay event from a Celtic Jewellery seller I bought some Christmas presents from. (For those of you who speak English, a short explanation is in place: "Nais" in Finnish is pronounced as "nice" is pronounced in English, but it conveniently has the actual meaning of "relating to women". In other words, the silly Finnish-English name of the event implies both "a nice day" and "a women's day". Pretty nifty, eh? Well, not really. I personally don't like the Finglishms or whatever you might call these mutations of two languages mixed up in one name.)
Aaanyway. I spent a couple of hours browsing through the stalls & watching a couple of performances with my friend - bought a bottle of hairspray and a Celtic brooch for my new scarf. Other than that, the best part of the whole event was the short drag show we saw. It was funny, had really fast costume changes and some pretty fine dancing.
But why is it that I'm expected to want to host all sorts of Tupperware/clothing line/cosmetics/candle/sex toy parties? Sure, I've been to some myself, but I honestly don't feel like I'd like to host one. Not in the very near future, anyway.
Or why is it somehow expected that when I go to an event for women, I'd want to see a psychic? There was a section of "spiritual growth" -related stalls in one corner of the conference center and we couldn't be bothered to even check it out. I'm sorry to say this but I honestly feel like fortune telling and whatever combined with an event like this is almost insulting - how gullible do they think I am?
Or perhaps I don't fit into the target group in this, either. My friend and I may just fit into a small minority of non-believers, boring feet-to-the-ground kinda women. Perhaps the "every woman" likes to go to the fortune teller's desk and hear how her life is going to have a turn to better in the near future. Or maybe the fortune telling is a bad example. If it was free, I'd probably be ok with listening to some mumbojumbo about my future, too. Just for silly amusement. But I wouldn't want to try an ear candle treatment, for example. Which in my books sounds certainly like the kind of rubbish I wouldn't want to try even for amusement, even if it didn't cost a thing.
I'm always amused by magazine sellers, though. They usually start by asking which mag I'd like to order and then they list half a dozen of mags like Cosmopolitan and Gloria. My honest answer? At the moment I wouldn't pay for any of them. Once I did order Cosmo (when the Finnish version was first published), but I found it to be utter waste of time and certainly insulting to my intelligence most of the time. Most of the other mags for women fall into the same category. Sure, I read them when I'm at the hairdresser's, but to order one of them? Nope, no thanks. I'd rather read National Geographic, the Finnish science mag Tiede or the movie mag Empire. Any day. Not surprisingly, they didn't have those available at the event, so I did not order Gloria for 7 months for 25,50 euros. Thanks, but no thanks.
So, I guess I'm not the target group most of the time. Too old for hiphop, too educated (or something) for bogus spiritual treatments and too something (young? nerd?) for MeNaiset-magazine... And yet I am a single woman, soon 30, live in a city and have a respectable job. I fall between target groups in a very odd and effective way. I bet some of you do too.
The cruise went well. One of my colleagues was with me (plus some students' parents) and we had a delightfully relaxing 24 or so hours. Dined well on Friday evening at the fancy restaurant, partied till 2.30 a.m. and slept in till almost midday. Did some shopping, smiled at the headachy students who were hanging about in various states of well-being and had another good meal in the buffet with some of the students (they were mostly feeling pretty good, I suppose) and then got home in time for some cleaning up of the apartment. Very respectable.
During the cruise I and my colleague pondered a lot about the curious role we're in as young teachers. First of all, being a teacher sometimes brings up the fierce lioness in us. You know, the kind of ultimate feeling of responsibility and protectiveness towards the young people that would normally be linked with parenthood. Neither of us has children of our own, but we still both have had those feelings of "Do not make me act all teacher-y on you! Because I will, if you don't treat these kids well!" with the students. It really is very odd to feel like that about youngsters one doesn't really know that well after all.
On the other hand, the kids certainly treat us in a more formal way (as is appropriate) than for example the parents who were also on the cruise as guardians. It's not like it's a surprise, but for someone obviously closer to the students' age than the parents are, it's funny to be in a situation where even the parents probably considered us as some sort of authorities. Even though we're only in our late 20's. (I'm trying to avoid thinking I'll be 30 this October, yikes.) But for heaven's sake, we're teachers!
It's an odd feeling of somehow sudden professionalism (meaning I still sometimes wonder if I'm actually adult enough to be a teacher...) to notice that teachers are treated a bit differently and that I also interact a bit differently with all kinds of people thanks to my "status" as a teacher. It's a combination of reservation, no-nonsense and roleplaying. And oh my how the students must've thought we teachers were nuts (or just plain embarrassing) when we danced in the nightclub for almost 3 hours straight. All through stuff like Snoop Dogg, 50cent and whathaveyou.
There was even one young guy (not one of our students) who, for some reason still not clear to me, came to me and asked in an honestly puzzled tone "Do you also listen to this kind of music?" The DJ was playing some hiphop song at the moment and I was having a blast "shaking my booty" to it. I just kinda stared at the guy and blurted out something like "Of course I do." I mean, why wouldn't I? Because I'm ancient compared to an 18-year-old? Did I perhaps look even older than nearly 30? Gosh, it still bugs me that I didn't ask him why he asked. :)
Am I not in the target group for hiphop? Probably not, if one thinks about it really, but hey, I don't plan on gathering moss on my way to the bigger numbers. And I have a background of 10 years of oriental dancing.
Anyway, we young teachers survived the cruise, as did our young students and their older parents, too. Fun was had by all (at least as far as I was able to tell) and we teachers got to do some professional self-analysing on the way. And got to be "bourgeois" while at it, too. Heh. Fancy dinners, a bottle of respectable port for "souvenir" and a taxi home.
The event on Sunday was the other thing that got me thinking what the society expects (or seems to expect) of a woman my age. I got free tickets to the NaisDay event from a Celtic Jewellery seller I bought some Christmas presents from. (For those of you who speak English, a short explanation is in place: "Nais" in Finnish is pronounced as "nice" is pronounced in English, but it conveniently has the actual meaning of "relating to women". In other words, the silly Finnish-English name of the event implies both "a nice day" and "a women's day". Pretty nifty, eh? Well, not really. I personally don't like the Finglishms or whatever you might call these mutations of two languages mixed up in one name.)
Aaanyway. I spent a couple of hours browsing through the stalls & watching a couple of performances with my friend - bought a bottle of hairspray and a Celtic brooch for my new scarf. Other than that, the best part of the whole event was the short drag show we saw. It was funny, had really fast costume changes and some pretty fine dancing.
But why is it that I'm expected to want to host all sorts of Tupperware/clothing line/cosmetics/candle/sex toy parties? Sure, I've been to some myself, but I honestly don't feel like I'd like to host one. Not in the very near future, anyway.
Or why is it somehow expected that when I go to an event for women, I'd want to see a psychic? There was a section of "spiritual growth" -related stalls in one corner of the conference center and we couldn't be bothered to even check it out. I'm sorry to say this but I honestly feel like fortune telling and whatever combined with an event like this is almost insulting - how gullible do they think I am?
Or perhaps I don't fit into the target group in this, either. My friend and I may just fit into a small minority of non-believers, boring feet-to-the-ground kinda women. Perhaps the "every woman" likes to go to the fortune teller's desk and hear how her life is going to have a turn to better in the near future. Or maybe the fortune telling is a bad example. If it was free, I'd probably be ok with listening to some mumbojumbo about my future, too. Just for silly amusement. But I wouldn't want to try an ear candle treatment, for example. Which in my books sounds certainly like the kind of rubbish I wouldn't want to try even for amusement, even if it didn't cost a thing.
I'm always amused by magazine sellers, though. They usually start by asking which mag I'd like to order and then they list half a dozen of mags like Cosmopolitan and Gloria. My honest answer? At the moment I wouldn't pay for any of them. Once I did order Cosmo (when the Finnish version was first published), but I found it to be utter waste of time and certainly insulting to my intelligence most of the time. Most of the other mags for women fall into the same category. Sure, I read them when I'm at the hairdresser's, but to order one of them? Nope, no thanks. I'd rather read National Geographic, the Finnish science mag Tiede or the movie mag Empire. Any day. Not surprisingly, they didn't have those available at the event, so I did not order Gloria for 7 months for 25,50 euros. Thanks, but no thanks.
So, I guess I'm not the target group most of the time. Too old for hiphop, too educated (or something) for bogus spiritual treatments and too something (young? nerd?) for MeNaiset-magazine... And yet I am a single woman, soon 30, live in a city and have a respectable job. I fall between target groups in a very odd and effective way. I bet some of you do too.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Still alive here despite the long silence
Oh wow. The year really got to a flying start, didn't it? The whole of January and almost half a February gone before I get the first post of the year in. And I still don't have much to say, I'm afraid.
Which will probably tell you what I've been up to lately. Yup, work, work, work. The Christmas break was long waited for and sorely needed, and I'm equally happy that there's the winter vacation coming in a week. Yay for vacations! (Not that work has been bad lately, it's just nice to get out of the reach of the students every once and a while, just to have some time for myself.)
Vacations are always something to look forward to (I can't, for example, wait till my summertrip to London and Wales with my friend in June), but at its best work is highly motivating in itself, too. Especially when people give you good feedback on work well done. I got some of that last week and it made my day. The compliments even included a strong hint I might be asked to continue working at the school for at least one more year. Yay! I certainly hope that's going to happen. I really like my "deal" at the moment, combining history, Finnish and tutoring. And if the principals like my input, I'm more than happy to get one more year of work experience from this school.
But this brings forth the nearly eternal problem of finally graduating. I took a pretty serious step forward in that matter today, I'll know more next week. I'm getting so sick and tired of the ghost of the thesis looming behind me all the time that I'm forced to face a few facts in order to get the darned thing to go away. One of them being the fact that work takes most of my time and the thesis has to be done somewhere in between. Which is not a whole lot of time or energy. But if everything goes well, I'll be able to begin ghostbusting for real pretty soon. Keep your fingers crossed, I'll keep you posted.
Ah, better be going now, got to plan some lessons for the week. Ta ta.
Which will probably tell you what I've been up to lately. Yup, work, work, work. The Christmas break was long waited for and sorely needed, and I'm equally happy that there's the winter vacation coming in a week. Yay for vacations! (Not that work has been bad lately, it's just nice to get out of the reach of the students every once and a while, just to have some time for myself.)
Vacations are always something to look forward to (I can't, for example, wait till my summertrip to London and Wales with my friend in June), but at its best work is highly motivating in itself, too. Especially when people give you good feedback on work well done. I got some of that last week and it made my day. The compliments even included a strong hint I might be asked to continue working at the school for at least one more year. Yay! I certainly hope that's going to happen. I really like my "deal" at the moment, combining history, Finnish and tutoring. And if the principals like my input, I'm more than happy to get one more year of work experience from this school.
But this brings forth the nearly eternal problem of finally graduating. I took a pretty serious step forward in that matter today, I'll know more next week. I'm getting so sick and tired of the ghost of the thesis looming behind me all the time that I'm forced to face a few facts in order to get the darned thing to go away. One of them being the fact that work takes most of my time and the thesis has to be done somewhere in between. Which is not a whole lot of time or energy. But if everything goes well, I'll be able to begin ghostbusting for real pretty soon. Keep your fingers crossed, I'll keep you posted.
Ah, better be going now, got to plan some lessons for the week. Ta ta.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Farewell, 2006
And so, the year comes to an end to the sound of rain. This is certainly the oddest weather for the new year's eve's eve. Clearly I remember new year's eves so cold I could not wear enough clothes to keep warm during the midnight fireworks. Also I remember several new year's eves with lots and lots of snow.
And what do we have now? Temperatures around +5 C and pouring rain. Odd, indeed.
But never mind the weather, I've been saying my goodbyes to this year by enjoying culture. Indoors.
Yesterday I went to see a play called Einstein, Weinstein & Wittgenstein performed on the small stage of the city theatre. It was a delightful romp about the two very famous professors, Einstein and Wittgenstein - and a third guy, perhaps less known by name but definitely known by habit to all people.
As the play is written by M.A. Numminen, the Finns should know what to expect of the text. Lots of witty references to popular culture, a whole lot of stuff from the actual theories of Einstein & Wittgenstein and well, lots of lewdness and absurd humour too.
Turns out that Mr. Weinstein is, as anyone who speaks any German can guess from his name, the master of drinking and intoxication. The "genie of the bottle", so to say. He manages to confuse the two serious professors by his antics - especially Wittgenstein is quite baffled at times. When Einstein tries to explain the world with physics, Wittgenstein through language, Weinstein pours them more wine.
The actor playing Wittgenstein was my new favourite, Mika Kujala, who was Death in the musical Elisabeth. (Remember my squees over him as Death? I thought so.) This time his role had less grandeur, but the socially awkward Wittgenstein was very endearing. He was serious, broody, shy and insecure. And funny as heck.
Einstein was played by Petri Rajala, a favourite of mine for many years now. I've seen him in several plays and even performed with him. (He's also a popular troubadour and he was playing in the same event where I and my friends were dancing - so in the end he played us a serenade and we danced to it. One of my fondest memories of performing!) His Einstein was silly and wise at the same time.
But the funniest of them all was the almost child-like Weinstein, played by Stefan Karlsson. He made Weinstein an epitome of the cliched university student / research assistant. Spending most of his time in bars and pubs, having a jolly good time doing what he knows best. Namely, researching the bottle, its contents and the effects of said contents on people. And for some reason he kept changing hats all the time.
After the play I was humming Wittgenstein's words to a tune they sang at the end of the play. "Worüber man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen." And I remembered why Wittgenstein's theories were among my favourites when I studied philosophy in senior high. In other words, if you have a chance, go see the play. It's entertaining on quite many levels.
Today's dose of culture was a movie. Guillermo del Toro's newest fantasy piece, Pan's Labyrinth (or El Laberinto del Fauno). It's a story of a young Spanish girl, who moves with her pregnant mother to live with her new step-father. It's the year 1944 and Ofelia's step-father is a cruel army captain of Franco's army, who coldbloodedly kills rebels and innocent bystanders alike.
To survive the horrors of her new home, Ofelia escapes to a fantasy world, where she is the long lost princess of the Underworld. She meets a faun in a labyrinth near the mill-turned-military-base she has to call home. The ancient faun gives her different tasks to fulfill in order for her to be able to return to her "real father", the King of the Underworld.
The movie is no bright spring picnic. It's cruel, gruesome and dark. It's disturbing, graphic and yet there is comfort to the idea of a little girl finding a way to cope with the bloody real world.
If faeries and fauns give some relief from the constant fear of the captain or the fear for her mother's and unborn baby brother's health, who can blame the girl?
Del Toro's work is impressive. The cuts between reality and fantasy are seamless, the imagery haunting.
The only thing that annoyed me about the film was the translation. I don't know if it was on purpose (it probably was), but there were ridiculous mistakes in the verb forms the faun used. I don't know enough Spanish to be able to tell whether the original words were also slightly misused archaic forms as the Finnish ones were (you know, of the type "olkootte" instead of "olkaatte" and so on). If they were, and the mistakes in the Finnish version were on purpose, my complains have no base, but until someone can confirm that the Spanish the faun spoke was also a bit off the proper grammar, I'm going to be annoyed. It's not like the old Finnish über-polite verb forms are familiar to most people anymore (they'd probably sound equally odd to almost any Finnish teen, whether they were correct or incorrect), but well, I suppose I'm a nit-picker when it comes to such details.
There. It's already half past midnight, so the last day of the year is well on its way. Since I probably won't be blogging later today, this is where I wish you all a very happy and prosperous year 2007! Let it be a year of wishes coming true for all of us.
See you in 2007, folks. :)
And what do we have now? Temperatures around +5 C and pouring rain. Odd, indeed.
But never mind the weather, I've been saying my goodbyes to this year by enjoying culture. Indoors.
Yesterday I went to see a play called Einstein, Weinstein & Wittgenstein performed on the small stage of the city theatre. It was a delightful romp about the two very famous professors, Einstein and Wittgenstein - and a third guy, perhaps less known by name but definitely known by habit to all people.
As the play is written by M.A. Numminen, the Finns should know what to expect of the text. Lots of witty references to popular culture, a whole lot of stuff from the actual theories of Einstein & Wittgenstein and well, lots of lewdness and absurd humour too.
Turns out that Mr. Weinstein is, as anyone who speaks any German can guess from his name, the master of drinking and intoxication. The "genie of the bottle", so to say. He manages to confuse the two serious professors by his antics - especially Wittgenstein is quite baffled at times. When Einstein tries to explain the world with physics, Wittgenstein through language, Weinstein pours them more wine.
The actor playing Wittgenstein was my new favourite, Mika Kujala, who was Death in the musical Elisabeth. (Remember my squees over him as Death? I thought so.) This time his role had less grandeur, but the socially awkward Wittgenstein was very endearing. He was serious, broody, shy and insecure. And funny as heck.
Einstein was played by Petri Rajala, a favourite of mine for many years now. I've seen him in several plays and even performed with him. (He's also a popular troubadour and he was playing in the same event where I and my friends were dancing - so in the end he played us a serenade and we danced to it. One of my fondest memories of performing!) His Einstein was silly and wise at the same time.
But the funniest of them all was the almost child-like Weinstein, played by Stefan Karlsson. He made Weinstein an epitome of the cliched university student / research assistant. Spending most of his time in bars and pubs, having a jolly good time doing what he knows best. Namely, researching the bottle, its contents and the effects of said contents on people. And for some reason he kept changing hats all the time.
After the play I was humming Wittgenstein's words to a tune they sang at the end of the play. "Worüber man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen." And I remembered why Wittgenstein's theories were among my favourites when I studied philosophy in senior high. In other words, if you have a chance, go see the play. It's entertaining on quite many levels.
Today's dose of culture was a movie. Guillermo del Toro's newest fantasy piece, Pan's Labyrinth (or El Laberinto del Fauno). It's a story of a young Spanish girl, who moves with her pregnant mother to live with her new step-father. It's the year 1944 and Ofelia's step-father is a cruel army captain of Franco's army, who coldbloodedly kills rebels and innocent bystanders alike.
To survive the horrors of her new home, Ofelia escapes to a fantasy world, where she is the long lost princess of the Underworld. She meets a faun in a labyrinth near the mill-turned-military-base she has to call home. The ancient faun gives her different tasks to fulfill in order for her to be able to return to her "real father", the King of the Underworld.
The movie is no bright spring picnic. It's cruel, gruesome and dark. It's disturbing, graphic and yet there is comfort to the idea of a little girl finding a way to cope with the bloody real world.
If faeries and fauns give some relief from the constant fear of the captain or the fear for her mother's and unborn baby brother's health, who can blame the girl?
Del Toro's work is impressive. The cuts between reality and fantasy are seamless, the imagery haunting.
The only thing that annoyed me about the film was the translation. I don't know if it was on purpose (it probably was), but there were ridiculous mistakes in the verb forms the faun used. I don't know enough Spanish to be able to tell whether the original words were also slightly misused archaic forms as the Finnish ones were (you know, of the type "olkootte" instead of "olkaatte" and so on). If they were, and the mistakes in the Finnish version were on purpose, my complains have no base, but until someone can confirm that the Spanish the faun spoke was also a bit off the proper grammar, I'm going to be annoyed. It's not like the old Finnish über-polite verb forms are familiar to most people anymore (they'd probably sound equally odd to almost any Finnish teen, whether they were correct or incorrect), but well, I suppose I'm a nit-picker when it comes to such details.
There. It's already half past midnight, so the last day of the year is well on its way. Since I probably won't be blogging later today, this is where I wish you all a very happy and prosperous year 2007! Let it be a year of wishes coming true for all of us.
See you in 2007, folks. :)
Monday, December 18, 2006
Bits and pieces of my mind - plus penguins!
I have done myself a huge service. I've scheduled most of my classes this week so that the senior high students have papers to independently do research for (my history class) and little presentations to give (my Finnish classes). Ergo, I find myself blogging on a Monday evening at 6.30 p.m. with all work for tomorrow done. Yay me.
It didn't rain today. I don't think it rained yesterday either. In fact, we've had a few drier days and the temperatures have been falling. There was even a few speckles of snow on the ground this morning. There's still a faint possibility of a white Christmas! Yay winter weather.
On Friday evening I was very tired, and wanted to watch something light and cute for entertainment. What I got from the movie rental place was a French movie called La Marche de l'Empereur or March of the Penguins. It's a nature documentary / family film, which tells the story of the Emperor penguins as they literally march (mostly in single file!) miles to a traditional breeding ground to bring their young ones into the world in the middle of the harshest Antarctic winter.
I found the movie simply stunning. I hadn't known this about the behaviour of the penguins before. They march by the thousands to a particular place, long away from the open waters of the ocean, to find a partner and mate. Finding a partner involves complicate "dancing" and "singing" - and when a partner is found, the pair is monogamous. The female lays one egg and leaves it to the male to guard - for two months without food! While the male penguins keep the eggs warm and protected on top of their feet, the females march back to the sea to feed. In two months time the females, once again, march back to the waiting male and hatching egg. The penguin parents change roles again and the males return to the sea. The females now take care of the little fluffy chicks until they are strong enough to, you guessed it, march to the sea.
May I just say at this point that there is hardly anything cuter than a fluffy emperor penguin chick. The adult penguings are adorable, but the chicks, OMG. I guarantee you that unless you are made of stone and have a heart of ice, you'll go "awww" when you see the little critters fluttering about. My heart was full of warm fuzzy feelings, when the baby penguins explored their world and just plain owned me with their cuteness. I mean, they're round and obviously soft and cuddly, naturally wobbly and when they fall over in the snow to bump on their little penguin bums, I doubt if I could've uttered a sensible word. It was all "awww" for me.
In other words, I warmly recommend the movie for everyone. It's a great family movie, obviously a great movie to watch alone - and honestly, penguins are teh cute. QED. :)
Yay penguins!
Ah, maybe I've now made my point about penguins. :) Time to move on to something completely different...
Often around these last few weeks / days of the year people like to look back on the past year and evaluate it according to whatever criteria they deem appropriate. I decided I'd just list a few "Bests of 2006". I'll add to the list later, as things come to mind.
Best bought CD
Sting's Songs from the Labyrinth. An amazing collection of John Dowland's songs from the 16th century, beautifully interpreted by Sting and Edin Karamazov. If you like historical music, you'll love this. At least I did. I admire Sting for this bold decision to record songs that certainly aren't material for the top10 pop charts.
Best book read
Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl and C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels (Hornblower and the Atropos & Hornblower and the Happy Return) share the top spot for historical fiction, I think. For fantasy, umm, well, Patricia McKillip's Ombria in Shadow was a pleasant enough surprise.
Best new addiction
The Fables, graphic novels by Bill Willingham. Instant love. Quite a few issues missing from my collection yet, but I'm adamant in getting them all into my bookshelf. They'll have a nice place next to my Sandman collection. My meagre collection of graphic novels.
Best purchase
Laptop! Digital camera (bought on Saturday, btw)! But laptop is definitely The One.
Best movie seen
Probably V for Vendetta and Kingdom of Heaven DC.
Best tv-show
Dr. Who takes the top spot here. I have enjoyed also shows like House M.D., Bones, Battlestar Galactica and many more. But Dr. Who offered a refreshing dose of British quirky humour and witty scripting.
Best decision
To start planning on a vacation in Wales next summer! Has kept me going (and saving up money) during the whole rainy, dark autumn.
Well, better think about some more bests and post them later.
It didn't rain today. I don't think it rained yesterday either. In fact, we've had a few drier days and the temperatures have been falling. There was even a few speckles of snow on the ground this morning. There's still a faint possibility of a white Christmas! Yay winter weather.
On Friday evening I was very tired, and wanted to watch something light and cute for entertainment. What I got from the movie rental place was a French movie called La Marche de l'Empereur or March of the Penguins. It's a nature documentary / family film, which tells the story of the Emperor penguins as they literally march (mostly in single file!) miles to a traditional breeding ground to bring their young ones into the world in the middle of the harshest Antarctic winter.
I found the movie simply stunning. I hadn't known this about the behaviour of the penguins before. They march by the thousands to a particular place, long away from the open waters of the ocean, to find a partner and mate. Finding a partner involves complicate "dancing" and "singing" - and when a partner is found, the pair is monogamous. The female lays one egg and leaves it to the male to guard - for two months without food! While the male penguins keep the eggs warm and protected on top of their feet, the females march back to the sea to feed. In two months time the females, once again, march back to the waiting male and hatching egg. The penguin parents change roles again and the males return to the sea. The females now take care of the little fluffy chicks until they are strong enough to, you guessed it, march to the sea.
May I just say at this point that there is hardly anything cuter than a fluffy emperor penguin chick. The adult penguings are adorable, but the chicks, OMG. I guarantee you that unless you are made of stone and have a heart of ice, you'll go "awww" when you see the little critters fluttering about. My heart was full of warm fuzzy feelings, when the baby penguins explored their world and just plain owned me with their cuteness. I mean, they're round and obviously soft and cuddly, naturally wobbly and when they fall over in the snow to bump on their little penguin bums, I doubt if I could've uttered a sensible word. It was all "awww" for me.
In other words, I warmly recommend the movie for everyone. It's a great family movie, obviously a great movie to watch alone - and honestly, penguins are teh cute. QED. :)
Yay penguins!
Ah, maybe I've now made my point about penguins. :) Time to move on to something completely different...
Often around these last few weeks / days of the year people like to look back on the past year and evaluate it according to whatever criteria they deem appropriate. I decided I'd just list a few "Bests of 2006". I'll add to the list later, as things come to mind.
Best bought CD
Sting's Songs from the Labyrinth. An amazing collection of John Dowland's songs from the 16th century, beautifully interpreted by Sting and Edin Karamazov. If you like historical music, you'll love this. At least I did. I admire Sting for this bold decision to record songs that certainly aren't material for the top10 pop charts.
Best book read
Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl and C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels (Hornblower and the Atropos & Hornblower and the Happy Return) share the top spot for historical fiction, I think. For fantasy, umm, well, Patricia McKillip's Ombria in Shadow was a pleasant enough surprise.
Best new addiction
The Fables, graphic novels by Bill Willingham. Instant love. Quite a few issues missing from my collection yet, but I'm adamant in getting them all into my bookshelf. They'll have a nice place next to my Sandman collection. My meagre collection of graphic novels.
Best purchase
Laptop! Digital camera (bought on Saturday, btw)! But laptop is definitely The One.
Best movie seen
Probably V for Vendetta and Kingdom of Heaven DC.
Best tv-show
Dr. Who takes the top spot here. I have enjoyed also shows like House M.D., Bones, Battlestar Galactica and many more. But Dr. Who offered a refreshing dose of British quirky humour and witty scripting.
Best decision
To start planning on a vacation in Wales next summer! Has kept me going (and saving up money) during the whole rainy, dark autumn.
Well, better think about some more bests and post them later.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Dear deities of the weather
Please make it stop raining! I'm so sick and tired of constant rain and I want snow! Pretty puh-leese?
Yes, the Northern winter wonderland of Finland is experiencing the warmest December in some 200 years... This is bordering ridiculous. If anyone, I repeat anyone, comes and tells me there are no signs of global warming, I'm going to make them crosscountry ski in this weather! Darnit.
If it only wouldn't rain so much. I wouldn't mind not having really cold temperatures, but the rain is driving me nuts. There was a short two-day period in the first days of November, when the scenery looked like this:
The view from my balcony in the beginning of November.
But alas, the snow melted away and ever since the ecosystem has thought it necessary to keep flooding the country with water. Meh. There aren't many things that make you more depressed than waking up to rain and darkness seven days a week. Snow would have the delightful effect of bringing more light to the gloomy Finnish winter even when the sun doesn't shine that many hours a day anyway.
Besides, it doesn't feel like Christmas is coming at all. I'm more than ready for a vacation, but the feeling isn't here. Another meh. I'm afraid there's just no hope for a white Christmas this year, with temperatures closer to +10 C almost on daily basis.
I just hope this doesn't mean spring will come in June next year... Or that February will boast with four weeks of temperatures around -30 C...
I think I'd better go and write my Christmas cards and listen to the raindrops fall.
Yes, the Northern winter wonderland of Finland is experiencing the warmest December in some 200 years... This is bordering ridiculous. If anyone, I repeat anyone, comes and tells me there are no signs of global warming, I'm going to make them crosscountry ski in this weather! Darnit.
If it only wouldn't rain so much. I wouldn't mind not having really cold temperatures, but the rain is driving me nuts. There was a short two-day period in the first days of November, when the scenery looked like this:
The view from my balcony in the beginning of November.
But alas, the snow melted away and ever since the ecosystem has thought it necessary to keep flooding the country with water. Meh. There aren't many things that make you more depressed than waking up to rain and darkness seven days a week. Snow would have the delightful effect of bringing more light to the gloomy Finnish winter even when the sun doesn't shine that many hours a day anyway.
Besides, it doesn't feel like Christmas is coming at all. I'm more than ready for a vacation, but the feeling isn't here. Another meh. I'm afraid there's just no hope for a white Christmas this year, with temperatures closer to +10 C almost on daily basis.
I just hope this doesn't mean spring will come in June next year... Or that February will boast with four weeks of temperatures around -30 C...
I think I'd better go and write my Christmas cards and listen to the raindrops fall.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
A mind is a terrible thing to lose
Grandpa didn't recognise me today. He didn't recognise me a few weeks back either, when my brother and I went to rake the leaves from their yard. Back then grandpa did know my brother, but had thought that my brother's brought a new girlfriend with him...
So there we were, raking leaves again. This time with mom and dad. I was already busy with my corner of the yard and grandpa had seen me from a window. He had muttered to mom that "There's some girl out in the yard with a rake. Come, look! Who is it? Do you know her?" Mom had explained to him that "the girl" was in fact his granddaughter. Grandpa had looked puzzled and sad. "My head's not working properly anymore. I get confused."
His Alzheimer's is getting worse fast. He doesn't remember that grandma lives with him (he keeps asking her if she lives there and when will she be leaving), he doesn't always even remember my mom (he had asked grandma where does she know her from) and the list goes on.
It really is heartbreaking to watch how a person's mind crumbles. On better days grandpa seems to understand his condition, but today, for example, he has problems with the most common words and if he tries to tell a story, it very soon becomes incomprehensible, because he confuses times, places and names. Sometimes there is no connection between two consecutive sentences.
The silence around the table when he tries to find words is a sad silence. I'm not sure whether it'd be better to try and help him with his sentences or just wait till he finds his words (or falls silent himself). And in the middle of it all, what makes me most sad at the moment is not the thought of me losing grandpa but of mom losing her dad and grandma losing her beloved husband.
There's no way for me to know what it must feel like to foresee the end of a 60 year marriage, but I do know that the thought of losing a parent is frightening as hell. It's something most of us have to face some day, but I can honestly say that I fear the day terribly. And that's why I feel so sad for mom.
I suppose it might have something to do with my life situation. I don't have a family of my own, except for my parents and my brother. No husband, no kids. I've pondered about this before (and the thought is very difficult to put into words, but I'll try...) - does the fact that I haven't gone through the "transition" from being "only" a daughter to, say, being also a wife, make me cling more to my parents? (Agh, how medieval do I sound? The thought is obviously clearer in my head than it will ever be here...) I mean, since I don't have anyone else in this world that I'd love as much, does the fear of losing my parents become a bigger monster, even now that I'm not dependent on them as such? Or do I just have ridiculously unrealistic ideals about "real love" and how it would make a difference? Or am I just being a selfish idiot, who thinks she's somehow different from everyone else, feeling like this?
Or am I just being ridiculous altogether? Agh.
Be how it may, I can honestly say that no matter how quickly this all ends, Alzheimer's has had its chance to show us how cruel a disease it really is.
So there we were, raking leaves again. This time with mom and dad. I was already busy with my corner of the yard and grandpa had seen me from a window. He had muttered to mom that "There's some girl out in the yard with a rake. Come, look! Who is it? Do you know her?" Mom had explained to him that "the girl" was in fact his granddaughter. Grandpa had looked puzzled and sad. "My head's not working properly anymore. I get confused."
His Alzheimer's is getting worse fast. He doesn't remember that grandma lives with him (he keeps asking her if she lives there and when will she be leaving), he doesn't always even remember my mom (he had asked grandma where does she know her from) and the list goes on.
It really is heartbreaking to watch how a person's mind crumbles. On better days grandpa seems to understand his condition, but today, for example, he has problems with the most common words and if he tries to tell a story, it very soon becomes incomprehensible, because he confuses times, places and names. Sometimes there is no connection between two consecutive sentences.
The silence around the table when he tries to find words is a sad silence. I'm not sure whether it'd be better to try and help him with his sentences or just wait till he finds his words (or falls silent himself). And in the middle of it all, what makes me most sad at the moment is not the thought of me losing grandpa but of mom losing her dad and grandma losing her beloved husband.
There's no way for me to know what it must feel like to foresee the end of a 60 year marriage, but I do know that the thought of losing a parent is frightening as hell. It's something most of us have to face some day, but I can honestly say that I fear the day terribly. And that's why I feel so sad for mom.
I suppose it might have something to do with my life situation. I don't have a family of my own, except for my parents and my brother. No husband, no kids. I've pondered about this before (and the thought is very difficult to put into words, but I'll try...) - does the fact that I haven't gone through the "transition" from being "only" a daughter to, say, being also a wife, make me cling more to my parents? (Agh, how medieval do I sound? The thought is obviously clearer in my head than it will ever be here...) I mean, since I don't have anyone else in this world that I'd love as much, does the fear of losing my parents become a bigger monster, even now that I'm not dependent on them as such? Or do I just have ridiculously unrealistic ideals about "real love" and how it would make a difference? Or am I just being a selfish idiot, who thinks she's somehow different from everyone else, feeling like this?
Or am I just being ridiculous altogether? Agh.
Be how it may, I can honestly say that no matter how quickly this all ends, Alzheimer's has had its chance to show us how cruel a disease it really is.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Random observations of the day
First observation. If one wakes up in the morning after dreaming about the Russian Revolution of 1917/1918 during the first part of the night and then about one's bank card crumbling into tiny pieces when one wants to pay a dance course (which, oddly enough, was held in a castle somewhere and sadly it didn't make me feel any better) during the second part, one does not feel refreshed. Nope. Somewhat disoriented, yes, but not refreshed.
Second observation. People disgust me sometimes. Like on the bus where a woman was loudly discussing her ugly custody case with someone (most likely a social worker) on the phone. She was getting ruder by the minute and I was feeling bad for the person on the other end of the call. But I guess if the loud lady didn't care about the whole bus hearing how the child's dad has behaved badly or how the social workers had lied to her, I shouldn't care about it either, but for cryin' out loud (literally!)... When I sit in a bus, I do not want to hear about other people's court cases / sicknesses / arguments / whathaveyou. People really should think about the stuff they talk about in public on their cell phones.
Or like the young couple at the bus stop, right after I had survived the first piece of annoying bus behaviour. The girl of the couple (they must've been around 16-17 years of age, I'd say) was dressed in camouflage coloured tight jeans, with a lacing down to the crotch in front. Ewww. The fact that the pants were reeally lowriding doesn't probably even need mentioning. Combined with a winter coat which left her whole lower abdomen bare to the world. Brrr, thought I in the winter weather. But her dresscode was only the first thing that I noticed. I went seriously "eeeewwwww" when she started to squeeze the zits from her boyfriend's face right in the middle of the crowd waiting for the bus. Seriously, how gross can you get? Not much more than that.
Then, a random observation about footwear. Silly, silly fashions. It's now fashionable to have cute boots with an absolutely flat sole. I think most of the boots are nice and I could have a pair myself, but when there's a 4 cm layer of watery slush on the ground - not a good choice. Lots of wet feet squishing about today.
And finally, a random observation about work. I like teaching a lot (especially in senior high), but I hate the junior high "extra stuff", like recess watches and detention duty almost as much. Urgh.
There. Thanks for reading, if you read this. I'm off to do some work.
Second observation. People disgust me sometimes. Like on the bus where a woman was loudly discussing her ugly custody case with someone (most likely a social worker) on the phone. She was getting ruder by the minute and I was feeling bad for the person on the other end of the call. But I guess if the loud lady didn't care about the whole bus hearing how the child's dad has behaved badly or how the social workers had lied to her, I shouldn't care about it either, but for cryin' out loud (literally!)... When I sit in a bus, I do not want to hear about other people's court cases / sicknesses / arguments / whathaveyou. People really should think about the stuff they talk about in public on their cell phones.
Or like the young couple at the bus stop, right after I had survived the first piece of annoying bus behaviour. The girl of the couple (they must've been around 16-17 years of age, I'd say) was dressed in camouflage coloured tight jeans, with a lacing down to the crotch in front. Ewww. The fact that the pants were reeally lowriding doesn't probably even need mentioning. Combined with a winter coat which left her whole lower abdomen bare to the world. Brrr, thought I in the winter weather. But her dresscode was only the first thing that I noticed. I went seriously "eeeewwwww" when she started to squeeze the zits from her boyfriend's face right in the middle of the crowd waiting for the bus. Seriously, how gross can you get? Not much more than that.
Then, a random observation about footwear. Silly, silly fashions. It's now fashionable to have cute boots with an absolutely flat sole. I think most of the boots are nice and I could have a pair myself, but when there's a 4 cm layer of watery slush on the ground - not a good choice. Lots of wet feet squishing about today.
And finally, a random observation about work. I like teaching a lot (especially in senior high), but I hate the junior high "extra stuff", like recess watches and detention duty almost as much. Urgh.
There. Thanks for reading, if you read this. I'm off to do some work.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Silk and Audis for me
I went to a Halloween party last night. Lots of people, lots of costumes and drinks and dancing and fun. I must admit I find the dress up part of Halloween heaps of fun, especially when almost everyone has gone through the trouble of finding some costume for the occasion.
I have fond memories of the Halloween party we had in the States, when us exchange students were housed in a funeral home for the night (I mean for real, spooky!) and ever since (and probably before too) I've liked costume parties. Which probably explains some of my hobbies, like the Fantasy Feast stuff. Escaping from the boring every day life. Heh.
Anyways, my dress for last night was a real Indian sari and I loved it. I want one for myself too, as the sari I was wearing is actually Satu's souvenir from Goa (a million thanks for borrowing it to me, hon!).
It's certainly a very feminine thing to wrap oneself up in several metres of pretty fabric and my goodness, even with my less than perfect skills of wrapping it, it looked elegant. Very beautiful. I've spent quite a lot of time lately surfing the various sites selling saris on the net, and especially some of the bridal saris are stunning. (Well, I'm probably not likely to be wearing a sari on my wedding day, if such will come in the distant future, but I sure love the idea of having such a beautiful piece of clothing in any case.)
All my enthusiasm about saris resulted in an interesting description of me, by a friend (somewhat tipsy friend, that is) of mine. He happens to know I also love big cars, like the Audi Q7 and he pondered how this combination of wanting to have several metres of gloriously embroidered silk around me, preferably while driving a Q7, makes me "a high class woman". You can imagine I giggled at that. (But at the same time the image seems very enticing, heh.)
The Indian version of me. I should've arranged the pallu a bit better for the picture (pallu is the end part of the sari, the part that comes over the shoulder), but you get the idea. Seems that it requires a bit of practice to learn how to keep the folds of fabric in order...
I have fond memories of the Halloween party we had in the States, when us exchange students were housed in a funeral home for the night (I mean for real, spooky!) and ever since (and probably before too) I've liked costume parties. Which probably explains some of my hobbies, like the Fantasy Feast stuff. Escaping from the boring every day life. Heh.
Anyways, my dress for last night was a real Indian sari and I loved it. I want one for myself too, as the sari I was wearing is actually Satu's souvenir from Goa (a million thanks for borrowing it to me, hon!).
It's certainly a very feminine thing to wrap oneself up in several metres of pretty fabric and my goodness, even with my less than perfect skills of wrapping it, it looked elegant. Very beautiful. I've spent quite a lot of time lately surfing the various sites selling saris on the net, and especially some of the bridal saris are stunning. (Well, I'm probably not likely to be wearing a sari on my wedding day, if such will come in the distant future, but I sure love the idea of having such a beautiful piece of clothing in any case.)
All my enthusiasm about saris resulted in an interesting description of me, by a friend (somewhat tipsy friend, that is) of mine. He happens to know I also love big cars, like the Audi Q7 and he pondered how this combination of wanting to have several metres of gloriously embroidered silk around me, preferably while driving a Q7, makes me "a high class woman". You can imagine I giggled at that. (But at the same time the image seems very enticing, heh.)
The Indian version of me. I should've arranged the pallu a bit better for the picture (pallu is the end part of the sari, the part that comes over the shoulder), but you get the idea. Seems that it requires a bit of practice to learn how to keep the folds of fabric in order...
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Feels like I'm repeating myself
Another year gone and I got older as it went by. Time flies even though I'm not always having fun. (But to be honest, I do have fun most of the time, heh.)
I've already posted two similar posts during my time of blogging, as for some reason a birthday always brings to mind all the things I perhaps lack in life or on the other hand things I have that I should be happy about.
And once again I could basically just "cut and paste" my post from last October 21st (or around there). It really is funny, how little things can change in a year. You would think that a year is a reasonably long period of time in which all sorts of things could happen, but no. It's a reasonably long period of time in which nothing new happens. I'm sure the universe must have a few action-packed years in store for me somewhere. You know, the type of years when I suddenly find myself a future husband, get engaged, graduate, start planning a wedding, win the lottery and buy a nice car and an apartment or something. But before I get that year, I'm evidently stuck with "no news is (supposedly) good news" -kinda years.
In other words, referring to that description of an action-packed year, I've had none of that this past year. But what is nice is that I've got more money now than last year, despite not having won in the lottery. Even though that means that I have practically no free time and skyrocketing stress levels - but at least I'm able to save up money for a long trip to Wales next summer. Even the mere thought of it keeps me going and never fails to cheer me up. In less than a year I'll hopefully see the nightlife of Cardiff, the castles of Caernarfon and Conwy, the quirky "Italianate" architecture of Portmeirion and wander on Roman ruins and ancient Celtic sites. Ahhh.
And if I continue on the path of ridiculously positive thinking, there's no avoiding the fact that time goes by so fast it's soon going to be Christmas and maybe on Christmas vacation I'll have time to do some research too. And, for goodness sake, rest a bit. (And if Christmas comes soon, it'll also mean that June'll be here fast enough also. Did I mention I'm planning on flying out of Finland in June? :) )
Well, time to move on to other topics. Like dance shows. I've got one coming up next Sunday in Uusikaupunki. It'll most likely be the last dance show our dance group Arais El Bahr is ever going to arrange. I've had no time to practice and even though I only dance in three choreographies (of which one is my own solo), I'm feeling a bit uneasy. Hopefully this slight cold I'm having at the moment will vanish soon and I can rehearse during the week so I don't have to go and make a fool out of myself on stage. Performing on stage is fun, but only if I feel like I know what I'm supposed to do... And I'm afraid my solo is terribly boring and blah and aaaaghh.
Oh well. At least I had the sense to say no to two more group dances I had originally thought I'd like to dance in. No Andalucian or Saudi dances for me this time. (But if I'm completely honest, it breaks my heart every time I hear the Andalucian song - it's one of the most beautiful songs I know and I've performed the dance a couple of times before and now I'm not involved. Curse this wretched being that is me for feeling like this, when the only reasonable choice was to stay out of the dance...)
But our show wasn't the one I was going to write about, actually. I went to see the Irish dance show Rhythm of the Dance last night - mom & dad had given me a ticket for my birthday. I had high hopes for the show, thinking about the exuberant Riverdance show I had seen earlier (actually, my post about the show was my first real post here at the Pool a couple of years back) and well, I do love Irish music and dancing.
Too bad I can't say I was thrilled after the show. I would've wanted to be.
First of all, I felt so embarrassed to be a Finn, once again. The audience seemed to be made out of clay people with ironbars for backbones and no capability to express emotions whatsoever. I am (sadly) not even exaggerating when I say I was the only one in the audience (about a half full hall) who clapped my hands during the performances.
People, you are supposed to clap! The absolute silence of the audience can be such a mood killer. The poor dancers were tapping away on stage the best they could and the response was a deafening silence. There were even a few soloists who left the stage without getting any applaudes (except mine, eh), because the Finnish audience seemed to wait for a complete silence to signal the end of a dance. And it doesn't always come, if the show is designed to flow along without breaks.
And I'm sure the very stiff looking mother (and her poised little girl) next to me gave me long looks, when I clapped and cheered during the dances. I could almost feel the chill radiating from her. Agh. People can be such bores! And I truly felt bad for the dancers and musicians, who were trying to get the audience to participate. It took the bodhran player quite a few minutes to wake up the mute and frozen Finns to clap for rhythm during his solo. I so wanted to go and peek behind the curtains after the show to tell the performers that the Finns most likely did like the show, even though it couldn't be seen (or heard, for that matter) from stage.
But then, perhaps the show could've been a little more impressive, maybe that would've made it easier for the rest of the crowd to react. I'm sure the National Dance Company of Ireland will now and for quite some time, if not always, suffer from comparisons to the Riverdance show. And unfortunately I'm going to add to their misery a bit.
The Rhythm of the Dance promises to be "a whole new concept" in Irish entertainment, "a two-hour dance and music extravaganza", "an inspiring epic" which combines "traditional dance, music and song with the most up to date stage technology".
Well. If one has never seen or heard of the Riverdance show, the concept of last night's show might be new. But I couldn't see what the fuss was about. If the new concept was to project pictures and video clips of contemporary Irish life on screen, I'd say the concept artists need to do some more thinking.
I sat to the side of the stage and the screen was only half visible to my seat, which wasn't a terrible loss. When watching a dance show, I'd prefer the background to be quite neutral and preferably not have any brightly dressed people in it. The main focus should be on the dancers and the background visuals shouldn't steal their moments and the interest of the audience. Landscapes and ornaments are fine, but people on a busy street are not.
I also think the story of the show remained quite unclear. It was in the program I bought, but for the life in me I couldn't make out how the story evolved on stage. An easy way to solve this problem would be either to ignore the fact that the show tries to tell a story (a bad solution, since the show is made into a story) or to have short introductions to the dances. In other words the story would've been stronger, if it would've been told "twice". Once with words and once with dancing. It wouldn't break the rhythm of the performance, but it would help the audience. If I hadn't bought the program, there would've been no way of knowing that the dancers were supposed to be Celtic Warriors fighting against evil spirits and higher Gods. Rii-ight.
The music itself was good. Not thrillingly exciting (as some of the Riverdance songs are), but solid Irish dance pieces. And the somewhat odd "Irish Il Divo" trio of male singers did their jobs well. Their choreography consisted of walking from one side of the stage to the other, which was a bit dull. Also the swinging of the jackets was a bit artificial as a part of a choreography for singers. But the singing was good, and one of the singers was very cute, so who am I to complain?
Dancers of the ensemble are, according to the program booklet, the "cream of Irish and Ballet dancers" and it was obvious that they knew what they were doing. Only small glitches, like one dancer having to fix her bra while dancing and one having to collect a piece of her colleague's dress from the floor in the middle of the dance - nothing that a professional dancer can't handle with style and ease.
I thought the male dancers were a bit stronger as a group. More dynamic, more accurate. The girls were very skillfull, there's no question about that, but I suppose it's partly thanks to the nature of the dance that the men appear to have the upper hand (or foot? ehheh). There were some very nice group formations in the choreographies, excellent movement and precision. Although the typical long rows of dancers weren't very long on the small stage and not quite as militaristically precise as the ones Riverdance boasts with.
I don't know how much the small stage forced the group to restrain themselves (or the sets - judging by the pictures in their gallery they do have a bigger ensemble and different set pieces for some events), but on the other hand the smallish stage made the performance feel more personal in a way. I don't know if it's only me and my experiences as a dancer, but I've always liked to get close to the audience if I'm dancing or to the performers if I'm a member of the audience. And since I had a good seat close to the stage, I enjoyed watching the dancers faces and the details of their dresses and such.
All in all I liked the show, but I didn't go home feeling absolutely in awe of what I had seen, like I did after the Riverdance show. I felt like I had seen a good show (even if a little over-priced) and I had enjoyed the couple of hours.
I've already posted two similar posts during my time of blogging, as for some reason a birthday always brings to mind all the things I perhaps lack in life or on the other hand things I have that I should be happy about.
And once again I could basically just "cut and paste" my post from last October 21st (or around there). It really is funny, how little things can change in a year. You would think that a year is a reasonably long period of time in which all sorts of things could happen, but no. It's a reasonably long period of time in which nothing new happens. I'm sure the universe must have a few action-packed years in store for me somewhere. You know, the type of years when I suddenly find myself a future husband, get engaged, graduate, start planning a wedding, win the lottery and buy a nice car and an apartment or something. But before I get that year, I'm evidently stuck with "no news is (supposedly) good news" -kinda years.
In other words, referring to that description of an action-packed year, I've had none of that this past year. But what is nice is that I've got more money now than last year, despite not having won in the lottery. Even though that means that I have practically no free time and skyrocketing stress levels - but at least I'm able to save up money for a long trip to Wales next summer. Even the mere thought of it keeps me going and never fails to cheer me up. In less than a year I'll hopefully see the nightlife of Cardiff, the castles of Caernarfon and Conwy, the quirky "Italianate" architecture of Portmeirion and wander on Roman ruins and ancient Celtic sites. Ahhh.
And if I continue on the path of ridiculously positive thinking, there's no avoiding the fact that time goes by so fast it's soon going to be Christmas and maybe on Christmas vacation I'll have time to do some research too. And, for goodness sake, rest a bit. (And if Christmas comes soon, it'll also mean that June'll be here fast enough also. Did I mention I'm planning on flying out of Finland in June? :) )
Well, time to move on to other topics. Like dance shows. I've got one coming up next Sunday in Uusikaupunki. It'll most likely be the last dance show our dance group Arais El Bahr is ever going to arrange. I've had no time to practice and even though I only dance in three choreographies (of which one is my own solo), I'm feeling a bit uneasy. Hopefully this slight cold I'm having at the moment will vanish soon and I can rehearse during the week so I don't have to go and make a fool out of myself on stage. Performing on stage is fun, but only if I feel like I know what I'm supposed to do... And I'm afraid my solo is terribly boring and blah and aaaaghh.
Oh well. At least I had the sense to say no to two more group dances I had originally thought I'd like to dance in. No Andalucian or Saudi dances for me this time. (But if I'm completely honest, it breaks my heart every time I hear the Andalucian song - it's one of the most beautiful songs I know and I've performed the dance a couple of times before and now I'm not involved. Curse this wretched being that is me for feeling like this, when the only reasonable choice was to stay out of the dance...)
But our show wasn't the one I was going to write about, actually. I went to see the Irish dance show Rhythm of the Dance last night - mom & dad had given me a ticket for my birthday. I had high hopes for the show, thinking about the exuberant Riverdance show I had seen earlier (actually, my post about the show was my first real post here at the Pool a couple of years back) and well, I do love Irish music and dancing.
Too bad I can't say I was thrilled after the show. I would've wanted to be.
First of all, I felt so embarrassed to be a Finn, once again. The audience seemed to be made out of clay people with ironbars for backbones and no capability to express emotions whatsoever. I am (sadly) not even exaggerating when I say I was the only one in the audience (about a half full hall) who clapped my hands during the performances.
People, you are supposed to clap! The absolute silence of the audience can be such a mood killer. The poor dancers were tapping away on stage the best they could and the response was a deafening silence. There were even a few soloists who left the stage without getting any applaudes (except mine, eh), because the Finnish audience seemed to wait for a complete silence to signal the end of a dance. And it doesn't always come, if the show is designed to flow along without breaks.
And I'm sure the very stiff looking mother (and her poised little girl) next to me gave me long looks, when I clapped and cheered during the dances. I could almost feel the chill radiating from her. Agh. People can be such bores! And I truly felt bad for the dancers and musicians, who were trying to get the audience to participate. It took the bodhran player quite a few minutes to wake up the mute and frozen Finns to clap for rhythm during his solo. I so wanted to go and peek behind the curtains after the show to tell the performers that the Finns most likely did like the show, even though it couldn't be seen (or heard, for that matter) from stage.
But then, perhaps the show could've been a little more impressive, maybe that would've made it easier for the rest of the crowd to react. I'm sure the National Dance Company of Ireland will now and for quite some time, if not always, suffer from comparisons to the Riverdance show. And unfortunately I'm going to add to their misery a bit.
The Rhythm of the Dance promises to be "a whole new concept" in Irish entertainment, "a two-hour dance and music extravaganza", "an inspiring epic" which combines "traditional dance, music and song with the most up to date stage technology".
Well. If one has never seen or heard of the Riverdance show, the concept of last night's show might be new. But I couldn't see what the fuss was about. If the new concept was to project pictures and video clips of contemporary Irish life on screen, I'd say the concept artists need to do some more thinking.
I sat to the side of the stage and the screen was only half visible to my seat, which wasn't a terrible loss. When watching a dance show, I'd prefer the background to be quite neutral and preferably not have any brightly dressed people in it. The main focus should be on the dancers and the background visuals shouldn't steal their moments and the interest of the audience. Landscapes and ornaments are fine, but people on a busy street are not.
I also think the story of the show remained quite unclear. It was in the program I bought, but for the life in me I couldn't make out how the story evolved on stage. An easy way to solve this problem would be either to ignore the fact that the show tries to tell a story (a bad solution, since the show is made into a story) or to have short introductions to the dances. In other words the story would've been stronger, if it would've been told "twice". Once with words and once with dancing. It wouldn't break the rhythm of the performance, but it would help the audience. If I hadn't bought the program, there would've been no way of knowing that the dancers were supposed to be Celtic Warriors fighting against evil spirits and higher Gods. Rii-ight.
The music itself was good. Not thrillingly exciting (as some of the Riverdance songs are), but solid Irish dance pieces. And the somewhat odd "Irish Il Divo" trio of male singers did their jobs well. Their choreography consisted of walking from one side of the stage to the other, which was a bit dull. Also the swinging of the jackets was a bit artificial as a part of a choreography for singers. But the singing was good, and one of the singers was very cute, so who am I to complain?
Dancers of the ensemble are, according to the program booklet, the "cream of Irish and Ballet dancers" and it was obvious that they knew what they were doing. Only small glitches, like one dancer having to fix her bra while dancing and one having to collect a piece of her colleague's dress from the floor in the middle of the dance - nothing that a professional dancer can't handle with style and ease.
I thought the male dancers were a bit stronger as a group. More dynamic, more accurate. The girls were very skillfull, there's no question about that, but I suppose it's partly thanks to the nature of the dance that the men appear to have the upper hand (or foot? ehheh). There were some very nice group formations in the choreographies, excellent movement and precision. Although the typical long rows of dancers weren't very long on the small stage and not quite as militaristically precise as the ones Riverdance boasts with.
I don't know how much the small stage forced the group to restrain themselves (or the sets - judging by the pictures in their gallery they do have a bigger ensemble and different set pieces for some events), but on the other hand the smallish stage made the performance feel more personal in a way. I don't know if it's only me and my experiences as a dancer, but I've always liked to get close to the audience if I'm dancing or to the performers if I'm a member of the audience. And since I had a good seat close to the stage, I enjoyed watching the dancers faces and the details of their dresses and such.
All in all I liked the show, but I didn't go home feeling absolutely in awe of what I had seen, like I did after the Riverdance show. I felt like I had seen a good show (even if a little over-priced) and I had enjoyed the couple of hours.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Went to a Book Fair, got some music
So there. I lost the debate of "to buy or not to buy". I bought. Money has been spent and stuff has been acquired. Curiously enough I spent most of my cash on CD's, not books.
I bought two cd's of medieval music by a Finnish ensemble called Oliphant, the other has songs from the times of the crusades and the other one has spiritual songs from the 13th century. I started to listen to the songs from the crusading years and I think they're beautiful.
In addition to the medieval music I also bought some Celtic music. A very nice and soothing collection - and not the synthetized kind of plingplong stuff at all, but real instruments and acoustic sounds. Good shopping, I'd say.
The books I bought were actually more work-related books than what I had had in mind to buy. I was looking for two specific new books, couldn't find them and ended up buying two essay collections about fantasy as a genre. Tax deductible expenses, whee.
The fair seemed somewhat less crowded than it has been in the previous years, but it could all be just because I left reasonably early and didn't visit on Saturday at all. But nevertheless, it's always fun to stroll around the place, browsing books and chatting with friends.
I even went to the little booth of the city theatre - to get some brochures of the upcoming plays. I noticed that there's going to be another musical next spring, this time about the vikings. In other words, I'm imagining Nordic mythology combined with strong dances and music (preferably with plenty of drums) and, guess what? My favorite Death!
Well, probably not Death this time around, but I did spot the actor from the "teaser poster" of the production. Whee! I did tell the lady at the booth that I had enjoyed their show on Friday and we enthused about the staging and costumes for a while. And I admitted that I had fallen in love with Death. She said she'd tell him he got a new fan. Heheh. But honestly, he does deserve all the praise. And if he's as dashing as a viking - oh my.
The other part of the day's culture was the Bollywood film Parineeta. I thought it was a delightful film. This time around the music wasn't the weakest link at all. Gorgeous clothes, lovely songs and a beautiful love story. I'm definitely glad I went to see it.
And I even got that social studies exam done in between! All this culture and work in one day, I feel accomplished and relaxed. The weekend seemed a little longer with all these activities. And next week, it's all work and no play, so this little break in routines was welcome.
I bought two cd's of medieval music by a Finnish ensemble called Oliphant, the other has songs from the times of the crusades and the other one has spiritual songs from the 13th century. I started to listen to the songs from the crusading years and I think they're beautiful.
In addition to the medieval music I also bought some Celtic music. A very nice and soothing collection - and not the synthetized kind of plingplong stuff at all, but real instruments and acoustic sounds. Good shopping, I'd say.
The books I bought were actually more work-related books than what I had had in mind to buy. I was looking for two specific new books, couldn't find them and ended up buying two essay collections about fantasy as a genre. Tax deductible expenses, whee.
The fair seemed somewhat less crowded than it has been in the previous years, but it could all be just because I left reasonably early and didn't visit on Saturday at all. But nevertheless, it's always fun to stroll around the place, browsing books and chatting with friends.
I even went to the little booth of the city theatre - to get some brochures of the upcoming plays. I noticed that there's going to be another musical next spring, this time about the vikings. In other words, I'm imagining Nordic mythology combined with strong dances and music (preferably with plenty of drums) and, guess what? My favorite Death!
Well, probably not Death this time around, but I did spot the actor from the "teaser poster" of the production. Whee! I did tell the lady at the booth that I had enjoyed their show on Friday and we enthused about the staging and costumes for a while. And I admitted that I had fallen in love with Death. She said she'd tell him he got a new fan. Heheh. But honestly, he does deserve all the praise. And if he's as dashing as a viking - oh my.
The other part of the day's culture was the Bollywood film Parineeta. I thought it was a delightful film. This time around the music wasn't the weakest link at all. Gorgeous clothes, lovely songs and a beautiful love story. I'm definitely glad I went to see it.
And I even got that social studies exam done in between! All this culture and work in one day, I feel accomplished and relaxed. The weekend seemed a little longer with all these activities. And next week, it's all work and no play, so this little break in routines was welcome.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
The night I fell in love with Death
No, I'm not crumbling under the pressures of work, nor have I decided to end my miserable single life (hah, as if), but it has been proven to me (once again) that Death in popular culture is often a very enticing character. Whether it be the snarky gothgirl Death of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the ever so IMPOSING Death of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels or as in yesterday's case, the blonde charmer in the musical Elisabeth played in the city theatre here in Turku.
The musical had it's premiere a year ago and it's been performed to a full house ever since. It's been nearly impossible to get tickets, but mom had luck a few months ago. She bought a ticket as a birthday present to grandma (dad's side) and three to us, so we (me, mom, dad & grandma, that is) could all go together.
So, almost exactly a year after I met the stars of the show in the local Italian restaurant (while in the company of a relative of the empress Elisabeth - I think I blogged about it back then) I finally saw them on stage.
The story is, of course, the story of the empress Elisabeth of Austria (and later also the queen of Hungary), also known as Sissi. This portrait of her is one of my favorites - especially the Swarowski crystals in her hair... OMG.
She used her beauty to her advance - the hairdo alone took 3 hours to make and the dresses were sewn on her so they would fit perfectly!
Anyway, the musical is the story of her life, told by her murderer (an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni) a hundred years after her death. He tells her story as a tragic love story between her and Death (emperor Franz Joseph is the third wheel of the story, naturally).
The story begins when Sissi is 12 years old. She's been raised a free spirit and one day she performs a circus trick to her relatives. She balances on a rope and falls. This is the first time she meets Death, who in this play is a handsome young man. He falls in love with her.
The events of her life then take her to be the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph's wife. It's a miserable life for her, being caged in by the rules and etiquette of the court. She's also always under the judging eyes of her mother-in-law, who was said to be the only man in Franz Joseph's court...
During her life she meets Death several times and each time he tries to woo her to his side. He wants to be the only love of her life. When he fails, he acts like a jealous lover and first takes Sissi's youngest daughter, then befriends her son, Rudolph, and takes him (the kiss of Death they share - oh shivers! says the little slasher in me!) and once even turns down Sissi's plea to join him. But when the assassin stabs Elisabeth, Death is there to take her finally into his arms and to give her a passionate last kiss.
I had heard in advance that Death was going to be impressive. And I had high expectations of Death's dancers, too. And I wasn't disappointed at all.
The actor playing Death (Mika Kujala) wasn't very tall or handsome in a traditional manner, but my goodness what a stage presence! He had blonde hair to his shoulders (yummy!) and wore long velvet coats (veeeery yummy!) and moved like a (excuse my choice of phrasing here) steamy dream. Compared to his seductive, stalking, energetic performance the lead actor playing emperor Franz Joseph (Tomi Metsäketo) looked like a log of long dead wood (not that his character really had many chances to move around in any way, being emperor and all. It'd be very improper for an emperor to behave like that.). And that's a lot to say, since I really think Metsäketo is very handsome and droolworthy. But he's first and foremost a singer, whereas Kujala is first an actor and then a singer. Which doesn't mean his singing was any worse, not at all. He had an edgier voice and also got some pretty rockish solos. But the movement, oh my god. I've got shivers down my spine even now.
And the dancers! When the two male "Death dancers" came on stage, I couldn't keep my eyes off them. (Only Death himself got my attention over those two, heh.) Imagine two excellent dancers (the other one was actually a international level ballroom dancer, wow!) in Lucius Malfoy -style blonde wigs, floor length burgundy velvet coats and postures to make anyone envious, and you'll understand why my brain went all wobbly in a flash. (Dear lord. What is it with men and blonde wigs? And why aren't those lovely coats fashionable anymore?)
What was disappointing though was that the weakest link of the musical was the music. Not the singing (the lead actress, Théresè Karlsson, had a voice like an angel, Tomi Metsäketo's singing is like soft, creamy chocolate, and Death - well... *grin*), but the music. A bland mix of rock and classical style music, songs that can't be remembered five minutes after the show's over. What a bummer. I wasn't expecting catchy tunes in the style of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but something more original for sure. One of the best performances (once again, excellent singing, even though the song wasn't outstanding) was a duet by Death and Elisabeth's son Rudolph. Death lures him into committing a suicide and before the shot is fired, they sing together. The two actors' voices complimented each other perfectly and finally, as I already mentioned, the quite literal kiss of Death was, umm, hotter than anything that was going on between the emperor and the empress during the play. (Yes, I do have a dark side to me, a slasher side... If you don't know what that means, I'm not going to elaborate now. Sorry.)
But if the music was somewhat bland, the staging sure wasn't. Rarely have I seen the stage technics being used so fully. I loved what they did with the screen backgrounds (images of the sea, of the sky etc.) and lighting. The sets were grand, and the grandest of them all was the set with Death's carriage, which I absolutely adored. A huge misshapen carriage, tilted, half sunk in the ground, pulled by two rearing horses - it was magnificent (albeit a tad difficult to describe) and fit Death's character perfectly.
I couldn't help but think that my students should all see this, just so that they could see how a theatre stage can be anything but dull. Especially the students who saw Shakespeare's Collected Works in a small local theatre last year should see it, just to compare the absolute minimalism used in the comical Shakespearean play(s) (only four actors playing all the parts, only one set used to stage all the plays) to the full capability of a bigger stage.
On the other hand, the changing of the sets seemed a little superfluous at times. A couple of sets seemed to be there just for the sake of showing that they could fit a Moulin Rouge -style cabaret/brothel set and an Italian tivoli set in a musical mostly set in the court of Austria. But since the sets were equally beautiful, it didn't bother me that much. I like eye candy.
In any case, this was the first time I ever saw the crew come to take a bow. There was a good dozen or so people who had been moving the sets around during the fast changes and they did deserve their thanks. Very smooth work indeed.
I noticed that the popular buzz surrounding the play had probably encouraged a few non-theatre-enthusiasts to come to see the musical, too. Two of them sat next to me during the first half of the show. During the intermission they had, however, left their seats for good. I cheered silently when I noticed it. The man who had sat right next to me hadn't showered since his last several drinks of something stronger than water and I had to lean towards mom in order to be able to breath through my nose at all.
I do think it's great that theatre interests all kinds of people, but fercrissakes, take a shower before you come! And wash your shirt. And brush your teeth or take a breath mint, if you think there's a possibility that you stink of old booze! But obviously the play wasn't what they had expected, so to my great relief the person sitting next to me for the rest of the play smelled better.
In short, I was entertained by the show, despite its flaws and I'm glad I saw it. I need to go to the theatre more often now that I could actually afford it, too.
Tomorrow it's time for the annual "Buy or not to buy" -debate inside my head. This is the Turku Book Fair weekend, and I'm going to be sitting behind the desk of our SF-booth (dressed properly in Harry Potter gear, this time meaning a Gryffindor tie and my version of a school uniform) in the morning and then - a quick but effective tour around the place, hoping I won't find too much to buy...
And in the evening it's time for some Bollywood fun. The movie Parineeta is being shown in a local movie theatre just this once and I'm going to go.
Somewhere in between I should prepare a social studies exam for the 9th graders for Monday... Yikes. I didn't get it done today, since I spent all my day cleaning up my place. Talking about trying to avoid one's duties, huh? But seriously, this apartment was beginning to look like a hurricane had landed on it, so I'm very happy I got the cleaning done. Now I can concentrate on work. Somewhere along the line, at least. There's a tiny pile of about 360 pages of text to be graded, for example. Yay for that. Uhh.
Gotta go now, it's getting really late and I've got an early wake up call tomorrow.
The musical had it's premiere a year ago and it's been performed to a full house ever since. It's been nearly impossible to get tickets, but mom had luck a few months ago. She bought a ticket as a birthday present to grandma (dad's side) and three to us, so we (me, mom, dad & grandma, that is) could all go together.
So, almost exactly a year after I met the stars of the show in the local Italian restaurant (while in the company of a relative of the empress Elisabeth - I think I blogged about it back then) I finally saw them on stage.
The story is, of course, the story of the empress Elisabeth of Austria (and later also the queen of Hungary), also known as Sissi. This portrait of her is one of my favorites - especially the Swarowski crystals in her hair... OMG.
She used her beauty to her advance - the hairdo alone took 3 hours to make and the dresses were sewn on her so they would fit perfectly!
Anyway, the musical is the story of her life, told by her murderer (an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni) a hundred years after her death. He tells her story as a tragic love story between her and Death (emperor Franz Joseph is the third wheel of the story, naturally).
The story begins when Sissi is 12 years old. She's been raised a free spirit and one day she performs a circus trick to her relatives. She balances on a rope and falls. This is the first time she meets Death, who in this play is a handsome young man. He falls in love with her.
The events of her life then take her to be the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph's wife. It's a miserable life for her, being caged in by the rules and etiquette of the court. She's also always under the judging eyes of her mother-in-law, who was said to be the only man in Franz Joseph's court...
During her life she meets Death several times and each time he tries to woo her to his side. He wants to be the only love of her life. When he fails, he acts like a jealous lover and first takes Sissi's youngest daughter, then befriends her son, Rudolph, and takes him (the kiss of Death they share - oh shivers! says the little slasher in me!) and once even turns down Sissi's plea to join him. But when the assassin stabs Elisabeth, Death is there to take her finally into his arms and to give her a passionate last kiss.
I had heard in advance that Death was going to be impressive. And I had high expectations of Death's dancers, too. And I wasn't disappointed at all.
The actor playing Death (Mika Kujala) wasn't very tall or handsome in a traditional manner, but my goodness what a stage presence! He had blonde hair to his shoulders (yummy!) and wore long velvet coats (veeeery yummy!) and moved like a (excuse my choice of phrasing here) steamy dream. Compared to his seductive, stalking, energetic performance the lead actor playing emperor Franz Joseph (Tomi Metsäketo) looked like a log of long dead wood (not that his character really had many chances to move around in any way, being emperor and all. It'd be very improper for an emperor to behave like that.). And that's a lot to say, since I really think Metsäketo is very handsome and droolworthy. But he's first and foremost a singer, whereas Kujala is first an actor and then a singer. Which doesn't mean his singing was any worse, not at all. He had an edgier voice and also got some pretty rockish solos. But the movement, oh my god. I've got shivers down my spine even now.
And the dancers! When the two male "Death dancers" came on stage, I couldn't keep my eyes off them. (Only Death himself got my attention over those two, heh.) Imagine two excellent dancers (the other one was actually a international level ballroom dancer, wow!) in Lucius Malfoy -style blonde wigs, floor length burgundy velvet coats and postures to make anyone envious, and you'll understand why my brain went all wobbly in a flash. (Dear lord. What is it with men and blonde wigs? And why aren't those lovely coats fashionable anymore?)
What was disappointing though was that the weakest link of the musical was the music. Not the singing (the lead actress, Théresè Karlsson, had a voice like an angel, Tomi Metsäketo's singing is like soft, creamy chocolate, and Death - well... *grin*), but the music. A bland mix of rock and classical style music, songs that can't be remembered five minutes after the show's over. What a bummer. I wasn't expecting catchy tunes in the style of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but something more original for sure. One of the best performances (once again, excellent singing, even though the song wasn't outstanding) was a duet by Death and Elisabeth's son Rudolph. Death lures him into committing a suicide and before the shot is fired, they sing together. The two actors' voices complimented each other perfectly and finally, as I already mentioned, the quite literal kiss of Death was, umm, hotter than anything that was going on between the emperor and the empress during the play. (Yes, I do have a dark side to me, a slasher side... If you don't know what that means, I'm not going to elaborate now. Sorry.)
But if the music was somewhat bland, the staging sure wasn't. Rarely have I seen the stage technics being used so fully. I loved what they did with the screen backgrounds (images of the sea, of the sky etc.) and lighting. The sets were grand, and the grandest of them all was the set with Death's carriage, which I absolutely adored. A huge misshapen carriage, tilted, half sunk in the ground, pulled by two rearing horses - it was magnificent (albeit a tad difficult to describe) and fit Death's character perfectly.
I couldn't help but think that my students should all see this, just so that they could see how a theatre stage can be anything but dull. Especially the students who saw Shakespeare's Collected Works in a small local theatre last year should see it, just to compare the absolute minimalism used in the comical Shakespearean play(s) (only four actors playing all the parts, only one set used to stage all the plays) to the full capability of a bigger stage.
On the other hand, the changing of the sets seemed a little superfluous at times. A couple of sets seemed to be there just for the sake of showing that they could fit a Moulin Rouge -style cabaret/brothel set and an Italian tivoli set in a musical mostly set in the court of Austria. But since the sets were equally beautiful, it didn't bother me that much. I like eye candy.
In any case, this was the first time I ever saw the crew come to take a bow. There was a good dozen or so people who had been moving the sets around during the fast changes and they did deserve their thanks. Very smooth work indeed.
I noticed that the popular buzz surrounding the play had probably encouraged a few non-theatre-enthusiasts to come to see the musical, too. Two of them sat next to me during the first half of the show. During the intermission they had, however, left their seats for good. I cheered silently when I noticed it. The man who had sat right next to me hadn't showered since his last several drinks of something stronger than water and I had to lean towards mom in order to be able to breath through my nose at all.
I do think it's great that theatre interests all kinds of people, but fercrissakes, take a shower before you come! And wash your shirt. And brush your teeth or take a breath mint, if you think there's a possibility that you stink of old booze! But obviously the play wasn't what they had expected, so to my great relief the person sitting next to me for the rest of the play smelled better.
In short, I was entertained by the show, despite its flaws and I'm glad I saw it. I need to go to the theatre more often now that I could actually afford it, too.
Tomorrow it's time for the annual "Buy or not to buy" -debate inside my head. This is the Turku Book Fair weekend, and I'm going to be sitting behind the desk of our SF-booth (dressed properly in Harry Potter gear, this time meaning a Gryffindor tie and my version of a school uniform) in the morning and then - a quick but effective tour around the place, hoping I won't find too much to buy...
And in the evening it's time for some Bollywood fun. The movie Parineeta is being shown in a local movie theatre just this once and I'm going to go.
Somewhere in between I should prepare a social studies exam for the 9th graders for Monday... Yikes. I didn't get it done today, since I spent all my day cleaning up my place. Talking about trying to avoid one's duties, huh? But seriously, this apartment was beginning to look like a hurricane had landed on it, so I'm very happy I got the cleaning done. Now I can concentrate on work. Somewhere along the line, at least. There's a tiny pile of about 360 pages of text to be graded, for example. Yay for that. Uhh.
Gotta go now, it's getting really late and I've got an early wake up call tomorrow.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Remember, remember...
Lately I haven't been doing anything much except working. On an average weekday I go to work to start the first lesson at 8.50 a.m, get home around 4 p.m. and continue working till about 10 p.m. On some days I have nearly fallen asleep on my laptop or lessonplans.
Honestly, I know it's not going to be this difficult for long, because soon I have taught all the courses at least once, but at the moment I sometimes seriously doubt the reasoning behind my career choice. Like the other day, when I had a headache and a bit of temperature thanks to the flu I caught about two weeks into the semester and the students were bouncing off the walls when I tried to teach them whatever it was I had planned for the day. It was literally the first time ever the thought "I can't do this" has entered my mind during a class.
Sure, it was mostly thanks to the fact I wasn't feeling too good physically, but it's really not that nice to doubt one's abilities, not even for a while (and especially not in front of a class - I'm glad I got over it fast). But what it really emphasizes once again, is that I can't let myself become exhausted because of work. I know myself well enough to know that I have a tendency to feel really crappy when I'm really tired. In other words, I'm glad I've been able to get to bed early enough on weeknights and keep the weekends mostly clear of anything mandatory. Reloading batteries is very important.
And besides sleeping, reloading with quality entertainment is what I like to do. Last weekend my choice battery chargers were the movies The Libertine and V for Vendetta and the BBC series North and South.
I went to see The Libertine with mom on Friday evening, after a couple of hours of idle shopping and a pizza for dinner. I was interested in seeing Johnny Depp in yet another impressive role, this time in the role of the notorious Earl of Rochester, John Wilmot. His performance is, once again, admirable. He struts his stuff all over with gusto, making the Earl a character worth hating and loving.
I found the movie fairly good, although the acting was better than the story. I liked the way the movie was lit, all shadier and murkier than your average epoch film. It brought a touch of believability into the movie. For once candlelight looked like candlelight, not like an industrial heavy duty flashlight or something.
But the story itself, well, I thought it could've had something more to it. The life of John Wilmot was certainly a tragic story in itself and for example his last speech to the Parliament, bandages hiding his face, deformed by late stages of syphilis, is a touching one. And whereas the speech is touching, the play that the Earl wrote to the King earlier, is flat out outrageous. Or what do you think about commenting on the current reign (as filled with debauchery as it may have been) with a play that flaunts giant dildos and sexual organs on stage? Might be accepted nowadays, but I can easily imagine how it would've been frowned upon in the 17th century. I think I'd like to read some of the Earl's works some day... ;)
Even though I didn't think The Libertine was a great movie, I did think V for Vendetta was one. Absolutely blew me away. I had heard a lot of praise for it, and had wanted to see it for a while. Last weekend provided the perfect occasion - I wasn't feeling like watching some lighthearted comedy or a fluffy romantic chick flick and rented V instead.
I hadn't read the comic, so I had very little knowledge of the story, what to expect from it. Just a week earlier I was in Finncon and walked around Helsinki accompanied by a friend of mine dressed as V. His wife had painted the mask on his face and it looked great. He and his wife had also recently watched the film and had obviously liked it, too. They told me how the fifth of November is mentioned in the film - and I didn't ask any details, which then resulted in a heartfelt "duh!" when I finally understood what it was all about. And I was really glad I had just watched the miniseries Gunpowder Treason and Plot on tv this summer. I actually knew what the background story was about! How much easier it was to understand where V's ideology came from, knowing Guy Fawkes' story.
First of all, I'm in awe of the acting skills of Hugo Weaving (Natalie Portman was very good, too). It's really amazing how he brought the mask to life and made it very easy to feel for V. It's actually exactly the same as it is with Darth Vader. Despite the character having just one expression moulded on his face, the expressive power is there. Body language, tone of voice - wow. And V, I did fall in love with him a little, I admit it. (And naturally I cried in the end - so technically that makes V the second comicbook/graphic novel character that has made me cry. The first being the Sandman, of course.)
And the message of the movie then? Keeping the current events of the world in mind, the movie is downright scary in its accuracy and the image it paints of the future is chilling. And keeping the past events of the world in mind - I don't think I need to even go any further. I'm actually pretty sure I could use the movie as an educational film on several occasions in senior high. The discussions after seeing it would be interesting. And since most kids don't read books like The Animal Farm or 1984 anymore, maybe the power of the dystopian imagery of the movie would make them think. And most of all see a great example of how popular culture can be a powerful tool for social commentary.
And just as I would like to read some of John Wilmot's texts, I'd love to read the original V for Vendetta comics now. I'm pretty sure someone I know is bound to have the albums and I can borrow them. Right?
Ok, so after crying over V on Saturday evening, I radically changed topics for Sunday, but cried nontheless. The BBC drama series North and South was a wonderful story situated in the fairly newly industrialized England. A perfect Austenesque story of love first rejected and then accepted. Ahh. (And I could use bits of this series in class, too, btw. - See how I don't stop working at all?) Made me feel a bit lonely, though. But that's what romantic stuff does to me nowadays, can't help it. I need to get this series on DVD, too. (Just like the Forsyte Saga. I'm not allowing myself to buy it in September, however, since I already bought the Kingdom of Heaven DC today, whee!)
Oh dear, the time. I'd better get to bed now...
Honestly, I know it's not going to be this difficult for long, because soon I have taught all the courses at least once, but at the moment I sometimes seriously doubt the reasoning behind my career choice. Like the other day, when I had a headache and a bit of temperature thanks to the flu I caught about two weeks into the semester and the students were bouncing off the walls when I tried to teach them whatever it was I had planned for the day. It was literally the first time ever the thought "I can't do this" has entered my mind during a class.
Sure, it was mostly thanks to the fact I wasn't feeling too good physically, but it's really not that nice to doubt one's abilities, not even for a while (and especially not in front of a class - I'm glad I got over it fast). But what it really emphasizes once again, is that I can't let myself become exhausted because of work. I know myself well enough to know that I have a tendency to feel really crappy when I'm really tired. In other words, I'm glad I've been able to get to bed early enough on weeknights and keep the weekends mostly clear of anything mandatory. Reloading batteries is very important.
And besides sleeping, reloading with quality entertainment is what I like to do. Last weekend my choice battery chargers were the movies The Libertine and V for Vendetta and the BBC series North and South.
I went to see The Libertine with mom on Friday evening, after a couple of hours of idle shopping and a pizza for dinner. I was interested in seeing Johnny Depp in yet another impressive role, this time in the role of the notorious Earl of Rochester, John Wilmot. His performance is, once again, admirable. He struts his stuff all over with gusto, making the Earl a character worth hating and loving.
I found the movie fairly good, although the acting was better than the story. I liked the way the movie was lit, all shadier and murkier than your average epoch film. It brought a touch of believability into the movie. For once candlelight looked like candlelight, not like an industrial heavy duty flashlight or something.
But the story itself, well, I thought it could've had something more to it. The life of John Wilmot was certainly a tragic story in itself and for example his last speech to the Parliament, bandages hiding his face, deformed by late stages of syphilis, is a touching one. And whereas the speech is touching, the play that the Earl wrote to the King earlier, is flat out outrageous. Or what do you think about commenting on the current reign (as filled with debauchery as it may have been) with a play that flaunts giant dildos and sexual organs on stage? Might be accepted nowadays, but I can easily imagine how it would've been frowned upon in the 17th century. I think I'd like to read some of the Earl's works some day... ;)
Even though I didn't think The Libertine was a great movie, I did think V for Vendetta was one. Absolutely blew me away. I had heard a lot of praise for it, and had wanted to see it for a while. Last weekend provided the perfect occasion - I wasn't feeling like watching some lighthearted comedy or a fluffy romantic chick flick and rented V instead.
I hadn't read the comic, so I had very little knowledge of the story, what to expect from it. Just a week earlier I was in Finncon and walked around Helsinki accompanied by a friend of mine dressed as V. His wife had painted the mask on his face and it looked great. He and his wife had also recently watched the film and had obviously liked it, too. They told me how the fifth of November is mentioned in the film - and I didn't ask any details, which then resulted in a heartfelt "duh!" when I finally understood what it was all about. And I was really glad I had just watched the miniseries Gunpowder Treason and Plot on tv this summer. I actually knew what the background story was about! How much easier it was to understand where V's ideology came from, knowing Guy Fawkes' story.
First of all, I'm in awe of the acting skills of Hugo Weaving (Natalie Portman was very good, too). It's really amazing how he brought the mask to life and made it very easy to feel for V. It's actually exactly the same as it is with Darth Vader. Despite the character having just one expression moulded on his face, the expressive power is there. Body language, tone of voice - wow. And V, I did fall in love with him a little, I admit it. (And naturally I cried in the end - so technically that makes V the second comicbook/graphic novel character that has made me cry. The first being the Sandman, of course.)
And the message of the movie then? Keeping the current events of the world in mind, the movie is downright scary in its accuracy and the image it paints of the future is chilling. And keeping the past events of the world in mind - I don't think I need to even go any further. I'm actually pretty sure I could use the movie as an educational film on several occasions in senior high. The discussions after seeing it would be interesting. And since most kids don't read books like The Animal Farm or 1984 anymore, maybe the power of the dystopian imagery of the movie would make them think. And most of all see a great example of how popular culture can be a powerful tool for social commentary.
And just as I would like to read some of John Wilmot's texts, I'd love to read the original V for Vendetta comics now. I'm pretty sure someone I know is bound to have the albums and I can borrow them. Right?
Ok, so after crying over V on Saturday evening, I radically changed topics for Sunday, but cried nontheless. The BBC drama series North and South was a wonderful story situated in the fairly newly industrialized England. A perfect Austenesque story of love first rejected and then accepted. Ahh. (And I could use bits of this series in class, too, btw. - See how I don't stop working at all?) Made me feel a bit lonely, though. But that's what romantic stuff does to me nowadays, can't help it. I need to get this series on DVD, too. (Just like the Forsyte Saga. I'm not allowing myself to buy it in September, however, since I already bought the Kingdom of Heaven DC today, whee!)
Oh dear, the time. I'd better get to bed now...
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Back to school
Ok, it's time to get into the "back to work" -mood. Tomorrow we have teachers' planning day and on Tuesday school begins for the students also.
Having taken relaxation very seriously last night with Tytti I suppose I'm ready. Sure, it'd be nice to have another two and a half months of peaceful research time, without work related worries, but that'd be called unemployment (or being filthy rich) and as such is not an option at the moment.
So I've spent the day sorting out my papers (should've naturally done that earlier, eh) and doing very light planning work. I guess I'll be ok, once again. And at least I have one thing going for me tomorrow - I still have my brother's cool car (I'm most generously being allowed to borrow it for the time being), because he hasn't been able to sell it yet. So I can drive to work myself! Yay! I feel a bit ashamed to say it, but I hope it takes him a while to sell it, so I can use it for a little while longer...
Ah, better get back to work, then. I have to get most of these papers sorted out by tonight's episode of Bones...
Hmm, when's the next vacation again? :)
Having taken relaxation very seriously last night with Tytti I suppose I'm ready. Sure, it'd be nice to have another two and a half months of peaceful research time, without work related worries, but that'd be called unemployment (or being filthy rich) and as such is not an option at the moment.
So I've spent the day sorting out my papers (should've naturally done that earlier, eh) and doing very light planning work. I guess I'll be ok, once again. And at least I have one thing going for me tomorrow - I still have my brother's cool car (I'm most generously being allowed to borrow it for the time being), because he hasn't been able to sell it yet. So I can drive to work myself! Yay! I feel a bit ashamed to say it, but I hope it takes him a while to sell it, so I can use it for a little while longer...
Ah, better get back to work, then. I have to get most of these papers sorted out by tonight's episode of Bones...
Hmm, when's the next vacation again? :)
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Reflections and ramblings
Recently some of my friends have had to do some reflecting on their lives and priorities. How much of personal resources can be used to hobbies, such as being active in various societies, how can one guarantee that there is enough quality time with spouse / family, what kind of requirements does work set, how to manage with limited income and so on. The serious, real life stuff, you know.
These reflections are necessary in life every once and a while, if not for anything else, then for the simple reason that it's not possible to reflect without standing still for a moment. And stillness is a rare luxury in today's world. People dash around looking busy, feeling stressed out and probably achieving less than they could, because they have too many things they're trying to do at one time.
I think I'm very much in the middle of a situation like that. Granted, I don't have a family (meaning a husband and kids of my own) to worry about, but I definitely recognise the feeling of (false) inadequacy, which is the result of having too much to do almost at any given moment. False inadequacy, because I know these things aren't in any way impossible for me to do. But seems they are impossible to do simultaneously, eh. Like reading thesis related books, exam books and planning upcoming lessons at the same time. There's the tiny little limit of not having three sets of eyes, hands and brains to deal with everything at once.
Sure, these are just questions of organising one's time a little better. In this case it may mean I'll skip the exam, because I just haven't had time to study for it (I very nearly broke down in frustrated tears today, trying to understand the damnable economics stuff) and concentrate on doing lesson plans. And since school starts next Monday, the thesis stuff will be limited mostly to weekends from now on, anyway. So, in theory, problem solved - only that if I skip the exam, I'm probably moving the date of my graduation once again further down into the future. Argh. (But if I do go to the exam not having read enough, I won't pass anyway and I end up in the same situation after having "wasted" several hours to trying to scramble through the materials, whereas I could've used the hours for working on the lessons... Sheesh.)
And school then, oh my. It's really quite ridiculous that I'm getting nervous about it again. I should know by now that it's work I'm fully capable of doing (and I'm not too bad at it, either - if I may say so myself), and yet the feelings of doubt and insecurity are back. I wonder how many years of teaching will it take to get rid of this...
I suppose it'll get easier when I've taught all the courses through at least once. Now I have 8th grade history and 9th grade social studies that are completely new to me. I've taught bits and pieces of them, but never the full year. And even the start of the 7th grade history is foreign territory to me, since I didn't teach it last year. In other words, come next Tuesday I'll have three completely new courses beginning, which means quite a lot of work in the evenings for me. Yikes.
Ok, so if I now had to list my current priorities in life, the list could be made very short and simple. (It could also be made a long, rambling list of many things, but I'll keep it simple for now.)
1. Graduating asap, no excuses
2. Doing my best at work, trying to motivate the students and be a good teacher (preferably without sky high stress levels, or 14 hour work days, pretty please?)
3. Maintaining meaningful friendships, because friends keep me sane (and since I don't have a boyfriend to spend quality time with, my friends are my quality time)
4. Family (I have to make time for grandma&grandpa, since grandpa is not going to be around for long anymore)
5. Hobbies (dividing time between rehearsing for one more dance recital to be held in October, editing a fanzine and so on...).
In other words, at this moment my work and my research go before everything. I expect I'll have to seriously cut down my responsibilities elsewhere. For example I'm pretty sure I won't be editing Spin next year anymore. I just don't have the time, sorry to say it.
And that's one heck of an important lesson to learn. To learn to recognise the limits of one's resources. I know I'm having a hard time with it, and some of my friends struggle (or have struggled) with similar problems. The core of the problem is (at least for me) that it's fun to participate and be active, but if there aren't enough people who share that attitude, the workload soon becomes too heavy to handle.
But on the other hand, a simple, stressless life would be awfully boring, right?
After all this seriousness, I'm off to watch Gerard Butler as Attila the Hunn. Heh. That'll keep my thoughts off anything too serious for a while.
These reflections are necessary in life every once and a while, if not for anything else, then for the simple reason that it's not possible to reflect without standing still for a moment. And stillness is a rare luxury in today's world. People dash around looking busy, feeling stressed out and probably achieving less than they could, because they have too many things they're trying to do at one time.
I think I'm very much in the middle of a situation like that. Granted, I don't have a family (meaning a husband and kids of my own) to worry about, but I definitely recognise the feeling of (false) inadequacy, which is the result of having too much to do almost at any given moment. False inadequacy, because I know these things aren't in any way impossible for me to do. But seems they are impossible to do simultaneously, eh. Like reading thesis related books, exam books and planning upcoming lessons at the same time. There's the tiny little limit of not having three sets of eyes, hands and brains to deal with everything at once.
Sure, these are just questions of organising one's time a little better. In this case it may mean I'll skip the exam, because I just haven't had time to study for it (I very nearly broke down in frustrated tears today, trying to understand the damnable economics stuff) and concentrate on doing lesson plans. And since school starts next Monday, the thesis stuff will be limited mostly to weekends from now on, anyway. So, in theory, problem solved - only that if I skip the exam, I'm probably moving the date of my graduation once again further down into the future. Argh. (But if I do go to the exam not having read enough, I won't pass anyway and I end up in the same situation after having "wasted" several hours to trying to scramble through the materials, whereas I could've used the hours for working on the lessons... Sheesh.)
And school then, oh my. It's really quite ridiculous that I'm getting nervous about it again. I should know by now that it's work I'm fully capable of doing (and I'm not too bad at it, either - if I may say so myself), and yet the feelings of doubt and insecurity are back. I wonder how many years of teaching will it take to get rid of this...
I suppose it'll get easier when I've taught all the courses through at least once. Now I have 8th grade history and 9th grade social studies that are completely new to me. I've taught bits and pieces of them, but never the full year. And even the start of the 7th grade history is foreign territory to me, since I didn't teach it last year. In other words, come next Tuesday I'll have three completely new courses beginning, which means quite a lot of work in the evenings for me. Yikes.
Ok, so if I now had to list my current priorities in life, the list could be made very short and simple. (It could also be made a long, rambling list of many things, but I'll keep it simple for now.)
1. Graduating asap, no excuses
2. Doing my best at work, trying to motivate the students and be a good teacher (preferably without sky high stress levels, or 14 hour work days, pretty please?)
3. Maintaining meaningful friendships, because friends keep me sane (and since I don't have a boyfriend to spend quality time with, my friends are my quality time)
4. Family (I have to make time for grandma&grandpa, since grandpa is not going to be around for long anymore)
5. Hobbies (dividing time between rehearsing for one more dance recital to be held in October, editing a fanzine and so on...).
In other words, at this moment my work and my research go before everything. I expect I'll have to seriously cut down my responsibilities elsewhere. For example I'm pretty sure I won't be editing Spin next year anymore. I just don't have the time, sorry to say it.
And that's one heck of an important lesson to learn. To learn to recognise the limits of one's resources. I know I'm having a hard time with it, and some of my friends struggle (or have struggled) with similar problems. The core of the problem is (at least for me) that it's fun to participate and be active, but if there aren't enough people who share that attitude, the workload soon becomes too heavy to handle.
But on the other hand, a simple, stressless life would be awfully boring, right?
After all this seriousness, I'm off to watch Gerard Butler as Attila the Hunn. Heh. That'll keep my thoughts off anything too serious for a while.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Fantastic times
Last weekend was the Fantasy Feast weekend. FF is a tradition of the Turku SF society and this was the seventh time the Feast was organised.
Basically, it's a weekend spent in Sauvo, where the City of Turku has a youth camp center by the sea. People come (dressed in medievalish / fantasy outfits) to relax, participate in different kinds of games and activities, sing, dance, eat and generally have a good time.
This was the second time I was involved in organising the Feast and it was a nice experience, once again - even though the fewer organisers meant a whole lot of working hours per person and ridiculously sore feet for most of us. (I still walk a bit stiffly...) But what's a little pain, if the people who paid to visit the Feast were happy? It seemed that especially the kids who were present had had a brilliant time. I bet they'll have some fun memories.
The most of my Saturday was spent on the beach, under a truly scorching sun. First there was the Tournament and then I supervised a couple of hours of archery practice. No shade anywhere and it must've been closer to 35 Celsius (maybe even more?) , which is a little bit too much for me, too. I generally don't mind heat, but in this weather I'd rather stay in the shade, not under direct sunlight.
Anyway, nobody got hurt while trying out the longbow and the crossbow and I was able to try out my own bow & arrows properly. Seems that I have managed to make arrows that fly pretty swiftly without any wobbling and the bow is beginning to feel, well, mine. Yay me! Too bad I only just realised I should've asked someone to take a few photos of me with my archery gear... Oh well, maybe next time.
For a fantasy fan and a silly romantic like me the FF weekend is a perfect escape from the routines of everyday life. I simply love to see what kind of outfits people have, for example. This time we had as visitors a Shaman, a very impressive Black Wizard with his lady, a group of renaissance style Highwaymen, a few Tudor style noblemen, a Fool, a Wood Nymph, A Barbarian, several beautiful elven and human ladies and so on. It's so nice to see that many people clearly put time and serious effort into their costumes.
On Saturday night, after we had closed the Jumping Dragon Inn at midnight, I wandered to the dark beach wrapped in my cloak, just to watch the stars. If there are moments that are magical, that was certainly one of them. The starry sky (with an occasional shooting star!), the sea, the splashes of fish in the shallow water, the solitary cries of birds... It wasn't all quiet this time, since the Black Wizard was further down the beach playing his tin whistle, which suited the atmosphere just fine. So there I was, wrapped in several metres of purple velvet, under the stars... Very meditative and relaxing - a definite highlight of my weekend. And honestly, if a hobby can offer me moments like these, I can happily remain a romantic and a wannabe elf. :)
Here are a few photos from the Feast. Not very many of them, since I really didn't have time to take that many pics, since I was busy with my duties as an organiser.
This is me wearing the medieval(ish) outfit I made myself. I'm standing in front of the Jumping Dragon Inn.
Wizard Pyroforius was kind enough to perform a spell to light the fire. And a powerful spell it was, too. The blast of flames was huge. This pic, however, is taken a few moments after the biggest burst.
Visitors hanging out at the main square.
A view from the beach, at dusk.
Yours truly, once again. (Did I mention I love that cloak?)
A lady and a courtier.
Like father, like daughter. I was told later that she thought the FF Saturday had been the best day of the summer. How sweet is that?
See how these little wizards are having the time of their lives!
And here are the organisers on Sunday. Tired, but happy.
I don't have any pics from any of the actual events, such as the Tournament, but if you'd like to see more of the Feast, you can visit Tero's Fantasy Feast pic gallery or Pasi's Fantasy Feast pic gallery.
I'm probably completely nutters for saying this, but I'm looking forward to the next time. My thanks go out to everyone who came to the Feast and had a good time and of course to my fellow organisers. I hope to see you all again in, umm, perhaps 2008? ;)
Basically, it's a weekend spent in Sauvo, where the City of Turku has a youth camp center by the sea. People come (dressed in medievalish / fantasy outfits) to relax, participate in different kinds of games and activities, sing, dance, eat and generally have a good time.
This was the second time I was involved in organising the Feast and it was a nice experience, once again - even though the fewer organisers meant a whole lot of working hours per person and ridiculously sore feet for most of us. (I still walk a bit stiffly...) But what's a little pain, if the people who paid to visit the Feast were happy? It seemed that especially the kids who were present had had a brilliant time. I bet they'll have some fun memories.
The most of my Saturday was spent on the beach, under a truly scorching sun. First there was the Tournament and then I supervised a couple of hours of archery practice. No shade anywhere and it must've been closer to 35 Celsius (maybe even more?) , which is a little bit too much for me, too. I generally don't mind heat, but in this weather I'd rather stay in the shade, not under direct sunlight.
Anyway, nobody got hurt while trying out the longbow and the crossbow and I was able to try out my own bow & arrows properly. Seems that I have managed to make arrows that fly pretty swiftly without any wobbling and the bow is beginning to feel, well, mine. Yay me! Too bad I only just realised I should've asked someone to take a few photos of me with my archery gear... Oh well, maybe next time.
For a fantasy fan and a silly romantic like me the FF weekend is a perfect escape from the routines of everyday life. I simply love to see what kind of outfits people have, for example. This time we had as visitors a Shaman, a very impressive Black Wizard with his lady, a group of renaissance style Highwaymen, a few Tudor style noblemen, a Fool, a Wood Nymph, A Barbarian, several beautiful elven and human ladies and so on. It's so nice to see that many people clearly put time and serious effort into their costumes.
On Saturday night, after we had closed the Jumping Dragon Inn at midnight, I wandered to the dark beach wrapped in my cloak, just to watch the stars. If there are moments that are magical, that was certainly one of them. The starry sky (with an occasional shooting star!), the sea, the splashes of fish in the shallow water, the solitary cries of birds... It wasn't all quiet this time, since the Black Wizard was further down the beach playing his tin whistle, which suited the atmosphere just fine. So there I was, wrapped in several metres of purple velvet, under the stars... Very meditative and relaxing - a definite highlight of my weekend. And honestly, if a hobby can offer me moments like these, I can happily remain a romantic and a wannabe elf. :)
Here are a few photos from the Feast. Not very many of them, since I really didn't have time to take that many pics, since I was busy with my duties as an organiser.
This is me wearing the medieval(ish) outfit I made myself. I'm standing in front of the Jumping Dragon Inn.
Wizard Pyroforius was kind enough to perform a spell to light the fire. And a powerful spell it was, too. The blast of flames was huge. This pic, however, is taken a few moments after the biggest burst.
Visitors hanging out at the main square.
A view from the beach, at dusk.
Yours truly, once again. (Did I mention I love that cloak?)
A lady and a courtier.
Like father, like daughter. I was told later that she thought the FF Saturday had been the best day of the summer. How sweet is that?
See how these little wizards are having the time of their lives!
And here are the organisers on Sunday. Tired, but happy.
I don't have any pics from any of the actual events, such as the Tournament, but if you'd like to see more of the Feast, you can visit Tero's Fantasy Feast pic gallery or Pasi's Fantasy Feast pic gallery.
I'm probably completely nutters for saying this, but I'm looking forward to the next time. My thanks go out to everyone who came to the Feast and had a good time and of course to my fellow organisers. I hope to see you all again in, umm, perhaps 2008? ;)
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Just me, my laptop and this mellow Sunday
I have achieved nothing today. Absolutely nothing, at least if only stuff that I should be doing is counted. I did finish reading a good book and knitted some (I'm making a poncho for Satu this time). Other than that, I've just slept, eaten, watched television and listened to the construction workers build the scaffolding outside our building. I feel sort of bad for so completely slacking all day, but darned if I can be bothered to do anything anymore. Too late, heh. I'll have to make up for the lost time tomorrow, then. Monday's are good days for getting back to work, right?
Last time I wrote, I was on my way to get me some sea legs on a nice boat trip to the archipelago. And what a wonderful trip it was! Unfortunately I had only my old camera with me, so no pics this time.
Heli's parents boat was very nice. Huge. I'm not exactly sure how long it really was, but I figured it must've been at least some 20 metres long and completely equipped for seafaring also over longer distances, to Denmark and so on (that's where Heli's parents went with the boat earlier this summer). The five of us (me, Satu, Heli and her parents) were quite comfortably accommodated and I'm sure at least another five people would've fit in still reasonably well. We didn't, however, get to try out the in-boat-sauna, since it would've heated up the cabin in the aft, where Satu and I slept.
But a couple days at sea and I felt like I had been away from home for at least a couple of weeks. In a good way, too. There was something unbelievably relaxing in the low growl of the engines, the waves hitting the boat and the shores... We girls spent most of our time basking in the sunlight on deck, reading, talking or napping. (And I've got the sunburns slowly turning into a tan to prove it.) I'm more than willing to say that it was the highlight of my summer. I loved every minute of the trip. I so love to be at sea and it's too bad I don't have the means to do it more often. (Perhaps I have to add a boat to the list of requirements of that Special Someone, hah.)
To make the trip even better, we spent the second night at Heli's family's summer cottage in the archipelago. A truly stunning place. A beautiful (and big) summerhouse (can't really call it a cottage) built high up on a rocky hill, facing the open sea. My god, I could've stared into the distance from the balcony for hours. But the sauna beckoned us, and I finally got rid of my "winter coat" as the saying goes. The water wasn't very warm, but it was still nice to swim in the sea. Relaxation extraordinaire, I tell you!
On Saturday evening I had a garden party to go to. Hobbiton's garden party had been long awaited and turned out it had been worth waiting for. Tytti and her hubby do throw very nice parties. We drank a ridiculous amount of fresh strawberry margaritas, ate well and had a good time. What wonderful friends I have.
A week ago on Monday I got to try something completely new to me. I took a short course on making wire jewelry! Heli has been doing wire jewelry for a while already (and she's advanced into silver wire) and she urged me to come and try it, too. And surely enough, after some five hours of twisting, sawing and fumbling about with tiny loops of wire I had managed to make a nice ankle bracelet out of brass wire and decorated it with glass beads. Go me!
I'm discovering all new handicrafty sides to my life - within a year I've made myself a longbow, a Harry Potter scarf, a poncho (and a half) and an ankle bracelet. In other words I've tried woodworking, knitting and metal work and managed to not mess everything up or get injured myself. Yay.
Well, perhaps I shouldn't consider changing professions quite yet, but new hobbies can be a nice way to break the routines.
One old hobby definitely remains, though. Reading. I just finished reading Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife today. A piece of maintstream literature, which was pure fantasy or science fiction. I suppose Niffenegger didn't intend to write an sf-novel, but that's what it was. Not too bad at it, either.
The story was that of Henry DeTamble and his wife, Clare. He has a strange genetic disorder that makes him travel in time. On these travels he meets Clare, his future wife, and visits her randomly when she grows up. The timeline of the story is, if I'm allowed an understatement, somewhat garbled as Henry travels from his present to his past and future, little by little revealing the whole love story between Clare and himself.
I found the book a reasonably entertaining read. However, I think many readers who haven't read any sf will find it more refreshing and new. For me the idea wasn't anything groundbreaking, to be honest. But as it was a well-written piece of literature, I enjoyed reading it. In other words, it was good literature, but not so good sf. But since it wasn't written as an sf-story, I probably shouldn't judge it as such. But you know, zebras can't get rid of their stripes and I'm pretty stuck with my sf-background when it comes to time travelling stories.
Oh, and another literature related piece of my mind. I just noticed the other day that they're making a movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl! I hadn't known about it before, but now - I can't wait! It'll have Eric Bana (!) as Henry VIII and Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman as Anne and Mary Boleyn. Sounds good to me! Something to look forward to, in addition to the third Pirates movie...
Last time I wrote, I was on my way to get me some sea legs on a nice boat trip to the archipelago. And what a wonderful trip it was! Unfortunately I had only my old camera with me, so no pics this time.
Heli's parents boat was very nice. Huge. I'm not exactly sure how long it really was, but I figured it must've been at least some 20 metres long and completely equipped for seafaring also over longer distances, to Denmark and so on (that's where Heli's parents went with the boat earlier this summer). The five of us (me, Satu, Heli and her parents) were quite comfortably accommodated and I'm sure at least another five people would've fit in still reasonably well. We didn't, however, get to try out the in-boat-sauna, since it would've heated up the cabin in the aft, where Satu and I slept.
But a couple days at sea and I felt like I had been away from home for at least a couple of weeks. In a good way, too. There was something unbelievably relaxing in the low growl of the engines, the waves hitting the boat and the shores... We girls spent most of our time basking in the sunlight on deck, reading, talking or napping. (And I've got the sunburns slowly turning into a tan to prove it.) I'm more than willing to say that it was the highlight of my summer. I loved every minute of the trip. I so love to be at sea and it's too bad I don't have the means to do it more often. (Perhaps I have to add a boat to the list of requirements of that Special Someone, hah.)
To make the trip even better, we spent the second night at Heli's family's summer cottage in the archipelago. A truly stunning place. A beautiful (and big) summerhouse (can't really call it a cottage) built high up on a rocky hill, facing the open sea. My god, I could've stared into the distance from the balcony for hours. But the sauna beckoned us, and I finally got rid of my "winter coat" as the saying goes. The water wasn't very warm, but it was still nice to swim in the sea. Relaxation extraordinaire, I tell you!
On Saturday evening I had a garden party to go to. Hobbiton's garden party had been long awaited and turned out it had been worth waiting for. Tytti and her hubby do throw very nice parties. We drank a ridiculous amount of fresh strawberry margaritas, ate well and had a good time. What wonderful friends I have.
A week ago on Monday I got to try something completely new to me. I took a short course on making wire jewelry! Heli has been doing wire jewelry for a while already (and she's advanced into silver wire) and she urged me to come and try it, too. And surely enough, after some five hours of twisting, sawing and fumbling about with tiny loops of wire I had managed to make a nice ankle bracelet out of brass wire and decorated it with glass beads. Go me!
I'm discovering all new handicrafty sides to my life - within a year I've made myself a longbow, a Harry Potter scarf, a poncho (and a half) and an ankle bracelet. In other words I've tried woodworking, knitting and metal work and managed to not mess everything up or get injured myself. Yay.
Well, perhaps I shouldn't consider changing professions quite yet, but new hobbies can be a nice way to break the routines.
One old hobby definitely remains, though. Reading. I just finished reading Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife today. A piece of maintstream literature, which was pure fantasy or science fiction. I suppose Niffenegger didn't intend to write an sf-novel, but that's what it was. Not too bad at it, either.
The story was that of Henry DeTamble and his wife, Clare. He has a strange genetic disorder that makes him travel in time. On these travels he meets Clare, his future wife, and visits her randomly when she grows up. The timeline of the story is, if I'm allowed an understatement, somewhat garbled as Henry travels from his present to his past and future, little by little revealing the whole love story between Clare and himself.
I found the book a reasonably entertaining read. However, I think many readers who haven't read any sf will find it more refreshing and new. For me the idea wasn't anything groundbreaking, to be honest. But as it was a well-written piece of literature, I enjoyed reading it. In other words, it was good literature, but not so good sf. But since it wasn't written as an sf-story, I probably shouldn't judge it as such. But you know, zebras can't get rid of their stripes and I'm pretty stuck with my sf-background when it comes to time travelling stories.
Oh, and another literature related piece of my mind. I just noticed the other day that they're making a movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl! I hadn't known about it before, but now - I can't wait! It'll have Eric Bana (!) as Henry VIII and Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman as Anne and Mary Boleyn. Sounds good to me! Something to look forward to, in addition to the third Pirates movie...
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!
I'm so excited! I'll get to go sailing for a couple of days this week (from Thursday to Saturday)! Or technically, not sailing, since it's not a sailboat we'll be on, eh... I don't actually know what kind of a boat it is, exactly, but I do know it's supposed to be quite big. An old wooden motor boat of some sort, with sleeping places for over 10 people and a sauna on board. This is how it has been described to me and I'm already loving it.
It's been ages since I got to go out on sea. If the weather stays like this, we'll have a magnificent trip, I'm sure. The archipelago is beautiful, I love love love the sea and absolutely need to get swimming soon! I can't wait!
And it will all fit my sea-faring mood perfectly. I saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie today. I went to the press viewing with Tytti, even though we do both have tickets for tomorrow evening, too. It'll be fun to see it again, though, this time with a bunch of friends. I'll post a longer review later, but I'll say this much. I had a good time, even though I must admit I was slightly disappointed on the whole. But not in the least bit disappointed in the hotness of Orlando. Still there. Very muchly so. ;)
Anyway, I'll get back to all things marine probably on Sunday or something. It'll be all adventures of pirates of the Caribbean and of the Uusikaupunki archipelago then. Arrr!
(But why is the rum always gone? Yo ho, yo ho...)
It's been ages since I got to go out on sea. If the weather stays like this, we'll have a magnificent trip, I'm sure. The archipelago is beautiful, I love love love the sea and absolutely need to get swimming soon! I can't wait!
And it will all fit my sea-faring mood perfectly. I saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie today. I went to the press viewing with Tytti, even though we do both have tickets for tomorrow evening, too. It'll be fun to see it again, though, this time with a bunch of friends. I'll post a longer review later, but I'll say this much. I had a good time, even though I must admit I was slightly disappointed on the whole. But not in the least bit disappointed in the hotness of Orlando. Still there. Very muchly so. ;)
Anyway, I'll get back to all things marine probably on Sunday or something. It'll be all adventures of pirates of the Caribbean and of the Uusikaupunki archipelago then. Arrr!
(But why is the rum always gone? Yo ho, yo ho...)
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Jousting the night away
Last weekend saw Turku go back in time to the 15th century, as the medieval market lured some 100 000 people to see what life in town all those centuries ago might've looked like. I spent quite a while browsing through the stalls and enjoying the atmosphere, just like I do every year. It was fun, even though I was recovering from a cold and didn't even dress properly for the occasion (it would've been doubly as hot and uncomfortable wearing a velvet dress), but even dressed in a more modern fashion, I got some money spent...
But what was more interesting this year, was that there was a horse tournament for the first time. You know, knights on handsome horses, sporting against each other with lances and stuff. Well, naturally it was all done in somewhat smaller scale than I imagine tournaments for example in England would be , but nevertheless I had a good time cheering for the knights who were trying to show off their skills. I had mom's digicamera with me, and I took quite a few photos. And here are a few to show what the Finnish knights could do.
The Black Knight shows off his skills before kidnapping the King's daughter.
And so he rides away with the damsel, clearly in distress.
Is there a noble enough knight to save the King's daughter?
Will it be the Blue knight?
Or perhaps the Red one?
Or the Blue and Gold knight?
And in the meanwhile, the Black knight imprisons the lady.
The knights are given tasks to prove their might. Picking up the King's daughter's "petticoat" with a spear is one of them.
Picking up rings with a sword is another.
And one should not forget the slashing of the cabbages...
Mightiest of the knights on his mighty steed.
And they also rode against each other...
The Black knight approaches with no good intentions.
He sets fire around the two knights and they are forced to ride through the flames to safety.
And then there's a terrible skirmish, in which the Black knight is defeated. Or so it seems.
Having made a miraculous recovery, the Black knight returns. And in the end, love wins it all as the Black Knight and the King's daughter aren't too displeased with each other after all...
Not a very original storyframe, but entertaining, sure. Funnily enough the knights seemed to communicate mostly with grunts, growls and arrrr's, but luckily the Fool was articulate enough to elaborate on what they clearly were meaning to say.
The horses were very well trained for the job, they patiently galloped about with their respective knights trashing about with this and that weapon. Very admirable.
I'm hoping I'll get to try some of this "medieval riding" at the Rohan stables where the riders came from. It'd be great to have a try at it before travelling to England (next summer, if everything goes well) and hopefully seeing a tournament in slightly grander surroundings. Like at one of the shows of these people.
But what was more interesting this year, was that there was a horse tournament for the first time. You know, knights on handsome horses, sporting against each other with lances and stuff. Well, naturally it was all done in somewhat smaller scale than I imagine tournaments for example in England would be , but nevertheless I had a good time cheering for the knights who were trying to show off their skills. I had mom's digicamera with me, and I took quite a few photos. And here are a few to show what the Finnish knights could do.
The Black Knight shows off his skills before kidnapping the King's daughter.
And so he rides away with the damsel, clearly in distress.
Is there a noble enough knight to save the King's daughter?
Will it be the Blue knight?
Or perhaps the Red one?
Or the Blue and Gold knight?
And in the meanwhile, the Black knight imprisons the lady.
The knights are given tasks to prove their might. Picking up the King's daughter's "petticoat" with a spear is one of them.
Picking up rings with a sword is another.
And one should not forget the slashing of the cabbages...
Mightiest of the knights on his mighty steed.
And they also rode against each other...
The Black knight approaches with no good intentions.
He sets fire around the two knights and they are forced to ride through the flames to safety.
And then there's a terrible skirmish, in which the Black knight is defeated. Or so it seems.
Having made a miraculous recovery, the Black knight returns. And in the end, love wins it all as the Black Knight and the King's daughter aren't too displeased with each other after all...
Not a very original storyframe, but entertaining, sure. Funnily enough the knights seemed to communicate mostly with grunts, growls and arrrr's, but luckily the Fool was articulate enough to elaborate on what they clearly were meaning to say.
The horses were very well trained for the job, they patiently galloped about with their respective knights trashing about with this and that weapon. Very admirable.
I'm hoping I'll get to try some of this "medieval riding" at the Rohan stables where the riders came from. It'd be great to have a try at it before travelling to England (next summer, if everything goes well) and hopefully seeing a tournament in slightly grander surroundings. Like at one of the shows of these people.
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