Sampo Rassi

And now, for something completely different.

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:37:39 GMT

Heh, I'd almost forgotten I still have this thing. Oh well, a lot has happened, no sense in trying to recap it. Instead, here's some great music from Finland: "Punainen komentaja" by CMX, complete with a great animated video, in a sort of Warhammer 40k-ish techno-gothic style.

It's nice to run into a song every once in a while that makes you want to buy an album. It's bloody rare these days.

At last, normalcy has been reasserted

Sat, 12 May 2007 22:48:49 GMT

Well, it's now proven that what happened at Eurovision 2006 was a statistical fluke and can't be replicated. This, I feel, is a good thing since it means Finns will stop gushing about the stupid thing and will go back to considering withdrawing from the inane contest altogether. (We even started a petition in early 2006, before Lordi was chosen)

I'm a bit peeved that UK's abysmal performance didn't reach a well-deserved nul points. I have never experience three minutes filled with more auditory and visual horror. Compared to it, "Vampires Are Alive" is a musical masterpiece.

On a related note, we have a snowball's chance in hell at beating Canada for the hockey world championship. Never. Going. To. Happen. Thank gods for that, Finns become absolutely intolerable whenever they succeed at something.

Crikey!

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 07:23:46 GMT

Aussie TV personality and nature documentary buffoon Steve Irwin has gone up and joined the choir invisible, following a lethal encounter with a stingray. Nature documentaries will never be the same again.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/crocodile-hunter-reported-dead/2006/09/04/1157222051512.html

And now, for something completely different

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:37:35 GMT

I'm back at work following the Ropecon weekend. It sucks. The work, that is.

On the other hand, staying awake for 43 hours in a row wasn't all beer and pretzels, either. I was at the Con from the moment the doors opened on Friday, to about 6:40 AM on Sunday, which is a damn long time between naps. Several of my neck vertebrae have called it quits, my back feels funny and and all the junk food -related nausea left me incapable of eating any breakfast today

A funny thing was that I left for home so early no Sunday buses were running, so I walked the 70-minute journey. Not a bad weather for it, nice and quiet.

What did I get to show for it? Some books, some MTG cards, a generically good time and a lingering sense that there's nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs until the next one. One thing I didn't get was a copy of the Star Wreck RPG, which was due to me finding a decent deal on those MTG cards (dual lands, 25e a pop). It's the first RPG ever based on a Finnish movie, and only the second Finnish RPG ever to be written in English for international distribution. And a whole lot of other "firsts", like the first RPG to have characters with Inability scores instead of Ability scores.

Also watched Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning with a live crew commentary, which was cool.

Stuff

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 08:33:46 GMT

A sort-of meme snagged from knighthawk, telling you more about me than you really wanted to know.

THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO DO BEFORE I DIE
1. Attain immortality
2. Write a book or fifty

FAVORITE MUSIC
1. Musical soundtracks
2. Opera scores
3. Power metal
4. 80's Rock
5. Weird Stuff

FAVORITE BOOKS
1. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett
4. The Collected Works of William Shakespeare

FAVORITE MOVIES
1. The Matrix
2. Blade Runner
3. V for Vendetta
4. Krull
5. Lord of the Rings, all parts
6. Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell
7. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
8. Manos - The Hands of Fate
9. Equilibrium
10. The Last Samurai

FAVORITE SONGS
1. "Music of the Night", from The Phantom of the Opera
2. "Bohemian Rhapsody", by Queen
3. “Bat Out of Hell", by Meat Loaf
4. "Mona Lisa Overdrive", by Juno Reactor
5. “Warriors of the World", by Manowar
6. “Hard Rock Hallelujah", by Lordi
7. "One Night in Bangkok", by Murray Head, from the musical Chess
8. “Carpe Noctem (Der Alptraum)", from Tanz der Vampire
9. "Running Out of Time", by Ozzy Osbourne
10. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Iron Maiden
11. "And Then There Was Silence" by Blind Guardian

THINGS I WISH I COULD CHANGE
1. The color of the sky. Pink would be preferable.
2. Don't even get me started on the rest

NATURAL HIGHS
1. Music
2. Creating stuff
3. Um, did I mention music yet?

Today in the news...

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 13:54:32 GMT

Apparently, the British have selected J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett as their top two "most significant novelists of all time". So says my local newspaper. It's astounding.

Heavy

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 06:43:26 GMT

My uncle died of a stroke. Heard about it last night. Creepy.

I suppose every kid with more than one uncle has a favorite uncle. He wasn't mine. He lived too far away, got me too strange presents for my birthdays (he was my godfather, and so was kind of obligated to, I suppose), and so on. For my 15th birthday, he got me a taxidermied duck. I hated it. It's still on my bedside table now, some 8 years later. We met about three, four times a year, as our summer houses are only a short way away from each other. Used to go fishing with his kids.

Movie ramblings

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 06:53:12 GMT

I watched V for Vendetta yesterday. Took me long enough, but I'm glad I finally had the time.

The movie was truly enjoyable and refined to the last detail. Usually, when a dystopian setting is portrayed in fiction, it tends to be "de-nationalized", lacking connections to reality for fear of insulting consumers. This one was different in that everything about the horrible, dark and fascist world of V was distinctly British, and as such, the movie rose above the typical action tripe merely on that credit alone. I also don't think I've ever heard the phrase "bollocks-ed up" in a movie before.

In the lead role, Hugo Weaving was faced with the hard task of acting with his voice alone, and in my opinion he pulled it off just fine, delivering each line with just the right amount of dramatic flair. It didn't feel real, but a movie of this kind doesn't have to. In contrast, Stephen Rea in the role of Inspector Finch is perhaps the most human out of all the characters, a world-weary man living as a part of a society he feels uncomfortable with.

And the ending, well, that was truly theatrical, and one of those cathartic, fist-in-the-air moments that makes it all worthwhile.

All in all, I was left with a very similar feeling than I had after watching Equilibrium, a sort of quiet pondering mood combined with an overt appreciation for excellent filmmakers.

We are the Winners!

Sun, 21 May 2006 10:25:22 GMT

It took 40 years, but Finland finally won at Eurovision! Not to mention the fact we won with a record-breaking 292 points! That'll show 'em! The only downside is that Finland will have to arrange next year's contest.

An additional congratulations for Lithuania, who ended up as 6th.

Kudos to Lordi

Fri, 19 May 2006 08:02:06 GMT

For those of you who didn't watch the Semifinals to the Eurovision Song Contest last night, Finland made it into the final. With "Hard Rock Hallelujah", Lordi has a very real chance of being a serious contender, something Finland last managed by coming in 7th in 1989. Out of a cavalcade of beautiful dancers in their underwear, banal choreography and absurd dress decisions, five people in latex monster suits stood out to their advantage.

Additional kudos to Lithuania for selecting "We Are the Winners" as their entry this year, a gamble that seemed to pay off, securing them a place in the finals as well. It seems people across Europe have a sense of humor after all. A tongue-in-cheek anthem is infinitely more preferable than any of the generic performances that a lot of other accomplished nations came up with.

And finally, to anyone from Iceland: What were you thinking? A crowd of 15,000 spectators booing a contestant is, in my belief, a hitherto-unseen event in Eurovision history. Not to mention that the song was tacky and the floor show jaw-droppingly hideous. I'm sure there was a joke in there somewhere, but the public just didn't connect with it at all.

Happy birthday to me!

Thu, 04 May 2006 19:00:22 GMT

That's right, I'm 23 now. I wonder when the feeling of existential dread will kick in.

Musik Quiz

Wed, 03 May 2006 15:30:39 GMT

Gotten from arabwel. Knock yourselves out.

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

1. From the minute I turned and lay my eyes on you, I had no eyes of my own

2. It was a time of change. The descendants of the Atlantean mages had fallen before the New Praesidium, and the wolves were baying at the Empire's door.

3. I can't be compromising in my thoughts no more / I can't prevent the times my anger fills my heart

4. You say that we sold our soul to the devil, that we're out of control / Your torture my brothers, torture my sisters, kill all my friends / You say that we worship a god, like a cat, a devil in disguise / You execute my family, steal their breath, and burn them till death

5. Komm in mein Boot / ein Sturm kommt auf / und es wird Nacht

6. Please allow me to introduce myself / I'm a man of wealth and taste

7. You wanted power and you begged for fame / You wanted everything the easy way / You wanted gain without pain / Now your bill is in the mail

8. Look at your young men fighting / Look at your women crying / Look at your young men dying / The way they've always done before

9. New blood joins this earth / And quickly he's subdued / Through constant pained disgrace / The young boy learns their rules

10. How long I have wanted / This dream to come true / And as it approaches / I can't believe i'm through

11. You're with your baby / And you're parked alone / On a summer night / You're deep in love

12. On his way to dinner / when it took him by surprise / and with one pull of the trigger / he would vanish overnight

13. I feel cold / Facing the darkness / The light's gone away / Deep in his castle he said / All land'll be mine / There's one thing for sure / The triumph of Shadow is near

14. I can't remember anything / Can't tell if this is true or dream

15. Night-time sharpens / and heightens each sensation / darkness wakes / and stirs imagination

16. Well, I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday / Parking by the lake and there's not another car in sight / And I never had a girl looking any better than you did / And all the kids at school, they were wishing they were me that night.

17. Build a fire a thousand miles away / to light my long way home / I ride a comet, my trail is long to stay / silence is a heavy stone

18. Tell me exactly what I'm supposed to do / Now that I've allowed you to beat me / Maybe we could play another game / Maybe I could win this time

19. No longer need to hide it / I've found out who I am / I move around in circles / I rise and fall again

20. How do you do? I... see you've met my... faithful... handyman

21. Into the Abyss I fall / The Eye of Horus / Into the eyes of the night / Watching me go

22. Yksinäisyys ympärillä / Joskus ottaa hahmon ihmisen / Tiedän mitä haluan / Tiedän miten vähään kykenen

23. Tony Danza cuts in line!

24. Now in Vienna, there's ten pretty women / There's a shoulder where Death comes to cry / There's a lobby with nine hundred windows / There's a tree where the doves come to cry

25. We ain't underground by accident / It's only a select few that can handle this

26. She's lost in coma where it's beautiful / Intoxicated from the the deep sleep, deep sleep / do you wonder what it's like / living in a permanent imagination?

27. It's nine'o'clock on a Saturday / The regular crowd shuffles in

28. Jahrelang war ich / nur Ahnung in dir. / Jetzt suchst du mich / und hast Sehnsucht nach mir.

29. Season after season sweet old memories bring me pain / my broken cries out a storm inside my brain / Why have you flown away to far horizons / my little bird

30. Uh! Got no card so I got not soul / Life is prison, no parole, no control / Tha jura got my number on a wire tap / 'Cause I jack for similac, fuck a cadillac

A meme, for your amusement

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:02:36 GMT

This is how it works: Comment on this entry and get a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter, including an explanation of what the word means to you and why.

I got a P from arabwel, so I'll try to make the most of it.

1. Procrastrination - I'm damn good at it.
2. Phantom - Of the Opera, of course.
3. Perfection - Well, it's something to aim for in life.
4. Pistachios - Love 'em.
5. Paris - Want to go there someday.
6. PC - My number one tool, aide and nemesis. The source of more frustration than joy than just about anything else.
7. Pudding - What can I say? I love a good pudding.
8. Pop - A breed of vile audio garbage that rots the brain.
9. Perspicacity - It's what I lack from time to time.
10. Puzzlement - My state of mind when thinking about what kind of odd people think up these memes.

Fun things to do if you have a kid:

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:47:15 GMT

Name 'em after someone famous!

In my job, I see a lot of names in that I have to input hordes of people to a database. Today was the first time I saw someone who'd literally been named after a great man. His name? Greatman L------- (last name censored to protect the victim). Needless to say, I chuckled to myself for a good half an hour when coming across this one.

James Lipton's 10 questions, nicked from Knighthawk

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:52:26 GMT

01. What is your favorite word?
-"Serendipity"

02. What is your least favorite word?
-"Capitalism"

03. What turns you on?
-Music

04. What turns you off?7
-The painfully unambitious Weltanschauung of my fellow man

05. What is your favorite curse word?
-"Bugger"

06. What sound or noise do you love?
-Pipe organs

07. What sound or noise do you hate?
-Speed garage

08. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
-The opera

09. What profession would you not like to participate in?
-Venture capitalism

10. What would you like to hear when you arrive in Heaven?
-"Sorry, Mr Gates, you're not eligible."

It's been a while

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:08:49 GMT

Heh, sometimes you start something, then lay it down for what is supposed to be a brief interval and whoosh, tempus fugit.

It'd be pointless to deconstruct all that's passed between then and now, and if I'm known for anything, it's for being exceedingly bound in a kind of efficiency-consciousness that stems mostly from a complete lack of self-critique and an inflated sense of self-worth. Suffice it to say that during the past aeons I've been on what one might call a Gnostic quest of sorts, trying to find a sense of knowledge from within. Discovering new things for the first time never ceases to be intriguing, whether it be music, art, obscure chapters in history, novels or what have you.

My personal Gnosis is nothing more than the pursuit of happiness, mundane as it seems. And therein you find my central conflict, a simple person who strives to complexify themselves for the fulfilment of individual ego. Certainly, these rows you are just at this moment reading are more of a meta-comment than an actual journal entry. Future revelations may change this.

Well, this is it.

Sun, 09 Jan 2005 11:05:17 GMT

Tomorrow, I'll be off... damn. Just when I was getting the hang of life.

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 23:38:43 GMT

Well, here again. It irks me that I don't have much time. On the tenth of January, I get to begin my six-month stretch of compulsory armed service, feh. Where does the time go, I wonder. The weather is absolutely horrible, hence I'm not too upbeat, myself.

nothing really matters

Wed, 10 Nov 2004 17:29:53 GMT

It doesnt. I'm tired of everything, breathing, sleeping, studying a topic I'm not interested in. If only I could write and nothing but write, that would not be a bad life.

The last minute

Tue, 12 Oct 2004 21:55:04 GMT

Today I managed to send in my research plan, 75 minutes before the deadline... Somehow, writing is always easier when there's a Sword of Damocles hanging over your head. Maybe that's why writing here is something I find hard... There needs to be a "finish your entry in 60 seconds or be slapped on the face" type thing to speed up my efforts.

Relative time

Wed, 22 Sep 2004 20:41:42 GMT

Time really isn't as static as people think. Sometimes it seems to get stuck, each second stretching to infinity, at others it speeds along like a madman in a Porsche. The last few weeks have been the latter. My studies have sped forward and I with them, struggling to keep my grip. It's been one heck of a ride, but I hope it'll calm down a bit.

Last Day of Vacation

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:57:23 GMT

Today is the last day of my three months of summer vacation. Tomorrow I get to go back into the world of classes, homework and other boring crap like that. Where the heck does all the time go?

Pondering on the mysteries of existence

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 11:15:50 GMT

Is there a non-messy way to eat chicken wings? I mean, really.

On dreams

Thu, 12 Aug 2004 12:16:02 GMT

Why, oh why don't dreams make more sense? Seriously, the stuff I get feel like random scenes of random sources, like someone channel surfing at 40 chans / minutes. Even Sigmund Freud would just throw up his hands and say "dude, whatever!"

It'd be nice to see something coherent for once, that's all I'm saying...

On inspirations

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 11:44:53 GMT

Why is it that one has sudden inspiration always at places where there are no pencils available? I had a great idea for an unfinished story of mine today while sitting in a dentist's chair, not the sort of place one can jot down a few quick lines in. By the time I got back home, soaking wet (of course it had to start raining), some of the essential features of the idea might well have been lost.