Fill It With Devils And Dust

Today I finally finished Jane Eyre. After a couple of weeks of relentless social activity I took the afternoon to myself to sit down with the book in the sun and finish off this peculiar story. Although I am often puzzled at how little is taught of English classics in Nordic schools, I must admit there is a certain pleasure in being able to read books like this, Wuthering Heights and Sense and Sensibility without knowing how they will end.

I fell a little bit in love with Jane, but she does sometimes carry on something chronic about trivialities that made me wish she would just get on with it! Might not have been a good idea to not read any modern literature between Wuthering Heights and this one. I will now disappear back into the wonderful arms of Paul Auster for a few days, as I've recently completed my collection of his works and hence have a book or two (as if I didn't already have more than fifty unread waiting) to get through.

Movies watched:
Madame Bovary (the 1949 adaption) - Good, very good. What a horrible hag of a woman, though! Selfish to the end. Hoping for a fairytale ending my ass, what about taking responsibility for your own putrid actions?

La Dolce Vita - Ah, I hate Fellini. Sure, Ekberg was gorgeous, but this movie is just one big yawn of an exhausted attempt at being interesting.

Rocket Science - Not really what I had expected, and I'm no big fan of the leading chick. The leading boy does his job well enough, though, and I got a couple of laughs from it although I kinda think I wasn't really supposed to laugh at those moments.

"What if what you do to survive kills the things you love?"
Bruce Springsteen - Devils And Dust (Devils & Dust, 2005)

A Thousand Beautiful Things

Strangely enough Richard Marx' Greatest Hits have been the soundtrack of the last couple of days. Don't ask me why. Today I am giving Annie Lennox' Bare (2003) a listen. Have had it for years, but never listened to it before now. It's quite nice, I always liked her voice.

In addition to the long list of movies below I watched Singin' in the Rain this weekend. Hadn't seen it before, and unfortunately I have to say it disappointed me a little. I guess being a classic and all I assumed it would have something brilliant going for it, but most of the time it just annoyed me a little and I was happy to see it end. I think part of it is that the female actresses give me the creeps.

Over the last two days I've watched Gone With the Wind, also this for the first time. Now here we have, on the other hand, a proper classic. I love this movie. But the ending! What's up with that? And I don't think Scarlett is annoyingly spoiled, I think she's just confused and fighting like a cat to get a grip on her existence. Oh, and Miss von Teese must have had Vivien Leigh in mind when she perfected her public facade.

"To live,
to die,
to breathe,
to sleep,
to try to make your life complete."
Annie Lennox - A Thousand Beautiful Things (Bare, 2003)

...Not By Begging On His Knees

For some reason I've been waking up really early this weekend although nightly activities should have sent me sleeping until noonish the next mornings. Helsinki nightlife on both Friday and Saturday is a bit too much, to be honest. (Getting old, are we?) The good thing about early mornings is that I get to catch up on my reading and movie watching. Well, to be honest the reading is going nowhere at the moment as I am in my second month of trying to get through Jane Eyre. It's not that it's a bad story, it's just waaay too long! I wish they would just get married and have it over with, but apparently there's some kind of objection to that at this stage so I guess I'll be going at it for another week or so.

You, Me & Dupree has been passed over on numerous occassions as I'm not the biggest believer in the Wilson/Hudson combination. Quite harmless, of course, and surprisingly it did produce a number of laughs. Also, the soundtrack is at times interesting, so all in all a pleasant surprise.

One of my pet peeves is movies that deal with abnormalities, fetishes, things about which you shouldn't really speak. Movies like Fur, Quills, 9 1/2 Weeks and Sex, Lies & Videotape, I don't know, I just love them. I can now add another film to the list, after watching Secretary, a study in submission with Maggie Gyllenhaal as the leading lady. The choice of lead actress in particular makes this movie enjoyable, as her voice and stature suits the role perfectly. The story deals with a self-cutter who replaces an addiction with another as she starts working as a secretary for a young lawyer with a penchant for ladies who do as they're told. Also, the soundtrack is put together by Angelo Badalamenti (of Twin Peaks/Mulholland Drive fame).

I also watched the film adaption of Alessandro Baricco's Silk. I've not read the novel, as his Without Blood almost bored me to death when I read it a year or so ago. Keira Knightley, pretty although she may be, does little to lift this film. I have difficulties with Michael Pitt after seeing him in Funny Games, so he didn't really work either. The two Asian ladies portraying the far-off ideal woman and the closer-at-hand prostitute, are quite lovely and add to the visual strenghts of the movie (because beautiful it is, no doubt about that). The dialogue is quite modified to portray a less erotic image to the movie goers. A shame.

The Island (Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson) is another one of those movies that I've been passing over several times in my hunt for entertainment. Perhaps I should stop doing that, as this one again surprised me positively. It's kind of a mixture of Lost and Aeon Flux, and I even think Johansson did an ok figure. I must still be the only person on the planet who actually enjoy some of her songs but not really her movies, though. In fact, the best thing I've seen her in is Timberlake's video for What Goes Around Comes Around, and I suspect that to be mostly because the mood of the video reminds me of Bowie's The Heart's Filthy Lesson.

My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days is a French piece of overly artistic crap from 1989 that is "deeply affecting" according to Rotten Tomatoes, "deeply disturbing, boring and shitty" according to me. Not worth the time it takes to watch it.

Speaking of disturbing, a week or so ago I watched The Dreamers, the movie where Michael Pitt (again) hooks up with a couple of French twins. Apparently it's a well known fact that this movie deals with siblings that are a bit too close, but I didn't know and hence it gave me a bit of a start when they started being overly familiar with each other in a not so modest way. Could be interesting and quite down my alley of unmentionable topics, but the acting isn't very good and the menstruation scene in the bath was a bit... unsavory.

Apparently Once will be featured at the outdoor cinema Engel in a few weeks, and I might be interested in catching that. Also, me and David have been talking about doing the beer tram somewhere early July. Give me a shout if you're up for either.

"If you want a lover I'll do anything you ask me to.
And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you."
Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (I'm Your Man, 1988)

I Want You To Trouble Me

I did a lot of this and that over the last week and a half, shortly summarized it pretty much comes down to music, beer, laughter, travelling, training (and bruising of the brain), working, swimming, sun worshipping, eating, more laughter, friends, love and warm(er) air (than usual).

I have a couple of basic issues to report:
- 30 degrees C in Finland does not mean that the water is warm.
- Peacocks (even Brittish ones) make a hell of a spectacle when they start screaming at night.
- People who work in factories think that the creativeness of Sales&Marketing people is bizarre.
- I'm cancelling my summer holiday trip to South America as there's been a change of plans.
- There are no Shell stations in Romania.

I watched Constantine for the fourth time on Sunday. Although Tilda Swinton's rendition of Gabriel is worth the watch, the movie is _not_ all that good. Anyway, this was the first time I noticed that APC's Passive is on the soundtrack, and it made me a little confused as it doesn't really fit in there. Oh, and Gavin Rossdale plays one of the demons. I've never reflected on that before either. Cute, that one, and I especially like the sleeziness with which he delivers his "finger-licking good".

Matchbox 20 made a brief re-appearance in my life this weekend as I listened to their More Than You Think You Are over a couple of days. I had a massive crush on Unwell back when it came out, and Downfall is also worth a listen. It's a pity Rob Thomas doesn't quite live up to his potential solo.

Fundamental question:
When faced with something scary, do you stay and face it, or do you turn your back and run as fast as you can? Lamb for slaughter or cowardly lion?

Oh, and I can't believe they just _lost_ a plane. How does that happen?

"Be my savior,
and I'll be your downfall."
Matchbox 20 - Downfall (More Than You Think You Are, 2002)

...And So The Lion Fell In Love With The Lamb

No music this time around. Emilia was kind enough to lend me her newly purchased copy of Twilight a week back, and I've spent a fair share of hours in front of the screen gorging myself on this example of stangely addictive pop culture.

Attraction is on the agenda today. If I could bottle whatever it is that makes certain individuals so insanely attracted to each other I would probably be a rich woman. If such a thing was possible I have no doubt it would end in a horrible mess. What about then bottling something that makes the attraction go away? I'm sure we've all been there, on the sideline of our own lives, watching ourselves fall head over heels with what looks like a hopeless situation. How practical it would be to know the trick to make it all go away.

Reality is, of course, neither of the two comes in bottles. Intriguing thought, though, to be able to switch on and off that electrical current that fills the air when you meet someone all your senses tune into. I wonder, would I use it to an extent where I went numb and no longer knew how to appreciate it, or would I cleverly savour it for the occassions where I knew I would not end up broken and bruised?

Am I the stupid lamb, or the sick, masochistic lion?

Want III

Yeah, so I don't know about the mixing my blog with my fiction project. Might leave it with that one attempt :)

Today is an utterly lovely Sunday in Espoo. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the good trend of sleeping through the full night has not worn off. I have to admit, though, that it'll be kind of nice to close this week. Heading over to Emilia's place in a short while to drop off some stuff, and then going to the movies tonight to see Moodysson's Tillsammans.

After Hanne left on Monday I spent the day moping around and staring at the walls, before deciding to hook up with Anu for Bar 9 chicken. Scott and Kjersti joined us, and Tuesday was tired. Wednesday me, Kjersti and Emilia rejoined the lovely world of the Cullens at Emilia's place, and there was no end to the giggling. I then went to Cuba to meet up with Dave and Kaisu, and of course that got way too late. Thursday was a right disaster as the NNE what-ever-it-is-that-goes-around thing decided to hit me in the face, but I was back in good form on Friday, just in time to make a not-really-planned-for appearance in Bruuveri.

Yesterday I was working on cleaning up some of my bad karma, and took Kjersti and Emilia to IKEA. Now, of all the things to do on a Saturday this _better_ earn me some points in someone's book! A short run later (Sanna has successfully managed to get me onto a running program) I was happy to be informed that Dave's Wolves have qualified for the Premier League next season. More company for football in Elmo next season! Yay :D He ended up coming over to my place for some past midnight celebratory wine, and by that my weekend without alcohol was officially without doubt a failure.

I'm trying to come up with a new obsession or two. I'm thinking jigsaw puzzles. I like'em, and I have enough floor space to do one of the really, really big ones. Maybe, if I'm determined, I'll stick with the running long enough for that to grow on me. I miss swimming, but I'm struggling to motivate myself to get up at six in the morning now that my sleeping is in order again. In any case, there's always more music, more books, more movies and more people. Lust for life, baby :)

"I want the sky to fall in,
I want lightning and thunder.
I want blood instead of rain,
I want the world to make me wonder.
I want to walk on water,
take a trip to the moon.
Give me all this and give me it soon."
The Cure - Want (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)

Make Me A Pretty Person

The music disorder continues. After Mayer I had a brief flirt with The Corrs' 2000 album In Blue, followed by days of Tom Waits collection The Asylum Years, and then last night my eyes fell on Garbage's Version 2.0 (1998). This record was one of two (the other one was NiN's Downward Spiral) that in -98 broke me out of my Celine Dion era and into what developed into my taste in music. I was introduced to both by my high school sweetheart Eivind, so I guess I owe him one or two(alternatively he owes me the thousands of Euros I have standing around in the form of records ;)).

The main reason for loving Version 2.0 was, of course, the lyrics. I like Garbage in general, but this was my introduction to them. When I Grow Up, Push It, The Trick Is To Keep Breathing, Sleep Together and You Look So Fine were regular parts of my soundtrack for years, and I guess I'd still throw The Trick Is To Keep Breathing and Sleep Together in there for good old times' sake. I also had a minor thing for Shirley Manson at some point. Not sure why - in the video for Push It she shoves her entire fist into her mouth, and that's really not very sexy. Apparently she is now acting in a TV series called Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (a bit disturbing), and she's done a duet with previously mentioned Gavin Rossdale as well as an unreleased Human League cover with Marilyn Manson. Interesting trivia indeed!

This week has been a mess. Tuesday and Wednesday I was supposed to spend the days in Financial Awareness training, which I was looking forward to as it presented a welcomed break from business planning. Tuesday was great, but on Wednesday morning I had to excuse myself to make a phone call, and after taking ten steps all hell broke loose. The planet was spinning, I couldn't breathe, and suddenly I was on the second floor and just plain ill. Spent the rest of the day and Thursday at home.

Thursday evening I braved the exhaustedness to take a 13 people Movie Night to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and boy am I glad I did. I expected it to be an ok movie, I like Brad Pitt and have no problems with Cate Blanchett, but this I just did not see coming. The movie is beautiful! Some of the scenes are so gorgeous they will break your heart and mend it all at once. Definitely recommendable, both men and women will like the film (not only because of the lead actors and how beautifully they have been airbrushed, but because it's a really good story).

I've finished four knitting projects this week (I shit you not, ladies and gentlemen), including two pairs of socks that have been laying around since spring. I've also finished reading The Keep by Jennifer Egan, a book that really did not live up to expectations. An inmate at state prison starts taking a writing class, and falls in love with the teacher. He has a weird cell mate who listens to dead people in a carton he believes to be a spiritual radio. Or is the book actually about an ancient castle somewhere in Europe where a bunch of Americans are disturbing the peace by attempting to turn it into a hotel? I did not find it boring, don't get me wrong, it's just not... very memorable.

As mentioned, some weeks ago I also finished Breaking Dawn, a copy of which I finally secured after dragging Deb a bit around Akademiska. The disapproving of its twists and turns sounds a bit hypocritical of me - I claim to like fiction, but do not approve of books taking twists and turns outside my liking? Well, that might be so, but there you have it. I do not approve.

This morning I will gather together some material for a new knitting project and set course to Vantaa to hook up with Deb. Am still quite exhausted from the week, so I have a feeling that will be about it from me this weekend. Next week is business plan hearing and I think there'll be some late nights. Might ditch Movie Night to have an evening for myself, but then again that might change as there are many critically acclaimed movies on at the moment.

"Darling,
how would it feel?"
Garbage - Sleep Together (Version 2.0, 1998)

Split Screen Sadness

The Spirit was not very good. Although visually quite interesting, the story, the dialogue and the characters were mostly horrible. I'll not say the actors did a poor job, because I seriously doubt anyone could've lifted this film from the deepest sinkholes of misery.

Last night Movie Night went to see Valkyrie, Tom Cruise's take on German resistance during WWII. I'm not a big fan of war related movies as they usually make me cry, and although for a different reason this movie didn't do much to win me over. First of all, it's extremely Hollywood'y, and the British/American/Australian accents of the German soldiers made that studio production feel stronger. Most of my dislike comes from my imagination, however. I like not knowing how things will end. Both books and movies only really grip me when they speak to my "could've been". This one did, of course, not. Fiction, not facts, is where I get my kicks :)

It again seems to me I'm living from weekend to weekend, the workdays flying by in a grainy mist. During the course of this week I've finally managed to get my March trip to Seattle ok'd by my manager, and can't wait to see Quinn again. I've also made a request for a full month of vacation during summer, as I want to go to South America and want to do it properly.

I've started using the gym downstairs at work (ok, me and Kjersti have only been once so far, but my muscles are really sore and we're going back tomorrow), and finished reading Breaking Dawn. The story took some weird twists and turns and ended up in something I don't really approve of, and hence I am pleased to say I am for now cured of my Twilight saga obsession. Wouldn't mind getting me a bit of Carlisle, but I guess I'll have to stick with real-life people instead.

Music wise I am still not moving in any sort of alphabetical direction. The other day my eyes fell upon John Mayer's Heavier Things (2003) in my shelves. Can't remember where or when I bought it, but I know I never listened to it. Although I can't say I see what women like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston see in this man as far as his looks are concerned, this record is quite good. Split Screen Sadness has me on a massive repeat roll that I expect to last for another couple of days.

Be nice to each other, you guys. If there's an afterlife you don't want to spend it paying for all the bad karma you've accumulated by making other people feel sad.

"I'll check the weather wherever you are
'cause I want to know if you can see the stars tonight."
John Mayer - Split Screen Sadness (Heavier Things, 2003)

This Is Love, This Is Porn

I am still the busiest of bees, and still enjoying it :)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a good movie, very true to the book. My friend Paul had seen it with his son the day before Movie Night, and warned me I would probably cry - which I off course did. Loads! It was worth it, though. Tomorrow I'm taking Movie Night to see The Spirit, and although the reviews have been rather poor I'm really looking forward to it!

Saturday I met up with Deb, whom I hadn't seen for weeks, for Bar 9 lemon chicken and knitting, before I went to Melody's house warming party in Espoo in the evening. Due to another engagement (real ale festival in Gallow's Bird), the stop at her place was cut rather short, but it was a lovely apartment and full of a lot of lovely people :)

The ale festival was a lot of fun and nonsense, with Dave, David and Dave's friend Stefan. David turned into a pumpkin around midnight, whereas I proceeded to get my brain well pickled and spent all of Sunday trying to get out of bed (no success).

This week I've so far completed my input in the first business plan submission, hamburgerized with Lotta, and finished reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I have the Hugh Grant version of the movie, but it only works halfway and hence I never knew how it ended. Such a charming story! And so funny! It is normally regarded as inferior to Pride and Prejudice, which I now cannot wait to get started with. Have to read Breaking Dawn first, though, so no social activities for me this weekend :)

"And I wanna hear what you have to say about me!
Hear if you're gonna live without me!
I wanna hear what you want...
What the hell do you want?"
Damien Rice - I Remember (O, 2002)

Walk On

1 car
2 cars
3 cars
4 cars
...
253 cars

The meaning of life, ladies and gentlemen, is (at least partly) 253. At least for the next couple of weeks.

So, Meyer's vampires. I still have not been able to get a copy of Breaking Dawn, as it gets sold out in a matter of hours after the stores get new supplies. Have reserved a copy from tomorrow's Akademiska shipment, though, so in a couple of days I'll be able to close off my latest obsession.

The movie was not what I thought it would be. For someone who has not read the books I assume it is more or less impossible to make sense of as it jumps through the storyline with insane speed. Having read the books, however, the dialogue and characters are very much in line with the Forks world in your head. I must admit I giggled quite a bit.

Jasper was all wrong, not at all in line with how I read him. Carlisle, as portrayed by Peter Facinelli (the husband of 90210's Jennie Garth), was also a bit off, but in a far more positive manner. In fact, that actor makes such an outlandishly pretty vampire he took most of my Edward focus away. And I don't usually _like_ blond men.

So... I'm hooked. Sorry about that, I usually consider myself rather more levelheaded and not so prone to teenage fancies, but what can I say? Let's hope Breaking Dawn allows me to move on, I've started reading Sense and Sensibility and will continue with the rest of Austen's works once the Cullens have left my sphere.

"All that you measure, all that you feel,
all this you can leave behind."
U2 - Walk On (All That You Can't Leave Behind, 2000)

I Love To Hate You

I am so busy! We're in the middle of the BP09 process, and at the same time I'm juggling two other major projects, _and_ have to keep in mind I still want to fit into these skirts of mine two weeks from now everytime I walk into a store!

The last couple of weeks have been great, with the exception of a nasty flu that jumped up and bit me. It died away by Wednesday last week, but then on Friday it returned full force and it still hasn't really let go. Only had to stay away from work for one day, though, so it hasn't been half bad with the exception of totally losing my voice in Dave's house warming party and as a result sounding like I was strung out on bad whiskey the entire evening :)

I've had a couple of lemon chicken incidents, one involving spontanious post-drunkedness with Dave and Sebastian, two yarn shopping trips, one knitting group introduction (scary), two seasons of Friends, a couple of football games, burger bonanza with Lotta and way too little sleep. It didn't make anything better that I started to read the Stephenie Meyer vampire books last Thursday, starting with Twilight, continuing with New Moon and then finally last night I finished Eclipse. For some reason I thought there were only three of them, and hence I am now on a mission to secure Breaking Dawn. And if the story doesn't end there, I'll freaking kill someone!

They are quite good, by the way. Not Nobel prize winning material, but then again, they _are_ vampire books. Easily read, and some of the characters are easily loved. Oh, and there is no cheesy sex. Some tension, but no sex at all, in fact. At least not in the first three books. Always admirable when it's vampire stories we're talking about.

On that subject (Meyer's stories, not sex), I am going to see the film adaptation of Twilight with Movie Night tomorrow. Thursday the Nordic dealer board is visiting for the day, and we'll go out for dinner in the evening. Friday I might go to my first Synapsi, if my four o'clock head dresser visit doesn't exhaust me completely. And then; weekend :D

Just to make one thing clear; The title of this post is not in reference to anyone I know or don't know, it just happens to be one of my favorite songs and Erasure is on my mind today. Life's good, my friends :)

"Love and hate, what a beautiful combination."
Erasure - Love To Hate You (Chorus, 1991)

Another Way To Die

Bond trivia:
The cooperation between Alicia Keys and Jack White on the main track for Quantum of Solace is the first duet to feature as leading track for a Bond film. Whether or not it is a good cooperation seems to be the source of no small amount of debate, but I kind of like it. I love artist collaborations in the first place, and their voices complement each other well. It'll not go down in history as one of the great Bond themes, however.

So, what did we think about the film? I'll try not to spoil anything for anyone, but if you're worried, watch the movie first, read later.

First of all, I was stressed as hell showing up to Tennispalatsi, and after hoarding 12 JD's through the process of getting tickets and ordering beers (thankfully, after almost a year of running Movie Nights, I have some excellent regulars to help me), it was good to just sit and talk about films and music and life in general for an hour or so.

The opening of the movie was a bit much. The extreme high-speed scene changes almost made me dizzy, and at times it was difficult to even recognize a fight was going on before someone ended up dead. Someone else than Bond, that is. Otherwise, although the film has been heavily critizised for not having a proper plot, I enjoyed it. Not anywhere close to being as good as Casino Royale, but it's a very entertaining action flick that was worth spending money on seeing in a good theatre.

That said, I was not impressed by the leading lady. The ginger Brit girl was far more interesting (plus her exit was a good tribute to Goldfinger), and it's a shame they went for the anorectic Halle Berry-ish lead. Contrary to popular opinion I kind of enjoyed the villain. Sure, he's not one of your average Bond bad-ass cripples, but he's cold and ruthless, and I loved how the story turned out for him in the end. Which leads me to Bond. James Bond.

Daniel Craig had me a bit spooked before seeing Casino Royale. I mean, a blond Bond? I was quickly converted, and although I still think there's nothing like the real thing (Connery, that is), Craig makes the character uniquely his own. His Bond is raw, varnished, dirty; a potential serial killer in the making. And man, is he good looking in a well cut suit...

So all in all, go and see this movie for what it is, an action filled Bond flick that won't change your life but keep you well entertained for the duration of it. Oh, and let me know if you want to go to Haiti! :)

PS. Note the pleasant kick to the US regarding how the weak dollar is the price you pay for war...

PPS. I think I'm getting fluish.

The Passenger Seat

Day 2 of Elektrostat was not quite en par with the first night, but still very good. Highlights of the evening were definitely In Vein, with great sound and a new song, and Front 242 who rounded off the evening. We were all very grateful to Henrik for providing such a good line-up on his birthday ;-p

Sunday I finished reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne in Gardemoen airport, and man, was that a bad idea. Cried my eyes out and proceeded to board the plane looking like shit had hit the fan in a big way. Exceptionally good book, however, I found myself hoping and hoping so hard throughout the pages that things would turn out well, and the storyline takes several surprising twists. It is narrated by a nine year old boy whose family gets relocated through the work of his father, a commander in Hitler's Germany. It's also coming out on the silver screen soon, but I'd strongly recommend you read the book. It's a quick read that will stay with you.

I'm on a good reading roll in general, just finished reading Paul Auster's The Book of Illusions last week. It's about a writer who loses his family in an airplane crash, and how writing a book about a silent movie comedian from the 20's takes him out of his comfort zone and brings him back to life. The dialogue is brilliant, and written in a way I've not seen done before. At first glance it seems a bit difficult to follow, but the characters are so extremely well defined in your mind that the story is easy to follow. A truly brilliant piece of story telling that really gripped me, and I found every inch of me screaming for it to end well.

Am now reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. It's been standing on my shelf for more than a year, so it's about time I got started on a proper reading spree again. So far it is not really what I expected, without that being a bad thing. Will review further once I've finished it.

My CD listening project is going rather well, although I am now stuck on Tori Amos and have been for a week or so. Alphaville also kept me busy for a number of days before that. To complicate things I've just received the latest Snow Patrol record from Amazon, and expect to be sidetracked by that one for a while. Not easy, this focusing on one thing business!

The last couple of weeks were in general horribly depressing and shitty, but things are picking up. I saw The Lake House on Monday, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, and although there was a serious logical flaw in the ending it was surprisingly good. Tuesday brought lemon chicken in Bar 9 with Deb and Quinn, and last night I went for Chico's dinner with Lotta. Today I'm taking Movie Night to see the new Bond movie, which will hopefully be a treat, and on Saturday I'm heading off to Tampere again, this time with Deb and a bunch of knitters.

Next week takes me to Oslo again for two days of work, and that'll go on for the overseeable future. I'm taking the first week of December off work to go to London and hang out with my brother, and am hoping to hook up with some friends and drink lots of ale while I'm there.

It's Written In A Language That Was Meant To Fuck You Up

Life between weekends is short and merciless :D

I've been working from Vantaa today, forcing the board of directors to sit down and agree on an obscene list of items in just five hours. A rush of blood to the organizational skills! Tomorrow I have the pleasure of hosting Deb, David, Quinn and Mika for knitting and cooking. Well, the women will be knitting while the men hang around the kitchen and do... manly stuff. First, however, I have the almost greater pleasure of hanging out in the office for three hours with Sanna for some first class Saturday working ;p

A Complete History of my Sexual Failures was rather peculiar. Although it was entertaining enough and I laughed out loud on several occassions, it seemed to only be really funny in the exact places where it was supposed to be really funny, and otherwise a bit over the top irresponsible-male-with-a-penis-fixation. Recommendable enough if you're looking to be entertained and like the documentary kind of genre, though. Movie Night reached a new all time high with 18 participants, almost a bit scary! Off course I was dreadfully late due to overtime work, but a merciful soul stepped up to the plate and saved me :)

I've still not managed to move on from Ryan Adams in my CD collection recap. Easy Tiger had me trapped for a couple of days, and then Cold Roses disc 1 for a week. Am now on my second day on the second disc, but as next-in-line is AFI I am hard pressed to leave Adams behind. I'm skipping my Aerosmith - Don't Want To Miss A Thing single... Don't remember buying it and have no intention of giving it playing time.

Sunday I'm going to Oslo again, although only for the night. Will be working in Norway on Monday, before I come back here for a back-breaking, career shaking mid-term review that will either leave me extremely motivated or once again totally baffled by what I'm doing with my life. Ei kivä!

Now: Dinner, movie and a beer :)

Let The Children Boogie

Autumn has hit Finland full force, and I'm freezing my lovely lady lumps off! It doesn't help that the AC in my office is set at a level that will allow us to preserve dinosaurs for future generations.

Today I'm going to see Hellboy II, and am looking forward to it. The last week has been completely insane and I can't wait for the weekend to begin. Caught a lite sneeze after the below mentioned night of music, but fortunately the receeding daylight is making it easier for me to sleep through full nights rather than toss and turn for hours on end.

My years and years of driving a Micra are over. Two days ago I picked up my brand new Qashqai 2.0 Tekna 2WD CVT in Vantaa, and this lovely new plaything has already given me some quality time behind the wheel :)

Saturday is Anu's birthday (yay!), Tuesday and Wednesday next week we have visitors from Paris, Thursday I'll be in Denmark, and then we're suddenly once again closing a month and heading to Oslo for a full dealer review on October 1st. To summarize: Still keeping busy.

I'm knitting something like ten projects now, some of which are doomed to never be completed. The vests (Hilja and Ms Marigold) I love and can't wait to finish, but my sock production is definitely suffering from me having moved on to bigger (and better?) things.

Your Light Eclipsed The Moon Tonight

08:00 - Heavy rain and the kind of sky you know will not lighten up during the day.
16:00 - Doors on Finnair Stadium opens. C leaves the office.
16:30 - C orders a taxi for 17:10
17:10 - Taxi doesn't show. C gets pissed off.
17:30 - Rendez vous time. Deb steps in and collects people.
17:35 - Taxi arrives.
17:55 - C arrives at Finnair Stadium just as music by the first warm-up act starts to emanate from the stage. Still raining.
18:05 - C, Deb and David have secured themselves a beer, and the singer sounds an awful lot like my previously mentioned hero Ken Stringfellow.
18:06 - The singer IS Ken Stringfellow.
-> Good times for all!

So no, I hadn't done my homework. When I lost track a bit of Mr Stringfellow's escapades a year and a half ago, it was because he started spending extensive time in Norway to record with a new band that I never in the end checked out. Yesterday they were, quite randomly, one of two opening acts for R.E.M. Well, not quite that random, off course, the last time I missed Mr Stringfellow on stage it was when he opened as a solo act for R.E.M. on Ullevål in Oslo. And he's been touring with them for years... it just didn't register in my mind that The Disciplines was his new act. It was great. He's always great. Wherever I am asked to list my favorite quotes, you will find Ken Stringfellow.

Editors were great too, when I found out they would be playing they quickly became my number one reason for going to the concert. The lead voice is gorgeous and the selection of songs they played was small but good. Even threw in two new tunes. It was still raining.

R.E.M. are not by any means my favorite band. I've seen them once before, in Oslo Spektrum, and that was... ok. The sound was rather poor and he went on this long, political rant about George Bush. No political rants yesterday, just a short mentioning of their commitment and that was it. The concert as such was good, they played all my favorites except Leaving New York, but they lost me during some of the more rarely played tunes - and it rained and it rained and it rained.

All in all, rain or no rain, yesterday ended up as a brilliant day of music with very happy people walking out of the stadium. Don't have any more concerts in my calendar now, so I'm hoping bands will continue the good going-to-Helsinki trend I've seen so far this year.

Next week I'll be going to see Hellboy II, and after that the Love & Anarchy film festival is starting with a bunch of interesting music films. Also want to catch Wall-E, and need time to watch the rest of Dexter and Heroes season 2 on dvd. Phew!

Why Do You Get All The Love In The World?

New TV in house, I've been doing a bit of catching up on my movie watching lately. Well, come to think of it I've mostly been watching movies I'd already seen, but still. New ones include Hancock (at the movies), which was actually not half bad. Rather entertaining and at times I laughed out loud. Pretty Aussie girl's role was interesting enough to numb the knowledge of it being a Will Smith flick. (Theron is off course South African, not Australian. Sorry about that.)

The Fountain (on DVD) was a lot of weirdness, but quite beautiful visually. Not sure I liked it, as the storyline was rather poorly put together, but I've had it for a while and it was about time I got to watch it. Stranger Than Fiction (also on DVD), on the other hand, was an enjoyable affair. Unusually well cast, and although the end is to some extent easy to foresee the plot as a whole is good and quite funny. The main character is an ordinary office rat with an extraordinary love for numbers who suddenly realizes he's the main character in a work of fiction.

Today I'm going to the movies to see Fireflies In The Garden, also this with a rather strong castlist, so I have high hopes. Last day of the month tomorrow, stress levels are (as usual) soaring through the roof. Am struggling a bit with my schedules at the moment, as I have a bit too many things going on at the same time. Would be nice to be able to be in several places at the same time!