Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Vol 2
Soundtrack: Tarja Turunen, "Henkäys ikuisuudesta"
We put up the red star :)
Home-made mincemeat cutlets with boiled taters, salad and onion sauce
Lemon water
Nommm
Alive bite counter
Home-made mincemeat cutlets with boiled taters, salad and onion sauce
Lemon water
Nommm
Alive bite counter
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Musings on Katatonia: "Night is the New Day" (2009, Peaceville Records)
So where does this piece of melodic art take the listener?
From the raging and depressive „Forsaker“ [The dark will rise / abandon your freedom / give up the right to find your true self] to brilliantly atmospheric „The Longest Year“, with lyrics presented in the techinque of opposites, where heat feels cold and light feels dark [How cold is the flame of our uncompromising future? / How cold is the sun?] [The city lights fading still / the coming sky so white / and I am the dark of this our new day / this is my way]. „Idle Blood“ follows with pleasant contradiction between the noticeably carefree tunes and dark message [These wounds kill time / my struggle sublime / idle the blood, black state of mind / all dreams left behind]. „Onward Into Battle“ shines with restless, groovy basslines while „Liberation“ flirts with generally heavier grounds and glimpses back to the sounds of „The Great Cold Distance“ [Our thoughts entwined / you speak and I hear other words behind]. „The Promise of Deceit“ peaks with heavy, angsty, accusing lines of poetry [So when did you come to think / that you would tell me that I have no one?], „Nephilim“ is a slow-paced ode of Nephilim coming down from the skies [Loving mother / he has come / to take your son]. „New Night“ sways between heavy guitars and more melancholic tunes, once again taking us back to what I remember and would call „summer sombre“ from their previous album, specifically in the dry, painfully burning song „July“ [Though summer unwinds now / I have no reason to follow] (cmpr „July“ – [I see the bright lights / it’s the month of July / it’s violent here / why have you left me]). In gloomy and wisely worded „Inheritance“ [Our graves above the timberline / our names chalked / treasure or wealth no longer found], Jonas Renkse’s vocals jump from light accent to dark and suggestive territories, and then back again. „Day and Then the Shade“ was made into a single (and has a quite disturbing video for my personal taste) and continues with gloomy and (slightly?) suicidal themes, the constant struggle [Every waking hour is part of the lie]. The end track „Departer“ completes the chapter, wandering in the midst of ghostly and vile summer atmosphere [I’m so slow compared to you departer / it’s the month of July].
I will be able to see the band live here in Helsinki in the middle of December. Hope the show will be good :)
This is so far the latest (year 2009) album by the Swedish melancholic doom masters Katatonia, and in my personal opinion, this stuff is pure brilliance. There is not a single weak song on this album, there is no meaningless song. Trying to put Katatonia into a music genre would do no justice; their style is so varied and diverse that they may deserve a completely separate “box”. They have transferred from the early era death metal growls to something completely and utterly different in the beginning of 2000s („Last Fair Deal Gone Down“ 2001, „Viva Emptiness“ 2003) and back to heavier and more progressive/alternative metallic/melancholic moods („The Great Cold Distance“ 2006, „Night is the New Day“ 2009). It can be difficult to grasp that songs like „Murder“ (1996), “We Must Bury You” (2001) „Omerta (2003) and „Liberation“ (2009) are from the one and the same bunch of guys.
Jonas Renkse is an extremely gifted vocalist (and songwriter), and the rest of the orchestra is not slacking far behind. Katatonia is all about angst and (hidden) hope. Renkse is capable of expressing the whole range of emotions through his very unique, distinctive, “monotonous” (characteristic to the later period) singing style, which crawls right under your skin (under mine, anyway). Lyrics are very important; there would be no music without.
So where does this piece of melodic art take the listener?From the raging and depressive „Forsaker“ [The dark will rise / abandon your freedom / give up the right to find your true self] to brilliantly atmospheric „The Longest Year“, with lyrics presented in the techinque of opposites, where heat feels cold and light feels dark [How cold is the flame of our uncompromising future? / How cold is the sun?] [The city lights fading still / the coming sky so white / and I am the dark of this our new day / this is my way]. „Idle Blood“ follows with pleasant contradiction between the noticeably carefree tunes and dark message [These wounds kill time / my struggle sublime / idle the blood, black state of mind / all dreams left behind]. „Onward Into Battle“ shines with restless, groovy basslines while „Liberation“ flirts with generally heavier grounds and glimpses back to the sounds of „The Great Cold Distance“ [Our thoughts entwined / you speak and I hear other words behind]. „The Promise of Deceit“ peaks with heavy, angsty, accusing lines of poetry [So when did you come to think / that you would tell me that I have no one?], „Nephilim“ is a slow-paced ode of Nephilim coming down from the skies [Loving mother / he has come / to take your son]. „New Night“ sways between heavy guitars and more melancholic tunes, once again taking us back to what I remember and would call „summer sombre“ from their previous album, specifically in the dry, painfully burning song „July“ [Though summer unwinds now / I have no reason to follow] (cmpr „July“ – [I see the bright lights / it’s the month of July / it’s violent here / why have you left me]). In gloomy and wisely worded „Inheritance“ [Our graves above the timberline / our names chalked / treasure or wealth no longer found], Jonas Renkse’s vocals jump from light accent to dark and suggestive territories, and then back again. „Day and Then the Shade“ was made into a single (and has a quite disturbing video for my personal taste) and continues with gloomy and (slightly?) suicidal themes, the constant struggle [Every waking hour is part of the lie]. The end track „Departer“ completes the chapter, wandering in the midst of ghostly and vile summer atmosphere [I’m so slow compared to you departer / it’s the month of July].
Lyrics, which cut through my skin like a scalpel.
From "Night is the New Day"
You have lost, no-one has won.
From "The Great Cold Distance"
The most beautiful, gentle, tragic song.
From "Viva Emptiness"
Probably their shortest song of 2:50 minutes.
From "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"
From "Night is the New Day"
You have lost, no-one has won.
From "The Great Cold Distance"
The most beautiful, gentle, tragic song.
From "Viva Emptiness"
Probably their shortest song of 2:50 minutes.
From "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"
I will be able to see the band live here in Helsinki in the middle of December. Hope the show will be good :)
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Thursday is the pancake day!
I have been having a writing block. A blog identity crisis maybe, if that makes any sense. Why am I writing, who am I writing to? Should I even be writing? The correct answer is - yes, I should. Primarily for myself, and if anyone else finds something from here as well, then all the better.
Let's see what has happened since the last time I was here.
Jan-Erik and I went to see the movie "The Adventures of TinTin". I won't even attempt any deep(er) analysis on the movie as it goes, for me, into the category of light entertainment, but! This was an excellent example of very good light entertainment cinematography (perfect for Sunday evening), unlike good bunch of other big screen films (the fans of "Pirates of the Caribbean" might want to lynch me at this point). The movie was three-dimensional, and I am not a big fan. Give me the good ol' flat films :p The first reason is purely practical - I am short-sighted and need to wear glasses to see objects farther away, so using 3D glasses + my normal glasses is a bit inconvenient. Secondly, as Jan-Erik also noted, 3D glasses make the image a lot darker than it would otherwise be. I have seen two 3D movies and it has been the issue in both cases. Also, I think (and have read) that it is possible to make completely pointless 3D movies, to which the extra dimension does not give any additional value. The last "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie I think is a good example. (Well, it was a bad movie anyway.) Soooo I think I will possibly be skipping the 3D stuff in future, in most part.
We have another 3+3 free movie vouchers for November (thanks to kind parents), and there are a couple of movies I would like to see, namely Aki Kaurismäki's newest "Le Havre" and a Finnish movie called "Kotirauha", but other than those, I have no idea if any of the "mainstream film art" is worth seeing or not. I know it sounds pessimistic, but it seems the Hollywood production does not bear any attraction for me personally. At least those that aren't Christmas movies, as Christmas movies can be as stupid as they want, I can still go "awwww" now and then :p
I have finished reading my very first book in Finnish. (Ovations, fireworks and applauding.) It took only about a year or so :p, because I left the book for months at times and then went back to it, and then left it again... (Needless to say I have managed to read numerous other books in parallel with this one, in Estonian and in English.) The book is the one up there, "Alkemisti" ("The Alchemist") by Paulo Coelho. I didn't like that book (Coelho-fans can now join in with the "Pirates" fans in lynching process :p), I don't think it's a good book, but then again, I knew that already before starting with it. I think this book has a good point (although absolutely nothing new or original, but what is in today's world anyway?), but it was not well written. In the sense of enjoying the way of writing, like I enjoy the way of writing of Haruki Murakami, or John Fowles, or Ray Bradbury, Coelho gives me zero, nothing. He writes in short sentences, repeating the same words and phrases over and over again. I, as a reader, feel like the author does not take me for a thinking, intelligent human being. For a moment there in the very last pages, there was a glimpse of hope - reaaallly? Are you doing that twist now? Can it be that there is at least something in this book? And then, in the epilogue, he just blows towards the card house he has been building, and it falls over. However! This is a perfect book for someone who is reading it in a foreign language. It's almost like a children's book, only not as simple. By the end of the book I had learned good bunch of words in Finnish just because they had been repeated on almost every page :D (shepherd, desert, sand, treasure, soul, dreams, magic, etc. etc. etc) It made me feel good because I could actually read it, and not have to ask for the translation of every other word. So, it was not a completely useless read. But I can't say I have much respect for Coelho as an author, and it has nothing to do with personal taste, even. Seeing in which pace he has given out books between 1988 and 2010 (24 - that is more than a book a year), it reminds me of a recent Family Guy episode that we watched (S9E6: Brian Writes a Bestseller). I can't take seriously someone for whom writing seems to be prodiction line work.
Enough of that. There was also a birthday, and I'm older than I used to be now. Jan-Erik gifted me the mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta awesome camera Canon EOS 600D. This new vauva is one of the reasons I didn't hate my birthday this year, but not the only one. I actually had a nice day. That has not happened for some years :) I was taken care of, pampered, taken to a train ride, taken to a restaurant somewhere high up on 10th floor with nice view to the city. I really felt it was a special day :) Thanks, Jan. Bad thing is, it is getting really dark really early now, and the weather is generally quite gloomy all days long. These are not good conditions for photographing, at least not for an amateur. I personally need a lot of natural light to get the results I am happy with. I try to avoid the flash function on each camera for as much as it is possible. Maybe on the weekend I can take the vauva out for a spin and get some good practice.
This is the most brilliant, ingenious, cleverest cat toy I have seen. It is a plastic mouse with red laser beam (the button on the back of the mouse). Cats go MENTAL when this gets taken out, they are willing to climb up the walls and cross any obstacle to get to the red dot. And how convenient is it for the owners :p Just lie on the couch like Homer Simpson, and direct the laser beam around. Feeling like fed up with your cats in the living room all the time? Just lead the red dot to the kitchen and switch it off, and enjoy the 15 minutes of holy silence that follows while the four-paws are trying to figure out in the kitchen where the h... did that thing disappear to again :p
Let's see what has happened since the last time I was here.
Jan-Erik and I went to see the movie "The Adventures of TinTin". I won't even attempt any deep(er) analysis on the movie as it goes, for me, into the category of light entertainment, but! This was an excellent example of very good light entertainment cinematography (perfect for Sunday evening), unlike good bunch of other big screen films (the fans of "Pirates of the Caribbean" might want to lynch me at this point). The movie was three-dimensional, and I am not a big fan. Give me the good ol' flat films :p The first reason is purely practical - I am short-sighted and need to wear glasses to see objects farther away, so using 3D glasses + my normal glasses is a bit inconvenient. Secondly, as Jan-Erik also noted, 3D glasses make the image a lot darker than it would otherwise be. I have seen two 3D movies and it has been the issue in both cases. Also, I think (and have read) that it is possible to make completely pointless 3D movies, to which the extra dimension does not give any additional value. The last "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie I think is a good example. (Well, it was a bad movie anyway.) Soooo I think I will possibly be skipping the 3D stuff in future, in most part.We have another 3+3 free movie vouchers for November (thanks to kind parents), and there are a couple of movies I would like to see, namely Aki Kaurismäki's newest "Le Havre" and a Finnish movie called "Kotirauha", but other than those, I have no idea if any of the "mainstream film art" is worth seeing or not. I know it sounds pessimistic, but it seems the Hollywood production does not bear any attraction for me personally. At least those that aren't Christmas movies, as Christmas movies can be as stupid as they want, I can still go "awwww" now and then :p
I have finished reading my very first book in Finnish. (Ovations, fireworks and applauding.) It took only about a year or so :p, because I left the book for months at times and then went back to it, and then left it again... (Needless to say I have managed to read numerous other books in parallel with this one, in Estonian and in English.) The book is the one up there, "Alkemisti" ("The Alchemist") by Paulo Coelho. I didn't like that book (Coelho-fans can now join in with the "Pirates" fans in lynching process :p), I don't think it's a good book, but then again, I knew that already before starting with it. I think this book has a good point (although absolutely nothing new or original, but what is in today's world anyway?), but it was not well written. In the sense of enjoying the way of writing, like I enjoy the way of writing of Haruki Murakami, or John Fowles, or Ray Bradbury, Coelho gives me zero, nothing. He writes in short sentences, repeating the same words and phrases over and over again. I, as a reader, feel like the author does not take me for a thinking, intelligent human being. For a moment there in the very last pages, there was a glimpse of hope - reaaallly? Are you doing that twist now? Can it be that there is at least something in this book? And then, in the epilogue, he just blows towards the card house he has been building, and it falls over. However! This is a perfect book for someone who is reading it in a foreign language. It's almost like a children's book, only not as simple. By the end of the book I had learned good bunch of words in Finnish just because they had been repeated on almost every page :D (shepherd, desert, sand, treasure, soul, dreams, magic, etc. etc. etc) It made me feel good because I could actually read it, and not have to ask for the translation of every other word. So, it was not a completely useless read. But I can't say I have much respect for Coelho as an author, and it has nothing to do with personal taste, even. Seeing in which pace he has given out books between 1988 and 2010 (24 - that is more than a book a year), it reminds me of a recent Family Guy episode that we watched (S9E6: Brian Writes a Bestseller). I can't take seriously someone for whom writing seems to be prodiction line work.
Enough of that. There was also a birthday, and I'm older than I used to be now. Jan-Erik gifted me the mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta awesome camera Canon EOS 600D. This new vauva is one of the reasons I didn't hate my birthday this year, but not the only one. I actually had a nice day. That has not happened for some years :) I was taken care of, pampered, taken to a train ride, taken to a restaurant somewhere high up on 10th floor with nice view to the city. I really felt it was a special day :) Thanks, Jan. Bad thing is, it is getting really dark really early now, and the weather is generally quite gloomy all days long. These are not good conditions for photographing, at least not for an amateur. I personally need a lot of natural light to get the results I am happy with. I try to avoid the flash function on each camera for as much as it is possible. Maybe on the weekend I can take the vauva out for a spin and get some good practice.
This is the most brilliant, ingenious, cleverest cat toy I have seen. It is a plastic mouse with red laser beam (the button on the back of the mouse). Cats go MENTAL when this gets taken out, they are willing to climb up the walls and cross any obstacle to get to the red dot. And how convenient is it for the owners :p Just lie on the couch like Homer Simpson, and direct the laser beam around. Feeling like fed up with your cats in the living room all the time? Just lead the red dot to the kitchen and switch it off, and enjoy the 15 minutes of holy silence that follows while the four-paws are trying to figure out in the kitchen where the h... did that thing disappear to again :p
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday breakfast organised moderately neatly
Sunday morning brekkie: rye bread with butter, garlic ham, leaf of lettuce, tomato slices and cheese; porridge called mannapuuro (or mannapuder in Estonian)* with mum's plum jam; orange juice; klementines.*manna is the type of grain just like oats or rice, navigating a bit around in Wikipedia led me to the English counterpart "semolina", which may or may not be accurate, I am not sure. Anyhow, "the endless source of entertainment" Google Translate delivers once more, suggesting
(finnish) manna - (english) The Bread !!!
(That calls for a demotivational poster.)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Farm animal overdoze
"Don't take my cow!"
"Oh my god..."
"Dammit!"
"Ah for f... sake!"
"Why aren't you making, I have pies and shit?"
"I'll sell this f... cow!"
---
Jep, Farm Frenzy is a bloody intense game. :)))
"Oh my god..."
"Dammit!"
"Ah for f... sake!"
"Why aren't you making, I have pies and shit?"
"I'll sell this f... cow!"
---
Jep, Farm Frenzy is a bloody intense game. :)))
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Exciting and less exciting things I have done in past six days
In the past six days (and nights) I have
* eaten ice cream (Estonian ice creams are better than Finnish, sorry Jan)
* slapped Robert numerous times - it is nice that domesticated cats can run around, shake off that extra energy and everything, but when it happens after midnight at the point where you have JUST ALMOST fallen asleep, or when you hear some weird jungle sounds mixed with gallopping and Mammu's hisses at 5 bloody am, then it makes me... not happy
* yelled at the world's best Mammucat (she doesn't need slapping, such a good cat... mostly)
* felt happy - yay
* felt sad - happens
* felt angry - need anger management session SOON
* eaten out in a Czech restaurant Vltava - Mixed Grill in Czech style for two - brisket of beef, smoked pork kassler, chicken drumstick, Vlava's sausage, bratwurst, gherkins, braised red cabbage, sauces of garlic, red wine and portwine; classic light Krusovice (for the old uni-times' sake) + Thatchers Oak Matured Cider and two of the dark beers that Jan-Erik loves and I am not that big fan of. I was looking forward to the dessert (mousse), but as I suspected from the beginning, so it happened - there was no room in the belly for that
* slept like a little vauva (baby)* had a very inspirational afternoon photographing in a cemetery
* talked to mum* eaten oven duck
* read a book in a tram
* rewatched one of my all-time favourite movies "Kauas pilvet karkaavat" ("Drifting Clouds") by A. Kaurismäki - it is amusing to introduce Finnish culture to a Finn
* given a lot of thought about people who put their clothes (coats, jackets) to hang on public balcony for days (might probably even say weeks by now)
* eaten sun in a jar (D-vitamin) and other vitamins
* had cravings for Chinese food - will hopefully be ended tonight
* pondered whether I can go on a train ride on my birthday
* thought that it would be nice to have a train ride, and skip the birthday completely
* played Farm Frenzy 2
* laughed
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