Monday, May 22, 2006
Recent findings since I last posted anything. My reason for not posting, by the way, is the fact that every assignment for every class this terms seems to have been due in the past week or so, with one more left to go before I am sitting in the sun, sipping on a frozen margarita and enjoying the best Tex-Mex that Dallas has to offer. Also, K and I have been working on the rewrite to the script that should be shooting this summer.
Okay, but I went off subject, back to the updates. I think I have a cavity and that totally sucks. The back molar on the left side of my mouth has become quite sensitive to cold water, especially when I brush my teeth, or strangely enough when I eat a cold grape. I cannot remember the last time I had a cavity, probably highschool? I sure as hell hope I don't have more than one, as it has been probably way too long since I last went to the dentist.
Other things that have happened on a scale larger than my teeth. Finland's representative for the Eurovision contest, Lordi - see picture - just made history. Now growing up in Texas, the Eurovision song contest doesn't get much print or publicity, but over here? It is huge. Absolutely huge and Finland has never won it, let alone advanced far enough to even think about winning. So, on a what the hell, this band Lordi, wins and becomes Finland's representative and all hell breaks loose here in Finland and all over Europe. The monsters from Finland are in the wrong competition. But then something funny happened, people really liked the monster and voted for the monster and the monster advanced to the semi-finals. Finland was bubbly. People here have been watching this competition since there was only one television channel and they have always been disappointed. They've sent their best and never made it. And now they send their monsters? And they advance. But surely the monster has no chance to win the whole thing? Well, last night history was made. "Hard Rock Hallelujah" took Europe by storm and Finland finally won the thing.
Now as someone who has no history with this competition it was a fun thing to witness, but for K? Well, let's just say that when the voting began and Finland was in front, she kept waiting for the slide. Apparently Finland's representative usually gets like 4 points total and now the monster was over 100. Now I think it's appropriate to say a little something about the politics of this thing. Well, it's political. Russia's representative was terrible - not to say that the monster was good, but the monster was Finnish and that's good enough - but the Russian kept quite close throughout. Even though the home country cannot vote for its own performer, there were enough former Soviet possessions to keep Russia in it for the long run. And whenever Russia got close, the look on Karoliina's face was genuine anger. Well, maybe not anger, but rather the look of someone who is protecting their little brother from a bully and will do anything to protect the brother. Again, this is not to say that Karoliina's brother is a monster. I like Karoliina's brother, but this is just an example.
Okay, but I went off subject, back to the updates. I think I have a cavity and that totally sucks. The back molar on the left side of my mouth has become quite sensitive to cold water, especially when I brush my teeth, or strangely enough when I eat a cold grape. I cannot remember the last time I had a cavity, probably highschool? I sure as hell hope I don't have more than one, as it has been probably way too long since I last went to the dentist.
Other things that have happened on a scale larger than my teeth. Finland's representative for the Eurovision contest, Lordi - see picture - just made history. Now growing up in Texas, the Eurovision song contest doesn't get much print or publicity, but over here? It is huge. Absolutely huge and Finland has never won it, let alone advanced far enough to even think about winning. So, on a what the hell, this band Lordi, wins and becomes Finland's representative and all hell breaks loose here in Finland and all over Europe. The monsters from Finland are in the wrong competition. But then something funny happened, people really liked the monster and voted for the monster and the monster advanced to the semi-finals. Finland was bubbly. People here have been watching this competition since there was only one television channel and they have always been disappointed. They've sent their best and never made it. And now they send their monsters? And they advance. But surely the monster has no chance to win the whole thing? Well, last night history was made. "Hard Rock Hallelujah" took Europe by storm and Finland finally won the thing.
Now as someone who has no history with this competition it was a fun thing to witness, but for K? Well, let's just say that when the voting began and Finland was in front, she kept waiting for the slide. Apparently Finland's representative usually gets like 4 points total and now the monster was over 100. Now I think it's appropriate to say a little something about the politics of this thing. Well, it's political. Russia's representative was terrible - not to say that the monster was good, but the monster was Finnish and that's good enough - but the Russian kept quite close throughout. Even though the home country cannot vote for its own performer, there were enough former Soviet possessions to keep Russia in it for the long run. And whenever Russia got close, the look on Karoliina's face was genuine anger. Well, maybe not anger, but rather the look of someone who is protecting their little brother from a bully and will do anything to protect the brother. Again, this is not to say that Karoliina's brother is a monster. I like Karoliina's brother, but this is just an example.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you.
And happy Mother's Day to Tricia and Jen and Pam, Shaye, Tracey and Deb and then to Roz and Phyllis. I hope you are all having a wonderful day.
I was going to write a little more, in order to procrasinate a little more, cause I have a whole lotta school work to do right now, but now I think I am going to try and get back to it. Well see.
And happy Mother's Day to Tricia and Jen and Pam, Shaye, Tracey and Deb and then to Roz and Phyllis. I hope you are all having a wonderful day.
I was going to write a little more, in order to procrasinate a little more, cause I have a whole lotta school work to do right now, but now I think I am going to try and get back to it. Well see.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Happy Birthday, Pop. I love you.
Today I had an epiphany while washing dishes. I finally figured out the direction I am going to take with my thesis. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I should wash dishes more often. But the thing is, I don't have a dishwasher. I wash a lot of dishes. A whole lot. I haven't had a dishwasher in almost seven years. I really want a dishwasher. I would also like a new refrigerator. Ours is horrible and the door swings open violently.
But this time was a little different. This time, for some reason I began saying, "The Internationalization Efforts of Northern European Film Industries: A Case Study." And I had to stop washing dishes to go and write that. Man, that sounds nerdy, but that's okay because for the past few months I had been worrying about the topic to my thesis because I could not find any literature to base my thesis on, but today I found the Film Archives library and eureka! I hit the jackpot.
If the weather is nice tomorrow I am going to run around a take a whole lotta pictures. Hope to have them up here soon.
Today I had an epiphany while washing dishes. I finally figured out the direction I am going to take with my thesis. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I should wash dishes more often. But the thing is, I don't have a dishwasher. I wash a lot of dishes. A whole lot. I haven't had a dishwasher in almost seven years. I really want a dishwasher. I would also like a new refrigerator. Ours is horrible and the door swings open violently.
But this time was a little different. This time, for some reason I began saying, "The Internationalization Efforts of Northern European Film Industries: A Case Study." And I had to stop washing dishes to go and write that. Man, that sounds nerdy, but that's okay because for the past few months I had been worrying about the topic to my thesis because I could not find any literature to base my thesis on, but today I found the Film Archives library and eureka! I hit the jackpot.
If the weather is nice tomorrow I am going to run around a take a whole lotta pictures. Hope to have them up here soon.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
I can't begin to tell you how wonderful the weather has been for the past eight days. For all the bitching I've done about the weather during March and April, these past eight days have done a really good job of making me put all of that out of my mind. The weather man says (by the way, I haven't mentioned it before, but the weatherpeople here dress hysterically and just look strange) that the weather is going to get a little cooler and a little wetter this weekend, but 10 days in a row of sunshine and warmth does a body good. It does a soul good too.
New discovery, and all credit goes to Karoliina for this one: lasagna plates, when broken make a perfect substitute for Thai flat noodles. I fought against it, but she proved it to me.
New discovery, and all credit goes to Karoliina for this one: lasagna plates, when broken make a perfect substitute for Thai flat noodles. I fought against it, but she proved it to me.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Wow, it's been a while since I've written anything. And since the last post a lot has happened. Nothing too big or crazy, but big in its smallness if that makes any sense. For example since I last posted I have gone riding on my bike twice, including today on the way to and from school and I got lost both times. The second time on the way home was a lot of fun and I saw some neighborhoods that couldn't possibly have been Helsinki, they looked so Mediterranean. But then again since I last wrote, the sun has been out and shining and warm and that makes everything look not like Helsinki. The leaves came out and turned green literally overnight. We had the windows open yesterday. I've worn shorts on several occasions since I last wrote.
I sang karoke with Timo. We sang such hits as "Tomorrow" from Annie, "That'll be the Day" and "Unchained Melodies". It was late, the kids had just gone to bed (all five of them and all of them girls) and so what do the parents do? They get the karoke machine from out of the garage, put it in the living room, turn the volume up and pass the mic around. But no one really knew the songs, except for me - and Timo, but he wasn't about to step up first. And so I sang and sang and little by little, Timo made his way closer and he was singing.
On Mayday Finland was insane, but on May 3rd, a Wednesday I think, the first day I rode my bike to the market hall across town with the good Italian sausages, I saw more drunk people asleep wherever they may have fallen. The market square is in the part of Helsinki renowned for its drunkenness and its drunks and when the sun came out I think it was all too much for these people. They were everywhere, dozens.
Since I last posted I have learned to hate the sounds of seagulls, and this really upsets me. I used to think so fondly of the sounds of seagulls. It brought about images of relaxation, vacation, a beach. Now, whenever I hear these severely stressed out city seagulls the first image that springs into my head is that of a child with the most monstrous of all screams. A child I want to kill, but sounds like it is being killed. It keeps happening, usually at five o'clock in the morning and so it is usually the screams of beaten children which brings me out of my sleep. I'm telling you I hate the sounds of seagulls. And only in the past week or so, before that I loved seagulls.
The sidewalk patios have sprung up, out of nowhere and now, the huge slabs of concrete that I walked across everyday during the winter and spring or melting as I like to call it, are filled with people and the people are smiling and talking and laughing. The place went from Soviet to European in a week.
I saw my first batch of Finnish strawberries in the grocery store, but I didn't dare buy them. They were 6Â for 6 strawberries, but in a month - like when I come back from Texas, the will be 6Â for 100. Did I mention that summer is starting? Well actually, it's still Spring, it's just a few weeks late.
Tonight I am going to a concert, Matisyahu, the Hasidic Reggae BeatBoxer. I have no idea what to expect, but I have a feeling it will be hysterical.
I sang karoke with Timo. We sang such hits as "Tomorrow" from Annie, "That'll be the Day" and "Unchained Melodies". It was late, the kids had just gone to bed (all five of them and all of them girls) and so what do the parents do? They get the karoke machine from out of the garage, put it in the living room, turn the volume up and pass the mic around. But no one really knew the songs, except for me - and Timo, but he wasn't about to step up first. And so I sang and sang and little by little, Timo made his way closer and he was singing.
On Mayday Finland was insane, but on May 3rd, a Wednesday I think, the first day I rode my bike to the market hall across town with the good Italian sausages, I saw more drunk people asleep wherever they may have fallen. The market square is in the part of Helsinki renowned for its drunkenness and its drunks and when the sun came out I think it was all too much for these people. They were everywhere, dozens.
Since I last posted I have learned to hate the sounds of seagulls, and this really upsets me. I used to think so fondly of the sounds of seagulls. It brought about images of relaxation, vacation, a beach. Now, whenever I hear these severely stressed out city seagulls the first image that springs into my head is that of a child with the most monstrous of all screams. A child I want to kill, but sounds like it is being killed. It keeps happening, usually at five o'clock in the morning and so it is usually the screams of beaten children which brings me out of my sleep. I'm telling you I hate the sounds of seagulls. And only in the past week or so, before that I loved seagulls.
The sidewalk patios have sprung up, out of nowhere and now, the huge slabs of concrete that I walked across everyday during the winter and spring or melting as I like to call it, are filled with people and the people are smiling and talking and laughing. The place went from Soviet to European in a week.
I saw my first batch of Finnish strawberries in the grocery store, but I didn't dare buy them. They were 6Â for 6 strawberries, but in a month - like when I come back from Texas, the will be 6Â for 100. Did I mention that summer is starting? Well actually, it's still Spring, it's just a few weeks late.
Tonight I am going to a concert, Matisyahu, the Hasidic Reggae BeatBoxer. I have no idea what to expect, but I have a feeling it will be hysterical.
