16.04.2006   I'm already back from my little north-easterly excursion! And what can I say? Not much. It wasn't exactly a planned venture, and as such was not rich in planned entertainment. But it was nice to see some people I haven't seen for a while, and the places I've not visited...   The journeys to and from Imatra were perhaps the most memorable parts of the trip. On the way there I unexpectedly shared my ride with two completely wasted junkies, who were quite high on a peculiar and alarming mix of MDA, hash and alcohol. Sharing a car for four hours with two very confused junkies is not my, nor can it be anyones, idea of fun. What comedy there is in the situation evaporates very quickly indeed, along with any tolerance, not to mention patience. I proceeded to anesthetize myself with beer as quickly as possible, and, although it did cause me to whine for pee-stops from time to time, it did help me accept the back seat bastards more readily. What added to discomfort was that one of them had a fairly large amount of illegal substances on him... Those are immortalized on the second picture of the day. That's almost 150g right there! The chances of being stopped and frisked by the cops are minimal, nor did I have to do anything with the stuff, but it'd still ruin my day if it would have happened.   When we got to Imatra the going got weirder. My friend's place resembled nothing less than a drug den, although a cozy and welcoming one. People were smoking all sorts of things, drinking, and breathing Nitrous Oxide. It was fun to watch, certainly, and I might have taken a puff or two myself... But I did not inhale! No sir, not me!   By morning most of the people went, or crawled, home, and just three of us remained, watching Underworld: Evolution, a movie that is as yet unreleased in most of Northern Europe, I think. An entertaining flick, sure, if you don't try to find any deeper meaning in it.   The second day was filled with boredom, and not much else. Well, except maybe some melancholy. The girlfriends of my northern buddies were on a bitchy war path and making life exceedingly difficult for them, so it was decided to flee Imatra before they got any drunker and whipped themselves into a complete frenzy. So we set off towards Helsinki...   Oh, but before we left there was a certain interesting incident. We were queuing in Imatra McDonalds, for some healthy road trip snacks, when out of nowhere some teenage bastard (who looked nothing like a person who'd initiate a racial fight, having a multitude of piercings and even rasta-ish hair) attacked another one, that happened to be of Indian or Pakistani descent, inside that same McDonalds, screaming racial slurs and threatening imminent death to the kid if he failed to move out of Finland! When their friends intervened, a skinhead popped up from out of nowhere and started to help the aggressor! The staff was in shock, teenagers too, the kid obviously pretty shaken up, and it was then that our Finnish friend decided to help out a bit and keep the warring factions separate. Oh boy, the skinhead didn't like that, and started threatening our mate with severe bodily harm, so I decided to step up (somewhat timidly) to our mate in a show of support, in order to prevent further escalation of the situation. The skinhead continued his verbal abuse and started shoving our friend, suddenly gripping him in a (rather pathetic and ineffectual) head lock, trying to pull him to the floor. I was rather shocked at that turn of events, I must admit. I looked to Daimer (let's call him that from now on, "my Russian friend from the north-east" is a bit of a bitch to type every time), with some alarm, and asked him whether we should pull them apart or start kicking the shit out of the skinhead. He just gave me a calm, languid smile, nodded at me and said quietly, "Watch". And I did. Our Finnish "junkie", having come down from whatever trip he was having earlier, proved to be a fairly competent fighter. He quickly reversed the situation, pinned the shit head to the dirty floor, and, after a brief consideration, quietly but forcefully hit him once on the side of the head. And thus was the battle of Imatra McDonalds won. The skinhead fled, disgraced and raging pathetically against inanimate objects. We then got our orders and could finally hit the road.   The road back was uneventful and short, except that it was punctuated by calls from deranged and drunk girlfriends spoiling for a fight, which were rather sad and disturbing in their lack of substance and logic... We hit Helsinki around 23:30, dropped off our friend and tried to rent a movie, but found all the rental places closed. Oh well. The rest of the night, till the early morning, was spent with me watching The Office on DVD and Daimer playing Counter Strike: Source.   So that was it, the "epic" journey in an attempt to break the monotony of living, an attempt to save myself from the insanity of boredom and depression. A partial success, I think we can call it... Daimer drove back to Imatra to sort out girlfriend trouble (silly kid doesn't know how lucky she is that he even tolerates her shenanigans! I don't think she'd ever find a guy that's as good to her as Daimer), and I stayed at home, writing my blog and watching Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition with half an eye.   But now it's link time. The Japanese are at it again. As if the Real Doll wasn't twisted enough (it would feel like fucking a lifeless corpse to me, I think), the Japs have gone a step further and created this marvel. Okely dokely then! And while we're talking of lifeless corpses, you should see images from the exhibition staged by Prof. Gunther von Hagens. I am not sure if I'd go or not... See a different miracle of ingenuity now, a working replica of a V8 engine made out of paper! You can even buy your own, I think... And while that kind of hobby is a fine and peachy thing, I think this guy might just have taken it a tad too far...	Fillin 'er up with Russian gas! That's a lotta stuff...
14.04.2006   Hullo again! I bet y'all didn't expect me to update so soon, eh? Well, I'm full of surprises and gross bodily fluid, me. Now, I don't have much time to write, but I will try anyway. I am going away to Imatra for a little while, just for the fun of it. Maybe for a day, maybe for two, will see.   Anyway, I've just got home after a wonderful Easter dinner, consisting of two pints and a pizza with an old acquaintance at a fairly typical sleazy bar-pizzeria in Kallio, that disreputable yet conveniently located part of Helsinki that I think is in danger of disappearing completely within the next 10 years, at the latest. That sure was cheap and good pizza... A vegetariana with added ham on top! The best way to get all your nutrients in a nice, tight package. Although it sure isn't on the list of foods I am currently allowed to eat. Allowed by myself, that is, since I am rather worried (but not worried enough to stop eating) that I will gain all of my lost kilos back within the next month or so. I am already back to weighing around 77kg, which is reassuringly less than 81kg, sure, but depressingly more than 73kg... And the personal goal would be about 70 kilos. Tops... But junk food is a hard mistress to desert.   I've spent last night at my exes place, planning to watch some DVD's and just read and sleep (yes, just sleep), but the plan was ruined by an unexpected surprise in form of a blown fuse. And exes (Let's drop the exing. Feels strange. I'll just call her by her nickname, Hellbo, from now on, ok?) apartment is built so that the fuse box is not in the apartment but is somewhere behind barred doors and cannot be opened by mere rent-paying mortals. So we had to call the housing company repairmen, who miraculously were on duty at 22:00 on Easter (the first free Thursday before it, anyway), and they came and fixed it... Next morning. Luckily, a few of the electric plugs remained working, so we were able to hook up the telly and the DVD player to watch the rather pathetic (not that anything special was expected of it) Johnson Family Vacation.   Oh, and in the morning, when I was going home, Hellbo decided to walk her sweet little Chihuahua, Nuni (she's graced these pages a few times in the past). I was recruited to hold the beast while the woman was getting some milk from a kiosk... Well, not a minute went by when I was assaulted by two females charmed out of their collective panties by the little shivering animal in my lap. After oohing and aahing over Nuni for a minute or two, one of them looked me in the eye and asked: "Are you married"? I was not expecting that, and, not willing to go into intricacies of my love life just nodded dumbly and said "Uh, yeah? She's in the kiosk". The lead female visibly lost some of her zest then, and the rest of it when my "spouse" emerged from the kiosk. I'm definitely getting a Chihuahua of my own some day..!   Ok, I really should get dressed and packed now. I'm surprised I managed to type all of this before my ride actually showed up... So, some links and I'm off. Just today I saw a piece of news on robotic football, and couldn't resist checking the official site out. I must say the robots play an interesting, fast-paced game... There are some great videos on the site. Oh, and speaking of videos, here's one hilarious sight that is bound to become more familiar to everyone here in Europe! Ok, and to continue jumping from subject to subject, here's a few photos of a capsizing tug! Awesome..! And now for a big Sunfish. Ok, where the fuck's my ride?	Lovely fellow. Reminds Hellbo of me, I hear.
12.04.2006   Once again, I have braved the turbulent world of the interweb! I am kind of disappointed in my self what with my slack update rate, even though I have been blessed with good subjects of late. The net has been here for a while, yes, but severely underutilized... I blame the bloody awkward blogging interface that makes every update a bit of a torment.   But first a little something about today. First of all, on this day 45 years ago a human being first ventured into space! Yes,in 1961 Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin, after taking a leak on the back wheel of his transporter (thus starting a somewhat comical tradition continued by Russian cosmonauts ever since), boarded his Vostok spacecraft and blasted off into the void... Coming back alive and well 1 hour and 48 minutes later. The poor chap died early, already in 1968, in a plane crash deemed suspicious by some. I still remember rumors from my own childhood, some claiming that Gagarin was never on board the plane, some that he ended up in a mental asylum due to a head trauma and was officially "written off" as dead because for the hero to be seen as a drooling idiot by the international community and Russians themselves was thought to be too damaging to the glorious status of Soviet space exploration.   The other important event that takes place today is the Jewish holiday of Passover, a day that marks the birth of the Jewish nation, as the Jews were freed from being slaves of Pharaoh... And thus did begin the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. And so on and so forth, with the rest of the story also being pretty well preserved in a moderately successful book called "The Bible", a book that was later clumsily re-written and sexed-up with virgins and violence and given a tad more catchy name, "Koran".   So. Where were we... Right, I was going to go over some stuff in my own blasted life. First of all, I'm back in school! I have missed a lot, and am no longer eligible for some of the courses, but I did manage to salvage a few, so I will be getting some credits for this spring. I guess that the best thing about coming back, besides being more content about myself, was being welcomed back by my class mates. It felt really nice, for a change...   Anyway, I have not been sulking too much lately. I've been trying to get my mind off my depression, so I have been seeing friends, going out to town, shoplifting... Oh yeah, on that note, congratulate the new owner of a white 2Gb Apple iPod Nano! My 1Gb Creative was getting kind of small.  Yeah, Stockmann had another one of them crazy days. I tried to keep looting to a respectable minimum, but none the less...   I also attended a commune house-warming party thrown by a friend of a friend, a typical lefty affair, dumpster diving hippie children. A pretty run of the mill affair for me, for sure, but I had an unexpected avec. I ran into a classmate in town, and was pretty soon downing beers at Sports Academy. The girl was from out of town and didn't have much to do, so off we went... I was sort of worried about introducing somebody unused to my freaks into that environment... But I did warn her! Oh, and the bottom pic of the day is from that party. That security guy is the stripping drunk chicks boyfriend. He whisked her away pretty soon after the picture was taken, and I don't blame him!   I did not spend all my free time indulging in crime and debauchery. I also spend a nice evening with my ex and the puppy... It got off to a bad start, pretty stressful all round, but then we got to my place, and rented King Kong. And promptly fell asleep! God, the movie sucked. 3 hours of bad acting and boring scenes. Oh sure, the animated monkey was fun. But that isn't enough. Even the dreamy Adrien Brody didn't save the movie for me...   Yeah, so this is it then. Links time, and then it's off to the wonderful world of Oblivion for me. You, on the other hand, can enjoy this exciting webcam. On a more somber note, here's a great photo essay on shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh and India. I just wish that the photos were bigger and that there was more of them. Here's another photo series dealing with shipbreaking. Oh, and you must have heard a lot of 9/11 conspiracy stories by now, and here, for your viewing pleasure, is Popular Mechanics article that does its best to debunk all of them. I have never found any one of them even remotely plausible, and with each passing day I believe history will prove me right. Ok, and to cap it all off, the relatively new phenomenon of Chuck Norris facts. Oh, and here's The Man reading some of the facts on himself! Ok, phew, I'm done.	A crying caddy. Poor neglected baby. Quite embarrassing...
02.04.2006   Finally! The net is here, blessed be its insidious tentacles! I guess I should first give you fellers a little re-cap of the past couple of weeks, shouldn't I? Between the then and now, so to speak. But first, I think I'll grab a beer from the fridge. Even though it'll probably give me stomach ache from hell, as beer lately has. I wonder what gives?   Anyway, the moving bit was hell. Remember the ever-malfunctioning elevator? Well, the bugger froze on us once again when it was my turn to move my stuff, my ex managing to shift her crap in time. Luckily the heaviest items of furniture were moved while the bloody thing still worked. But moving rapidly devolved into a convoluted two-day process. Lots of carrying, running around, stressing, cleaning, packing, breaking... You know the drill if you've ever moved. And we were moving stuff to two different locations! After the whole awful affair was over, I was beat both physically and mentally. And in a sense, worse was still to come.   I was alone, in a "new" place, with a debilitating disorder, and little to look forward to. Or so it felt like at the time, anyway. Life was "full of suck". In fact it still feels weird to be here, in this huge (compared to my previous place) apartment, with its antique furniture and dark, quiet corners. I did make myself a nest in one tiny corner of the flat, setting up my PC, with some stuff around it, and I've filled one wall with my books... So it is beginning to feel more or less cozy, although I still haven't slept in my own (monstrous, two meter wide) bed since moving back here, so far preferring to couch it in the living room.   Now, though, I've been able to feel more or less ok with myself and the world. Things are still somewhat fucked up, but tolerably so. Friends help a lot, just by their presence, and so does "the ex". I think things might still turn out ok for me...   And now for some current events. My friend from the north (ok, east-north-east) came for a visit on the 31st, bringing a few buddies and a fiancé in tow, cheering me up greatly by filling this huge place with noise and laughter. Koxbox was in town, so they (most of them, anyway) were going to E the night away to the hardcore beat. I, while a small time fan of Koxbox, figured that my physique couldn't take the pounding without severe chemical assistance, so I opted for a road trip to Hyvinkää instead. Oh yes, Hyvinkää, a hellish place about an hour's drive north of Helsinki. It housed a long-time crush of a friend of mine, and thus an expedition was planned and undertaken to capture the heart of the maiden in question. In the process a lot was learned about the peculiarities of the nightlife in Hyvinkää, and local places of interest (there were none, as I recall, apart from the McDonalds and a few clubs) were also examined. Frankly, the trip left me severely disappointed. Not the town per se, as I generally like road trips to quirky little places and as it turned out to be surprisingly big one, but the lack of company and the fact that I had to remain sober because I was the designated driver... I ended up coming home a bit after 6 in the morning, having to drive people around southern Finland for over an hour, trying not to pass out behind the wheel. My norhtern friends were all danced out and quietly awaiting my return. We took a tired look at the clock, had some McDonalds (always a bad idea, but especially right before going to bed) and went to bed. Or I did, anyway. My northern friend and his fiancé continued to entertain themselves by watching my collection of porn and Futurama. I ended up sleeping until 3 in the afternoon...   And it is already the 3rd of April, the time being 3 am. I should wrap this up and make updating a habit once again. But now some links... First, check out a great phototo series Serial No.3817131, about the girls serving with the Israeli army. In places sweet and in others sad, but always expressive. And some of the sweethearts are a reason enough in themselves to move to Israel... And still on the army theme, but on a more humorous note, learn how to make little wire army men. Cute! Here is the link detailing the process in full (part 1 and part 2), unfortunately in Russian only. But cute little buggers, aren't they? To change the subject, here's the Top 60 list of the most charitable rich folk in US for 2005. Somewhat surprisingly Bill & Melinda are not on the top of the list... To gross yourself out, check out this nice gallery of malformed & diseased brains. Yummy.	A rare vintage "Pobeda"... Awed by the Hyvinkää info board.

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