29.01.2006   Ah, what a nice day! The sun is shining, the water is dripping, and the wind is fresh and clean. Yeah, the awful freeze has finally abated, we are actually above zero here, people! And the days keep getting longer, brighter, sunnier... It's the false spring syndrome. You know, that period of time around January / February when there is a bit of a thaw and some sunshine? Yeah, well there will still be a freeze ahead, with temperatures plummeting to -20C and not a peek of sun for weeks. So might as well enjoy the weather, have a walk or two...   In any case, take a walk I did. To the polling booth. Finland's last day of voting is in progress as I type, and it will last until 20:00. The two final candidates are Tarja Halonen, the incumbent, and Sauli Niinistö. Niinistö leans more towards the right while Halonen is a candidate from SDP, supported by the Left Alliance. I voted Niinistö, believe it or not, even though it looks unlikely that he's going to win. Democracy at work, yo. Anyway, we'll see the preliminary results already at 21:00, thanks to the efficient vote counting and minuscule vote-eligible population. I wonder what's the voter turnout going to look like..? I wager 73% to 75%...   Democracy's been hard at work in Palestine as well. And guess what..? The peace-loving people of Palestine elected... Wait for it... Hamas (read their charter)!!! Although what else can you expect with the amount of incredibly virulent propaganda surrounding the average Palestinian 24/7 and the blatant corruption running amok in Fatah... Oh yeah, you should have heard the pre-election speeches and seen the campaign commercials! Dude, so bloodthirsty it wasn't even funny. At least now the Palestinians have openly come up and stated their stance, the stance that many, and not only appeasers and apologists, in the West have been in blind denial about for so long. I recommend the following article (Hamas without veils) if you want to read up on that point of view. Oh, and as a funny side note, they also elected Hitler for parliament! Oh those zany Palestinians, what will they think of next..?   On a brighter note, I will be going on a cruise to Stockholm next weekend, for sure now. Not that I haven't been there dozens of times before, but hey, good company, good food, a cabin with a sea view... So why not? I just hope it won't be stormy, had enough of that on my trip from Germany. I am also thinking of finally paying a visit to the Vasa museum while I'm there. Shameful, having been to Stockholm so many times and never visiting the museum...   Anyhow, I've got school tomorrow, so I'd better take everything out of this day in terms of gaming. I think I'll do some BF2 now and top it off with a new online RPG, Thang. It's sort of crap, but hey, it's the best free online RPG out there...   Still, a few links are in order before I go. Check out the crazy dare-devils setting a new parachuting world record! Then see what your life would be like without The Net. Then a dozen or so of great photos of some asian town... Amazing!	See? Pretty weather... Democracy at work, dammit!
25.01.2006   Once again, I've been something of a reluctant blogger these past few days. A week even, it seems. I have plenty of good reasons for that, as always. First of all I am lazy. That one's obvious. Then there's the school... Now you might be saying that I don't really do anything after school, even though I should. And you're about right. I mainly do my assignments at school, not after. But I am still pretty tired after it, honestly. So when I come home I go take a nap, or play a brainless game, or watch telly... At that blissful time the mere thought of writing something makes me sick...   And then there was dad's birthday. Yes. The old bastard got even older... And as always threw a banquet to celebrate the fact. I got him a brass candelabra. I like going to his birthdays, for the most part. He's mostly a lot of fun and has good, clever friends. What I really don't like is how the inevitable excessive consumption of vodka makes me feel for the few days that follow... And this time was no exception. I had a good time at the party, and since it started early, and dad passed out already around 22:30, I left early as well. And went over to see a friend that lived nearby. Oh boy. Mistake. I don't clearly remember what happened, but it was later told that I puked in the kitchen sink, and was generally obnoxiously drunk. Whoops, sorry dude... Afterwards another good friend of mine had the brilliant idea of going to the disco. Instead of listening to common sense I found myself on the dance floor, dazed and confused. That's when my memory returned, because I figure I was brutally sobered up by the atrociously freezing temperatures outside, while we walked to the disco. Realizing that it would be better for everyone if I gave up and just went home, I spent the next eternity hunting for my wardrobe slip. Under the table, in every pocket, including other people's, I don't know how I found it... But I did. At some point I must have puked some more, since my jeans sure looked very picturesque in the morning. Anyway, I somehow made it home, without telling anyone that I am going. Only one thought fit into my head at the time, and it was "home!". Apparently, once I made it home I was still in the condition to talk (mumble) and move about (stumble), but my girlfriend says that she hasn't seen me that drunk in a long time, which says a lot.   The next day I was in horrible, horrible pain. Everything was wrong. Life was awful. And I also found out that I left my only hat, the goofy one, at my friends and my phone at the bar, but my friend luckily picked it up after I left. Somehow I managed to retain my digital camera and mp3 player. But I was in hell, and couldn't have cared less... I did get my phone eventually, but my goofy hat is still at my friends place, and I've been going without the past few days. Which I guess is why I have this strange headache and am probably going to die... No, honestly. I think I froze my poor noggin big time, especially after that short run in -15C when I was late for the Israel Week movie show (they were showing "Turn left at the end of the world", I liked) at the Caisa culture center. I mean, the bloody thing is still throbbing! Maybe I should go see the school nurse..? What do you think? I mean, how bad can it be..? Eh?   Anyway, there is another announcement that must be made. I am about to embark on a stressful journey once again, this time to Milan, Italy. My step dad's company needs a cheap interpreter in order to help train some Russian specialists use and repair new generation plastic card embossers... I know how to operate them, on a basic level, and I've done translation & interpreting before. There is just one incredibly embarrassing stain on my record: the last time I was charged with interpreting was also in Milan, and I never went. Because, and this is priceless, I was too scared to fly. I never confided this to the blog. So now you know the big secret. Apparently The Boss has confidence in the success of the Finnair Flight Course I took, so now I have to fly again. Back, too... Eep..! Of course, I'd rather go down in a fireball than face the shame again. Plus I'd like to see Italy. And they'll even pay me a little bit, with a promise of more gigs to come, in lovely, safe and exotic places. Such as Azerbaijan. And I'm not kidding about Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan, too.   So I guess that's it. Let me just drop some links, and I'll be off to make some tea and swallow a painkiller. First off, some nostalgic facts and figures about the past 30 years of the PC markets. Very interesting. Honest! Then read about the 20 things PC vendors & manufacturers don't want you to know... Simple entry level stuff, but interesting. Then check out the most popular toys of the last 100 years. And these gory toys are a guaranteed success with any kid... Ok, tea time.	Train to school. Dad's cat! Isn't he the cutest?
18.01.2006   Brr... Awfully cold outside today, all over the world, it seems. Moscow, and all over Russia in general, is extra chilly, but that is only to be expected, I guess. However, up here the meteorologists are predicting -20C for tomorrow morning... And I have to get up at 6:30 and head to the institute, catching the worst of it. Well, better wrap that scarf around my head, put some long johns on and wear my goofy hat with the ear flaps... Not to mention the obligatory four layers of clothing.   But yeah. Cold aside, there are other somewhat more important things going on, mainly the fact that I went back to school after the Christmas holidays. Oh boy... It was pretty hard. Not the studying bit, but waking up in the morning, stepping out into the cold, enduring the long and occasionally tedious hours at school... Sure, it was nice to see some people. Mainly, though, I caught myself thinking that couldn't have given a fuck if I never saw most of them again. The new subjects sound interesting, though. Like Finnish Law, Introduction to Economics... Accounting, on the other hand, is proving to be a killer. Me, with my failed math? You've gotta be kidding me..! And as always, new subjects require new books. So far only two, but those two have already set me back a bit over 100 Eur. What can I say, them books are mighty expensive... All in all, school is cool. Even cooler now that we've moved to the new bigger and better Helia building! WLAN, tons of toilets, modern design, more space than in an airplane hangar, the whole nine yards. Except that it can now take up to a quarter of an hour just to walk from one classroom to another, and the 7 floors, compared to the previous 2 and a half, don't make things any simpler.   To sum things up, life is busy, expensive and sometimes even interesting. So hey, why don't I quit wasting my time, dump links and go to bed... So. Let's start. First of all it seems that EU has come to its senses and suspended the Eur 35M in aid to the Palestinian "Authority", what with the blatant looting and misuse of the funds that has been going on for years. Hey, better late than never. The Danish cartoon farce that has even some of the "moderate" Muslims frothing at the mouth, has taken a turn for the worst when it became apparent that it has been purposefully exaggerated, with 3 exceptionally offensive cartoons added to the original 12 in order to drum up more support in the Muslim countries. And to add some more oil to the flames, read the opinion piece by H. Fitzgerald on how to go about "Countering Jihad". Oh, and just to add some fun to the otherwise somber mood of this particular linkdump, why not try the Death Psychic? It'll foretell how you'll die! Me, I'll apparently kill myself with a sleeping pill overdose. I couldn't have been happier with that result. Why suffer the bitter, humiliating ravages of old age? Go out in style, when it's time.	El Scorchio!
15.01.2006   Oh, how good it feels to be home at last... Yes, I am back from my trip to Europe. And it went fairly well. I am still tired, my circadean rhythm is shot to bits and my liver has had to endure a lot these past few days, but I am generally pleased. I am alive, I've seen new places, and I'm home.   So. As I said in the last post prior to my departure, the plan was to start off with a flight to Paris, then a train to Cologne, and afterwards to Berlin for a day or two of sight-seeing. That was all to be concluded by taking a ferry back to Finland from Rostock. The plan pretty much held, except that instead of going to Berlin I went on straight to Rostock. I just wanted to have a few days of rest at home before going back to school, and was generally feeling tired of wandering about. A hardcore traveler I am certainly not... I am nearly always miserable during the trip, but happy that I went afterwards.   But anyway. The flight went well, despite all the fears and nightmares that have plagued me for three days before actual takeoff. Just before I boarded I gulped down 24 cl of white wine on an empty stomach, almost barfed, and trembled my way on to the plane. But it went well. The flight attendants were awesome, and the view of the sunrise spectacular. After we arrived in Paris, at the De Gaulle airport, and managed to retrieve the luggage (no easy task, that) we took the bus to town and were immediately plunged into the whole tourist attraction cycle. Starting off with the Arc de Triomphe, then on to Louvre... I did them all. Climbed most of them, too. Almost died of a heart-attack doing it, as well... I will not go into details here, let's just say that there's a reason people go to all the trouble seeing all that ancient shit. It's awe-inspiring and truly worth seeing, that's why. Even with all the other morons like you milling about and spoiling the view. All in all France, or at least Paris, is well worth seeing. I don't think it quite lives up to the old saying "See Paris and die", but it's certainly worth seeing and living afterwards. The reason why I don't want to make this a big ass post with all the details is that nobody would read it, and also because I am going to post a separate article with photos and shit that has all the fucking details you can take. To sum up France, it would be so much better without the French. I mean, fucktards, how about some descriptions of works on display in museums and galleries in fucking English as well? Your truly awesome museums and cathedrals are visited by millions of people that don't speak a fucking word of Frog. Grow up! If you're so worried about your cultural identity, why the fuck let 5 fucking million of Arab-African Muslims, self-admittedly quite unwilling to integrate, into the country in the first place? To thin the growing car population? Morons..! Sigh. Ok. Calm down, boy. As you see, I am still rather peeved about the lack of guidance in English in places frequented by tourists...   But back to the trip. After Paris I went on to Cologne, via Brussels, on a Thalys bullet train, traveling at 315 Km/h in first class, drinks and shit included. I made them several liters of Stella Artois poorer, and arrived at granny's nicely soused. And was then poured some more booze. Man, my hangover the next two days was awful and almost ruined my stay in Germany. But that mattered little, as I always found Germany to be quite boring anyway. The main reason I went there was that I wanted to see my grandparents and my aunt... My grandfather especially. Poor bastard. Why did he have to fall (my granpa took a nasty fall in the hallway, bending over to pick up his slippers)? He hates hospitals, and it must be awful to be suddenly so much more helpless. It made me so sad, to see him like that. I just wish I'll have even a quarter of his strength when my time comes to be old and frail. But really doubt it.   Anyway, after Cologne it was off to Rostock, via Hamburg, a train ride that took almost 7 hours. Nice, had a lot of time to read and write, and drink beer. Almost missed my relay train because I ran off in search of a shop to buy a six-pack. I made it to Rostock, the weather was awful, the ship late because of it, and the anticipation of a rough ride wasn't nice. I drank some more beer. Actually, you can sum up the whole ferry trip with one sentence: "I looked outside, saw the waves, and then drank some more". Just repeat for 24 hours... The only thing that sort of saved the trip was the fact that I won about 80 Eur in poker and that the staff was so nice, to the point of one of them remembering me from 3 years back! However, words cannot express how happy I was to be home...   And that's it. I'm home, school starts tomorrow, and "Shaft in Africa" will be on TV in a few minutes. Besides the time is 3am, so I guess I'll just go to sleep. And leave "Shaft" on for background.   Oh, fine... Some links then. Here, check out some really weird bikes in the bike museum... And I guess this will be the top selling toy in France, around 2050. Then go ahead and play this educating geography game. I liked it...	Breakfast of Champions! Typical Paris. Louvre... Eiffel tower was scary. The Vomit Comet.
04.01.2006   Happy New Year to each and all! Yes, I know it's been four days. I know. Of those I spent two whole days groaning from a tremendous, debilitating hangover. It was awful, so awful that at first I thought I was gonna die. Later, it became painfully and disappointingly obvious that I would live. The New Years party was a success then, at least as far as the booze went. Otherwise it was business as usual. Met a lot of friends I so seldom see nowadays, had a good time. Shot some rockets. Oh, and one, brought by Mr. Z, was really special. It was the biggest, baddest bastard legally available in Finland, I think, probably capable of shooting down a medium-size airliner. What made it even more special, however, was that I decided to write up my new year's resolutions (as in, I, [name here], being of sound mind and body, do solemnly promise... etc) on a dinky piece of paper and tape it to the rocket. The idea caught on, and soon the rocket was covered by strips of paper glued to it. We feared it would adversely affect the aerodynamic properties of the rocket, but I think that thing had enough power to fly even if we would have written our new year's promises on clay tablets. Although the resulting shrapnel would possibly have caused some problems...   But anyway. I guess it is time to introduce my Christmas present. I got an iPAQ rx1950 PDA! An awesome little gadget, with WiFi, which will surely prove useful on the trip I'll be embarking on tomorrow... Which brings me to the plan I have kept secret from the blog, so to speak, since it was liable to changes and was uncertain in many ways. Tomorrow, at 7:35 in the morning, I am departing to Paris! Yep, Paris! And that's not all, not by far. After spending a few days exploring Paris, you know, Louvre, Notre-Dame, Pantheon, Eiffel Tower, the whole obligatory shebang, I will take a train to Köln (or Cologne "in English") to visit my grandparents. My grandpa is ailing, and since he's 92 already I don't know if I'll have another chance to see him alive. Anyway, after a few days in Köln I will hopefully hop on a train and chug my way to Berlin. Never been there, so I thought what the heck... See the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate... Not to mention the Berlin Wall or Checkpoint Charlie. I am planing to spend a night, two tops, in Berlin. I'll just use a youth hostel... So yeah, quite a trip, I think... After all that's done and seen, it's a quick train ride to Rostock where I'll take the SuperFast Ferry across the Baltic Sea to Hanko, barely an hour's drive from Helsinki. The only thing that worries me about the whole thing is the flight to Paris. I am notoriously scared of flying... Brr. I hope the Finnair flight training course I took almost a year ago pays off. Anyway, I've gotta run now, seeing some friends at a local bar for a little send off... But I'll be back, chance willing, with a ton of pics and a lot of experiences!   Ack, let's not break with tradition. Here are some links for your digestion... Here's a gallery / site of Craig Mullins, awesome works. Even placed one as a desktop background. And that's a honor. Here's a couple of cartoons I like, too... And hey, for your enlightenment, read 100 things we didn't know this time last year. Then a very impressive list of oops / crash pics. Very nice, but a bit unnerving when you have to get on a plane next morning... Anyway, wish me luck one more time, I'm off.	Go baby, go! Happy New Year, dude! Uh,dude..?

Back to the main page

Death threats and marriage proposals can be sent to:
ASMODEANE  at  GMAIL  dot  COM