Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner

Like Watching a Train Wreck, part two

Posted by Sari

I don't suppose one should really see Scott of the Antarctic and Emmanuel Sandhu in analoguous terms, but there defenitely was a similar feeling of dread while watching him implode on ice and as I had finishing the Scott bio.

Why, yes, skating is back on the menu.

Pairs' Short was very high standard, lots of good clean performances. Again, I thought Petrova/Tikhonov could have edged into first place before Totmianina/Marinin but judges saw it differently. The margins were so small however, that there is no basis for crying foul. The reigning champions did IMO get a gift by being fourth.  The fall was in a major element (side by side triple toeloops), it was very disruptive and they do not have superior basic scating or other elements to counter the fall. So when Zagorska/Siudek, Obertas/Slavnov, Zhang/Zhang and Langlois/Archetto all scated good programs with no or only minor faults, I can't see why they are as high as they are. There is, of course speed, which is impossible to evaluate on the telly, but are the really that much faster? My favourites of this batch were Zagorska/Siudek who had one of the greatest skates of their lives and Langlois/Acrchetto, though I can see how the fact that they have a throw triple salchow when others are doing loop or even flip might count against them. All Chinese teams have big throws and twists, but there the performances feel sloppy and their spinning is still rather bad. And can I just say that Pang is scarily skinny?

And because there was no Australian Open, Eurosport showed all compulsary dances. Yay! Midnight Blues looks like a very interesting dance, not that many steps but lots of changes of hold and neat details which us less knowledgeable about intricacies of dance can access. I especially liked the Ina Bauers and that layback-layover dip at the end of the sequence. And I think Beanie and Pocket rocked, this is definitely a dance for them.

Men's Short

At this point my flu was getting the better of me, and was not paying as much attention as I should have, but let me just say that Plushy is king, Joubert was electric, Lindemann kicked ass,  Johnny Weir's skating looks as good on the television as he does live, I'd pike for Mike and Stephane spins like a top. And yes, my heart bleeds for Sandhu, who left Dr. Sandhu to the qualifier and showed up as Emmanuel Hyde as well as for Ilia who did not do much better. Actually, as my bete noir Tim Goebel had boot problems and did not qualify to worlds, there are no skaters I actually dislike here and can cheer everybody (almost) equally :-)

Like watching a train wreck

Posted by Sari

Gah! I just deleted this really long post by accident. I hate when that happens...

The post was about Sir Ranulph Fiennes' biography of Captain Scott which I just finished. Reading it was doubly weird because in addition to the normal fascination/anxiety dicothomy I have when reading about things I know will end up badly was added another layer by the fact that the French-Finnish polar adventurer Dominick Arduin is missing and believed to be dead on her way to the north pole. I noticed myself trying very hard to keep detached from the narrative and not to invest any feeling in the reading experience to be able to finish it. (I never finished Cherry-Garrard's bio because it was too awful to think of him finding out that Scott, Wilson and Bowers were dying in their tent eleven miles south of One Ton Depot where he was waiting for them.)

Fiennes bio is a necessary but not wholly successful corrective to Roland Huntford's "Amundsen and Scott". It has become evident that Huntford's debunking of Scott did use its sources selectively and draw from them conclusions which are iffy at best. Fiennes answers Huntford's accusations in this biography, and because of that I think that it is necessary to be somewhat familiar with earlier debate to be able to enjoy the book fully. Fiennes goes on some detours debunking Huntford which may be quite bemusing if the arguments are not familiar.

That said, Fiennes does admirable job in rehabilitating Scott from a bumbling imperialistic amateur to one of the great explorers of the last heroic age. His narrative is engaging and his first hand experiences give him an invaluable insight to the psychological and physiological changes humans undergo in extreme circumstances. His experiences of manhauling in the Antarctic also concretely disprove some of Huntford's accusations of incompetence. He also convincingly shows Scott to have been more flexible more ready to try new and different methods than has previously been supposed. I do, however, still think that even though the decision to use ponies was quite rational and based on previous experiences, the dismissal of dogs after the Discovery expedition's experiences was more to do with the fact that Scott did not _then_ have anyone along who knew how to handle and feed them than for their unsuitability for the job.

Unfortunately there are also problems. Firstly, because neither Huntford or Fiennes are historians, both argue from sources without really applying rigorous source critique to all of them. Both tend to be more critical to those sources that disagree with their interpretation. Fiennes is undoubtably right that in a closed community where survival is dependent on getting on with each other letters and diaries become places where negative feelings where given free reign, and thus are not really representative of how individuals really felt about each other. But if lows are unbearably low in the antarctic, then supposedly highs are also sublimely high, and similar caution should be used while quoting the glowing assessments given in same diaries. Fiennes also criticises Huntford's use of negatively tinted memoirs written long after the expeditions, but fails to note that the caveats he feels Huntford ignores apply also to those more Scott-friendly memoirs he uses. The intervining time, the reputation of Scott and the mentality of the authors should be taken into account in all cases.

Secondly, Fiennes is so incensed of the debunkers who have taken over the popular image of Scott that he feels it necessary to go into personal details, transcribing at one point a conversation where a fellow biographer called Huntford 'cracked'. This is totally unnecessary. The cases can be argued on merit and evidence without going into the personalities of those engaged in debate, and doing so actually weakens Fiennes' case as it makes it seem he has a personal ax to grind.

***

I also finally finished Tom Arden's fantasy quintett Books of Orokon. I have to admit that the books were a chore from time to time, mainly because I did not connect with the main characters at all. That said, the quintett is incredibly ambitious and linguistically rich quest-story. Arden's eye for charicature and the grotesque is great, and his experiments with style and narrative mostly come off. China Miéville would probably not like much his type of intertextuality which does bring attention to the artificiality of the novel's world, but I found the literary allusions quite interesting and illuminating. The best I can do is say that it is like Mervyn Peake meets Georgette Heyer meets Charles Dickens with rich possibilities for a PoMo or queer readings. Not everybody's cup of tea, and as I said, being a fan of character-driven fiction the books did leave me a bit cold. Even so, defenitely worth reading.

And last - and least I have to say - I Finished The Picador collection of contemporary American Short Stories. What can I say. Blah. Four out of forty-two were marginally interesting, none do I feel a need to ever read again. But I will persevere. I think I will try some fantasy next...

WOT? No more port wine?

Posted by jukkahoo

So I went and saw a doctor today. This time he was the one blond (dyed) haired middle-aged dude, whom I had seen once before, but I can't seem to place him. Where was this and why? Named Teerijoki (or close, actually more like "Teeri..mmumble.. How do you do?") apparently.

Had a wee chat, where he told that as far as he can see, the Monday's pictures look fine and dandy, but since there was no statement from the X-ray doctor, they'd phone me next week with the results. As to the other tests, everything else was well within the normal parameters - even my white cell levels, though they could be a bit higher - except my "virtsahappo" (seems to be uric acid), which was 509 (as opposed to normal range of approx. 190-460). This is a clear indication of a possible gout. A gout!

No more port wine, then.

As well as no more smoking. Dr. Teerimumble encouraged me not to start smoking, since (and this here was a bit cryptic in my mind) "one plus one is three in this case". Come to think of it, it makes perfect sense. Occasional cigar now and then is not out of the question, since "secondary smoking is everywhere and one does inhale the bad stuff once and a while".

I had to ask about excessive drinking, but that apparently is up to the Big Boss ie. Sari. I consider excessive drinking being a bit more than few pints of beer at St. Urho's Pub every other week.

All in all, this looks very promising. Dr. Teerimumble said that at this point the risk of renewal is about 20% (after three months) and it'll slide all the way down to about 5% within the first year. Three years from now we're talking about a possibility of one percent or less. I think I'll survive...

Hotsipal visit

Posted by jukkahoo

Today I visited the Good Old Cancer Hospital and underwent some check-ups ie. blood and a CT.  And no, I have nothing to report on the health-side of things, since I won't see a doctor until Thursday. So you just HAVE TO WAIT until that. I'll report ASAP.

Lots of needlemarks. A prick there, a prick here and a rather frustrated nurse, who apologised profusely for sticking a needle and then some into my arms. Couldn't find a blood vessel that didn't burst up the moment she tried to syringe some liquid to it. It really hurts when a needle is being injected to your hand. Imagine that four times. Finally (after six futile attempts) she was able to find a suitable vein from my left arm.

Which burst right open the moment the scan was done and the iodine supply was shut. Luckily so. Blood all over the place. Didn't stay for the clean-up. Waiting for Thursday and the verdict - fingers crossed.

Kothar - Barbarian Swordsman was "eyeofargonish" to the very end. This really makes most rpg-fiction look like Nobel-prize contenders. Terribly satisfying to see, that you can get published, even if you don't have a single intelligent or new idea in your head. And yes, it's sad too.

Weekly book report

Posted by Sari

Huh, back to English...

Been reading again:

Anne Perry is a prolific mystery novelist whose books usually take place in Victorian London. Death of a Stranger is one in a series featuring a private detective William Monk and his wife Hester solving mysteries. I read around four or five of these in States, but though they were well enough written and I liked the "Law and Order" like structure which followed the cases through all the way to the courts, they were more than usually repetetive. I picked up this one mainly because the blurb at the back promised me that Monk who has been suffering from amnesia from the beginning of the series, would finally get his memory back. And it was on sale.  Unfortunately, the novel seemed a bit plodding, and the unremitting focus on the immorality and duplicity of Victorian morals was rather heavy-handed. So I think this will be the last Perry novel for me.

(And I did not know this when I started reading her few years ago, but there is a six-degrees type rather morbid link to Tolkien. Do you know what? And googling is cheating...)

I also finished another mystery, Liza Marklund's superhit Sprängaren (The Bomber), her first novel about crime journalist Annika Bengzon. This I liked quite a bit. It was fast moving, well plotted and interesting mystery.  And compared to Perry, the feminist issues were much better handled. Defenitely a keeper.

Which is something I can't say about Michael Moore's rant against the Republican America, Stupid White Men.  I can see why it was a hit, there is something liberating about just reading a moderately clever rant against something you are also against. Just lock away all critical faculties and enjoy the feeling of outrage for a bit. I mean, the other side has had their populists, so people like Franken and Moore are doing nothing new. But honestly, as an analysis it leaves a lot to be desired and the relentless partinsanship gets a bit tiresome at some point.

Next up, Russo, more Arden and Ranulph Fiennes writing about Captain Scott.

Oh, and Jukka has his first check-up since January on monday, bloodtests, CT-scan, the works. Fingers crossed...

Ja må han leva

posted by Sari

Vi är lite för sent, men vi vill i alla fall önska en glad födelsedag till Johan.

Och den var det första svenskspråkiga anteckningen I muffins. Kanske den sista också, jag har ett tvingande behov att checka hela tiden om språket som jag använder är korrekt. Varför är det? Jag gör en massa fel i engelskan också, och inte har jag en likadan känsla med det. Jag är nöjd om människor bara förstår vad jag försökte at säga. Jag är inte ensam med det här problemet. Nästan alla finskspråkiga finnar som jag känner har det svårt att använda språket de har studerat minst för sex år.

Sanningen ju är, att min svenskkunskap inte är på de samma nivå som min engelska, men om jag kan läsa böcker på svenska, snacka med min mamma på svenska och även använda svenskan i SF Bokhandeln, då borde jag ju ha tillräcklig mycket förtroende till mina kunskaper att skriva det också. Och därför har jag inte tagit ut min ordbok eller grammatik, de fel som här finns, må vara. Om ni bara förstår vad jag letade efter...

Look sharp lads, the huns are coming

Posted by Sari

It is a bit strange way to start a post, because after all Finland was Germany's ally in the First World War, but who cares. What brought this on is that there is a huge wall of snow outside our windows that blocks the view to Pitäjänmäentie. Especially in the evening it feels a bit like being in a trench waiting for the big push. Well, a really comfortable trench with electricity and indoor plumbing...

Apparently the whole of southern Finland has about twice as much snow compared to an average winter, and because city budget is very tight, there is not enough of money to pay for carting away all the snow piles formed when the roads are cleaned. Besides which the usual snow dumps are filling already. So we have a three-to four meter high elongated snow hillock on the sidewalk. Kids are having a field-day, and we are taking bets as to how long it takes for all the snow to melt.