Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner

PeBloWriMo Day Eighteen: Åcon2 is only 73 days away!

Posted by jukkahoo

Are you coming to Åcon2? What kind of programming would you like to see? What would you be willing to do yerself? How does William Shatner karaoke sound like? Post-Colonialistic SF/F? More Never Mind the Buzzaldrins, with humming part intact?

I'd really like to hear from you guys about the programming part of the convention. And anything else that might interest you. I meaning here of course the lot of us. This more than any other con in Finland is a group effort. It's not quite relaxacon, but relaxed and loose, fun and games, interesting and proper fandom.

All comments are REALLY appreciated, both here and @sci.fi. Now, I need to go and see how Jesus people train their young ones on channel FST5.  Digidigi.

PeBloWriMo Day Seventeen: No rest for the wicked

Posted by jukkahoo

Rest has been in short supply lately. Move is still affecting life more than I'd care to admit and work seems to be draining the leftover juices pretty effectively. There's couple of conventions to arrange: Åcon2 and (admittedly a bit more distant) Finncon 2009. And everything else.

This weekend was once more one of little rest. We cleaned Taimistontie pretty much as clean as we possibly could, ate pretty decent Chinese at nearby Mr. Lau (Sari: "They have General Tso's Chicken!!!") and went back to clean the old place some more, and finally threw away some leftover crap from the balcony. We just went to sauna and now I feel like relaxing and taking it easy. In ten hours I should be back at work, though.

Next weekend we'll be in Hämeenlinna, in order to celebrate Fionna's wedding, so not too much rest there either, I'd hazard to guess. The weekend after that is Yhteistyökokous in Tammere, so... You know. I guess I might get some sleep in March.

"Ah, Myy! What did you say? The evening tea is ready! OK, I shall be on my way..."

PeBloWriMo Day Sixteen: Wool

Posted by jukkahoo

We've been married for seven years now with Sari. Yay! In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, we cleaned up the old flat in Taimistontie, with huge help from Mekku and Ylva and not so much from Saga and Theta. Thanks for the entertainment, though.

Still things to do there, but increasingly less than before. Horrid work this cleaning business. How on earth did we manage to live among all that filth? The things you find when you've cleared out the furnitures and... stuff. Just mindboggling.

And then there was the Grand Premiere of God of Atlantis (Atlantiksen jumala/Gudan av Atlantis)! Wahey! What a motion picture supergavanza! As I said few days ago, I had some reservations before, but little of that is there now. Sure, there are lots of things in the film that could be better, but as sheer fun movie-making magic and friendship effort: PURE GOLD! It looked true, music was inspired (maestro Jyrki Tudeer!) and script that felt at times less than brilliant (my bad) was solid. Great one-liners, good humour and some truly magnificient performances, none so supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as the one by none other than that Dean of physical comedy, Tapio Ranta-Aho!!! I felt the pain only a man can feel at the end of the battle with invisible Jouni Kaartinen. Oumpf.

Great fun, really. Distributed by Flamemountain films, wherever such funtastic films are being sold. I'm guessing from Petri himself, and maybe Pieni Leffakauppa, dunno.

 

PeBloWriMo Day Fiveteen: Sad

Posted by jukkahoo

Tough day today. Myy's father, the inimitable P. Mommsen has passed on and joined the choir invisible. You will be missed, Vötkäle.

PeBloWriMo Day Fourteen: I'm Not Scared

Posted by jukkahoo

Days keep on being packed with labour, both at work and at home. Today I spent a great deal of time at the archives of Helsinki City Treasury. As some of you might know, the Banking Hall of the City Treasury is being rented out, as a cafe or restaurant or whatnot (as long as it is a respectable business and will offer a "meeting place for all members of the community to enjoy"), and this'll mean some serious carrying stuff from place A to place B. Like from the archives, where at least five kilometers of paper and folders will have to find a new place to gather dust. (Of course, as these archives are properly maintained, there is luckily rather little dust around.)

And there I was, moving stuff and packing boxes. When I got home, we did some arranging here as well. We moved the Tiimari-book case from Taimistontie to the new living room and then I organized the basement. Looking good that one, even if I say so myself.

All of this meant that when everything was finally done, it was rather late and I was far too tired to go to the mafia meeting. No news from there, then. I just flopped on the sofa and plodded thru the channels to see whether there's be something worthwhile to watch. Nothing, except I'm Not Scared.

No, not the music video of Eight Wonder, that barely adequate Patsy Kensit vehicle before... Emmerdale(?), or even the Pet Shop Boys version (they of course penned this only decent song Eight Wonder ever recorded - and BTW, those who own a record player and this single, try listening to it on 33 RPM!), but an Italian film from 2003 by Gabriele (Mediterranio) Salvatores.

Io non ho paura is set in Southern Italy in the 1970's and tells a story of Michele, a 10-year-old boy, who discovers a wee lad of his own age hidden in a hole in the ground near an abandoned farmhouse. Michele realises soon, that his father is part of a kidnapping gang who are holding Filippo for ransom, but at the same time are treating the boy with cruel abandonment. I'm Not Scared is part coming-of-age story, part family story, with some faint traces of magical realism (well, really faint) and foreboding doom.

I was certain the film had an unhappy ending and for a brief moment there was a tangible possibility for a really classic 1970's ending, but (fortunately?) the story continued for a moment. Really good film, with strong performances from the two youngsters.

Beautiful scenery: dry, sunny Mediterranean fields of golden wheat and clear blue skies. There was also melodrama and evocative music, but as a whole, this was a really good movie and I'm glad I had the chance to see it. Thanks YLE Teema! Once again.

And happy Valentine's Day, belatedly. Especially to you, dearest one!

 

PeBloWriMo Day Thirteen: The Motion Picture

Posted by jukkahoo

As has been the habit of recent years, Flame Mountain Studios will release a brand new film. Due to some technical procedures, the anxiously anticipated masterpiece God of Atlantis (Atlantiksen jumala) was not ready before Xmas, but now it is finally here!

As a matter of fact, the Premiere will be this Saturday (16th of February) at the Multiplex Benita. I had hoped GooGooMuck, who is organising the event, would have at least a passing mention of the happening on their website, but no. Nothing.

What I know is, that starting at 6PM Helsinki University Science Fiction Club will show a veritable 'Smorgersboard' of movies relating to Atlantis and its Ammazzing secrets! The opening number will be the aforementioned God of Atlantis, starring Matti Tanska as heroic Jouni Kaartinen, Veikko Laeslehto as ingenious engineer Lauri Mutteri, Timo-Jussi Hämäläinen as dastardly villian  colonel Taisto Kansa and Yours Truly as  docent Arimo Kaskelotti, inventor extraordinaire.

Yes, we're talking about a sequel (of sorts) for the 1950's b/w film Warlord of Saturn (Saturnuksen sotavaltias). God of Atlantis (1967) is a 50-minute long fantastical film, filled with derring do's and excitement! Submersibles! Adversaries worse than lizardmen, aliens or even alien lizardmen! You'll be glued to your seat! Provided we can get some cheap glue somewhere. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you want your money back! Another brilliant film by that  auteur Petri Hiltunen!

So, this Saturday at around 6PM at Benita. Benita is located at Leppäsuonkatu 9 B, 1st floor (that's ground level here in Finland).

Basically it's behind Clubhouse, but due to the ever ongoing buildingprojects, the best way to get there is to walk along the Leppäsuonkatu, provided one is coming from the direction of Kamppi.

I haven't seen the picture myself. It was, as usual, fun making the film, even if we had few problems along the way. I don't have really high expectations of my own performance, I felt at times that I was a bit flat while delivering my lines, but you never know. What I do know, is that the movie is filled with some glorious performances! Just you wait!

I hope director-screenwriter-producer-actor-FX-maker-renaissanceman Hiltunen will have some copies of the film for sale. I need to get myself a few copies!

PeBloWriMo Day Twelve

Posted by jukkahoo

"Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." There is a Clinton documentary on channel Nelonen (That's Four in Finnish) and the makers had decided to use the "famous" Clinton ditty from the Presidential election. Irritating earworm that one.

Long day (again), few hours overtime at work, on legs and looking dutiful. Had a long talk with a retired municipal construction chief, whose stories were entertaining and had no connection to the one previously told. Best example of steam of consciousness I've seen for a while. Very entertaining. Now I know where to go if I ever happen to find myself five kliks from Mikkeli toward Mäkkylä. Or something like that.

Darn. I already forgot the place. *Sigh*, there goes that invitation.

Book cases. So far we've shelved speculative fiction and comics. Study is now painted and soon filled with cases. Now we need to decide how we're going to categorize our books. I had the idea of putting historical books to their own subsection. Now all we need is to determine, which books are historical and which not. Where to draw the line? Pre what? Decisions.

When study starts to take shape (as in El Gordo finds its Final Destination), we can move the thriller/mystery/crime case to its rightful place and finally finish with living room. We might even be ready to entertain people before February is over... Shh, don't tell Sari, as she is not going to like the idea...

A while ago someone (probably a very young fan of fantasy literature) asked an almost innocent question on the RisingShadow bulletin board. The question was something along the lines: "Who is the best Finnish fantasy author?" I volunteered to help. In Finnish

Paras Suomalainen fantasiakirjailija on Eero Tammisalpa. Hänen mestarillinen, neliosainen fantasiatrilogia Yyrin maan tarinoitaTM on täysin verrattavissa johonkin Terryl Brooksin tai David Edsingin parhasimpiin teksteihin. Paitsi että on jopa ehkä parempi, INHO.

Itse kirjoissahan on paljon juonta, joka kertoo nuoren Arielin kasvukertomuksesta ja muusta filosofisesta, mutta mielenkiintoisesta kasvamisesta. Aluksi Arjel on yksinäinen paimespoika, joka paimentaa kedolla laumaansa, mutta kun hän saa kuulla olevansa kadonneen valtakunnan, Ambergrisin kruununperillinen, ja että hänen setänsä ei olekaan hänen setänsä, vaan Abregrisin valtakunnan kansleri, alkaa seikkailu, jolla ei ole loppua, Tai ainakin niin toivoisi!

Ariell matkustaa yhdessä Tremblay-enonsa kanssa ympäri tunnettua maailmaa: tapaa kauniin, mutta petollisen käärmekansan kuningatteren Margosin, sekä kauniin, mutta salaperäisen nuoren prinsessa Seitikin, joka kuitenkin rakastuu Arvelliin ja he menevätkin myöhemmin naimisiin, mutta vasta kirjasarjan viimeisessä osassa.

Arijel oppii myös miekkailemaan, jossa häntä opettaa rehellinen varas, Korppi, jonka oikea salaisuus on hänen henkilöllisyytensä: oikeasti hän on Murgosin aviopuoliso ja käärme-kansan kuningas Plissken! Korppi on kuitenkin rehellinen ja hyvä, vaikka Arielinin setä epäileekin tätä vakoilijaksi.

Lopussa Ariell kohtaa Pahan kunikaan Foulin, joka on tällä väli varastanut prinsessa Leinikin, mutta Ariel pelastaa tämän ja he menevät naimisiin.

Tammisola on kirjailijana erittäin omaperäinen ja ainutlaatuinenkin Suomelaisessa fantatasiakirjallisuudessa. Erityisesti hänen tapansa käyttää kieltä ja sanoja on omaperäinen ja aintulaatuinen. Suosittelen tutustumaan häneen, suomen parhaimpaan fantasiakirjailiaan!

Skifissä paras kirjailija on J0onna Sinisola, mutta jotkut pitävät hänen teoksiaan liian älykkäiksi ollakseen hyvää skifiä. En ymmärrä!!11!1

Slightly later someone else asked to be informed about the history of science fiction. Again, I volunteered to help. Also in Finnish

Ah, tästähän voisi kirjoittaa pitkältikin, mutta laitetaan vain ihan muutama avainajatus ja kirj(ilija), jottei tule tehtyä kaikkea työtä valmiiksi. Eli siis:

Tieteelliskirjallisuuden (joka siis on se korrektein suomen kielinen tapa ilmaista tuo alkuperäinen sci-fi-sana) isäksi on usein sanottu Issac Asimovia, jonka kuuluisin sci-fi-kirja lienee Steven Spielbergin ohjaamana elokuvana tunnettu 2001-avaruus seikkailu. Siinä astronautit löytävät kuusta suuren monoliitin, jossa asuu avaruuslapsi (näkyy myös leffan julisteessa).

Ennen Asimovia on ollut myös ns. proto-kirjailijoita, kuten Daniel Defoe, jonka sci-fi-versio Robinson Crucoesta (eli Avaruusperhe Robinso) oli myös esikuvana sci-fi-elokuvalle Lost in Space, jossa esiintyy Perjantai-niminen robotti. Toinen kuuluisa kirjailija on Mary Shelly, jonka kuuluisin teos lienee Frankesteinin hirviö, jossa esiintyy kuuluisa hirviö Frankenstein, joka syntyy ruumiitten eri kappaleista jotka on liitetty yhteen salamaniskulla, joka tulee pilviin lähetetystä leijasta (tämä viittaa Amerikan kuuluisaan presidenttiin Benjamin Frankliniin, joka oli myös kuuluisa keksijä (keksi muummuassa sähkölampun).

Nykykirjailijoista kuuluisampia ja tärkeimpiä ovat: Richard K. Dick (jolta on SUomennettu paljon kirjoja, kuten Blade REUnner, Minoruty Report ja Paycheck), Stanislaw Lemm (jonka kuuluisin teos on Solaris tai Stalker), Alaistair Reynolds (kuuluisien Kulttuuri-kirjojen luoja, mm. Pelaaja ja Ampiaistehdas) ja SUomalaisista esimerkiksi sellaiset kirjalijat kuten Johanna Sinisalo (Pessi ja Illuusia) sekä Nimbus-kirjoja kirjoittaneet Tero Laine ja Anne Leinonen (jotka ovat kirjoittaneet myös Kauhua nimimerkillä Boris Hurtta).

Sci-fille tavallisinta ovat teemat kuten kuolemattomuus, teknologian kehitys ja tietokoneiden ylivalta (mm. 1948, dystopia.kirja maailmasta, jossa siat ja muut ilkeät eläimet ottavat vallan tietokoneiden avulla), robotit ja avaruusalukset (kuten Robert e. Heinleinin kirjassa Starship Troopers (suomeksi nimellä Seitsemän miehen sota) johon Tähtien Sotakin perustuu isolta osalta.

Minusta parhaita kirjoja ovat juuri nuo edellä mainitut ja myös Alfred Besterin Babylon 5-kirjat tai fRank Herbertin Dyyni-kirjat ja Ursula Le Quinin Maameri-kirjat.

Älykkäitä ja monimerkityksellisiä kirjoja jaelokuvia monet.

En ole kuitenknaan koskaan pitänyt Tähtien Sodasta (se on lapsellista ja lasermiekat ovat typerä keksintö) enkä Arthur C-Clarken Robotti-kirjoista.

Sitten olisi tietysti miljoona muutakin, mutta lopetan tähän, että muutkin saa kirjottaa.

There was also an entertaining discussion and lots of helpful hints for the uninitiated. Not to mention some, who didn't get the joke.

It is beginning to look like home!

Posted by Sari

Here is Jukka  two months ago trying to visualise how this new living-room is going to look like:

And this is how it looks now:

--

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Posted by jukkahoo

We're back! And since Sari already blogged, I will not linger here too long. Today was The Most boring one at current workplace. Stunningly boring. Tomorrow, overtime... Better get some zzzzzzzz's.

PeBloWriMo Day Nine

Posted by jukkahoo

Saturday! What a wonderful word. Could've been slightly less tasking, but when you move, you're forced to work a bit extra on your freetime.

Today we went and bought some shelves and accoutrements. Teemu and I drilled holes to the walls and attached Lundia ladders to it, in order to put shelves on top of the smaller sofa. Looks good. Then I spent some six hours stacking the shelves with genre books. And when I thought I was done, I found out, that the last box labelled as "Majora SF-3" included fair number of books by authors beginning with letter K.

And I still have no idea where the box "SF-8" is. I'm hoping the aforementioned "Majora SF-3" is that one, just mislabelled. Otherwise I might find somewhere a box, that has MORE booksies with authors beginning witk letter K (or L for that matter). When I look at the shelves, I notice missing boks. Where the heck is one of the Deathdealer-novels? And Adam Roberts' Polystom? And are these really my only books by Ian McDonald? Or Jack Vance?

One author that keeps popping up from all the wrong boxes is Michael Moorcock. When I was unpacking the M's (quite a few of those, I may have to see whether there are more M's than S's, or W's. I'm betting for M's, from MacAuley to Mäkelä. Anyway, as I was saying, Moorcock pops up everywhere) I found only two or three books by Mr. Moorcock. Then some started coming from the "Majora"'s. And "Series". And then just wherever. Golden Barge was with Z's and Y's.

I have continued to "purge" the library for the basement relocation center. Some go there due to the overall condition, for example most of the Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not WIlliam) ones are badly damaged, some with other considerations: doubles, "classics", Russian copies, "unlikely to read this decade, but cannot possibly part with", "read it and want to keep the book, but not necessarily in full view" etc.

Sunday will be fairly active again. We're heading back to Taimistontie, in order to do some final cleaning up. As it happens, we're not due to to release the old Casa Tali until the 19th, so we haven't been extra biusy with that one.  Hopefully it's slightly clearer skies tomorrow, as there are no lamps left.

Slowly, but surely, this is turning into home. Which is nice.

PeBloWriMo Day Eight - Weekend Edition

Posted by jukkahoo

Another week, another weekend. I quite like weekends. They have this "OK, I don't have to wakeup at some #@%!! hour of the night in order to go to work" part that I personally find most appealing. Also, they tend to include this "G&D$½i£!! I don't have to work for three more hours until I can go home and get some sleep, except that I can't really, since I have to take the little doggie out for a walk etc" part that I cherish a great deal, too.

Been shelving books this evening. I decided to cull them a bit. Only to the basement though, as the mere thought of giving up books for good good felt... wronk. I'm sure we have a number of good books that we could possibly part with, so it's possible that at some point I might put up some kind For Sale list.

BTW, who is responsible for what kind of programming there is on eedjit box on Fraidays? It felt like the best thing on today was The Core and that is utter crap.

Meme du jour. About books, of course:

Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
Augh. It's fairly difficult to answer this one these days, but if I'm being honest here I'd be forced to answer modern fantasy here.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
Really don't care. MMP's are cheapest, so I tend to go that way most often. Unless it is a book by someone I have to have his/her latest asap.

Heinlein or Asimov?
Ha!

Hitchhiker or Discworld?
Hitchhiker. Read quite a few Discworlds, but haven't done so since way back when, Interesting Times? Burned out on humfan when I read them extensively for my "classic" articles on the subject.

Bookmark or Dogear?
Either one, but mostly bookmarks. Our books are for use (käyttöesineitä), so earmarking is not verboten here. I've been using Tähtivaeltaja cards for the marking, but since the move unearthed my Monty Python collectible cards, I'm going to plant few of those between the covers of some "To-Be-Read" -books.

Magazine: Asimov's Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
Neither really. I understand Asimov's been really good in recent years, but there is just too much short stories to read with various collections and anthologies already. I also have several volumes of unread F&SF in the cellar. One of these days.

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
Yes to first and more or less random otherwise, except series in sequence.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
Mostly keep (eh!), but I'm ready to sell if the price s right.

Year's Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
I think I have only couple of Dozois'. 

Keep dustjacket or toss it? Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Keep, both tend to read them without them.

Short story or novel?
Mainly novels, but once in a while I read shorter fiction. I read quite a few of them when I was editing Uuskummaa?.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
I've seen all movies... Neither, again.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Force myself to read until chapter breaks.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Paul Clifford or a fairy-tale? I guess I'd choose life.

Buy or Borrow?
Buy. I'm drawn that way.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
All of these, though most of my bying is done without clear planning, so I guess browsing is the most common method.

Lewis or Tolkien?
Tolkien.

Hard SF or Space Opera?
Space Opera, by way of knock-out in the First Round. Charles Sheffield's YA hc is just about my league, so I tend to keep it simple, stupid.

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Anthologies.

Hugo or Nebula?
Both have horrible flaws, but I'd guess totally randomly, that I've been reading more Nebulas these past years than Hugo's. Was different way back then, during my salad days.

Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
Can I say Next Wave?

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy ending. We hates cliffhangers, especially Iif we're not notified of them in advance. Hate reading series unless I have the whole sequence at hand when starting.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
Mornings I can barely find time (or energy) to stay awake. Afternoons are mostly spent at work, so I think nighttime it is then.

Standalone or Series?
Both are OK.

Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
Urban sounds far too much "Charles De Lint" -like and while I'd like to like his (and similar authors) books, I tend not to. Unless they are Jim Blaylock or Tim Powers. Apples and oranges, again. Depends the mood I'm in.

New or used?
Used for gods sake. If all of this (he says with a whisk of his left hand towards the shelves) would've been bought brand new we'd have less than tenth of the books. ("What the?!" say all those who helped moving all of this last weekend.).

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
I tend to spout my opinions about good books more often than I might be allowed to, so this may be difficult, but I shall answer Robert R. Chase's The Game of Fox and Lion.

Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)
No order here and I'm sure I'm leaving out some books, though I actually may have read fairly small number of books last year.

Dan Simmons: The Terror

- very nice, too long though.

J.Pekka Mäkelä: Nedut

- loved the 80 Suomi-Rock portions.

Sean Stewart: Matkijalintu (Mockingbird)

- strong, solid performance.

Tamara Siler Jones: Valley of the Soul

- good entertainment.

Victoria Strauss: The Arm of the Stone & The Garden of the Stone

- been meaning a long time to read these two, liked them a LOT.

Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)
Orderless again. This time it looks like this:

J. R. R. Tolkien: Lord of the Rings

Darrell Schweitzer: The Mask of the Sorcerer

John Brunner: The Sheep Look Up

China Miéville: Perdido Street Station

Tim Powers: The Declare

Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)
Cannot say, really. This couldn't possibly be a proper listing as far too many great stories would be unmentioned. I guess it'd have to include a short a short story by Robert E. Howard, Jeff VanderMeer, Kelly Link, J. G. Ballard, Holly Phillips, Tove Jansson, Paul Di Filippo, Fredric Brown, Boris Hurtta, Darrell Schweitzer, Jeffrey Ford... That's about five, right?