Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner

Trick nro 2

Posted by Sari

We were at the Book Fair today. Jukka interviewed Jukka M Heikkilä (again...) about Germania and his other interesting historical novels, and I spent few hours behind the HYFSK stand selling mainly badges to kids. Then we wandered around and met people (Jan and Satu! teen idol and municipal election candidate Mr. Pohjola!). We'll be around again tomorrow afternoon so you know to avoid the stand...

This meant that Martti was getting bored alone at home and when we got home he was getting hyper. I was using a shoehorn to get shoes on and he decided it was a barkworthy dangerous object. To defuse the situation I started to teach him a new trick with the help of the clicker, touching the dreaded shoehorn with his nose. About thirty repetitions and he got it. Lets see if if he remembers it tomorrow...

Itä on itä ja länsi on länsi. Tai pyöräilijät ja jalankulkijat.

Olen sellainen minäkin, pyöräilijä nimittäin. Pyörällä matkasin pari vuotta sitten työpaikalle kesäisin. Ongelmia ei matkalla Talista Kaisaniemeen tullut ennen kuin ihan keskustassa: Elielinaukiolla ja Aseman editse menevälle pyörätiellä ihmiset maleksivat katsomatta lainkaan minne olivat menossa. Välillä oli pinna palaa ja sormeen tulla jännetupen tulehdus kellon jatkuvasta kilkatuksesta.

Kun edellinen pyörä hajosi en ole uutta saanut hankituksi joten nykyään olen kohtaamisissa ollut jalankulkijana, usein kahden koiran kanssa. Ja nyt roadrage tuppaa kohdistumaan pyöräilijöihin jotka aivan valtavalla tilannenopeudella pyyhältävät ohitse niin että tuskin ennättää tajuta että ovat tulossa ennen kun ollaan ohi ja koira säntäämässä joka suuntaan. Meilläpäin on vain ja ainoastaan kevyen liikenteen väyliä jotka on tarkoitettu seikä jalankulkijoille että pyöräilijöille joten edestä ja takaa singahtelevat maastopyörät ovat todellinen ongelma.

Pyörä on mahtava ja ekologinen väline liikkua kaupungissa, ja pällejä pölvästejä jalankulkijoita ja autoilijoita riittää toki heitäkin – Mekulla on mieletön tarina sauvakävelymummoista - mutta pyörän selässä ihmisille tuppaa tulemaan hillitön halu saada kulkea nopeasti ja samaa vauhtia eteenpäin. Jalankulkijat ja autot pysähtyvät ja lähtevät liikkeelle kaupunkiliikenteessä jatkuvasti. Pyörän selästä se hyvän vauhdin tappaminen ja uudelleen kiihdyttäminen vaatii sen verta lihasvoimaa että moni pyöräilijä mielummin huiskahtaa ohi enemmän tai vähemmän laittomasti tai vaarallisesti kuin jarruttaa tai jopa – gasp – astuu alas sieltä satulasta ja taluttaa fillaria. Se kaikkien vihaama pari-kolmekymppinen state of the art hybridipyörällä polkeva mieshenkilö tuppaa myös kovin usein ajamaan aivan sairasta vauhtia. Talin puistotiellä olen pariinkin otteeseen hypännyt syrjään kun psykofillaristi vetää vauhdilla ohi nopeusrajoitusta noudattavista autoista ja blokkaa jalankulkijan nurmikolle.

Viimeisimpiä sydäreitä ovat aiheuttaneet maastopyöräilijät. Kun kiltisti lähtee koiran kanssa pois tieltä (jossa hauva on lyhyessä narussa) metsään jossa se voi fleksissä toteuttaa merkkailu- ja nuuhkailuviettejään niin jostain puskasta polkee maastopyöräilijä päin fleksiä. Puhumattakaan näistä paristakin peelosta jotka kuulemani mukaan ovat viime vuoden aikana ajaneet keskuspuistossa metsästä pahki hevoseen ratsastustiellä.

Suurin osa meistä on jopa päivittäin autoilijoita, pyöräilijöitä ja jalankulkijoista, jotkut vielä skeittaajia tai rullahiihtäjiä. Jotenkin vaan tämän syksyn aikana fillari on allut se väline joka aiheuttaa eniten kauhua kun sen liikenteessä kohtaa. Eli fillarikaistat ajoradoille jonne pyörät nopeutensa puolesta kuuluvat ja maastopyöräilijöille merkityt reitit, kiitos.

Number four: Lois McMaster Bujold's Komarr

Posted by Sari

For some reason this has been surprisingly difficult entry to compose, I know why I find Bujold extremely satisfying writer, but I have been struggling with how to say it. Lois MacMaster Bujold writes space opera and fantasy and lately also both in the romantic subgenre. Most of her formidable collection of Hugo statuettes are for books belonging to her Vorkosigan saga, a series of novels about magnetic but diminutive Miles Vorkosigan, the scion of a noble house on planet Barrayar. Barrayar is struggling to rejoin galactic humanity after centuries of isolation during which it had adopted a monarchical system of government vaguely reminicent of 18^th-century France of perhaps even more 19^th-century Russia.

On one level, Bujold’s Vorkosigan novels are exciting space operatic romps with royalty, conspiracies, secret missions, captivating characters and delightfull derring do with cousin Ivan, that idiot, but what pushes them that extra notch up on my scale is the way Bujold sneaks in quite serious sociological and psychological themes almost casually among the action, romance and comedy. For example, Civil Campaing is a romantic comedy, the story of Miles grandiose and hamfisted efforts to woo his lady love. But it is also a sly look at reproductive rights in a society where male heirs and primogeniture are paramount but which has recently adopted advanced technology like ex-utero gestation.

In my chosen novel, Komarr, similar dual layered structure is at work. On one hand it is a detective story. Miles in his new job as Imperial Auditor is dispatched to Komarr, planet Barrayar has violently annexed to its empire, to investigate an explosion which might be sabotage. On the planet he meets Ekaterin, long-suffering wife of the chief administrator Tien Vorsoisson, a man who seems to be somehow involved in the sabotage. The novel shifts between Miles and Ekaterin’s points of view, and thus in between the well crafted mystery plot culminating on a hostage situation on a space station, there is a believable and terse look at a woman struggling to find her way out of a relationship that has over the years turned into emotional abuse and soul-destroying duty. And somehow Bujold manages to write these both stories seamlessly together. Now that is craftsmanship of highest order.

And I am glad to see that Jo Walton, World Fantasy Award winning author of the best dragon novel ever, Tooth and Claw agrees with me on Bujold’s excellence.

The louts of late

Posted by jukkahoo

So, there I was. Face to face with a foul-mouthed jogging-suit-wearing soccer-dad (or whatever), who was spouting obscenities and promises of a sound trashing. Me, I had Martti on the leash on my left hand and Myy on my right. The soccer-dad had just run over the curb, leaving his 10-12 year old progeny to the backseat.

My crime? Walking over the street. With two dogs. And overweight, which seemed to be the most egrerious of this numskull's complaints, together with the rearranging of my facial features.

I admit, I wasn't using pedestrian crossing, but that was mainly due to the fact that there is none. And as there was no sidewalk either, I was forced to move to the other side. While watching that there were no cars too near for us to go across.

Until the Herr Speedmaster arrived, probably late and driving over the speedlimit. And stepping on the pedal when he saw us not going to stop. Which we did, as I was aghast of getting either one of our wee ones maimed by this... person.

He shouted something from the car, to which I (stoopid, I know) just had to respond. But while he used language not befitting to the company he was keeping, I remained civil. I merely confessed my worries regarding the wellbeing of our dogs.

To which this boor responded with the actions depicted in the first paragraph.

It's been a while since I was threatened with physical violence out of workplace. Not that I'm used to such behaviour at workplace, but there this is not completely uncommon. It was a bit harangueing. The dolt was clearly looking for a fight, even when driving to a practice session with his kid, and was in no mood to listen to reason (which was the reason I didn't need the feel to apologise for running in front of him, which I guess I might have done, if he'd just stopped and complained a bit more civilly). I guess, the main reason for him not puching me, was the fact that I was holding the dogs with both hands, so I was like, you know... pussy unarmed. How sporting of him.

And maybe, somewhere in his boiling turnip of his, there was that realisation, that he was actually just giving his son a life-long lesson of dealing with fat, dog-walking idiots. Maybe repartee was what the doctor ordered. Witty commentary, yes, that's the ticket!

I don't think the sodding simpleton realised that he was on Elisa CCTV all the time. In hindsight, I don't care. Myy and Martti are OK (Martti may be a bit traumatised, he is scared of noises and sudden movements, which this nincampoop provided plenty of) and I didn't suffer the fool. I mean, damages.

Training Day

Posted by Sari

Martti and Myy went to the vet today. Myy had some problems with her teeth, and one of the lumps in her stomach had grown a bit, but nothing too alarming for a dog of her age. Martti had some blood drawn and a dna swab done (very CSI...) for all sorts of genome registers and research projects, and behaved beautifully. Myy got new food better for her teeth and Martti also got some changes in his diet. I feel like part alchemist, part nurse and part lunch lady when I am mixing together all the different things they eat...

Later we went to the airport to practice for our next show. Airport is a big inside space with noise and people and announcements from the PA system, so it simulates an indoor dog-show pretty well. Viivi who was along to get used to crowded places managed to wiggle out of her collar pranced about free for a bit but other than that everything went pretty well.

Martti has also been learning a new trick: he knows how to touch my fist with his paw to get the goodie hiding inside.There is a new picture of him at Marmalade's home page (the feet in the picture are mine!), and here are Viivi (in August) and Myy

Picnic at the Whitehouse

Posted by jukkahoo

It was a quiet, nice weekend. We stayed at home pretty much, occasionally taking the dogsies out for a wee walk. Sunday we had Mekku and Teemu over and we made some sushi. My bad, there was just about enough rice, I guess we could've eaten more.

So, nothing really exiting. There are days like these. Plenty, really.

P.S. Kudos to Marx. Das Kapital, indeed.

Oh, title, yes. I got a nice b-day present last December from my siblings, a combined turntable/CD/mp3-player,  which for a while had been used mainly as a CD-player due to the fact that the apparatus' stylus/needle was somehow damaged at some point. I finally managed to buy a new needle and now we've been reminisceing with some olden goldies from our rather substantive album collection.

Sari's been listening to The Proclaimers, Midge Ure and - dog forbid - Hector, while I've been playing the aforementioned PatW, Drum Theatre and Modern English, none of which I do not have in digital format.

Must get down to the basement and bring up more treasures, especially Cocteau Twins' album of the same name.

Linky

Posted by Sari

As the flu has robbed me of most of my cognitive functions I have been spending my day drinking endless cups of tea and surfing the net. Here is the haul:

As i have been one of the drones who input data to a system, I see how this could happen, but that the first response did not ring a bell makes this funny. Poet dead for 200 years told to pay TV licence.

Great play from our age's best playwright. I have tickets, do you?

I have been reading about history of Africa lately. And I bet reading Babar now would be an interesting experience.

When I was around 12 years, I hated L.M. Montgomery with the passion of a thousand suns. Like most of Finnish girls, I read and loved Anne of the Green Gables. What I could not understand was the betrayal of the later books, of how the smart, impulsive, romantic, determined and driven Anne degenrated into a swooning doctor's wife without a life of her own. Maybe this explains it a little.

Scholars who are also members of LDS church have produced a new book on Mountain Meadows Massacre. Sounds interesting, but do they also cover the cover up?

And I also had time to look at my backlog of the Daily Show. Here is one of Jon's better rants,  from 30th of September, when the bail-out bill failed to pass the House.

Blech :-(

Posted by Sari

If Facebook is any indication, everybody seems to be having a flu right now. And so am I. At the moment I am quite unable to speak. Nothing but weak whispers come out of my mouth. Jukka says he can't hear me on the phone. I am also still running a fever after a whole week of feeling crappy. Blablabla, woe is me. So here are some happy things:

1. Congrats to Hannu for his publishing deal, it is truly honestly humongous news.

2. Here is an older picture of Myy and our Andalusian stallion Aguador. They are cute and make me feel better

Squeaky Clean

Posted by jukkahoo

Been a while since I blogged. Sorry about that.

It's been kinda busy, work is currently fairly important and takes occasionally quite a lot of time, overtime that is. Hopefully that'll change, as I really like my personal time and hobbies as opposed to more money (which certainly is not a bad thing).

Went to Turun kirjamessut and interviewed Jukka M. Heikkilä about his new novel, Germania. It is a really nice piece of historical fiction, taking place in the year 20AD during the reign of caesar Tiberius (hence the man in the cover) and exploring the wilds of German wilderness, where Rome is just the name of the neighbour beyond the river Rhein. Good stuff, with more than a nod toward Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as inspiration for the plot, but in a good way.

Heikkilä has written six novels of Ancient times so far and has really grown into a proper workman of the field. He's not going to be named a Nobel prize candidate any day soon, but he is a very good craftsman, knows his period and yarns a good story. Additional kudos for writing characters that feel real to the period. You can catch our double act at the Helsinki Book Fair the 23rd of October, at the Takauma-stage.

I spend the night at the house of fellow WH and my bloodbrother herra Koljonen, whose horsebrutality was (as always) excellent! Special citation goes to the 17-year old Glengoyne that we finished during the night. Slainte! Other highlight was the revealing of the Wonderful Library of Mr. Koljonen. Very impressive shelving!

Saturday was rather tiresome. No fault due to company, met most of the usual suspects (sadly missed busy master Roimola) and enjoyed great chats with Ipa, TeroY, Juri, TeroN, Anne, Boris, Harri, Insinööri, Markku and the rest. No, the reason for my tiredness was the day before, for I had woken up at around 4somethingAM and worked before hopping on the train and to Turku, where after the fair we went to Hannu's place and... well, ate, bathed and drunk quite a lot. Merry times. Good times.

I would've liked to spend more time in Turku (ah, the Olden Days when I was young and carefree and crashed with people... gone, but not forgotten), but opted for night bus and coming home to tend my fair - if ill - lady. And of course, Martti and Myy.(More dogblogging coming rsn, due to public demand.)

Sunday has been spent mostly recuperating. I needed that. I mean - this Book Fair business is fun and all, but also very demanding.

Some sad news, but more importantly, some really good news. I have decided not to attend Kontext, which takes place in four weeks in Uppsala. Both time and money, but mainly time, are to blame. Too little of both, I'm afraid. So, no fun Swefans, no Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Darn.

"But, alas!", he says triumphiantly. My doctor called and informed that as of this day (Friday to be exact) I am well and truly recovered from my NHL. It's done, it's over. No more.

Me like. I was a bit inconvinienced by my extra catscan, but if I understand correctly, it was only due to the misunderstanding of the original X-Ray person, who scanned just a fraction too little. Hence the need to scan my neck. I actually spoke with someone during the Turku Book Fair about him having to have gone throught the very same thing with another illness. Nevertheless, I was a bit anxious between the scans and the final call.

So, lymphoma over and done with. Yay! Hence the title.

Doesn't of course mean that I would never get another cancer in the future. I know and I will be keeping my eye on things. Like all youse people ought to! Any curious lumps or feeling too tired or painful or something? Go see a doctor and have a check-up. Doesn't matter how old or young you are. Do it anyway. You feel a lot better afterwards, when nothing is found. And doubly better, if something is found and the treatment can begin! Trust me on this.

Tero has already told (that is if you read Turu Mafia Zine)that we're guest-blogging on Ecstatic Days. Yikes! I'm already at the same time shivering with anticipation and utter dread and terror. Should be an interesting experience.

Now, more chilling and chocolate.

Taas yksi osoitus keski-ikäytymisestä

Posted  by Sari

Näissä kunnallisvaaleissa on ehdolla yllättävän komea rypäs ystäviä ja hyvänpäiväntuttuja.