VL

Weather: +35 degrees Celsius, scorching sunshine.

Last Friday and Saturday there was the annual Old Books Fair (well, the literal translation would be the Days of Old Literature).
( War and Love in sweltering heat )

Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods

jokermage mentioned this book couple of years back so when I found a copy, I decided to give it a try.
( Read more... )

Steve Lowe & Alan McArthur - Is it just me or is everything shit?

Even if the writers may have a couple of good points, this tome is mostly composed of griping for whining's sake. Nuff said.

Patrick Delaforce - Smashing the Atlantic Wall
( Logistics on the back of the Bulge )

Lori Schiller & Amanda Bennett - The Quiet Room

Lori Schiller got schizophrenia in the 1980's and was lucky enough to mostly recover from it. Unlike most others she decided to collaborate in making a book about her experiences.
( When the voices in her got tough, she refused to seek help at first )

More papercraft and especially related....
( Cut for length and couple of other reasons )

I actually spent the last sunday making more paper models but this batch includes also couple of older ones

( Cut for those who are tired of the subject )

The Library House took part of this year's Mahdollisuuksien Tori (Market of Possibilities) again. Partially I'm to blame. The event itself went fine, actually, although in the personal level, it could have been better.

The new organizers had apparently decided that everybody should be behind the same kind of table, so we had less space than last year. Fortunately all the books we intended to sell - couple of boxes less than I envisioned - fitted in, with some space to spare. Which means there was too little stuff to sell, even I some book collectors did happen to (mainly) pass by.

The other guy who should have been there with me came in with (apparently intoxicated) relative he had to take care of, handed me the keys to the cash box and left. So I sat there alone. One begins to think some people take my cooperation a bit too granted for comfort.

Because the nameplate mentioned just the Pispala Companionships organization, I had to explain the Pispala Library House four times, one time in English. One other part of that organization, the Kurpitsaliike (Lit. Pumpkin Movement) which concentrates on cultivation and related matters, was supposed to give some of their products to sell as well, but they had apparently forgotten the whole thing.

The day begun with a cold wind but by noon there was bright and hot sunshine. Unfortunately that also means that the sun burned both of my lower arms and the right side of my face.

The position was relatively good. I was squeezed in a middle of the tables for Plan, the Youths Against Drugs, local chapter of SETA (Seksuaalinen Tasa-arvo or Sexual Equality, the Finnish gay rights organization) and a Finnish lady who sold hair beads and spoke Spanish with her family members.

From this you can probably figure out that at the end of the day I was a bit, shall we say, annoyed, not to mention tired. I did not get to browse the other tables, just to get something to eat (supposedly Cambodian food with bamboo shoots, rice and tofu because this time all the food appeared to be vegan).

Sales? They were small but relatively good. Especially when I let couple to students to haggle the price of the university books to 1 €.

Last weekend there was the Runotulet (lit. Poem fires) poetry festival in Pispala.

The event included various events in couple of different places around Tampere, including a writing workshop in one gallery, poetry in the local parish church and various performances. In Pispala the center was Hirvitalo (lit. Moose House), the Pispala Modern Art Center on the other side of the road from the Pispala Library House.

In addition to number of Finnish poets there were various foreign guests and performers, including Hungarian hip-hop band Ludditak and Poetry Slam champions, British McJabber and Danish Klaus Ankersen. There was also Suvadeep Das, short Indian performance artist who was a regular in the Library House - and who was sent back to India next Monday. We haven't heard why - maybe there was some problem with his papers.

I did not see any of this because my job was to be one of those who took care of the book sales in the Library House. The organizers had managed to convince many publishers to donate books of the attending poets. We also sold older poetry-related books from our vaults. Sales were at least adequate.

The biggest name among the guests was Seela Sella, Pispala-born actress who converted to Judaism after her marriage years ago and, among other things, has been singing Jewish songs in Finnish and Yiddish with her late husband. She used the opportunity to promote both the CD and the book about those songs. I bought the double-CD although she herself sang only couple of the songs. Only one copy of the book was left unsold but people bought only couple of CDs.

A while ago lady la_biscuit asked to see some of the papercraft I'd made. The picture quality is not the best possible - the flash is too prominent, for one - but here goes:

( Images of my current attempts of papercrafting )

What has happened in my semblance of a roleplaying campaign lately:
( Exploits over 5 RPG sessions )
(These events happened during five sessions within about three real-world months. My scenarios always last more than one session and the players tend to follow red herrings I haven't even though as such. The sessions are still full of digressing about military history and politics, puns and "intertextuality". Maybe I should get a stop watch…)

Donald E. Westlake - Thieves' Dozen
( 'John Do… err… Diddums is one story short )

Mainly cut for those who are not interested.
( Some Finnish politics )
( Old tunnel debacle )
( Church of Finland )

The Pispala Library House occupies the two lower floors of relatively small building, including the basement. There is a flat above the library and the male of the house has musical ambitions. Sometimes he's practicing with drums, sometimes with something that at least sounds like sax. Last week he apparently began to rehearse the Phantom's part in the Lloyd Webber's version of the Phantom of the Opera. Not that bad, actually, but it does disturb the library ambience somewhat.

Unfortunately, unlike the Tampere City Library, we do not have (transparent) practice rooms for musicians.

When I'm writing this, the Library House is one of the "control points" of Taidesuunnistus ("Arts Orienteering"). In every point there should be an artist displaying their work – in the case of the Library House, it's our gallery space. However, as of this writing, the artist herself has yet to show up.

Meme via sir ffutures.

The usual rules apply: bold the ones you've read. Strike the ones you've read that you don't think belong on this list. Post a peeved comment about stories you think should have been on this list but weren't (Extra credit for complaining about the lack of inclusion of stories published after this list was compiled).

(Honestly speaking, it may be that I don't remember if I have read some of these if I have read it in Finnish. The translated names, especially those used for stories of Heinlein, used to be very different from the original. Still, I added (F) if I know the story has been translated.)

"Jeffty Is Five", Harlan Ellison (1977)
"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman", Harlan Ellison (1965)
"The Star", Arthur C. Clarke (1955) (F, Ikaros)
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream", Harlan Ellison (1967)
"'All You Zombies—'", Robert A. Heinlein (1959)
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", Ursula K. Le Guin (1973) (F, Aikakone)
"The Game of Rat and Dragon", Cordwainer Smith (1955) /(F, Aiakone)
"The Nine Billion Names of God", Arthur C. Clarke (1953) (F, Tähtiaika anthology)
"A Sound of Thunder", Ray Bradbury (1952) (F, also as a radio play)
"The Green Hills of Earth", Robert A. Heinlein (1947)
"Day Million", Frederik Pohl (1966)
"It's a Good Life", Jerome Bixby (1953)
"Aye, and Gomorrah…", Samuel R. Delany (1967)
"Light of Other Days", Bob Shaw (1966)
"The Last Question", Isaac Asimov (1956)
"There Will Come Soft Rains", Ray Bradbury (1950)
"Or All the Seas with Oysters", Avram Davidson (1958)
"Requiem", Robert A. Heinlein (1940)
"Air Raid", Herb Boehm (1977)
"That Hell-Bound Train", Robert Bloch (1958)
"The Lottery", Shirley Jackson (1948)
"The Country of the Kind", Damon Knight (1956)
"The Liberation of Earth", William Tenn (1953)
"Harrison Bergeron", Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1961) (F, Portti)
"Sundance", Robert Silverberg (1969)
"When It Changed", Joanna Russ (1972)
"Love is the Plan the Plan is Death", James Tiptree, Jr. (1973)
"The Third Expedition" ("Mars Is Heaven!"), Ray Bradbury (1948)
"Passengers", Robert Silverberg (1968)
"Cassandra", C. J. Cherryh (1978)
"Helen O'Loy", Lester del Rey (1938)
"The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories", Gene Wolfe (1970)
"The Long Watch", Robert A. Heinlein (1949)
"Space-Time for Springers", Fritz Leiber (1958)
"Speech Sounds", Octavia E. Butler (1983)
"The Way of Cross and Dragon", George R. R. Martin (1979)
"Corridors", Barry N. Malzberg (1982)
"Out of All Them Bright Stars", Nancy Kress (1985)
"Robbie", Isaac Asimov (1940)
"Narrow Valley", R. A. Lafferty (1966)
"The Hole Man", Larry Niven (1974)
"The Pusher", John Varley (1981)
"That Only a Mother", Judith Merril (1948)

Another names strangeness.

I try to select good names for characters (for whatever purpose) but I know that different people see different names in a different light. So I'm asking for your opinions.

Here are some names I made based of a names database, with no background. Based on the name only, what do you think the character could be?

Anton Sergejevich Barsukuo

Blanche Tousignant

Claudia Begnet

Edita Ducommun

Eidead Rothery

Faustino Silvar Redondo

Kent Arrerondo

Pangratios Karakistos

Potolias Kalantzi

Yvon Greenham

Yes, I did try this couple of years ago. Then I had already specified some of the characters beforehand, for which I do apologize.

Jim Butcher - Fool Moon

First, these comments are based of a single book in a long series that may not represent the other stories. That's probably the claim Butcher's fans are likely to make, anyway. If that's not the case, well…
( Wizard is arrested, knocked down, wounded and all of the above )

Hammond Innes - Air Bridge

Neil Freyser, a WWII bomber pilot and aircraft engineer fallen on hard times, has resorted to smuggling to make a living and now he is pursued by the police. When he stumbles upon a lone aircraft hangar, its owner Saeton blackmails him to join his foolhardy scheme to build a new aircraft engines based on wartime designs he has smuggled into Britain. They and their few allies have to build the engines by hand to be able to get a contract in the Berlin Airlift. And Saeton is ready to resort to more than couple of shady deals to get what he wants - and Freyser has little choice but to try to obey him.

In many of the Innes' stories the main "antagonist" is nature. However, in this book it's the obsession of a single man who thinks that the secret of his precious engines is more important than human life. He is capable of blackmail, deceit, theft and worse to get what he wants.

To me the ending leaves something to be desired, but as a whole the tension of the story is almost unbearable, when the Soviets turn out the less of a threat than one obsessive man easier to believe than Freyser.

---

MEme via lady catharinal: How Finnish are you?

[*] Both of your parents are Finns
[*] You were born in Finland
[*] Your last name ends with -nen or -la/-lä.
[*] You know at least five people whose names are Matti/Pekka/Juhani/Liisa/Susanna/Elina.
[ ] Your name is Matti/Pekka/Juhani/Liisa/Susanna/Elina.
[ ] You're an alcoholic
[*] You've been depressed/you're depressed or you know at least five people who have been/are depressed
[ ] It's a big media thing when some foreign B-class celebrity mentions your country
[ ] To you, "tan" means that someone stands out from the snow blanket
[ ] You are extremely interested in what foreign people think about your country

Score so far: 4

[*] You like pea soup and you know on which day of the week it should be eaten and what dessert should be eaten with it
[*] You love chocolate and/or salty liquorice (cannot eat either one any more for medical reasons)
[*] You love rye bread
[*] You have bought fries and sausage from a junk food kiosk
[ ] You've fought in the junk food kiosk line
[ ] You drink more than just one cup of coffee in a day
[ ] You eat potatoes almost every day
[ ] On Independence Day, you should light up two candles and watch how the President shakes hands with celebrities and others for two hours
[*] You still recall the ice hockey world championships year 1995 (, not fondly, mind you…)
[ ] You still recall how "ajaa hiljaa sillalla", said by Aino Ackté, was chosen as the most beautiful sentence in the universal expo in Paris in the year 1900

Score so far: 5

[ ] You do Nordic walking
[*] You listen to heavier music
[ ] You watch formula 1 and/or ski jumping (I dislike both)
[ ] You gather berries and/or mushrooms
[ ] You or your family got a summer cottage (Unless grandma's old house counts)
[ ] You celebrate midsummer/juhannus
[*] You regularly go to sauna
[ ] Hugging is something that lovers do
[ ] You speak English to a foreign person even though you know he doesn't understand Finnish. On the other hand, you speak Finnish to the foreign when you know that he doesn't understand
[ ] Most of the songs that are not in a minor key are bad

Score so far: 2

[ ] You have something made by Marimekko
[ ] You own a product with the Unikko print on it
[ ] You have Iittala's/Arabia's/Hackman's dishes or other kitchen tools (too fragile)
[ ] You read Donald Duck (not any more)
[*] You love Moomins (the original books, that is)
[ ] When speaking about the President, it's 'it' and when speaking of a pet, it's 'she/he'
[ ] You think that lakes are not exotic
[*] You know that in the morning, no one's supposed to speak
[ ] You wait for the green light even though there aren't any cars in the street (depends on the weather)
[*] You think it's completely normal that when on a walk, you don't meet any living person

Score so far: 3

[ ] It's too cold inside if it's not at least 20 C
[*] It's hot outside when it's 20 C
[*] Less than 65 C in sauna is cold (actually, to me it's less than 90 degrees…)
[ ] You can be outside without wearing a hat (no, but that's because I'm totally bald; sunburns and frostbites are not nice on the scalp)
[*] You know at least five different words for "snow" (There is not many more, unless you count different dialects>
[*] If a stranger smiles at you, you suppose that he's drunk or a foreigner
[*] To you "European" means someone who's from Western Europe, but not someone who's Nordic
[*] Silent moments between conversations are something normal and do not bother your at all
[*] You apologize when you're late for even one minute (I don't usually have to because I may be early as much as 30 minutes)
[*] You understand that 'm' means 'yes', 'nngg' means 'no' and 'mnt' means 'good morning'

Total: 22/50

After the New Year, all over the blogosphere there were lists of what various people believed could happen in the immediate or not-so-immediate future. So I decided to try to create a list of my own. However, this is not a list that will definitely happen in the next fifty years but what I think could possibly happen.
( Future will be surreal )