Yesterday was an International Day of Absurdity in many ways, some of which my NDA prohibits me from discussing. The centerpiece of absurdity was, however, that cartoon affair. It was all somehow very familiar, too, and not just because the same cartoons caused an outrage in the Muslim world already a few months ago when they were published. All those masses of people marching against the offensive material and demanding to punish the country that published it... And suddenly I realized: Trey Parker and Matt Stone are geniuses! They predicted the whole thing seven years ago in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. The people united in condemnation, the country blamed for dissemination of evil cartoons... I am almost starting to wonder whether the two employees of Arla foods who have just been beaten by angry customers in Saudi Arabia are named Terrance and Phillip. What's more, if Saddam's trial proceeds quickly enough, we may even have geniune dead Saddam in hell being Satan's boyfriend.
Hell, I just cannot resist. I just have that song playing in my head. With most sincere apologies to Trey Parker, Matt Stone and all the 1.3 billion of world's Muslims who read my blog:
Times have changed.
Crusaders are getting worse!
They won't respect our culture
Even when we scream and curse!
Should we blame the Jews, or the Western society?
Or should we blame infidel democracy?
NO! blame Denmark now, blame Denmark now
With all their beady little eyes
An' flapping heads so full of lies
Blame Denmark now, blame Norway too,
We need to form a full assault, its Denmark's fault
Don't blame me for my Ahmad
He saw that darn cartoon and now he's off to join Jihad!
And my Muhammed once used to read the hadith all day
But now he became a Shiite and ran away!
Well, blame Denmark now, blame Denmark now,
It seems that everything's gone wrong
Since Denmark came along
Blame Denmark now, blame Norway too,
And let's blame also Sweden, just in case.
My son could've been a doctor or a mullah, it is true,
Instead he become a terrorist and burned up like barbecue
Should we blame Osama, should we blame Zarqawi?
Or the people who sent him to bomb Israel?
HECK NO!
Blame Denmark now, blame Denmark now
With their obscene freedom of speech.
And their infidel Arla foods.
Blame Denmark now, blame Denmark now,
And Jyllands-Posten, and especially Rasmussen.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Dansk Industri
Dansk Industri has published an open letter to Jyllands-Posten about the prophet Muhammed cartoons.
Jyllands-Posten has published 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammed in fall. Since this newspaper has a huge circulation in the Islamic world, all the 1.3 billion of world's Muslims saw the cartoons in their morning paper and got mightily offended. Hilarity ensued, and also death threats, demands that Danish government (who rightfully told them to bugger off) do something about the problem, boycotts of Danish products, and lately also threats to Danish citizens who have nothing to do with Jyllands-Posten. According to Helsingin Sanomat, Islamic Jihad demanded that that all Danes, Swedes and Norwegians leave Gaza within 2 days. Why Swedes and Norwegians? Beats me, I guess Islamic Jihad had problem fitting Geography in somewhere between Bomb Design and Holocaust Denial on their terrorist training schedules. Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, being clearly more secular, more liberal and more educated than Islamic Jihad, only demanded that Danes and Swedes leave, and gave them three days.
"Obviously, Danish companies are in no way direct parties in the dispute between Jyllands-Posten and religious leaders. Nevertheless, companies have experienced a number of repercussions in the Arab World during the past week: boycotting of their products, cancellations of sales and project meetings, lost orders etc. Furthermore, the personal safety of their employees is now also at stake. In this way, Danish companies and their employees are paying for the unsolved dispute between the newspaper and religious groups."
Interesting. And here I thought they were paying for the decision to do business in a certain type of countries. I mean, doing business in places populated by the aggressive, the fanatical and the insane has its risks and its price, and they are paying it now. Or did they imagine they were dealing with civilized countries? Or course they didn't, as evidenced by the fact that the letter is addressed to Jyllands-Posten and not to the freaks who are demanding that all Danes leave Gaza now.
"Our freedom of expression does not make us unaccountable for our actions. Accepting its responsibility in this respect, Jyllands-Posten now has to show whether it has any sympathy and respect for the people whose feelings have been hurt by the publishing of the drawings."
Sure thing. The kind of folks whose feelings get so hurt by the fact that a newspaper printed drawings of their prophet in spite of the religious prohibition against doing so that they start threatening the newspaper, the cartoonists, the government of the country where the paper is published, the other citizens of the country, and the citizens of two neighboring countries - aren't these just the kind of people who immediately elicit your sympathy and respect? Hmm, I have a feeling that my well of sympathy and respect is bit shallow here. I would even say, dry.
I pretty much feel like quoting Fred Reed here: "contempt is the proper reaction to the contemptible".
Jyllands-Posten has published 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammed in fall. Since this newspaper has a huge circulation in the Islamic world, all the 1.3 billion of world's Muslims saw the cartoons in their morning paper and got mightily offended. Hilarity ensued, and also death threats, demands that Danish government (who rightfully told them to bugger off) do something about the problem, boycotts of Danish products, and lately also threats to Danish citizens who have nothing to do with Jyllands-Posten. According to Helsingin Sanomat, Islamic Jihad demanded that that all Danes, Swedes and Norwegians leave Gaza within 2 days. Why Swedes and Norwegians? Beats me, I guess Islamic Jihad had problem fitting Geography in somewhere between Bomb Design and Holocaust Denial on their terrorist training schedules. Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, being clearly more secular, more liberal and more educated than Islamic Jihad, only demanded that Danes and Swedes leave, and gave them three days.
"Obviously, Danish companies are in no way direct parties in the dispute between Jyllands-Posten and religious leaders. Nevertheless, companies have experienced a number of repercussions in the Arab World during the past week: boycotting of their products, cancellations of sales and project meetings, lost orders etc. Furthermore, the personal safety of their employees is now also at stake. In this way, Danish companies and their employees are paying for the unsolved dispute between the newspaper and religious groups."
Interesting. And here I thought they were paying for the decision to do business in a certain type of countries. I mean, doing business in places populated by the aggressive, the fanatical and the insane has its risks and its price, and they are paying it now. Or did they imagine they were dealing with civilized countries? Or course they didn't, as evidenced by the fact that the letter is addressed to Jyllands-Posten and not to the freaks who are demanding that all Danes leave Gaza now.
"Our freedom of expression does not make us unaccountable for our actions. Accepting its responsibility in this respect, Jyllands-Posten now has to show whether it has any sympathy and respect for the people whose feelings have been hurt by the publishing of the drawings."
Sure thing. The kind of folks whose feelings get so hurt by the fact that a newspaper printed drawings of their prophet in spite of the religious prohibition against doing so that they start threatening the newspaper, the cartoonists, the government of the country where the paper is published, the other citizens of the country, and the citizens of two neighboring countries - aren't these just the kind of people who immediately elicit your sympathy and respect? Hmm, I have a feeling that my well of sympathy and respect is bit shallow here. I would even say, dry.
I pretty much feel like quoting Fred Reed here: "contempt is the proper reaction to the contemptible".
News of the peaceful
Hamas has won the Palestinian election and left the rest of the world with the embarassing problem of dealing with a democratically elected terrorist government. The world leaders decided to deal with the problem by publicly expressing hope that it will go away, that is that Hamas will stop being a terrorist organization. Hamas proudly declared that it would continue being a terrorist organization until Israel is liberated of Israelis, leaving the world leaders in a state of continuous embarassment, as well as being unsure whether or not aiding Palestinians would from now on constitute giving money to terrorists.
The world leaders can console themselves by the fact that there are people who are or at least should be even more embarassed: Islamic Jihad, who will continue to be a terrorist organization without the benefit of holding most of the seats in the Legislative Council at the same time, and neocons, who still maintain that forcibly exporting democracy to the Middle East is a good thing.
One thing I am wondering about: every time the old Palestinian authority tried to mooch money off EU, US, or whoever would listen, they would whine "but please! that's not us! we asked the mean terrorists to stop and they keep carrying on!". What exactly will Hamas come up with? "Please! It's not us! It's the other parts of our split personalities! we need that money to buy Haldol!"
The world leaders can console themselves by the fact that there are people who are or at least should be even more embarassed: Islamic Jihad, who will continue to be a terrorist organization without the benefit of holding most of the seats in the Legislative Council at the same time, and neocons, who still maintain that forcibly exporting democracy to the Middle East is a good thing.
One thing I am wondering about: every time the old Palestinian authority tried to mooch money off EU, US, or whoever would listen, they would whine "but please! that's not us! we asked the mean terrorists to stop and they keep carrying on!". What exactly will Hamas come up with? "Please! It's not us! It's the other parts of our split personalities! we need that money to buy Haldol!"
Sunday, January 29, 2006
"This brush will self-destruct in five seconds..."
My favorite hair brush has just self-destructed. And it's not even like I was brushing myself with it.
I brushed my hair, which was no more tangled than usual, and probably less, and put the brush down. The next time I touched the brush, most of its teeth (bristles, whatever) just fell off. Felt very surrealistic. I think I am traumatized for life now and am going to see nightmares involving Dali landscapes and toothless brushes for the rest of my natural life.
The only reason I can come up with is that it was a super-secret science-fiction self-destructing brush.
I brushed my hair, which was no more tangled than usual, and probably less, and put the brush down. The next time I touched the brush, most of its teeth (bristles, whatever) just fell off. Felt very surrealistic. I think I am traumatized for life now and am going to see nightmares involving Dali landscapes and toothless brushes for the rest of my natural life.
The only reason I can come up with is that it was a super-secret science-fiction self-destructing brush.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Trendiness
I don't understand why some people disapprove of it when some thing they like suddenly becomes trendy. During my lifetime a lot of things I like have become trendy, and I have never seen anything bad come out of it, and a lot of good.
I have liked sudoku and kakuro puzzles for at least 15 years now, from the time when I lived in the US and they were called "number place" and "cross sums", respectively. I always had to get the damn things from the US, until they finally - thank God - became trendy here and can now be bought in any grocery store. What's not to like? Ditto for many other things I like, such as sushi and Thai food and 70s clothes.
I mean, I can understand the a lot of people might enjoy the feeling of exclusivity, but can it really beat getting whatever you want easily?
Talking about trends: I notice some 80s fashions coming back, and I would like to say: "Nooooooooo!!!!!" The ugliest fashions of my lifetime were in the late eighties.
I have liked sudoku and kakuro puzzles for at least 15 years now, from the time when I lived in the US and they were called "number place" and "cross sums", respectively. I always had to get the damn things from the US, until they finally - thank God - became trendy here and can now be bought in any grocery store. What's not to like? Ditto for many other things I like, such as sushi and Thai food and 70s clothes.
I mean, I can understand the a lot of people might enjoy the feeling of exclusivity, but can it really beat getting whatever you want easily?
Talking about trends: I notice some 80s fashions coming back, and I would like to say: "Nooooooooo!!!!!" The ugliest fashions of my lifetime were in the late eighties.
Tired and sleepy
Finally regained my ability to sleep, and am sleepy all the time. Gotta pay "sleep debts" sometime soon.
Tried to upgrade my kernel at work, fucked everything up. Finally upgraded the whole system (from Ubuntu 5.10 "breezy" to Ubuntu 6.04 "dapper"), and am mildly satisfied, because the problem with IDE hard drive being too slow has gone away.
Tried to upgrade my kernel at work, fucked everything up. Finally upgraded the whole system (from Ubuntu 5.10 "breezy" to Ubuntu 6.04 "dapper"), and am mildly satisfied, because the problem with IDE hard drive being too slow has gone away.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
5 weird things about me
Kriisi tried to pass the "5 weird things about yourself" meme to me. My first impulse was not to write anything, because all the weird things I could think of fell into one or more of the following categories:
1. ones that might be used against me in a court of law someday,
2. ones that reveal more about my sex life than I would like to be publicly revealed,
3. ones that have been mentioned here already,
4. ones that I don't find really weird.
After a while, though, I figured that some of the weirdness that does not belong to the first two groups might be mentioned:
1. I don't eat any bread besides rye. It's not absolute and sometimes I buy a ready-made sandwich made of a piece of baguette, but I don't really buy any non-rye bread home voluntarily.
2. I really like hair. The kind that grows on people's heads. I manage to keep my hands out of people's hair but it takes some effort.
3. I have more movies in Cantonese than in English (the actual count is around 65 and 45). I also appear to be the only person I know who owns some VCDs.
4. I really, really don't like candles and candlelight.
5. I have a very strong urge to upgrade my linux kernel every time I have a chance. This usually ends badly.
1. ones that might be used against me in a court of law someday,
2. ones that reveal more about my sex life than I would like to be publicly revealed,
3. ones that have been mentioned here already,
4. ones that I don't find really weird.
After a while, though, I figured that some of the weirdness that does not belong to the first two groups might be mentioned:
1. I don't eat any bread besides rye. It's not absolute and sometimes I buy a ready-made sandwich made of a piece of baguette, but I don't really buy any non-rye bread home voluntarily.
2. I really like hair. The kind that grows on people's heads. I manage to keep my hands out of people's hair but it takes some effort.
3. I have more movies in Cantonese than in English (the actual count is around 65 and 45). I also appear to be the only person I know who owns some VCDs.
4. I really, really don't like candles and candlelight.
5. I have a very strong urge to upgrade my linux kernel every time I have a chance. This usually ends badly.
Buffy
Re-watching Buffy now. Buffy is not exactly known for realism, but I still keep wondering about one thing: why do the vampires go to such inconvenient lengths to get human blood? Wouldn't it be easier to set up an organization that collects blood donations and have people bring blood to them?
Hmm, I think I will never look at Red Cross the same way again...
Hmm, I think I will never look at Red Cross the same way again...
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The most absurd party ever...
...was about 10 years ago, and you had to see it to believe it.
It was a party in A.'s place, which was a really strange apartment in Cambridge. It was very high and narrow: had three floors, plus a little room with a jacuzzi on the roof, and the use of half of the roof as a balcony/terrace. It's not something I'd buy for myself, but it was a really cool place. This layout is fairly common for townhouses but I have never seen another apartment spanning so many floors of an apatment building.
At some point people started to take their clothes off and jump into the jacuzzi. The jacuzzi turned out to be fairly big, and a dozen of us fit in there.
Some girl I'd never seen before started to come on to me sexually. I have no active sexual interest in women but can be fairly responsive to women's overtures when I am feeling horny, and I was. We had a pretty good time, occasionally interrupted by K., the guy who was going to give me and my friend T. a ride home, who dragged me out of the jacuzzi every once in a while, saying that we have to get home right now. I swore and got out of the jacuzzi, but my getting out never resulted in our going home, so I climbed back in.
The event that made that party unforgettable started when S., A.'s girlfriend, decided to add some bubble bath to the jacuzzi. It was one of those bubble baths that tell you to put a corkful in your bath, and she poured the whole bottle. The huge amounts of foam started rising from the jacuzzi and filling the room, and everybody jumped out of there. All the guests, naked and otherwise, were mobilized to take buckets, bowls, saucepans, paper plates and other vessels that could concievably hold the foam and throw the foam down from the roof. We did the job, too, even though it took about thirty people and about half an hour.
Large pieces of bubble bath foam were flying over Cambridge in the summer night like gigantic showflakes...
It was a party in A.'s place, which was a really strange apartment in Cambridge. It was very high and narrow: had three floors, plus a little room with a jacuzzi on the roof, and the use of half of the roof as a balcony/terrace. It's not something I'd buy for myself, but it was a really cool place. This layout is fairly common for townhouses but I have never seen another apartment spanning so many floors of an apatment building.
At some point people started to take their clothes off and jump into the jacuzzi. The jacuzzi turned out to be fairly big, and a dozen of us fit in there.
Some girl I'd never seen before started to come on to me sexually. I have no active sexual interest in women but can be fairly responsive to women's overtures when I am feeling horny, and I was. We had a pretty good time, occasionally interrupted by K., the guy who was going to give me and my friend T. a ride home, who dragged me out of the jacuzzi every once in a while, saying that we have to get home right now. I swore and got out of the jacuzzi, but my getting out never resulted in our going home, so I climbed back in.
The event that made that party unforgettable started when S., A.'s girlfriend, decided to add some bubble bath to the jacuzzi. It was one of those bubble baths that tell you to put a corkful in your bath, and she poured the whole bottle. The huge amounts of foam started rising from the jacuzzi and filling the room, and everybody jumped out of there. All the guests, naked and otherwise, were mobilized to take buckets, bowls, saucepans, paper plates and other vessels that could concievably hold the foam and throw the foam down from the roof. We did the job, too, even though it took about thirty people and about half an hour.
Large pieces of bubble bath foam were flying over Cambridge in the summer night like gigantic showflakes...
Blaah
One of the customers woke me up yesterday with an SMS to tell me that some things in their data that had to be fixed months ago are finally fixed.
Well, fixed and fixed... Some things got fixed, a lot of things got just changed, and I have spent the whole day trying to figure out what kinds of unexpected changes have happened and what, if anything, will they break. Ugh. Feels a bit like searching for a lot of small objects a pile of elephant shit.
Luckily there was evening and Anu and hot chocolate and homemade Chinese food and then 7 hours of sleep. Feeling much better now.
Well, fixed and fixed... Some things got fixed, a lot of things got just changed, and I have spent the whole day trying to figure out what kinds of unexpected changes have happened and what, if anything, will they break. Ugh. Feels a bit like searching for a lot of small objects a pile of elephant shit.
Luckily there was evening and Anu and hot chocolate and homemade Chinese food and then 7 hours of sleep. Feeling much better now.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Once again on the death penalty, sort of
An 18-year-old Iranian woman has just been sentenced to death for stabbing one of the three rapists who attacked her and her 16-year-old niece. She was 17 at the time of the crime, too.
Sheesh, and I thought that Finland is harsh on self-defense... And of course I realize that she might be lying, but so far nobody seems to be even arguing against her self-defense story.
Today California executed Clarence Ray Allen, a blind old man and a murderer of four. This fine senior citizen has ordered an accomplice to kill his son's girlfriend so that she would not tell police of a grocery store robbery Allen and his gang did. While serving a life sentence for this murder, Allen has ordered the murders of four witnesses who had testified against him, and three of them actually were murdered.
BTW, a question to the opponents of death penalty (I can answer for myself that I don't know): how to you propose to deal with people who commit murder while already serving life without parole? Especially with those who try to eliminate the witnesses (lawyers, judges, police officers, etc.) who had something to do with their case?
But this is not the point. What I really want to know is why Finnish and other Western media pay so much more attention to Allen's case than to that of the young Iranian woman? This phenomenon can be easily explained by people's dislike of the US (a lot of people leap at any chance to criticize anything the US does) or by people's contempt for Iran and Iranian justice (nobody really expects any better from them), but I'd like to know to which degree both factors influence it, and how large is the influence of the Schwarzenegger and Tookie publicity.
Sheesh, and I thought that Finland is harsh on self-defense... And of course I realize that she might be lying, but so far nobody seems to be even arguing against her self-defense story.
Today California executed Clarence Ray Allen, a blind old man and a murderer of four. This fine senior citizen has ordered an accomplice to kill his son's girlfriend so that she would not tell police of a grocery store robbery Allen and his gang did. While serving a life sentence for this murder, Allen has ordered the murders of four witnesses who had testified against him, and three of them actually were murdered.
BTW, a question to the opponents of death penalty (I can answer for myself that I don't know): how to you propose to deal with people who commit murder while already serving life without parole? Especially with those who try to eliminate the witnesses (lawyers, judges, police officers, etc.) who had something to do with their case?
But this is not the point. What I really want to know is why Finnish and other Western media pay so much more attention to Allen's case than to that of the young Iranian woman? This phenomenon can be easily explained by people's dislike of the US (a lot of people leap at any chance to criticize anything the US does) or by people's contempt for Iran and Iranian justice (nobody really expects any better from them), but I'd like to know to which degree both factors influence it, and how large is the influence of the Schwarzenegger and Tookie publicity.
Some Jewish trivia
According to an Israeli study published in American Journal of Human Genetics, 40% of the world's Ashkenazi Jews decended from the same 4 women.
How is that for inbreeding? Sure explains a lot about some relatives of mine.
And another piece of Jewish trivia: the world's fastest-growing Jewish comminuty now is in Germany. A lot of Jewish (especially religious) people scoff at it, but I think it's pretty cool.
How is that for inbreeding? Sure explains a lot about some relatives of mine.
And another piece of Jewish trivia: the world's fastest-growing Jewish comminuty now is in Germany. A lot of Jewish (especially religious) people scoff at it, but I think it's pretty cool.
Life is the curse of the blogging classes
(My apologies to Oscar Wilde and muttawa for the paraphrase. Except that this is not a paraphrase because paraphrase is when you put the same meaning into another form, and this is the other way around. Whatever. If anyone remembers the right word, do tell.)
Life included a small-scale celebration of the Old Russian New Year (was a lot of fun but put me off alcohol for probably a week and off chocolate mousse for months to come), trying to find out what is that "sleep" thing that some friends were talking about (did not go very well, especially not during the night when I was kneeling in front in the Big White Porcelain God and sacrificing semidigested chocolate mousse to it), re-watching Buffy (in the middle of season 4 now), upgrading my computer and simultaneously fighting the Forces of Darkness (or rather the nForces of nVidia).
Having not learned from the previous 512 experiences, I decided to upgrade the kernel from 2.6.12 to 2.6.15, after which both kernels promptly stopped working. 2.6.15 booted but X was fucked up and it did not find the Net. 2.6.12 failed to boot and the machine was giving lots of "too much work in interrupt" warnings. I have a fine motherboard (Asus A8N-VM CSM) that puts all the hardware it can find on the same interrupt.
Anyway, I considered a lot of desperate measures, up to and including installing SuSE, but then the fucking thing just recovered. I booted it and it found the Net. I booted it many times, and it still found the Net. And then I installed and uninstalled the same nVidia driver many times and X started to work.
Surely the Forces of Darkness are at work here. Please kick my ass if I ever decide to buy anything made by nVidia again. Or by Asus.
Life included a small-scale celebration of the Old Russian New Year (was a lot of fun but put me off alcohol for probably a week and off chocolate mousse for months to come), trying to find out what is that "sleep" thing that some friends were talking about (did not go very well, especially not during the night when I was kneeling in front in the Big White Porcelain God and sacrificing semidigested chocolate mousse to it), re-watching Buffy (in the middle of season 4 now), upgrading my computer and simultaneously fighting the Forces of Darkness (or rather the nForces of nVidia).
Having not learned from the previous 512 experiences, I decided to upgrade the kernel from 2.6.12 to 2.6.15, after which both kernels promptly stopped working. 2.6.15 booted but X was fucked up and it did not find the Net. 2.6.12 failed to boot and the machine was giving lots of "too much work in interrupt" warnings. I have a fine motherboard (Asus A8N-VM CSM) that puts all the hardware it can find on the same interrupt.
Anyway, I considered a lot of desperate measures, up to and including installing SuSE, but then the fucking thing just recovered. I booted it and it found the Net. I booted it many times, and it still found the Net. And then I installed and uninstalled the same nVidia driver many times and X started to work.
Surely the Forces of Darkness are at work here. Please kick my ass if I ever decide to buy anything made by nVidia again. Or by Asus.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Grrr, it smells
A coworker burned some paper in a rather small common office where the air circulation is not very good. What should one do with coworkers like that?
Creative use of water and fire extinguishers comes to mind. And yes, this is a threat. You know who you are. :)
Creative use of water and fire extinguishers comes to mind. And yes, this is a threat. You know who you are. :)
"Help me! I can't control myself! I read a book!"
"A man accused of stabbing eight people in a central Moscow synagogue has confessed that he was driven by anti-Semitic sentiments, prosecutors said Friday."
You don't say? And here I was thinking that this was a very unsuccessful attempted robbery.
"The suspect said he had been under the influence of books and Internet sites, and added that he could not control himself." Inquiring minds would also like to know if there were any aliens or anal probes involved.
You don't say? And here I was thinking that this was a very unsuccessful attempted robbery.
"The suspect said he had been under the influence of books and Internet sites, and added that he could not control himself." Inquiring minds would also like to know if there were any aliens or anal probes involved.
Hair in movies
Lately I've been thinking about how people in movies and TV series don't have very sensible hair for the situations they are in. (Sensible here means "styled in a way that is easy and fast to do, keeps hair out of one's way and does not make it too damaged or tangled".) I mean, what is sensible depends on the situation and personal taste: some like it long and some like it short and some like it loose and some like it braided, but I can't come up with a definition of "sensible" that includes a hairstyle that requires daily use of curling irons and hairspray for a person who does not in fact have daily access to either.
Anyway - movies show a lot of other things that do not exist, what with artistic license and the audience wanting to see people who look good. What I really wonder about is the documentaries from the time of WWII. Almost all women of that period, regardless on nationality, hair type and hair length, seem to have hairstyles that require daily use of some curling device. How did they manage it in the middle of war?
The three possibilities that come to mind are a) I am wrong and 1940s hairstyles did not in fact require daily curling, b) they did in fact have enough time and curlers for it, c) fashion was so important that they did it even when they did not have enough time.
Anyway - movies show a lot of other things that do not exist, what with artistic license and the audience wanting to see people who look good. What I really wonder about is the documentaries from the time of WWII. Almost all women of that period, regardless on nationality, hair type and hair length, seem to have hairstyles that require daily use of some curling device. How did they manage it in the middle of war?
The three possibilities that come to mind are a) I am wrong and 1940s hairstyles did not in fact require daily curling, b) they did in fact have enough time and curlers for it, c) fashion was so important that they did it even when they did not have enough time.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
I think I should be angry
Every time there is some public discussion on bringing foreign workforce to Finland, somebody (usually many people) point out that nobody in their right mind would come to Finland from another developed country, and there must be something seriously wrong with the people who do. I think I should be angry at these statements, but they are so common and so similar to each other that I stopped actually getting angry (on any emotional level) after the first 128 times or so.
Still, I often wonder: do many of the people I meet IRL instantly think that there must be something wrong with me just because I moved here?
In addition, I got an impression that those same people do not consider moving from, say, UK to Germany or from Belgium to Netherlands to be a sign of being seriously fucked in the head. For the life of me I can't imagine why they single out Finland like that. At least from the point of view of a young American wanting to go to Europe that I was N years ago Finland was a European country like any other. I mean: cute guys, rye bread and a weird language that I wanted to learn sort of sealed my choice of a country, but apart from that Finland did not stand out in any positive or negative way before I moved here.
Still, I often wonder: do many of the people I meet IRL instantly think that there must be something wrong with me just because I moved here?
In addition, I got an impression that those same people do not consider moving from, say, UK to Germany or from Belgium to Netherlands to be a sign of being seriously fucked in the head. For the life of me I can't imagine why they single out Finland like that. At least from the point of view of a young American wanting to go to Europe that I was N years ago Finland was a European country like any other. I mean: cute guys, rye bread and a weird language that I wanted to learn sort of sealed my choice of a country, but apart from that Finland did not stand out in any positive or negative way before I moved here.
A tit-grabber
Yesterday a guy in Kamppi bus terminal tried to grab my tits. Usually such people are either easily dodged, or they come from behind and immediately run away after grabbing, but this one was actively blocking my way as I tried to dodge him. In the end I just pushed him away, but for a moment there the temptation to bite that hand or bend its fingers the wrong way was almost unsurmountable.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Imminent death of Usenet, film at 11
United States have banned writing annoying things on the Internet without disclosing one's identity.
In the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, no less. Section 113. You can ban almost anything as describing it as Violence Against Women. Good thing they did not ban it as a part of some Sexual Abuse Against Children act, because they they would have surely banned writing annoying things under one's own name, too. And owning the computer. And telling children about Usenet.
The section 113 amends 47 USC 223(a)(1)(c), and now the relevant text is "Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
In the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, no less. Section 113. You can ban almost anything as describing it as Violence Against Women. Good thing they did not ban it as a part of some Sexual Abuse Against Children act, because they they would have surely banned writing annoying things under one's own name, too. And owning the computer. And telling children about Usenet.
The section 113 amends 47 USC 223(a)(1)(c), and now the relevant text is "Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
Mother of the year
Meet Mariam Farhat, aka Umm Nidal. No, the nickname was not invented by Russians ("um"="intelligence" and "ne dal", pronounced "ni dal"="did not give"), nor is she AFAIK in any way related to the terrorist Abu Nidal, although she has enough terrorists in the family. "Umm Nidal" means "mother of the struggle". In her case literally.
This fine example of motherhood has ten sons. Or had. She wanted to raise them to be suicide bombers, and three of them are already having their fun with 72 virgin Mother Theresa-clones each.
In her own words:
"I am proud and honored to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah. 'Prepare for them whatever force and steeds of war you can, in order to strike terror in the hearts of the enemy of Allah and of your own.' I am happy to implement this Koranic verse myself, and to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah."
And:
"I will sacrifice them all. If my duty requires me to sacrifice them all, I will not refuse - even if it costs me a hundred sons."
Currently, however, the Mother of the Year is not implementing this Koranic verse herself, but is running for Palestinian Legislative Council.
This fine example of motherhood has ten sons. Or had. She wanted to raise them to be suicide bombers, and three of them are already having their fun with 72 virgin Mother Theresa-clones each.
In her own words:
"I am proud and honored to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah. 'Prepare for them whatever force and steeds of war you can, in order to strike terror in the hearts of the enemy of Allah and of your own.' I am happy to implement this Koranic verse myself, and to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah."
And:
"I will sacrifice them all. If my duty requires me to sacrifice them all, I will not refuse - even if it costs me a hundred sons."
Currently, however, the Mother of the Year is not implementing this Koranic verse herself, but is running for Palestinian Legislative Council.
I am considering sending her a few packages of condoms.
Unlawful combatants
Considering how many people complain about the issue, it is strange that nobody is really trying to figure out what to do with unlawful combatants. Because something has to be done, or at least decided.
By unlawful combatants I mean people who engage in combat without being entitled to a prisoner of war status as defined by the Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention (Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War). Traditionally such people were shot on sight, which is fine with me, but since nowadays the US decided to capture them and put them in Guantanamo Bay, shooting them all after having kept them there for a few years would be a bit rude.
Anyway, what do you do with the fuckers? You obviously can't give them normal trials like normal civilians, what with proper evidence gathering not being a high priority during military action, you can't treat them like prisoners of war (at least not if you want people abiding by the laws and customs of war in the future), and you can't keep them forever in Guantanamo Bay, either.
By unlawful combatants I mean people who engage in combat without being entitled to a prisoner of war status as defined by the Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention (Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War). Traditionally such people were shot on sight, which is fine with me, but since nowadays the US decided to capture them and put them in Guantanamo Bay, shooting them all after having kept them there for a few years would be a bit rude.
Anyway, what do you do with the fuckers? You obviously can't give them normal trials like normal civilians, what with proper evidence gathering not being a high priority during military action, you can't treat them like prisoners of war (at least not if you want people abiding by the laws and customs of war in the future), and you can't keep them forever in Guantanamo Bay, either.
Monday, January 09, 2006
New tricks by everyove's favorite Iranian terrorist
Not content with arranging a conference on human rights, Ahmadinejad has ordered the association of Islamic Journalists of Iran to organize an international conference on Holocaust. Which, as we remember, he does not believe in.
Hey, I think we just found a state sponsor for Banaanikotkatutkimuksen seura ry, if they want one.
The president does not forget his own people, though: in the name of increasing the female chastity he ordered the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to construct separate pedestrian walkways for men and women. Ugh. Can't they just put up the posters of his face in order to promote women's chastity?
Ahmadinejad thinks that Sharon's stroke was a punishment from god. In that he is joined by American tv evangelist Bat Robertson. Oops, I mean Pat. Pat Robertson.
Iran is planning to remove UN seals at its nuclear sites today in order to continue its entirely peaceful nuclear research.
Hey, I think we just found a state sponsor for Banaanikotkatutkimuksen seura ry, if they want one.
The president does not forget his own people, though: in the name of increasing the female chastity he ordered the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to construct separate pedestrian walkways for men and women. Ugh. Can't they just put up the posters of his face in order to promote women's chastity?
Ahmadinejad thinks that Sharon's stroke was a punishment from god. In that he is joined by American tv evangelist Bat Robertson. Oops, I mean Pat. Pat Robertson.
Iran is planning to remove UN seals at its nuclear sites today in order to continue its entirely peaceful nuclear research.
Argh! I lost my pants!
On Wednesday I bought a pair of pants that were too big for me. They were nice anyway, and I did not feel like shopping all evening, and I really needed a new pair of pants, so I bought what I could.
Yesterday they fell off. Luckily I was already opening the door of my apartment, and nobody saw me.
Note to self: always wear a belt with these. Always.
Yesterday they fell off. Luckily I was already opening the door of my apartment, and nobody saw me.
Note to self: always wear a belt with these. Always.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
You can only play this when the moon is full and the temperature is +5.67 C
Coldplay's latest "CD product" comes with a very interesting description of how it should be played. (Thanks to Ville for the link.)
"In order for you to enjoy a high quality music experience, we have added this special technology."
Here is part of the list of what this fine product cannot be played in:
Some CD players that have the capability of burning into an MP3 (such as portable players or car stereos);
Some CD players that possess CD-R/RW functions (such as portable players or car stereos);
Some car stereos with satellite guidance system;
Some CD players or car stereos with hard disk recording capacity;
Some CD-R/RW recorders used for music
Some portable CD players;
Some DVD players;
Some CD/LD convertible players;
Some game Players.
Wouldn't it be easier to list the 2 or 3 miracles of modern technology that are in fact capable of playing this paragon of high quality music experience?
"In order for you to enjoy a high quality music experience, we have added this special technology."
Here is part of the list of what this fine product cannot be played in:
Some CD players that have the capability of burning into an MP3 (such as portable players or car stereos);
Some CD players that possess CD-R/RW functions (such as portable players or car stereos);
Some car stereos with satellite guidance system;
Some CD players or car stereos with hard disk recording capacity;
Some CD-R/RW recorders used for music
Some portable CD players;
Some DVD players;
Some CD/LD convertible players;
Some game Players.
Wouldn't it be easier to list the 2 or 3 miracles of modern technology that are in fact capable of playing this paragon of high quality music experience?
Life
New Year was good, a great party at Ville's and Leena's place. Funny how every year there are no parties at all up until a couple of days before the new year, and then there suddenly are several and you want to go to all of them.
Saw Serenity. Can only say "Serenity! Serenity!". Gotta see it again.
Saw Narnia last Sunday. Liked it too.
Too much work all week, including yesterday and today. Working on weekends kind of sucks. OTOH, I did not have to. OTOH, there is that one big thing that I want done.
Had game sessions on Monday and Tuesday. Sleep? What's that? Saw Seven swords, a movie about cute Chinese guys with big swords.
Had some drinks with Anu, Elaine and Jarkko on Thursday. Hot chocolate and good company is good for the soul, not sure about the body. My body does not seen to complain much though as long as the chocolate is made with hyla milk.
Went to Killeri's relatives' party on Friday. They have a really nice party every year, but the trip there usually makes me hope for teleporting (they live in Loimaa). Sitting in the car for two and a half hours causes sore ass.
Yesterday celebrated Nuutti at Ville's and Leena's place. Lots of food. Am never eating anything ever again.
Maybe I should go home today after word and get acquainted with the "sleep" thing they keep talking about. OTOH, maybe I'll watch Buffy instead.
Saw Serenity. Can only say "Serenity! Serenity!". Gotta see it again.
Saw Narnia last Sunday. Liked it too.
Too much work all week, including yesterday and today. Working on weekends kind of sucks. OTOH, I did not have to. OTOH, there is that one big thing that I want done.
Had game sessions on Monday and Tuesday. Sleep? What's that? Saw Seven swords, a movie about cute Chinese guys with big swords.
Had some drinks with Anu, Elaine and Jarkko on Thursday. Hot chocolate and good company is good for the soul, not sure about the body. My body does not seen to complain much though as long as the chocolate is made with hyla milk.
Went to Killeri's relatives' party on Friday. They have a really nice party every year, but the trip there usually makes me hope for teleporting (they live in Loimaa). Sitting in the car for two and a half hours causes sore ass.
Yesterday celebrated Nuutti at Ville's and Leena's place. Lots of food. Am never eating anything ever again.
Maybe I should go home today after word and get acquainted with the "sleep" thing they keep talking about. OTOH, maybe I'll watch Buffy instead.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Self-hating cultures
In Markku's blog there was a post on Western culture's self-hatred as opposed to some Asian cultures, and some conversation about it. One of the comments there made me wonder, though: the person suggested that the Western culture's tendency to disparage itself stems from the romantic idealization of primitive cultures and of the "noble savage", which was funny because I had always assumed it was the other way around: people despised their own culture to begin with, and then invented the "noble savage" in order to have something else to admire.
Anyway, I don't know enough on the matter and did not participate in the conversation. I don't like the oh-western-culture-is-so-evil-and-third-world-cultures-are-so-much-better crowd, but I think that this attitude is not as widespread and one can imagine from the media, and is fairly superficial even in those people who profess it (how many of them actually give up the Western civilization and go live in some third-world shithole on the equal footing with locals?). However this made me think about the following thing: the supremacists of any kind (white supremacists, black supremacists, Russian, Jewish, Muslim, you name it), at least almost all the ones I've seen so far, all hate modern Western culture too, or indeed modern culture of any kind. They tend to idealize the noble savages as much as the generic western-culture-hater crowd, with the only difference being that for the supremacists the only savages that were ever noble were their own ancestors. I mean, check out some white supremacist sites sometime. It's almost never that you see anyone there who actually likes the current culture of white people. Everybody there is pretty much saying "everything was going so well when our ancestors were the Germanic tribes conquering Europe and then Jews and Blacks showed up and spoiled everything".
Wonder why is that?
Anyway, I don't know enough on the matter and did not participate in the conversation. I don't like the oh-western-culture-is-so-evil-and-third-world-cultures-are-so-much-better crowd, but I think that this attitude is not as widespread and one can imagine from the media, and is fairly superficial even in those people who profess it (how many of them actually give up the Western civilization and go live in some third-world shithole on the equal footing with locals?). However this made me think about the following thing: the supremacists of any kind (white supremacists, black supremacists, Russian, Jewish, Muslim, you name it), at least almost all the ones I've seen so far, all hate modern Western culture too, or indeed modern culture of any kind. They tend to idealize the noble savages as much as the generic western-culture-hater crowd, with the only difference being that for the supremacists the only savages that were ever noble were their own ancestors. I mean, check out some white supremacist sites sometime. It's almost never that you see anyone there who actually likes the current culture of white people. Everybody there is pretty much saying "everything was going so well when our ancestors were the Germanic tribes conquering Europe and then Jews and Blacks showed up and spoiled everything".
Wonder why is that?
Hell to hold a conference on snowballs, bring your own frying pan
Our old friend Ahmadinejad feels ready to host a conference on human rights in Iran.
Lately he has also said that founding of the state of Israel was just Europe's way to continue genocide against Jews (which he thinks did not happen anyway).
Today he said that reaction to his remarks was positive. Well, I guess it was - in the same way as a HIV test can be positive.
Lately he has also said that founding of the state of Israel was just Europe's way to continue genocide against Jews (which he thinks did not happen anyway).
Today he said that reaction to his remarks was positive. Well, I guess it was - in the same way as a HIV test can be positive.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Weird guy on Skype
Yesterday somebody called me on Skype twice at about 2:30am. The sound was off and I did not answer, so the person requested that I add them to my contacts. There was no real name anywhere in the profile. Since there was a chance that it was somebody I really know I added the person to contacts and decided to wait till they become active and ask them. After all what kind of person would call a stranger in Skype at 2:30 in the morning?
Here is the conversation, with the name edited to protect the guilty:
[12:20:36] Vera Izrailit Hi, who are you?
[12:20:57] broccoli hey
[12:21:07] … im from lithuania
[12:21:27] Vera Izrailit You have called me last night and asked to be added to my contacts - do I know you?
[12:23:37] broccoli u don't know me.....
[12:23:55] … but i wan to contacted with u
[12:24:04] Vera Izrailit then why do you want to be added to my contacts?
[12:24:06] broccoli and be your freand:D
[12:25:02] Vera Izrailit calling strange people at 2.30am is not a good way to make friends
[12:25:43] broccoli sorry
[12:25:52] … me good freand called u
[12:26:01] … and he sick:D
[12:26:18] … so do yuo be me freand?:)[12:26:33] Vera Izrailit That's ok. I am removing you from my contact list.
[12:26:53] broccoli ok fuck u to!
[12:26:57] … :*
[12:27:21] Vera Izrailit Heh, no wonder you don't have any real friends.
[12:27:59] broccoli bay
Here is the conversation, with the name edited to protect the guilty:
[12:20:36] Vera Izrailit Hi, who are you?
[12:20:57] broccoli hey
[12:21:07] … im from lithuania
[12:21:27] Vera Izrailit You have called me last night and asked to be added to my contacts - do I know you?
[12:23:37] broccoli u don't know me.....
[12:23:55] … but i wan to contacted with u
[12:24:04] Vera Izrailit then why do you want to be added to my contacts?
[12:24:06] broccoli and be your freand:D
[12:25:02] Vera Izrailit calling strange people at 2.30am is not a good way to make friends
[12:25:43] broccoli sorry
[12:25:52] … me good freand called u
[12:26:01] … and he sick:D
[12:26:18] … so do yuo be me freand?:)[12:26:33] Vera Izrailit That's ok. I am removing you from my contact list.
[12:26:53] broccoli ok fuck u to!
[12:26:57] … :*
[12:27:21] Vera Izrailit Heh, no wonder you don't have any real friends.
[12:27:59] broccoli bay
Synkkä mies
Aamulla bussissa mun edessä istui synkännäköinen nuori mies. Yhtäkkiä se kääntyi minuunpäin:
- Nähtiin varmaan mielenosoituksessa.
- Joo. Silloin kun ihmiset heristeli banaaneja Eduskunnan edessä.
- Nyt se laki on sitten voimassa, - totesi mies synkästi ja kääntyi taas eteenpäin.
- Nähtiin varmaan mielenosoituksessa.
- Joo. Silloin kun ihmiset heristeli banaaneja Eduskunnan edessä.
- Nyt se laki on sitten voimassa, - totesi mies synkästi ja kääntyi taas eteenpäin.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
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