07.07.2005: Terrorists: *kaboom*
08.07.2005: London: We are not afraid!
21.07.2005: Terrorists: How about now?
Don't know about Londoners, but hell, I am afraid. One can only hope that all the fuckers who knew how to make a proper bomb died in the first explosion, but this is being optimistic. After the second bombing the police shot a man after getting him down on the ground, and that in a country where police routinely do not carry firearms. How many people will die in the third bombing? What will the police do afterwards? How many bombings will it take before something really nasty hapeens?
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Friday, July 22, 2005
Cry of the soul
When I find the fuckers who decided that kde absolutely depends on kanji-fucking-dic and totally cannot be considered properly installed without it, I will hang them on their fucking bowels!
No rest for the wicked
This was a stressful few days, and I am still needing proper sleep and seeing nighmares almost every night. Nothing much happened, but there was too much of it.
Went to Ikea on Tuesday, which was stressful all by itself, and bought a desk and some other stuff. Killeri gave me a ride home, at which point we realized that we can't drive into the yard since some fucker has put a lock on the gate. Had to drag all the stuff through the construction area that is the passage to our front door.
Put the desk together, which was surprisingly stressless. Booted the computer. It did not want to boot. Said "shit". Could not find my glasses. Went to work. The work computer all fell apart due to an unfinished update to another Debian distro (from sarge to sid).
Came back home. Managed to boot the computer by taking the video card out and stuffing it back in. It became blue (computer screen, not the video card). Not as in "blue screen of death" but as in losing the red component to all the colors.
Went to the bar where Jari and Riitta were telling about their Africa trip. Was really in no condition to be sociable, but hadn't seen them for a long time and wanted to see the pictures and the people. Did not last there long but it was great to see everybody. Asked around to borrow a video card. Edu told me that the problem could be in the cable, and later turned out that it was, I fixed it with manicure scissors and now everything works.I found my glasses, too.
On Thursday dragged my ass to the aliens' police in the morning. The service was pretty good again, I am starting to suspect it's always good at 8am. But 8am is not a time for humans.
Took me most of the day to fix the work computer, but now it more or less works.
Went shopping to cheer myself up. Bought a digital camera (Pentax Optio WP, so far so good), cherries, bratwurst, a pair of shoes and a frying pan.
Went for a beer with Seanna and Mari, which was probably not a good idea considering the lack of sleep, but which was fun anyway. We had some good beers and captured Juha who was just innocently walking home and passing by, and I took some pictures with the new camera.
I had some problems mounting it on Linux and was already considering bying a card reader, but finally managed to mount the thing anyway.
I need a vacation.
Went to Ikea on Tuesday, which was stressful all by itself, and bought a desk and some other stuff. Killeri gave me a ride home, at which point we realized that we can't drive into the yard since some fucker has put a lock on the gate. Had to drag all the stuff through the construction area that is the passage to our front door.
Put the desk together, which was surprisingly stressless. Booted the computer. It did not want to boot. Said "shit". Could not find my glasses. Went to work. The work computer all fell apart due to an unfinished update to another Debian distro (from sarge to sid).
Came back home. Managed to boot the computer by taking the video card out and stuffing it back in. It became blue (computer screen, not the video card). Not as in "blue screen of death" but as in losing the red component to all the colors.
Went to the bar where Jari and Riitta were telling about their Africa trip. Was really in no condition to be sociable, but hadn't seen them for a long time and wanted to see the pictures and the people. Did not last there long but it was great to see everybody. Asked around to borrow a video card. Edu told me that the problem could be in the cable, and later turned out that it was, I fixed it with manicure scissors and now everything works.I found my glasses, too.
On Thursday dragged my ass to the aliens' police in the morning. The service was pretty good again, I am starting to suspect it's always good at 8am. But 8am is not a time for humans.
Took me most of the day to fix the work computer, but now it more or less works.
Went shopping to cheer myself up. Bought a digital camera (Pentax Optio WP, so far so good), cherries, bratwurst, a pair of shoes and a frying pan.
Went for a beer with Seanna and Mari, which was probably not a good idea considering the lack of sleep, but which was fun anyway. We had some good beers and captured Juha who was just innocently walking home and passing by, and I took some pictures with the new camera.
I had some problems mounting it on Linux and was already considering bying a card reader, but finally managed to mount the thing anyway.
I need a vacation.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Eric Rudolph R.I.P. (rot in prison)
Eric Rudolph, the terrorist who has bombed two abortion clinics because he is against abortion, a lesbian night club because he apparently assumed that lesbians are major consumers of abortion and the Olympic games because he had confused Olympus with Lesbos, has been sentenced to two life terms in prison without parole, and will be sentenced to two more.
In an unusual but refreshing development, his victims and relatives of the people he murdered came to gloat at the trial, and the press covered that fact. Emily Lyons, the nurse he maimed at one of the clinics, said "The joint in my middle finger had to be fused, and it is indeed an injury I have longed to show you.".
In an unusual but refreshing development, his victims and relatives of the people he murdered came to gloat at the trial, and the press covered that fact. Emily Lyons, the nurse he maimed at one of the clinics, said "The joint in my middle finger had to be fused, and it is indeed an injury I have longed to show you.".
Monday, July 18, 2005
Argh
Emergency fridge cleaning at 8 in the morning. The fridge died. If this remains my last posting, assume that I got eaten by green hairy things that crawled out of there.
I was looking for a way to blame Islamic extermists for the fridge failure but did not find it, so I guess it is just a combination of heat and advanced age.
Now there is some water coming out. Its waters broke! It's gonna give birth to a little baby fridge!
I was looking for a way to blame Islamic extermists for the fridge failure but did not find it, so I guess it is just a combination of heat and advanced age.
Now there is some water coming out. Its waters broke! It's gonna give birth to a little baby fridge!
Sunday, July 17, 2005
On wars and rules
There exist rules on how wars should be fought, and it looks like the rules are about to be rewritten. Terrorists say that they don't care about the rules since rules were written and ratified by states at the times when war were fought by states against each other. Also, perfectly sensible people are wondering if there is any sense to following and enforcing the rules, since people indeed don't generally like a bomb that is thrown on them by a state from the sky anymore than they like a bomb that is blown up by a terrorist on their bus.
I think the existence of rules of warfare is somehow counterintuitive to most people (myself included) because, first of all, warfare as such is very much against modern Western values, and also because it makes one think that if people manage to agree on the rules somehow, couldn't they also manage to agree on whatever they are fighting about without resorting to the actual fighting?
Still, I think that the rules of warfare are there for a reason, and the reason is to protect a lot of people from a lot of trouble. I wish that everyone (especially the terrorists themselves) who thinks that terrorists don't have to play by the rules because they are the small guys and because the big guys have invented all the rules anyway gave the thought to the following idea: what exactly will happen if the big guys stop playing by the rules too? (The glib answer would be of course Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, but I am afraid this is just the beginning.)
The whole concept of warfare is very much against the modern Western sense of justice. Even if you are fighting the most evil dictator ever and manage not to kill a single civilian in the process, you are in all likelihood killing lots of perfectly innocent people who were drafted into the evil dictator's army through no fault of their own.
The way all the Western countries justify this is an appeal to necessity, which basically amounts to "we kill the enemy because we are fucked if we don't", which might or might not be true, but that is beside the point. Now, what do we get if we start applying the same argument to a war where the enemy lives among us, wears no uniform and is distinguished only by belonging to a particular religious/ethnic/political group? I really, really suggest we do not go there.
I think the existence of rules of warfare is somehow counterintuitive to most people (myself included) because, first of all, warfare as such is very much against modern Western values, and also because it makes one think that if people manage to agree on the rules somehow, couldn't they also manage to agree on whatever they are fighting about without resorting to the actual fighting?
Still, I think that the rules of warfare are there for a reason, and the reason is to protect a lot of people from a lot of trouble. I wish that everyone (especially the terrorists themselves) who thinks that terrorists don't have to play by the rules because they are the small guys and because the big guys have invented all the rules anyway gave the thought to the following idea: what exactly will happen if the big guys stop playing by the rules too? (The glib answer would be of course Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, but I am afraid this is just the beginning.)
The whole concept of warfare is very much against the modern Western sense of justice. Even if you are fighting the most evil dictator ever and manage not to kill a single civilian in the process, you are in all likelihood killing lots of perfectly innocent people who were drafted into the evil dictator's army through no fault of their own.
The way all the Western countries justify this is an appeal to necessity, which basically amounts to "we kill the enemy because we are fucked if we don't", which might or might not be true, but that is beside the point. Now, what do we get if we start applying the same argument to a war where the enemy lives among us, wears no uniform and is distinguished only by belonging to a particular religious/ethnic/political group? I really, really suggest we do not go there.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Grandma
Called grandma yesterday, and again she explained to me the right way to live. Nowadays I don't even get to talk back much because the grandma is rather deaf.
Her favorite question number one: "How do you eat? At home or in a cafeteria?". She has been asking that even since I moved away from home, and every time she has receive the answer "at home", after which she has always expressed a positive surprise at the fact that I know how to cook.
Her other favorite question is "why are you not sleeping yet?". I usually call her late in the evening or at night, and she could have gotten accustommed by now that I am usually not sleeping at that hour.
She always asks people the same things, and never seems to remember the answer. And she has always been the same way.
Oh well. At least she does not tell stories about how everything was better in the old times, and at the same time how everything was difficult and the young generation has it easy. Although, judging from her stories, everything indeed was difficult.
She remembers how her village got the first radio receiver when she was 10. Nowadays she likes to surf the Net (although she does not have a computer of her own) and even has some vague idea about how TCP/IP works. makes me sort of wonder what kinds of things I would have seen by the time I am 90.
Her favorite question number one: "How do you eat? At home or in a cafeteria?". She has been asking that even since I moved away from home, and every time she has receive the answer "at home", after which she has always expressed a positive surprise at the fact that I know how to cook.
Her other favorite question is "why are you not sleeping yet?". I usually call her late in the evening or at night, and she could have gotten accustommed by now that I am usually not sleeping at that hour.
She always asks people the same things, and never seems to remember the answer. And she has always been the same way.
Oh well. At least she does not tell stories about how everything was better in the old times, and at the same time how everything was difficult and the young generation has it easy. Although, judging from her stories, everything indeed was difficult.
She remembers how her village got the first radio receiver when she was 10. Nowadays she likes to surf the Net (although she does not have a computer of her own) and even has some vague idea about how TCP/IP works. makes me sort of wonder what kinds of things I would have seen by the time I am 90.
A prayer
Dear Lord,
Now that the four suicide bombers from London and the one from Netanya have met you, don't you think that we should arrange for some kind of hell? Christians have had a hell for so many years already, we can learn from them. If you have problems coming up with ideas, just ask me or look it up on the Internet.
Sorry for having to ask for it again just like I did last year, but could you fix the front door again? It is clearly not getting fixed without a divine intervention.
Please smite all the terrorists. Also smite the people who make a horrible noise in our yard every morning, if you have time.
Guard all the Scottish police officers and other innocent bystanders from bicycle-riding politicians.
Could you fix Debian's and Ubuntu's AMD64 port so that not every damn package is broken and not every damn library is lost? GTK libraries and libpango need some special attention.
The weather is lovely right now, carry on with it.
Please try to put at least some common sense in the heads of the followers of Sayyid Qutb. Failing that, arrange them a meeting with the man himself.
Now that the four suicide bombers from London and the one from Netanya have met you, don't you think that we should arrange for some kind of hell? Christians have had a hell for so many years already, we can learn from them. If you have problems coming up with ideas, just ask me or look it up on the Internet.
Sorry for having to ask for it again just like I did last year, but could you fix the front door again? It is clearly not getting fixed without a divine intervention.
Please smite all the terrorists. Also smite the people who make a horrible noise in our yard every morning, if you have time.
Guard all the Scottish police officers and other innocent bystanders from bicycle-riding politicians.
Could you fix Debian's and Ubuntu's AMD64 port so that not every damn package is broken and not every damn library is lost? GTK libraries and libpango need some special attention.
The weather is lovely right now, carry on with it.
Please try to put at least some common sense in the heads of the followers of Sayyid Qutb. Failing that, arrange them a meeting with the man himself.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
The park weirdo
Was in Koff park with Anu and Elaine on Monday. At some point Anu and I went to the toilet and when we came back a guy was lying down next to Elaine and muttering to himself. This was funny because just before that we were talking about how she is a magnet for weirdos. She gave us a "what did I tell you" shrug.
The guy said that he just wants to sleep and does not want to hurt anyone. I wanted to point out that there was enough space to sleep in the park without coming within 50 centimeters from me, but did not.
The guy was about 60, and looked like he has never been sober during those 60 years at all.
We started talking and the guy took offence at the fact that we were speaking English - apparently he believed that we are doing so only to spite him. He whined for a while, demanded that we stop it, then rose and started walking around. Among other thing he growled that he has been abroad more than any of us (in the Deliriumtremensland, apparently) and that none of us has ever been abroad anyway.
Then he left, much to everyone's relief.
The guy said that he just wants to sleep and does not want to hurt anyone. I wanted to point out that there was enough space to sleep in the park without coming within 50 centimeters from me, but did not.
The guy was about 60, and looked like he has never been sober during those 60 years at all.
We started talking and the guy took offence at the fact that we were speaking English - apparently he believed that we are doing so only to spite him. He whined for a while, demanded that we stop it, then rose and started walking around. Among other thing he growled that he has been abroad more than any of us (in the Deliriumtremensland, apparently) and that none of us has ever been abroad anyway.
Then he left, much to everyone's relief.
More on bombings
The London bombers turned out to be home-grown and of Pakistani descent. The families are shocked much in the same way as families are usually shocked when their kid does something evil.
At least they were suicide bombers, which is nice because it means that the real people's death toll has dropped from 52 to 49 or 48 (they are not sure that the 4th bomber died).
Although he fact that nobody has mentioned any suicide notes or suchlike makes me wonder whether someone gave them the bombs to deliver somewhere and then set them off from a distance. I guess we'll find out when the police know more.
In a similar news, a suicide bomber killed 4 people and wounded a lot more in Netanya. This time it was Islamic Jihad, who has been losing its terrorist support base to Hamas for a while now and apparently feels that something has to be done. "Vote for us! We are the most terroristy terrorists!" Besides, they must be pissed off now that PA got lots of money from G8, which it is probably gonna share with Hamas but not with them. Islamic Jihad itself is funded from Iran, which currently has enough problems of its own so the funding is probably not great.
I was curious whether now BBC will start using the word "terrorist" to describe the guy who did it, but no, they haven't. PA leader Abbas, on the other hand, condemned the act with unusual harshness ("Quiet, assholes! The Israelis are about to pull out of Gaza, don't fuck it up!") and quite possibly was serious about it.
In a similar not-even-news, 24 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. This time the bomber targeted a few American soldiers and a bunch of Iraqi kids who were taking candy from them. Apparently killing Moslems is wrong only when unbelievers do it. Or maybe kids stop being Moslem when they eat infidel candy.
At least they were suicide bombers, which is nice because it means that the real people's death toll has dropped from 52 to 49 or 48 (they are not sure that the 4th bomber died).
Although he fact that nobody has mentioned any suicide notes or suchlike makes me wonder whether someone gave them the bombs to deliver somewhere and then set them off from a distance. I guess we'll find out when the police know more.
In a similar news, a suicide bomber killed 4 people and wounded a lot more in Netanya. This time it was Islamic Jihad, who has been losing its terrorist support base to Hamas for a while now and apparently feels that something has to be done. "Vote for us! We are the most terroristy terrorists!" Besides, they must be pissed off now that PA got lots of money from G8, which it is probably gonna share with Hamas but not with them. Islamic Jihad itself is funded from Iran, which currently has enough problems of its own so the funding is probably not great.
I was curious whether now BBC will start using the word "terrorist" to describe the guy who did it, but no, they haven't. PA leader Abbas, on the other hand, condemned the act with unusual harshness ("Quiet, assholes! The Israelis are about to pull out of Gaza, don't fuck it up!") and quite possibly was serious about it.
In a similar not-even-news, 24 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. This time the bomber targeted a few American soldiers and a bunch of Iraqi kids who were taking candy from them. Apparently killing Moslems is wrong only when unbelievers do it. Or maybe kids stop being Moslem when they eat infidel candy.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
The man of convictions
Mohammed Bouyeri, who is on trial for murdering filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, is finally talking.
"I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion."
"I can assure you that one day, should I be set free, I would do exactly the same, exactly the same."
These are the words to remember, especially at a parole hearing - if there ever is one.
He had some words for the mother of the victim, too:
"I have to admit I do not feel for you, I do not feel your pain, I cannot - I don't know what it is like to lose a child," he said.
"I cannot feel for you... because I believe you are a nonbeliever."
"I acted out of conviction, not because I hated your son."
The man of convictions is likely to get convicted to a life in prison.
"I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion."
"I can assure you that one day, should I be set free, I would do exactly the same, exactly the same."
These are the words to remember, especially at a parole hearing - if there ever is one.
He had some words for the mother of the victim, too:
"I have to admit I do not feel for you, I do not feel your pain, I cannot - I don't know what it is like to lose a child," he said.
"I cannot feel for you... because I believe you are a nonbeliever."
"I acted out of conviction, not because I hated your son."
The man of convictions is likely to get convicted to a life in prison.
Blaah
Tired to death. Was at Viljo's bachelor party on Friday night and Saturday - more of this later - and went to a park yesterday. Not really hung over (am so tired that cannot drink much) but tired of the combination of heat, allergy and the damn workers who start making all kinds of horrible noises in our yard at seven in the morning. Maybe should have a rest today since the game session was cancelled.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Here we go again
All kinds of trash have crawled out of their caves saying "you reap what you have sown", meaning of course that London commuters are paying for their government's decision to do something that has displeased some Islamic extermists - in this case, join in the stupid Iraq war. You do something they don't like, they bomb you.
Well, no shit, Sherlock. They don't bomb you for smiling nicely at them and paying them jizya tax (if you don't know what it is, it's time to find out and Google is your friend). They bomb you for doing something they don't like. It's rather obvious. I still don't understand the corollary implied by people who say so: "just do everything to please them, and they won't bomb you". Just take a fucking look at Bin Laden or Omar Bakri or any other of their extremist leaders: are those the guys whom you would really like to please? No matter that some things that displease them are quite stupid on their own merit and therefore should not be done - but do you want to base your safety on not doing anything to displease Islamic extremists?
I wonder what happened when Germans bombed London? Did many people say "serves them/us right for joining that stupid war"? No, I am not comparing WWII with the stupid Iraq war: Saddam was an evil dictator of a much lesser caliber who mostly only killed his own people (about whom most Westerners, both pro-war and anti-war, do not really care) and occasionally the citizens of small neighboring countries like Kuwait, he had a lot less potential to cause real trouble for the West, and, worst of all, the countries who invaded Iraq had no idea what to do with it after occupying it.
Islamic terrorists bombed London for Britain joining in the Iraq war. They bombed the US for joining the Iraq war, pre-emptively, a year and a half before the war started (or was it for the previous war?). They bombed the Paris metro 10 years ago, 8 years before the French joined the war... oh, wait, they didn't. Oops. They also threatened to bomb the French if they ban veils in schools, and there were even idiots in the West who thought that France should back down on the veil issue in order to avoid giving a justification for terrorism.
They also threatened to kill Salman Rushdie for attacking Iraq... I mean for writing Satanic Verses. And even then some people said he shouldn't have done it. Apparently Western freedom of speech is void where prohibited by Ayatollah. And that wasn't a handful of extremists - that was the leader of a 70-million country, and that country has just democratically elected another religious fanatic.
"Now London is getting a taste of what Bagdad is experiencing every day," say some people, apparently meaning that this is just revenge. Bugger. I did not know all those suicide bombings in Bagdad are carried out by British suicide bombers. I was under the impression that most bombers there were from Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. Not that I would encourage anyone to bomb civilian targets in those countries, especially since it is already being done, and mostly by the same kind of people who bomb Iraq and London.
Every fucking time when somebody somewhere does something that displeases Islamic extremists they threaten to kill somebody, often somebody quite unrelated to the events. This is a problem. Avoiding doing anything that might ever displease them is not a solution.
A little reminder to the terrorists: the last guys who bombed London before you were the Luftwaffe, and we all know how that ended. If you don't know, then again Google is your friend.
Well, no shit, Sherlock. They don't bomb you for smiling nicely at them and paying them jizya tax (if you don't know what it is, it's time to find out and Google is your friend). They bomb you for doing something they don't like. It's rather obvious. I still don't understand the corollary implied by people who say so: "just do everything to please them, and they won't bomb you". Just take a fucking look at Bin Laden or Omar Bakri or any other of their extremist leaders: are those the guys whom you would really like to please? No matter that some things that displease them are quite stupid on their own merit and therefore should not be done - but do you want to base your safety on not doing anything to displease Islamic extremists?
I wonder what happened when Germans bombed London? Did many people say "serves them/us right for joining that stupid war"? No, I am not comparing WWII with the stupid Iraq war: Saddam was an evil dictator of a much lesser caliber who mostly only killed his own people (about whom most Westerners, both pro-war and anti-war, do not really care) and occasionally the citizens of small neighboring countries like Kuwait, he had a lot less potential to cause real trouble for the West, and, worst of all, the countries who invaded Iraq had no idea what to do with it after occupying it.
Islamic terrorists bombed London for Britain joining in the Iraq war. They bombed the US for joining the Iraq war, pre-emptively, a year and a half before the war started (or was it for the previous war?). They bombed the Paris metro 10 years ago, 8 years before the French joined the war... oh, wait, they didn't. Oops. They also threatened to bomb the French if they ban veils in schools, and there were even idiots in the West who thought that France should back down on the veil issue in order to avoid giving a justification for terrorism.
They also threatened to kill Salman Rushdie for attacking Iraq... I mean for writing Satanic Verses. And even then some people said he shouldn't have done it. Apparently Western freedom of speech is void where prohibited by Ayatollah. And that wasn't a handful of extremists - that was the leader of a 70-million country, and that country has just democratically elected another religious fanatic.
"Now London is getting a taste of what Bagdad is experiencing every day," say some people, apparently meaning that this is just revenge. Bugger. I did not know all those suicide bombings in Bagdad are carried out by British suicide bombers. I was under the impression that most bombers there were from Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. Not that I would encourage anyone to bomb civilian targets in those countries, especially since it is already being done, and mostly by the same kind of people who bomb Iraq and London.
Every fucking time when somebody somewhere does something that displeases Islamic extremists they threaten to kill somebody, often somebody quite unrelated to the events. This is a problem. Avoiding doing anything that might ever displease them is not a solution.
A little reminder to the terrorists: the last guys who bombed London before you were the Luftwaffe, and we all know how that ended. If you don't know, then again Google is your friend.
Bugger, hell just froze over and there is a pig flying outside ours windows
Hamas has condemned the London bombings. "Targeting civilians in their transport means and lives is denounced and rejected," they said.
What next? A brothel condemning prostitution? Bush condemning the war in Iraq and incompetent bikers? Bin Laden condemning religious fanaticism?
What next? A brothel condemning prostitution? Bush condemning the war in Iraq and incompetent bikers? Bin Laden condemning religious fanaticism?
In better news
The European Parliament voted 648-14 against software patents. This should be celebrated.
In other, lighter news
The Leader of the Free World and our Biker-In-Chief fell off his bike again after colliding with a Scottish police officer.
Dear Secret Service, or whoever is watching over the Chimp-in-Chief: don't let him ride a bike again. It would be embarassing if a man who has as many enemies as he does died from falling off his bike once too many.
Not letting him ride a bike would also protect innocent police officers and other people from him.
Dear Secret Service, or whoever is watching over the Chimp-in-Chief: don't let him ride a bike again. It would be embarassing if a man who has as many enemies as he does died from falling off his bike once too many.
Not letting him ride a bike would also protect innocent police officers and other people from him.
London bombings and our old friend Omar Bakri Mohammed
About half a year ago our old friend Omar Bakri Mohammed said that the whole of Britain has become a house of war where unbelievers have no sanctity of their life and property, and in April of last year he said to the Portuguese magazine Publica that an attack on London is inevitable. (He also predicted that the first thing the government would do would be to deport him and his family. We'll see if this prediction comes true as well - I think they shouldn't have let him in in the first place. I mean, what kind of moron accepts a refugee who got kicked out of Saudi-fucking-Arabia for Islamic extremism? Some sense, people.)
Here is the text of the interview. It's in Portuguese. If you don't read Portuguese, consider yourself lucky. If you do, consider yourself warned not to eat while reading.
Anyway, inquiring minds want to know whether anyone has seen Omar Bakri Mohammed since yesterday, and whether he is being interrogated.
Here is the text of the interview. It's in Portuguese. If you don't read Portuguese, consider yourself lucky. If you do, consider yourself warned not to eat while reading.
Anyway, inquiring minds want to know whether anyone has seen Omar Bakri Mohammed since yesterday, and whether he is being interrogated.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
London, again
Looks like everyone I know in London is all right and is trying to figure out how the hell are they gonna get home from work.
Hope whoever planted those bombs will be found and strung up by their balls, ovaries, necks and other unnecessary appendages.
Hope whoever planted those bombs will be found and strung up by their balls, ovaries, necks and other unnecessary appendages.
London explosions
A series of explosions happened in London subway today. Authorities blamed a power surge, but after realizing that there were explosions on buses, too, finally figured that it might be bombs.
Ugh. Hope nobody I know is hurt, and in general that as few people as possible are hurt. This comes one day after London was chosen for 2012 Olympics, but I would still bet a liter of Fazer's truffle ice cream against a teaspoon on Valio's vanilla that the world's most peaceful religion was involved somehow.
Ugh. Hope nobody I know is hurt, and in general that as few people as possible are hurt. This comes one day after London was chosen for 2012 Olympics, but I would still bet a liter of Fazer's truffle ice cream against a teaspoon on Valio's vanilla that the world's most peaceful religion was involved somehow.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
A public service announcement for googlers
I am not the guy who founded Programmable Power Supply and Security Technology Systems, or indeed any kind of guy. If you are looking for him, go here.
Hmm, maybe should make this a permanent link...
Hmm, maybe should make this a permanent link...
Scanner: happy happy joy joy
Bought a scanner, Epson Perfection 2480, and it actually works, even though had to install a new version of sane for that.
Tried to scan a few negatives and got some newfound respect for people who do that fot a living: the right colors are almost impossible to get. Scanning paper photos produces a better result.
Planning to get all my paper photos scanned, 20 done, a thousand or so to go.
Tried to scan a few negatives and got some newfound respect for people who do that fot a living: the right colors are almost impossible to get. Scanning paper photos produces a better result.
Planning to get all my paper photos scanned, 20 done, a thousand or so to go.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
4th of July
Celebrated the Independence Day yesterday in Koff park. Had 3 Americans present (plus 4 Finns, one of whom is the same person as one of the Americans, and one ill-behaved Swedish-born dog). The day was beautiful, and we had a lot of wine and two disposable grills.
I was tired and in an unsociable mood, but still had a good time.
Otava ate everything. Seriously. He eats anything organic and a lot of things that aren't. Tried to drink my wine, too, but I was faster. Tried to eat my sausage, but I was faster again (I was trained by the best, for example Jero).
The scenario repeated itself many times: Otava is sitting quietly, whoever is holding on to him has let her guard down. Food appears. Otava leaps at the food. Somebody (usually Elaine and I) roar and leap after him. I grab his leash and pull down on it with all my might, and Elaine makes a leap at the plate that would make most NFL players green with envy, but the plate is already empty. Two pork chops and a countless number of sausages went into the bottomless maw - good thing we had a lot of extras. Hope the poor dog is not shitting tinfoil today, although it would probably serve him right.
Ebu growled at Otava in a very authentic way. Maybe the rest of us should learn too.
I was tired and in an unsociable mood, but still had a good time.
Otava ate everything. Seriously. He eats anything organic and a lot of things that aren't. Tried to drink my wine, too, but I was faster. Tried to eat my sausage, but I was faster again (I was trained by the best, for example Jero).
The scenario repeated itself many times: Otava is sitting quietly, whoever is holding on to him has let her guard down. Food appears. Otava leaps at the food. Somebody (usually Elaine and I) roar and leap after him. I grab his leash and pull down on it with all my might, and Elaine makes a leap at the plate that would make most NFL players green with envy, but the plate is already empty. Two pork chops and a countless number of sausages went into the bottomless maw - good thing we had a lot of extras. Hope the poor dog is not shitting tinfoil today, although it would probably serve him right.
Ebu growled at Otava in a very authentic way. Maybe the rest of us should learn too.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Stockholm
Went to Stockholm for the weekend. It was really beautiful there, and a wonderful summer day.
Played Code/X on the way there and back. It was a lot of fun even though we somehow managed to get 2 characters out of 4 heroically killed. I finally made myself a disgruntled evil henchwoman character that I was planning to make for a long time, and did not even get her killed.
The abnormally high work morale of evil henchpeople in the movies has always bothered me. I mean, usually the Big Bad Guy mistreats the henchmen in every way, and the hero keeps doing very nasty things to them too, but still they pursue him/her relentlessly, instead of saying "bugger it, we are not paid enough for this, let's go have some beers and then write a report on how the hero got away", like normal people would.
In Stockholm the guys went to a museum, but Laura and I decided that the day was too beautiful for that, and we just hanged out. I whined about there being no coffee milkshakes anywhere in Scandinavia and no Ben&Jerry's anywhere in Europe, and then we ran into a cafe that sold coffee milkshakes (rather small but worth every one of the 46 kronas) and at least three places that sold Ben&Jerry's.
(Maybe it's magic and every time I say something does not exist it mysteriously apprears? Let's try it: There is no coffee milkshakes in Finland, or Ben&Jerry's! There is no decent Chinese food in Finland! There is no money in my pocket! There are no cute naked guys under my desk!")
Spent lots of money on booze. Probably should think that will save it on Alko purchases.
Sci-fi Bokhandeln somehow managed to sell me a book and a DVD even though I decided I am not buying anything.
Ate in Food Garden on the way there and the way back. Their appetizer and dessert buffets are great, but if you like your steak rare this is not a place for you.
From the conversation with the waiter:
Me: There are two water bottles on the bill, I had three, where is the third?
Waiter: Probably on somebody else's bill.
Took a lot of pictures, will post them sometime.
Played Code/X on the way there and back. It was a lot of fun even though we somehow managed to get 2 characters out of 4 heroically killed. I finally made myself a disgruntled evil henchwoman character that I was planning to make for a long time, and did not even get her killed.
The abnormally high work morale of evil henchpeople in the movies has always bothered me. I mean, usually the Big Bad Guy mistreats the henchmen in every way, and the hero keeps doing very nasty things to them too, but still they pursue him/her relentlessly, instead of saying "bugger it, we are not paid enough for this, let's go have some beers and then write a report on how the hero got away", like normal people would.
In Stockholm the guys went to a museum, but Laura and I decided that the day was too beautiful for that, and we just hanged out. I whined about there being no coffee milkshakes anywhere in Scandinavia and no Ben&Jerry's anywhere in Europe, and then we ran into a cafe that sold coffee milkshakes (rather small but worth every one of the 46 kronas) and at least three places that sold Ben&Jerry's.
(Maybe it's magic and every time I say something does not exist it mysteriously apprears? Let's try it: There is no coffee milkshakes in Finland, or Ben&Jerry's! There is no decent Chinese food in Finland! There is no money in my pocket! There are no cute naked guys under my desk!")
Spent lots of money on booze. Probably should think that will save it on Alko purchases.
Sci-fi Bokhandeln somehow managed to sell me a book and a DVD even though I decided I am not buying anything.
Ate in Food Garden on the way there and the way back. Their appetizer and dessert buffets are great, but if you like your steak rare this is not a place for you.
From the conversation with the waiter:
Me: There are two water bottles on the bill, I had three, where is the third?
Waiter: Probably on somebody else's bill.
Took a lot of pictures, will post them sometime.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
The keyboard warning
There is a keyboard on my table that has a label that says:
WARNING:
Some experts believe that the use of any keyboard
may cause serious injury.
Consult statement on the back of this keyboard.
WARNING:
Some experts believe that the use of any keyboard
may cause serious injury.
Consult statement on the back of this keyboard.
Old friends
Yesterday went grilling and drinking at Sipe's place and saw a number of old friends. I should see them more often. They have taken up bad habits like smoking and having babies, but I like them anyway.
Also saw a huge rainbow in Tapiola earlier.
Also saw a huge rainbow in Tapiola earlier.
A new job
Started a new job yesterday. So far so good. Having a properly working computer, actual work to do and two friends in the same room sure feels good. The downside is being in Innopoli and having to deal with Espoo buses, but I think the bus schedules will stop sucking so bad in August. The work is kind of fun in a perverse way, I like it.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
The sex service guy revisited
Turns out that the guy who called me looking for sex services has also called some other people I know.
German Euro coins
Heli came over yesterday, and we started looking at Euro coins and noticed that 1-, 2- and 5-cent German coins have a letter before the year number, and that the letter is not always D.
We wondered about it for a while, but Google is our friend, and we found out that Germany has five mints and these are the mint marks:
A = Berlin
D = Munich
F = Stuttgart
G = Karlsruhe
J = Hamburg
We wondered about it for a while, but Google is our friend, and we found out that Germany has five mints and these are the mint marks:
A = Berlin
D = Munich
F = Stuttgart
G = Karlsruhe
J = Hamburg
Monday, June 27, 2005
Juhannus
Thursday:
Hanged out in Java with Ville, Leena, Lyn and Dark; then went to the Koff park where Anu and Id were waiting for us. After the sunset went to William K. and then Teerenpeli. Had fun, was tired, went home by 2.
Friday:
Grilling in Munkkiniemi. The liquid diet does not quite hold due to the fact that sparkling wine is notoriously hard to grill. Jari and Tommi made a big campfire in the grill, but luckily some guys donated us their used disposable grill which was hot and which we used until our grill was cold enough to use. In the end of the night the same guys also brought us flowers. Nice.
Joonas taught me to eat grilled bananas with chocolate. I also found out that lemon tagine spice paste mixed with yogurt makes a rather good marinade.
Met an American phonetician who understands Finnish but does not speak it, and who thinks that Bostonians are assholes. When I begged to disagree he said that I am not the real thing, but I bet that if I turned out to be an asshole he'd consider me to be a real Bostonian well enough.
Red wine is good.
Saturday:
Went to Killeri's place and grilled there. Lots of meat and sparkling wine. Not gonna drink any sparkling wine ever again.
Evil Jero stole my sausage.
When we were leaving the match between Anu and car seat ended 0-1, with the car seat winning and Anu falling on her ass. Everyone, especially Anu, laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt. We went to Leena and Ville's place and had some more to eat and drink. I managed to miss the last bus (it left earlier than usual), and what ensued was a very embarassing race to get me to Leppävaara in time for the last train, which they (Anu and her brother Kalle) did.
On the train met a funny woman from Kuopio with hair extensions and a martial art hobby.
Sunday:
Went with Killeri to Kärkölä to see Viu and Tapio and got lost on the way, but finally managed to get there. Had a very nice afternoon with more bratwurst than I ever thought four humans can eat. They have a really cute and funny little puppy now, a jack russell terrier. Yeah, and nine horses, too. And 12 cats of their own and 2 guest cats.
Now I know what female horses do when they are horny.
At some point we gave hay to the horses, and for the first time in my life I used a pitchfork, but nobody took any pictures of it so nobody can prove anything.
Took lots of pictures every day. They are on the home server, the participants and friends can ask me for an URL. I'll put some of them on the public server in any case as soon as I have time.
Hanged out in Java with Ville, Leena, Lyn and Dark; then went to the Koff park where Anu and Id were waiting for us. After the sunset went to William K. and then Teerenpeli. Had fun, was tired, went home by 2.
Friday:
Grilling in Munkkiniemi. The liquid diet does not quite hold due to the fact that sparkling wine is notoriously hard to grill. Jari and Tommi made a big campfire in the grill, but luckily some guys donated us their used disposable grill which was hot and which we used until our grill was cold enough to use. In the end of the night the same guys also brought us flowers. Nice.
Joonas taught me to eat grilled bananas with chocolate. I also found out that lemon tagine spice paste mixed with yogurt makes a rather good marinade.
Met an American phonetician who understands Finnish but does not speak it, and who thinks that Bostonians are assholes. When I begged to disagree he said that I am not the real thing, but I bet that if I turned out to be an asshole he'd consider me to be a real Bostonian well enough.
Red wine is good.
Saturday:
Went to Killeri's place and grilled there. Lots of meat and sparkling wine. Not gonna drink any sparkling wine ever again.
Evil Jero stole my sausage.
When we were leaving the match between Anu and car seat ended 0-1, with the car seat winning and Anu falling on her ass. Everyone, especially Anu, laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt. We went to Leena and Ville's place and had some more to eat and drink. I managed to miss the last bus (it left earlier than usual), and what ensued was a very embarassing race to get me to Leppävaara in time for the last train, which they (Anu and her brother Kalle) did.
On the train met a funny woman from Kuopio with hair extensions and a martial art hobby.
Sunday:
Went with Killeri to Kärkölä to see Viu and Tapio and got lost on the way, but finally managed to get there. Had a very nice afternoon with more bratwurst than I ever thought four humans can eat. They have a really cute and funny little puppy now, a jack russell terrier. Yeah, and nine horses, too. And 12 cats of their own and 2 guest cats.
Now I know what female horses do when they are horny.
At some point we gave hay to the horses, and for the first time in my life I used a pitchfork, but nobody took any pictures of it so nobody can prove anything.
Took lots of pictures every day. They are on the home server, the participants and friends can ask me for an URL. I'll put some of them on the public server in any case as soon as I have time.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Attack of a giant ice pop
In its infinite wisdom Snapple decided to erect a 17½ ton strawberry-kiwi ice pop on the Union Square in downtown Manhattan.
Summer. New York. Ice pop. Melts. Flood all over Union Square. Pedestrians trying to get to higher ground. Firefighters.
"We planned for this. ... We just didn’t expect for it to happen so fast," says Snapple.
Summer. New York. Ice pop. Melts. Flood all over Union Square. Pedestrians trying to get to higher ground. Firefighters.
"We planned for this. ... We just didn’t expect for it to happen so fast," says Snapple.
Being an immigrant in Finland
Yesterday we were drinking in a park with Anu and Elaine, and later Jarkko and Otava joined us. It was a lovely evening and Koff park has a great toilet, and there were huge hot air balloons flying over us.
We talked, among other things, about living in Finland as an immigrant. In fact we were talking only about immigrants from civilized countries, and the trend nowadays is to call them expats, but I am still resisting that word.
I realized that it is true, as Elaine puts it in her blog, that "trying to explain how Finland differs for residents as opposed to tourists to the newly arrived is a chore since you either sound bitter or are constantly doubting your own experience of everything in a miasma of cultural relativism and personal baggage". I also realized that on some level both myself and other people consider my immigration experience exceptional, but I don't quite understand why. But I am, indeed, constantly doubting my experience, when explaining things to new immigrants. They are doubting it too.
Weird. It all went fairly smoothly, even though rather slowly on the bureaucratic front. It was a bit exceptional from the beginning because I did not come here because of a Finnish spouse, like most Western immigrants seem to. But otherwise... Came on a student visa, had no trouble with the univeristy bureaucracy, had no trouble learning Finnish, had no trouble meeting people - at least no more trouble than anywhere else. Occasionally met some people who hated foreigners, but did not think much of them. Occasionally had a bit of trouble with the immigration authorities when I was studying and working full-time, because they decided that they couldn't give me a student residence permit because I was not studying enough, and couldn't give me a worker residence permit because I hadn't graduated yet, but in those cases they told me that the situation can be resolved by taking a few more tests at the univeristy and I went and took tests, whether I needed them or not. I realize of course that my expectations of both immigration authorities and xenophobic people are quite a bit lower than most westerners', but even if we take this into account immigrating here was still fairly easy.
It seems to me that positive experiences of immigrating to Finland tend to be dismissed both by immigrants and Finns. The web forum where immigrants congregate tends to concentrate on negative issues, which is quite understandable in that the people tend to talk about things that bother them, but this also gives new people a skewed view of Finland, because the people who have integrated well are for the most part absent from that forum.
Once a student organization of which I was a rather active member decided to organize an event where department's foreign students would talk about their experiences coming to Finland. I wasn't invited to speak. When afterwards I asked the organizers why, an expression appeared on their faces that made it quite clear that the idea did not occur to them, and they said something like "but you've been here for so long... you are one of us... you speak Finnish". (I'd been here for 4 years or so by that point.) I understand the organizers in that they had probably heard all about my immigration experience already, but the other foreigners could have benefitted from it. Foreigners get an undeservedly bleak picture of Finland if only the people who have not integrated in the Finnish society are considered real foreigners and are listened to as such.
Anyway... In the unlikely event that any new immigrant is reading this: you can make it here, and learn the language, and meet people, etc. A lot of the problems that other foreigners are talking about are real, but for the most part you can overcome them. An there is a lot of us leading perfectly normal lives here - we usually just don't get invited to to speak at the foreigner events, and are not active enough to speak out by ourselves.
We talked, among other things, about living in Finland as an immigrant. In fact we were talking only about immigrants from civilized countries, and the trend nowadays is to call them expats, but I am still resisting that word.
I realized that it is true, as Elaine puts it in her blog, that "trying to explain how Finland differs for residents as opposed to tourists to the newly arrived is a chore since you either sound bitter or are constantly doubting your own experience of everything in a miasma of cultural relativism and personal baggage". I also realized that on some level both myself and other people consider my immigration experience exceptional, but I don't quite understand why. But I am, indeed, constantly doubting my experience, when explaining things to new immigrants. They are doubting it too.
Weird. It all went fairly smoothly, even though rather slowly on the bureaucratic front. It was a bit exceptional from the beginning because I did not come here because of a Finnish spouse, like most Western immigrants seem to. But otherwise... Came on a student visa, had no trouble with the univeristy bureaucracy, had no trouble learning Finnish, had no trouble meeting people - at least no more trouble than anywhere else. Occasionally met some people who hated foreigners, but did not think much of them. Occasionally had a bit of trouble with the immigration authorities when I was studying and working full-time, because they decided that they couldn't give me a student residence permit because I was not studying enough, and couldn't give me a worker residence permit because I hadn't graduated yet, but in those cases they told me that the situation can be resolved by taking a few more tests at the univeristy and I went and took tests, whether I needed them or not. I realize of course that my expectations of both immigration authorities and xenophobic people are quite a bit lower than most westerners', but even if we take this into account immigrating here was still fairly easy.
It seems to me that positive experiences of immigrating to Finland tend to be dismissed both by immigrants and Finns. The web forum where immigrants congregate tends to concentrate on negative issues, which is quite understandable in that the people tend to talk about things that bother them, but this also gives new people a skewed view of Finland, because the people who have integrated well are for the most part absent from that forum.
Once a student organization of which I was a rather active member decided to organize an event where department's foreign students would talk about their experiences coming to Finland. I wasn't invited to speak. When afterwards I asked the organizers why, an expression appeared on their faces that made it quite clear that the idea did not occur to them, and they said something like "but you've been here for so long... you are one of us... you speak Finnish". (I'd been here for 4 years or so by that point.) I understand the organizers in that they had probably heard all about my immigration experience already, but the other foreigners could have benefitted from it. Foreigners get an undeservedly bleak picture of Finland if only the people who have not integrated in the Finnish society are considered real foreigners and are listened to as such.
Anyway... In the unlikely event that any new immigrant is reading this: you can make it here, and learn the language, and meet people, etc. A lot of the problems that other foreigners are talking about are real, but for the most part you can overcome them. An there is a lot of us leading perfectly normal lives here - we usually just don't get invited to to speak at the foreigner events, and are not active enough to speak out by ourselves.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
On contacting people
Why is it that when I want to open a chat in Skype with someone, I am stressing over whether or not I am bothering the person unduly (much like calling them on the phone), but when I send them a private message in IRC this does not bother me at all? That is true even if it is the same person.
Is it just that Skype windows have a more compelling presence on the screen than Xchat tabs?
Every once in a while I have a feeling that I am always contacting everyone and nobody is ever contacting me. This is not exactly the case: some people contact me sometimes, and a lot of other people would if I did not call them first, and also a lot of people don't really feel the need to because they see me in IRC every day. I am just "faster on the draw" than most people. (And thanks to Heli and Ville and Leena and Anya and Tiina and occasionally Kristiina - did I forget anyone? - for often being faster than myself. But I like those of you who are slower too.)
Hrrrm, this entry sounds like a whine for invitations. I didn't really mean it that way. I am just expressing my insecurities. I kind of know that most people I hang out with like me even if they don't call or write.
Still, I wonder about some people. Old Aspekti people almost never call, and yet seem quite happy when I call them. Don't seem to call each other very often, either. Gotta have a party for them sometime this summer, because I have a feeling that if I won't nobody will.
New people are also difficult: how do I know whether they don't contact me because they don't like me or just because they don't bother to contact me? Scary.
Apropos new people: Tanya once told me (after we'd been friends for years) that the first 20 or so times that we talked I called her; she did not call me. I hadn't even noticed that back then.
I almost feel like adding a few lines here about my parents' contact habits and the stuff they taught me, but my mom has this URL and I'll be in trouble. And don't even let me start on the grandma.
Is it just that Skype windows have a more compelling presence on the screen than Xchat tabs?
Every once in a while I have a feeling that I am always contacting everyone and nobody is ever contacting me. This is not exactly the case: some people contact me sometimes, and a lot of other people would if I did not call them first, and also a lot of people don't really feel the need to because they see me in IRC every day. I am just "faster on the draw" than most people. (And thanks to Heli and Ville and Leena and Anya and Tiina and occasionally Kristiina - did I forget anyone? - for often being faster than myself. But I like those of you who are slower too.)
Hrrrm, this entry sounds like a whine for invitations. I didn't really mean it that way. I am just expressing my insecurities. I kind of know that most people I hang out with like me even if they don't call or write.
Still, I wonder about some people. Old Aspekti people almost never call, and yet seem quite happy when I call them. Don't seem to call each other very often, either. Gotta have a party for them sometime this summer, because I have a feeling that if I won't nobody will.
New people are also difficult: how do I know whether they don't contact me because they don't like me or just because they don't bother to contact me? Scary.
Apropos new people: Tanya once told me (after we'd been friends for years) that the first 20 or so times that we talked I called her; she did not call me. I hadn't even noticed that back then.
I almost feel like adding a few lines here about my parents' contact habits and the stuff they taught me, but my mom has this URL and I'll be in trouble. And don't even let me start on the grandma.
No prize for this dog
Went to some kind of sports therapist today (not my idea, a doctor sent me) to find out what, in anything, is wrong with my ankles. The whole event reminded me of a dog show in a way that was totally hilarious. "Walk. Stop. Turn around. Walk." She even wrote down an evaluation that sounded much like the ones they do at dog shows.
I was told to perform a number of unnatural acts in a natural way, and tried my best. She also took a video of me walking. Seeing one's ass in a video is unhealthy (or maybe healthy): I feel like stopping eating forever. Maybe should go on a liquid diet of sparkling wine and rum.
I was told to perform a number of unnatural acts in a natural way, and tried my best. She also took a video of me walking. Seeing one's ass in a video is unhealthy (or maybe healthy): I feel like stopping eating forever. Maybe should go on a liquid diet of sparkling wine and rum.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Heard at work
Coworker: You are not drinking somewhere outside yet?
Me: No, came in late, have to be here till six.
Coworker: Why late, hangover?
Me: Doctor's appointment.
Coworker: A checkup?
Me: No, had to change my IUD.
Coworker: IUD? I never tried that...
The coworker is a man. The thought of him trying an IUD produced some interesting mental images. I told him not to do it.
Me: No, came in late, have to be here till six.
Coworker: Why late, hangover?
Me: Doctor's appointment.
Coworker: A checkup?
Me: No, had to change my IUD.
Coworker: IUD? I never tried that...
The coworker is a man. The thought of him trying an IUD produced some interesting mental images. I told him not to do it.
Oh fuck, it's still Tuesday?
Feels like Friday already. Besides, this is the longest day of the year. And it's lovely outside. And I have to sit in our stupid office just in order to write appropriate hours, with nothing at all to do. And my back and shoulders are sore for some reason. And I had to wake up early in the morning a lot lately, which is surely not healthy.
I am praying for deliverance in the form of long weekend, but there are two more days before that.
Shit, I really need a vacation.
Maybe it would be a good idea to ask to work from home, or from a park with a laptop. It's probably quite fun, although not having a laptop might be a problem for this cunning plan. Maybe can borrow a company laptop. Working from home is easy when there is no actual work to be done.
Got a doctor's appointment at 8 tomorrow. No rest for the wicked. But no early mornings for 4 days after that, which is nice.
For the lack of better things to do wanted to write some more fiction, but it is proving to be hard to reconcile my desire for a sensible plot with the characters who totally refuse to do anything sensible.
I am praying for deliverance in the form of long weekend, but there are two more days before that.
Shit, I really need a vacation.
Maybe it would be a good idea to ask to work from home, or from a park with a laptop. It's probably quite fun, although not having a laptop might be a problem for this cunning plan. Maybe can borrow a company laptop. Working from home is easy when there is no actual work to be done.
Got a doctor's appointment at 8 tomorrow. No rest for the wicked. But no early mornings for 4 days after that, which is nice.
For the lack of better things to do wanted to write some more fiction, but it is proving to be hard to reconcile my desire for a sensible plot with the characters who totally refuse to do anything sensible.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Your tax money at work
...at least for those of you who are Americans. Others may be glad that this is not their tax money at work.
FBI is being sued for failing to promote some guy and promoting less qualified people instead in its anti-terrorism unit. During the lawsuit it turns out that FBI believes that terrorism and/or Middle East expertise is nice but not necessary for work in the counterterrorism unit.
Some choice bits:
"You need leadership. You don’t need subject-matter expertise," - FBI Executive Assistant Director Gary Bald.
Hmm, strong leadership and knowing nothing about anything? Apparently if it's good enough for the president it should be good enough for the rest of the civil servants.
"Not technically, no." - Dale Watson, the FBI’s terrorism chief in the first two years after 9/11, on the question of whether he knows the differences between the Shia and the Sunni.
FBI is being sued for failing to promote some guy and promoting less qualified people instead in its anti-terrorism unit. During the lawsuit it turns out that FBI believes that terrorism and/or Middle East expertise is nice but not necessary for work in the counterterrorism unit.
Some choice bits:
"You need leadership. You don’t need subject-matter expertise," - FBI Executive Assistant Director Gary Bald.
Hmm, strong leadership and knowing nothing about anything? Apparently if it's good enough for the president it should be good enough for the rest of the civil servants.
"Not technically, no." - Dale Watson, the FBI’s terrorism chief in the first two years after 9/11, on the question of whether he knows the differences between the Shia and the Sunni.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Deja vu
Our old friend Zhirinovsky is at it again. He suggests that Russian women who marry a foreigner should be stripped of their citizenship, sent to the husband's country, never allowed to return, and all her assets should be distributed between the state and her relatives.
Hmm. Been there, done that, haven't even gotten a man in the bargain. Don't feel particularly punished, though. Quite the opposite, the 700 rubles (at a time when median monthly salary was about 150) that we paid per person to get rid of that citizenship were the best-invested money in my life.
When we were leaving a number of people were saying "just go away, the Soviet Union is not gonna fall apart without you". And oops, look what happened...
Hmm. Been there, done that, haven't even gotten a man in the bargain. Don't feel particularly punished, though. Quite the opposite, the 700 rubles (at a time when median monthly salary was about 150) that we paid per person to get rid of that citizenship were the best-invested money in my life.
When we were leaving a number of people were saying "just go away, the Soviet Union is not gonna fall apart without you". And oops, look what happened...
The weekend
On Friday Killeri came over, and apart from entertaining me in the usual ways also figured out that he can tickle my wrists. After this amazing discovery we went to Ville's place, grilled something and watched Battle of Britain, which turned out to be an intersting movie in spite of not having any characters one could remember for more than a minute.
On Saturday there was Satu's and Ola's housewarming party, which had to be held through skype on account of Satu and Ola and their house being in Brisbane. One disadvantage of a skype party over a regular one is that one does not have a third hand to hold the glass while typing. Besides, during a voice connection I tend to hear my own microphone. Other skypers do not seem to be similarly afflicted. I am sure my sound settings are fucked somehow, but they have a million switches none of which I understand, and I still haven't gotten around to reading the fine manual. Maybe should do it next weekend.
Somehow we all (the Helsinki part of the party) ended up at Juha's place, and had a pretty good time there. The Brisbane part passed out but then woke up in their morning. Juha had an undescribably vile drink - in fact he had several different ones, but one of them not only smelled but looked scary. In the morning I wished to think that the drink was my private nightmare, but then I found photo evidence. The vile liquid was called Pipra, and had a wormlike chili swimming in it. I stayed with beer and wine.
Was tired and walked back home. Ran into a foreign (my guess would be Mosambique) guy who asked me whether I had a boyfriend. When I answered in the affirmative, he asked whether I could take him home anyway. I told him he was not Killeri's type and left, laughing. I decide to share this absurdity with Anu, who was still at the party. Anu was immediately concerned and asked me whether I have beaten him up, even though I don't usually beat people up without first making sure that they have all their protective gear in place. I attributed Anu's reaction to Pipra and Juha's other fearsome drinks and went on. On the way I ran into Irrette, which was nice, and then into another guy who asked me to bed. The amazing thing about that was that the guy was cute enough to have rated a fuck if I were single, even though not quite cute enough to take as a second lover. The reason it was amazing is that usually fuckable men never look for women in the streets, not even at 3 am. Maybe should have had sex with him just for the novelty value, but was too tired. Besides, in my old age fucking people without googling them first would probably feel strange. Oh well...
On Saturday there was Satu's and Ola's housewarming party, which had to be held through skype on account of Satu and Ola and their house being in Brisbane. One disadvantage of a skype party over a regular one is that one does not have a third hand to hold the glass while typing. Besides, during a voice connection I tend to hear my own microphone. Other skypers do not seem to be similarly afflicted. I am sure my sound settings are fucked somehow, but they have a million switches none of which I understand, and I still haven't gotten around to reading the fine manual. Maybe should do it next weekend.
Somehow we all (the Helsinki part of the party) ended up at Juha's place, and had a pretty good time there. The Brisbane part passed out but then woke up in their morning. Juha had an undescribably vile drink - in fact he had several different ones, but one of them not only smelled but looked scary. In the morning I wished to think that the drink was my private nightmare, but then I found photo evidence. The vile liquid was called Pipra, and had a wormlike chili swimming in it. I stayed with beer and wine.
Was tired and walked back home. Ran into a foreign (my guess would be Mosambique) guy who asked me whether I had a boyfriend. When I answered in the affirmative, he asked whether I could take him home anyway. I told him he was not Killeri's type and left, laughing. I decide to share this absurdity with Anu, who was still at the party. Anu was immediately concerned and asked me whether I have beaten him up, even though I don't usually beat people up without first making sure that they have all their protective gear in place. I attributed Anu's reaction to Pipra and Juha's other fearsome drinks and went on. On the way I ran into Irrette, which was nice, and then into another guy who asked me to bed. The amazing thing about that was that the guy was cute enough to have rated a fuck if I were single, even though not quite cute enough to take as a second lover. The reason it was amazing is that usually fuckable men never look for women in the streets, not even at 3 am. Maybe should have had sex with him just for the novelty value, but was too tired. Besides, in my old age fucking people without googling them first would probably feel strange. Oh well...
Friday, June 17, 2005
More google searches
Sometimes people search for answers to the questions that I could in principle answer.
This morning's interesting searches:
acrivastin alcohol
Yes, I have used them together with no ill effects.
krav maga frying pan
Not strictly against the rules, but I wouldn't recommend using frying pans during a regular practice session.
elf vandalism
WTF?
ja ja binks masturbation
I find the fact that my blog comes up fifth in this search profoundly disturbing. Besides, somebody who knows how to spell "masturbation" should also be able to spell "Jar Jar Binks"
The most common search is, of course, Vera Izrailit. The second most common search is Pol Remy Brut. I have no idea why that should be.
This morning's interesting searches:
acrivastin alcohol
Yes, I have used them together with no ill effects.
krav maga frying pan
Not strictly against the rules, but I wouldn't recommend using frying pans during a regular practice session.
elf vandalism
WTF?
ja ja binks masturbation
I find the fact that my blog comes up fifth in this search profoundly disturbing. Besides, somebody who knows how to spell "masturbation" should also be able to spell "Jar Jar Binks"
The most common search is, of course, Vera Izrailit. The second most common search is Pol Remy Brut. I have no idea why that should be.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Social manipulation
Talked with Anu about manipulating people in social situations last week. The particular example we discussed is pretending to be shy, or at least shyer than one really is in order to put a shy person more at ease, but I am sure some other examples could be imagined.
I was surprised when Anu said that she finds such behavior objectionable, and that most other people would, too. I don't find it objectionable at all, unless there is some sinister purpose to it (like trying to put people at ease just in order to make trouble for them when they least expect).
While I don't see why people would find this objectionable, it's the kind of thing I'd never do myself: simply don't have the skill to understand whether a shy person wants me to be also shy or more outgoing, and believably pretend to be shy/outgoing in the right way.
Now I am curious to know what people think, and whether acceptance of such social manipulation is correlated in any way with unability to implement it oneself.
I was surprised when Anu said that she finds such behavior objectionable, and that most other people would, too. I don't find it objectionable at all, unless there is some sinister purpose to it (like trying to put people at ease just in order to make trouble for them when they least expect).
While I don't see why people would find this objectionable, it's the kind of thing I'd never do myself: simply don't have the skill to understand whether a shy person wants me to be also shy or more outgoing, and believably pretend to be shy/outgoing in the right way.
Now I am curious to know what people think, and whether acceptance of such social manipulation is correlated in any way with unability to implement it oneself.
A moment of absurdity
Somebody has just found my blog by searching for "pride and prejudice movie script calls for darcy erection" (without the quote marks) on Google.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Pakistan upholding its image in women's rights
Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman who was gang-raped in a notorious case in 2002, has been placed on the Exit Control List, thus being prevented from visiting some Amnesty International event in Washington and thus tarnishing Pakistan's otherwise stellar image as a country where women's rights are upheld.
Gang rapes are fairly common in Pakistan. What makes her case notorious was that she was actually sentenced to being raped by the village council. (Sentenced by the village council - the story does not say whether any of the 14 rapists were members of the council. Another thing that makes it notorious is that she tried to bring the rapists to justice.
The crime that she was sentenced for was that her 12-year-old brother was seen walking with a girl from another, "better" tribe. The people of that tribe demanded that they should be allowed to rape her as a punishment. Raping the brother would have been more logical, but I guess they did not fancy him.
In the 3 years that have passed since the accused were arrested, released, rearrested, rereleased, etc. ad nauseum.
“We want her case to be processed and resolved first,” said Minister of State for Interior. Wonder if this means that if Pakistanis are generally not allowed to travel abroad while being a plaintiff in a criminal case.
Gang rapes are fairly common in Pakistan. What makes her case notorious was that she was actually sentenced to being raped by the village council. (Sentenced by the village council - the story does not say whether any of the 14 rapists were members of the council. Another thing that makes it notorious is that she tried to bring the rapists to justice.
The crime that she was sentenced for was that her 12-year-old brother was seen walking with a girl from another, "better" tribe. The people of that tribe demanded that they should be allowed to rape her as a punishment. Raping the brother would have been more logical, but I guess they did not fancy him.
In the 3 years that have passed since the accused were arrested, released, rearrested, rereleased, etc. ad nauseum.
“We want her case to be processed and resolved first,” said Minister of State for Interior. Wonder if this means that if Pakistanis are generally not allowed to travel abroad while being a plaintiff in a criminal case.
Monday, June 13, 2005
The rest of the weekend
On Saturday the lack of sleep struck back with a vengeance, and I was sleepy for the whole day and still sleepy at night. Tiina came over and cheered me up a bit, and borrowed Wyrd Sisters (yes! one more for the dark side!). Then Anu came over but was even more comatose than me on account of having actually gone to the dog show in the morning and worked there all day.
Sunday was rather lazy too, but then Anu arose from the dead and came over, almost losing her pants on the way. She bought them two days earlier, and they keep growing and therefore falling down. I think she should get her money back, or at least demand a belt and/or suspenders into the bargain. Viljo also came, and we bought beer and Chinese food and hanged out in Ruttopuisto. At somepoint even Ebu came for a while in a cute tiny car that lacked a roof.
Sunday was rather lazy too, but then Anu arose from the dead and came over, almost losing her pants on the way. She bought them two days earlier, and they keep growing and therefore falling down. I think she should get her money back, or at least demand a belt and/or suspenders into the bargain. Viljo also came, and we bought beer and Chinese food and hanged out in Ruttopuisto. At somepoint even Ebu came for a while in a cute tiny car that lacked a roof.
Friday night
Was planning to spend Friday night with Glenn and Iain and Tiina after their company party, and went to Kappeli after getting the message that they are there.
When I came in some woman greeted me very enthusiastically. I responded with appropriate enthusiasm, all the time thinking "oh my god, who is that?" After having a drink with her I decided that I like her, whoever she is, and later I did in fact remember who she was, even though still don't remember the name. She found it very romantic that I was born in Russia, and I kept thinking "just you wait till the paper strike continues a bit longer and we run out of toilet paper, and then you can have a taste of genuine Russian romanticism too". I liked her anyway - would want to hang out with her again, but still can't remember the damn name.
She introduced me to my ex-project manager, whom I had never seen in person, and by that time I was in a condition where meeting one's ex-project managers seems like a good idea. He turned out to be quite nice, even though at some point he tried to convince me that a person my age should not play role-playing games. But that was about 4 o'clock in the morning, so he is forgiven.
Was really good to see Glenn again. He is one of the most immediately pleasant people I've met in my entire life. And this is not just the question of personal compatibility either: everyone who meets him seems to like him immediately and a lot. In spite of that he seems just as concerned about whether or not people like him as the rest of us, and probably more. I wonder if everybody in the world is afflicted with some degree of social paranoia. But more about it later.
All their company was in Kappeli, except Tiina who went to check out that place called Base. Not a very nice place, but they make good irish coffee. After collecting Tiina, her keys, Glenn, Kai, everyone else who still could move and the remains of my sanity we moved to Teatteri. There the degree of surrealism was much enhanced by a strange man who came up to me and started talking Portuguese, and by the fact that I was drunk enough to talk back to him in Portuguese.
Later we moved to the dancing part of Teatteri for awhile, and got out of there at four in the morning. People (a whole lot of them, at least 15 or so) wanted food, and I (all the other locals had gone home) led them to a kebab place much in the manner of Moses leading Jews to the Promised Land, and they strayed on the way about as much. The Promised Kebab Place only sold take-out at that point, and we drifted to Carrolls, where people got food and at some point went home.
Glenn came over for coffee after that (the regular variety and not irish one) and we talked a little about life and then he went home too. I looked at IRC, saw Anu who had just woken up, and told her that I would probably be in no condition for the dog show I was planning to go to on Saturday morning.
When I came in some woman greeted me very enthusiastically. I responded with appropriate enthusiasm, all the time thinking "oh my god, who is that?" After having a drink with her I decided that I like her, whoever she is, and later I did in fact remember who she was, even though still don't remember the name. She found it very romantic that I was born in Russia, and I kept thinking "just you wait till the paper strike continues a bit longer and we run out of toilet paper, and then you can have a taste of genuine Russian romanticism too". I liked her anyway - would want to hang out with her again, but still can't remember the damn name.
She introduced me to my ex-project manager, whom I had never seen in person, and by that time I was in a condition where meeting one's ex-project managers seems like a good idea. He turned out to be quite nice, even though at some point he tried to convince me that a person my age should not play role-playing games. But that was about 4 o'clock in the morning, so he is forgiven.
Was really good to see Glenn again. He is one of the most immediately pleasant people I've met in my entire life. And this is not just the question of personal compatibility either: everyone who meets him seems to like him immediately and a lot. In spite of that he seems just as concerned about whether or not people like him as the rest of us, and probably more. I wonder if everybody in the world is afflicted with some degree of social paranoia. But more about it later.
All their company was in Kappeli, except Tiina who went to check out that place called Base. Not a very nice place, but they make good irish coffee. After collecting Tiina, her keys, Glenn, Kai, everyone else who still could move and the remains of my sanity we moved to Teatteri. There the degree of surrealism was much enhanced by a strange man who came up to me and started talking Portuguese, and by the fact that I was drunk enough to talk back to him in Portuguese.
Later we moved to the dancing part of Teatteri for awhile, and got out of there at four in the morning. People (a whole lot of them, at least 15 or so) wanted food, and I (all the other locals had gone home) led them to a kebab place much in the manner of Moses leading Jews to the Promised Land, and they strayed on the way about as much. The Promised Kebab Place only sold take-out at that point, and we drifted to Carrolls, where people got food and at some point went home.
Glenn came over for coffee after that (the regular variety and not irish one) and we talked a little about life and then he went home too. I looked at IRC, saw Anu who had just woken up, and told her that I would probably be in no condition for the dog show I was planning to go to on Saturday morning.
Myöntäkää, siat!
Eilen mun lankapuhelin soi päivällä puoli kahdelta. Liian aikaisin bostonilaisille, eikä kukaan täältä ikinä soita mun lankalinjaan. Nostan luurin.
Minä: Hello.
ATM: Halo?
Minä: Niin?
ATM: Halo? Kuka tämä on?
Minä: Vera.
ATM: Onko täällä jotain seksipalveluita?
Minä: Ei. Sulla on väärä numero.
Laitan luurin paikalleen. Hetken päästä kännykkä soi. Tuntematon numero.
Minä: Vera Izrailit.
ATM (se sama): Onko täällä jotain seksipalveluita?
Minä: Ei.
ATM (epätoivoisesti): Onko täällä edes joitain palveluita?
Minä: Ei. Mistä sä sait nämä numerot?
Tänän se tyyppi lopetti puhelun. Olisi varmaan pitänyt sanoa sille että C-koodausta, 100€/tunti. Olisi ollut oikein mukava sivutoimi.
Vieläkin ihmettelen kuka se oli ja miksi se soitti mulle. Varmaankin joku bloginlukija, joka sai numerot mun webbisivulta. Joten: myönnä pois, senkin sika!
Minä: Hello.
ATM: Halo?
Minä: Niin?
ATM: Halo? Kuka tämä on?
Minä: Vera.
ATM: Onko täällä jotain seksipalveluita?
Minä: Ei. Sulla on väärä numero.
Laitan luurin paikalleen. Hetken päästä kännykkä soi. Tuntematon numero.
Minä: Vera Izrailit.
ATM (se sama): Onko täällä jotain seksipalveluita?
Minä: Ei.
ATM (epätoivoisesti): Onko täällä edes joitain palveluita?
Minä: Ei. Mistä sä sait nämä numerot?
Tänän se tyyppi lopetti puhelun. Olisi varmaan pitänyt sanoa sille että C-koodausta, 100€/tunti. Olisi ollut oikein mukava sivutoimi.
Vieläkin ihmettelen kuka se oli ja miksi se soitti mulle. Varmaankin joku bloginlukija, joka sai numerot mun webbisivulta. Joten: myönnä pois, senkin sika!
Friday, June 10, 2005
Jouluseisokki
"Paperiliitto valmis luopumaan juhannus- ja jouluseisokeista," sanoo Hesari. Tämä on jotenkin rivoa.
Tosin joku onkin todennut jo että juhannus on saamattomuuden juhla.
Tosin joku onkin todennut jo että juhannus on saamattomuuden juhla.
Work: much better
Had a meeting with three bosses. Mostly discussed the question of me not being evil, and decided that I am not evil. The boss said that she does not have anything against me. All in all everyone really tried to be constructive. Thanks to the CEO for arranging the whole thing.
Canadian health care system
Canada's Supreme Court has struck down Quebec's ban on private medical insurance.The critics say that this might undermine Canada's current healthcare system. From everything that I've read about Canada's current health care system I can only say "good riddance".
All the other civilized countries in the world have both a private and a public healthcare system. Canada is the only one that in its infinite wisdom fights tooth nd nail against any private healthcare. As the result, the lines for procedures are unbelievable and, unlike in places like Finland, you are not allowed to seek faster private treatment if you are tired of waiting in line or feel like you are about to die.
I can already imagine the screeching: "We have to get rich to die in lines together with the poor in the name of equality", or something like that. Let's remind them that the rich are perfectly well capable of travelling to the US and paying for the private health care there. It's the people who cannot afford paying out of the pocket south of the border but could afford a private insurance if there were any who are fucked. Which is, like, most of the population.
On the other hand, let's not remind them. Next thing they'll decide to ban travelling out of the country in order to get medical treatment. All in the name of True Equality.
All the other civilized countries in the world have both a private and a public healthcare system. Canada is the only one that in its infinite wisdom fights tooth nd nail against any private healthcare. As the result, the lines for procedures are unbelievable and, unlike in places like Finland, you are not allowed to seek faster private treatment if you are tired of waiting in line or feel like you are about to die.
I can already imagine the screeching: "We have to get rich to die in lines together with the poor in the name of equality", or something like that. Let's remind them that the rich are perfectly well capable of travelling to the US and paying for the private health care there. It's the people who cannot afford paying out of the pocket south of the border but could afford a private insurance if there were any who are fucked. Which is, like, most of the population.
On the other hand, let's not remind them. Next thing they'll decide to ban travelling out of the country in order to get medical treatment. All in the name of True Equality.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Work: better. Sleep also better
Went and has a chat with the CEO yesterday. He was nice and promised to help. Whether he really can help is another question, but at least he can help to some degree. Anyway, it was good to talk to him.
Sleeping better, too: only woke up at 5:30.
Yesterday drank some sparkling wine in Ruttopuisto with Anu, and tried to take a picture of a weird black bird with big beak. The bird did not want to cooperate.
Sleeping better, too: only woke up at 5:30.
Yesterday drank some sparkling wine in Ruttopuisto with Anu, and tried to take a picture of a weird black bird with big beak. The bird did not want to cooperate.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Work, once again
Boring, I know, but this is the foremost thing on my mind now. Can't think or write of much else. Can't sleep properly, either: woke up from a nightmare at 4:30 and spent the rest of the night reading webpages about workplace harassment, how to fight it, relevant laws, etc.
Feel like describing the situation right here in all its glorious and dirty detail, and with her name, too, but that would probably be unwise.
Feel like describing the situation right here in all its glorious and dirty detail, and with her name, too, but that would probably be unwise.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
War on drugs, US-style
The US Supreme Court has in its infinite wisdom decided that people who use marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's prescription in the 11 states where it is legal can be prosecuted in a federal court for it.
The Supreme Court is of course not responsible for all the anti-medical-marijuana idiotism - the Controlled Substances Act is, since it bans marijuana use for medical purposes. God knows what will happen if those pesky cancer and AIDS patients start using marijuana. Next thing you see they will go on to stronger substances to control their pain, maybe even morphine...
The Supreme Court has only decided that the federal government has the jurisdiction in this case, since this is an activity that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce. I don't quite understand how growing pot in your backyard has an effect on interstate commerce, but maybe that's because they are Supreme Court justices and I am just a frustrated software engineer with too much time on my hands and no schooling in economics.
In other news, the federal government is preparing a law that would limit the sales of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine in order to prevent people from making meth out of it.
The Supreme Court is of course not responsible for all the anti-medical-marijuana idiotism - the Controlled Substances Act is, since it bans marijuana use for medical purposes. God knows what will happen if those pesky cancer and AIDS patients start using marijuana. Next thing you see they will go on to stronger substances to control their pain, maybe even morphine...
The Supreme Court has only decided that the federal government has the jurisdiction in this case, since this is an activity that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce. I don't quite understand how growing pot in your backyard has an effect on interstate commerce, but maybe that's because they are Supreme Court justices and I am just a frustrated software engineer with too much time on my hands and no schooling in economics.
In other news, the federal government is preparing a law that would limit the sales of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine in order to prevent people from making meth out of it.
Work
It's not going well. Got the most hostile boss I'd ever seen. Luckily there is another boss over her.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Kunnia meni jo ajat sitten, mutta maine vain kasvaa
Evil Lasu posted a link to my Debian ad posting to Planet Debian, and I am getting hundreds of hits from previously sweet and innocent Debian people.
The weekend
The weekend was quite social, which is good because now is the start of the time of the year when pretty much everyone I know is working on Ropecon.
Hanged out with Anu on Thirsday and Friday, ate pancakes at Lasu's place on Saturday.
On Sunday Tiina and a friend of hers invited me to see Helsinki kehyksissä exhibition in Hakasalmen Huvila. For some reason I assumed it would be photos, but it was mostly paintings. I liked it anyway.
Hanged out with Tiina for a while afterwards, and somehow managed to advertise role-playing to her. We'll see if it worked. Afterwards went outside to buy some bread and ran into Heli and invited her to come over. It's good to live in downtown, keep running into friends in stores.
Heli exercised some mind control over me and I tasted a soy ice cream and made a vegetarian food, which was sort of like normal food minus the shrimp. Ice cream turned out to be edible, which was a surprise. Still, I wish they'd make a normal ice cream in blackcurrant flavor.
Caught up on sleep a little. Also, went to a hairdresser and had them color my roots. Love the color, but afterwards they washed my hair with some damn volume conditioner and dried it with a blow dryer. Now it feels twice as thich as normally and I look hairier than Chewbacca. Gotta wash it again with something that will make it look normal again.
Hanged out with Anu on Thirsday and Friday, ate pancakes at Lasu's place on Saturday.
On Sunday Tiina and a friend of hers invited me to see Helsinki kehyksissä exhibition in Hakasalmen Huvila. For some reason I assumed it would be photos, but it was mostly paintings. I liked it anyway.
Hanged out with Tiina for a while afterwards, and somehow managed to advertise role-playing to her. We'll see if it worked. Afterwards went outside to buy some bread and ran into Heli and invited her to come over. It's good to live in downtown, keep running into friends in stores.
Heli exercised some mind control over me and I tasted a soy ice cream and made a vegetarian food, which was sort of like normal food minus the shrimp. Ice cream turned out to be edible, which was a surprise. Still, I wish they'd make a normal ice cream in blackcurrant flavor.
Caught up on sleep a little. Also, went to a hairdresser and had them color my roots. Love the color, but afterwards they washed my hair with some damn volume conditioner and dried it with a blow dryer. Now it feels twice as thich as normally and I look hairier than Chewbacca. Gotta wash it again with something that will make it look normal again.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Chocolaty goodness
Leonidas has finally come to Finland, under the cryptical name of Kaakaopuu, and is located in the new Kamppi shopping center. The prices are very un-Belgian, though.
Koodarit, yhtykää!
Yesterday we were making pancakes at Lasu's place with a few friends, and somebody said that Debian releases are so often late because nowadays most Debian developers have wives and girlfriends (the female ones mostly have husbands and boyfriends, but this is no big news). After wondering for a couple of minutes whether wives and girlfriends are a part of an evil plot by Microsoft we came up with an idea for a consciousness-raising ad for Debian developers in order to show them that sex should not stop you from coding:
A man and a woman are having sex doggie-style. The man's laptop is on the woman's ass and the woman's is on the pillow in front of her. And there is a counter running in the corner: "N bugs fixed".
Lasu encouraged me to give an actual demo at the Debconf, but I am afraid Killeri, authorities and many Debian people would disapprove of the idea.
A man and a woman are having sex doggie-style. The man's laptop is on the woman's ass and the woman's is on the pillow in front of her. And there is a counter running in the corner: "N bugs fixed".
Lasu encouraged me to give an actual demo at the Debconf, but I am afraid Killeri, authorities and many Debian people would disapprove of the idea.
Friday, June 03, 2005
"Are you pregnant?"
Once upon a time, when I was young and innocent, I had to have some X-rays taken. "You are not pregnant, are you?" - asked the X-ray technician. "I don't know, but this is highly unlikely," - I answered, - "and it doesn't matter anyway, I'd have an abortion if I were pregnant".
She really did not like my answer. Now that I am old and wise (haha) I sort of know that you are supposed to answer "no" if you are using birth control and have not missed any periods, even though you really don't know. But I still don't quite understand what's wrong with being more exact and what was her problem.
She really did not like my answer. Now that I am old and wise (haha) I sort of know that you are supposed to answer "no" if you are using birth control and have not missed any periods, even though you really don't know. But I still don't quite understand what's wrong with being more exact and what was her problem.
Enemy of the people
When I was in daycare at the age of five, we had one really nasty teacher (we also had a few simply nasty ones, and a few that were OK). Her name was Natalya Anatolyevna.
We were supposed to sleep every day 3pm-5pm. A lot of kids can't really sleep during the daytime, but we still had to pretend to be asleep, for 2 hours every day. If we could stay in bed and read these two hours, or talk quietly to the person next to us, this would be no problem. But no, we were not allowed to read or to talk. Not that we didn't try. Two hours in bed without being allowed to talk or to read and without being able to sleep feel like a hellish eternity. (I had discovered masturbation already by that point, but I was not very good at it, certainly not good enough to do it in a room full of people without anyone noticing. I discovered that technique at the age of 14 in a physics class, but that's going too much ahead...) The more reasonable teachers allowed us to lie in bed with our eyes open, the less reasonable demanded that we keep our eyes closed, but Natalya Anatolyevna demanded that we actually sleep, or pretend well enough to be undistinguishable from a sleeping person. Such pretense is difficult: when a person is only pretending to sleep the eyelids tend to tremble a bit. When she noticed something like that she always started screaming like a rabid baboon, so that even the people who were actually sleeping woke up in horror.
Another problem with sleeping is that people want to piss, and having a dinner just before going to bed does not help. Going to the toilet during the quiet hour was a problem: on one hand, we were not allowed to go to the toilet or even get out of bed without a permission, on the other hand, we were not allowed to open our mouths to obtain said permission. The solution given to us was to raise our hand and hope that a teacher notices it. Sometimes they noticed it; if they didn't, we had a choice of pissing in bed or rising without permission, and the latter usually caused so much yelling that almost everyone preferred the former. Natalya Anatolyevna never gave permission even if we asked.
If people were treated in such a way in Guantanamo bay, Amnesty International would have made noise, and for a good reason. Unfortunately this was just a daycare on the 12th Line in Leningrad, and therefore did not come to the attention of Amnesty and similar organizations.
Those who have pissed in bed were punished by yelling in front of a formation of everybody else (standing in military-style formations was the first thing they taught you in a Soviet daycare - I still have nightmares about people screaming "eyes right!", "attention!" and "at ease!"), but this was not a big source of shame, because it happened to everybody fairly often. Besides, their linen was given to their parents to take home and wash. The biggest problem was having wet underwear for the rest of the day, although the rest of the day was not much. At some point I got a great idea: if you take the panties off, piss in bed and then put them on, you can piss in bed and still have fairly dry panties. This pissed the teachers off terribly. They made me stand in front of a formation of kids and yelled at me, saying that Izrailit is a really bad person, since she pisses on society's sheets but prefers to keep her private panties dry. I didn't feel very ashamed, in fact quite amused at the absurdity of life. I guess this was the start of me as a right-winger and a general enemy of the people. This was also probably the moment I developed a taste for absurd comedy.
My technique did not catch on, though. I guess nobody else wanted to be called an enemy of the people.
We were supposed to sleep every day 3pm-5pm. A lot of kids can't really sleep during the daytime, but we still had to pretend to be asleep, for 2 hours every day. If we could stay in bed and read these two hours, or talk quietly to the person next to us, this would be no problem. But no, we were not allowed to read or to talk. Not that we didn't try. Two hours in bed without being allowed to talk or to read and without being able to sleep feel like a hellish eternity. (I had discovered masturbation already by that point, but I was not very good at it, certainly not good enough to do it in a room full of people without anyone noticing. I discovered that technique at the age of 14 in a physics class, but that's going too much ahead...) The more reasonable teachers allowed us to lie in bed with our eyes open, the less reasonable demanded that we keep our eyes closed, but Natalya Anatolyevna demanded that we actually sleep, or pretend well enough to be undistinguishable from a sleeping person. Such pretense is difficult: when a person is only pretending to sleep the eyelids tend to tremble a bit. When she noticed something like that she always started screaming like a rabid baboon, so that even the people who were actually sleeping woke up in horror.
Another problem with sleeping is that people want to piss, and having a dinner just before going to bed does not help. Going to the toilet during the quiet hour was a problem: on one hand, we were not allowed to go to the toilet or even get out of bed without a permission, on the other hand, we were not allowed to open our mouths to obtain said permission. The solution given to us was to raise our hand and hope that a teacher notices it. Sometimes they noticed it; if they didn't, we had a choice of pissing in bed or rising without permission, and the latter usually caused so much yelling that almost everyone preferred the former. Natalya Anatolyevna never gave permission even if we asked.
If people were treated in such a way in Guantanamo bay, Amnesty International would have made noise, and for a good reason. Unfortunately this was just a daycare on the 12th Line in Leningrad, and therefore did not come to the attention of Amnesty and similar organizations.
Those who have pissed in bed were punished by yelling in front of a formation of everybody else (standing in military-style formations was the first thing they taught you in a Soviet daycare - I still have nightmares about people screaming "eyes right!", "attention!" and "at ease!"), but this was not a big source of shame, because it happened to everybody fairly often. Besides, their linen was given to their parents to take home and wash. The biggest problem was having wet underwear for the rest of the day, although the rest of the day was not much. At some point I got a great idea: if you take the panties off, piss in bed and then put them on, you can piss in bed and still have fairly dry panties. This pissed the teachers off terribly. They made me stand in front of a formation of kids and yelled at me, saying that Izrailit is a really bad person, since she pisses on society's sheets but prefers to keep her private panties dry. I didn't feel very ashamed, in fact quite amused at the absurdity of life. I guess this was the start of me as a right-winger and a general enemy of the people. This was also probably the moment I developed a taste for absurd comedy.
My technique did not catch on, though. I guess nobody else wanted to be called an enemy of the people.
The end is near, the hell has frozen over
I went to the Aliens's police today to apply for a new residence permit, and it took 11 minutes from walking into the building to walking out of it. OK, I went there 10 minutes before it opened, but still...
Mielenosoitus
Bussi jäi lopullisesti jumiin liikenneruuhkaan Ruoholahdenkadulla. "Jopas on paljon ihmisiä tulossa mielenosoitukseen," - ajattelin minä, hyppäsin ulos bussista ja lähdin kävelemään Eduskuntatalon suuntaan.
Matkan varrella soitti Lasu, joka halusi tietää missä helvetissä mä olin ja käski mua käymään kaupassa ostamassa banaaneja.
Pari korttelia Eduskuntatalossa suloinen nuori mies vaaleassa puvussa yritti jakaa mulle papereita, jossa luki että softapatentit on pahuus. "Itsehän olen menossa siihen mielenosoitukseen," - sanoin minä ja jatkoin matkaa. Mies näytti pettyneeltä.
Eduskuntatalon edessä oli noin viisikymmentä tyyppiä, lukuunottamatta turisteja. Kaksi kylttiä törrötti molemmasta reunasta.
"Bananas for the revolution!" - sanoin minä ja ojensin ne Lasulle.
"Hyi helvetti, Vera. Eihän ne ole edes reilun kaupan banaaneja."
"Pitikö niiden olla? Miksi vitussa? Lasu ei kertonut mitään."
"Koska me niinku kannatetaan reilua kauppaa."
"Aaah..."
"Ottakaa joku edes se Chiquita-tarra pois!"
Ideana oli se, että EU:sta ei haluta banaanivaltiota, kuten luin yhdestä kyltistä. Ihmiset heristeli banaaneja kansanedustajille, ja yksi tyyppi ihmetteli lasketaanko tämä seksuaaliseksi ahdisteluksi. Id söpöili yhdelle kansanedustajan avustajalle yhteisen asiamme nimissä, mutta sanoi että entiselle Keskustan pääministerille ei silti antaisi.
Lasu laittoi banaanin hattunsa päälle. Se sopii sille.
Kansanedustajat aina välillä tuli ulos, ja katsoi meitä epävarmasti. Tyypit vei niille paperilappuja. Ajattelin viedä sellaisen Halmeelle, jos se tulisi, mutta sitten muistin olevani ulkomaalainen.
Matkan varrella soitti Lasu, joka halusi tietää missä helvetissä mä olin ja käski mua käymään kaupassa ostamassa banaaneja.
Pari korttelia Eduskuntatalossa suloinen nuori mies vaaleassa puvussa yritti jakaa mulle papereita, jossa luki että softapatentit on pahuus. "Itsehän olen menossa siihen mielenosoitukseen," - sanoin minä ja jatkoin matkaa. Mies näytti pettyneeltä.
Eduskuntatalon edessä oli noin viisikymmentä tyyppiä, lukuunottamatta turisteja. Kaksi kylttiä törrötti molemmasta reunasta.
"Bananas for the revolution!" - sanoin minä ja ojensin ne Lasulle.
"Hyi helvetti, Vera. Eihän ne ole edes reilun kaupan banaaneja."
"Pitikö niiden olla? Miksi vitussa? Lasu ei kertonut mitään."
"Koska me niinku kannatetaan reilua kauppaa."
"Aaah..."
"Ottakaa joku edes se Chiquita-tarra pois!"
Ideana oli se, että EU:sta ei haluta banaanivaltiota, kuten luin yhdestä kyltistä. Ihmiset heristeli banaaneja kansanedustajille, ja yksi tyyppi ihmetteli lasketaanko tämä seksuaaliseksi ahdisteluksi. Id söpöili yhdelle kansanedustajan avustajalle yhteisen asiamme nimissä, mutta sanoi että entiselle Keskustan pääministerille ei silti antaisi.
Lasu laittoi banaanin hattunsa päälle. Se sopii sille.
Kansanedustajat aina välillä tuli ulos, ja katsoi meitä epävarmasti. Tyypit vei niille paperilappuja. Ajattelin viedä sellaisen Halmeelle, jos se tulisi, mutta sitten muistin olevani ulkomaalainen.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Panic! Panic!
Pretty much everybody is getting married this year, and some people invited me and some possibly will, and where the fuck will I find a dress? Do I have to run to a store and buy one? Do I have to actually look through the stuff I have?
For all it's worth, I promise that if I ever get married, which is highly unlikely, everybody can come dressed any way they want.
No, this is not a criticism of anyone who wants people to dress up. I am just panicking.
In the moments like this I really want A-sized breasts. I would even settle for B. There should be an easy method to donate breast tissue to people who need it.
For all it's worth, I promise that if I ever get married, which is highly unlikely, everybody can come dressed any way they want.
No, this is not a criticism of anyone who wants people to dress up. I am just panicking.
In the moments like this I really want A-sized breasts. I would even settle for B. There should be an easy method to donate breast tissue to people who need it.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
In the news
All the restaurants in Sweden went smokefree today. When is finally Finland's turn?
A suidice bombing in a mosque in Kandahar. Wonder if any Korans got blown up. Or flew into a toilet accidentally.
Dominique de Villepin became the prime minister of France. Now we'll see why some bloggers use the terms "idiotarian" and "villepinist" interchangeably.
Anttila started selling music on the web. For Windows users only.
Sony, or rather First4Internet, came up with an anti-piracy solution that hits 10 out of 10 on my weirdshitometer. I won't believe this until I see it.
A suidice bombing in a mosque in Kandahar. Wonder if any Korans got blown up. Or flew into a toilet accidentally.
Dominique de Villepin became the prime minister of France. Now we'll see why some bloggers use the terms "idiotarian" and "villepinist" interchangeably.
Anttila started selling music on the web. For Windows users only.
Sony, or rather First4Internet, came up with an anti-piracy solution that hits 10 out of 10 on my weirdshitometer. I won't believe this until I see it.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Against software patents
There will be a demonstraion against software patents on Thursday, June 2d. It starts at 15:00 on Mannerheiminaukio and moves in front of Eduskuntatalo at 16:15.
More here (in Finnish).
More here (in Finnish).
EU constitution
Was so bored at work today (nothing to do while waiting for a customer) that read the EU constitution.
Hurrah for the French. I wouldn't've signed the damn thing either.
200-265 pages for the thing itself, not counting all the protocols, and it's extremely vague. OK, ours is fairly vague too (how do you define pursuit of happiness?), but at least it's way shorter, and besides it's a beta version written in 1787.
In short: "We are for everything good and against everything bad. Please give generously."
The really weird thing about it is that it explicitly bans human cloning. It also prohibits eugenic practices and using human body as a source of financial gain. I am thinking you can ban quite a lot of stuff under such laws.
Hurrah for the French. I wouldn't've signed the damn thing either.
200-265 pages for the thing itself, not counting all the protocols, and it's extremely vague. OK, ours is fairly vague too (how do you define pursuit of happiness?), but at least it's way shorter, and besides it's a beta version written in 1787.
In short: "We are for everything good and against everything bad. Please give generously."
The really weird thing about it is that it explicitly bans human cloning. It also prohibits eugenic practices and using human body as a source of financial gain. I am thinking you can ban quite a lot of stuff under such laws.
More peace in Karachi
From News24:
Six Kentucky Fried Chicken employees were burned alive (or rather 4 were burned and 2 were frozen to death) when a mob protesting the suicide bombing of a Shia mosque decided to blame fried chicken for everything.
Three people and two attackers had died during the mosque attack, and 21 were injured.
In spite of the fact that bombing Shia mosques is a time-honored tradition among Sunni terrorist groups in Pakistan, and occasionally the other way around, too, this time the peaceful mob decided to burn KFC, two gas stations and a number of vehicles as a retaliation. The story does not tell whether the KFC employees were Shia or Sunni, or whether anyone cared.
It is apparently traditional in Pakistan to attack American chain restaurants while on a rampage. Also the movie theaters that show American movies, the hospitals, and the all-time Western favorite - the police cars.
Note to self: Pakistan is probably not a good vacation destination.
Six Kentucky Fried Chicken employees were burned alive (or rather 4 were burned and 2 were frozen to death) when a mob protesting the suicide bombing of a Shia mosque decided to blame fried chicken for everything.
Three people and two attackers had died during the mosque attack, and 21 were injured.
In spite of the fact that bombing Shia mosques is a time-honored tradition among Sunni terrorist groups in Pakistan, and occasionally the other way around, too, this time the peaceful mob decided to burn KFC, two gas stations and a number of vehicles as a retaliation. The story does not tell whether the KFC employees were Shia or Sunni, or whether anyone cared.
It is apparently traditional in Pakistan to attack American chain restaurants while on a rampage. Also the movie theaters that show American movies, the hospitals, and the all-time Western favorite - the police cars.
Note to self: Pakistan is probably not a good vacation destination.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Debconf
Registered for Debconf 5 and bought a 12-pack of condoms. Wonder if there is anything freudian about it.
The weekend
On Saturday went to Linnanmäki, pretty much with the same people as on Friday, so everyone looked a bit hung over. Lintsi and hangover do not mix very well.
I went to the rollercoaster and the Rainbow, but some other rideslooked like a sure way to say goodbye to your lunch. Tried the water ride for the first time, with the result being a very wet ass. The 3-D movie was fun.
Then we had some food in Kallio and went to some band place in Arabianranta. I don't know why the hell we have paid to get in, could've comewith our own bottles and listen from outside: the air, the volume the booze and the price would all have been better.
I invited Anu and Ebu to join us, but they were not drunk enough for the Arabianranta place.
On Sunday tried to nap most of the day with variable success. In the evening Anu and Ebu came over and we tried to cure hangover with sparkling wine and almond cake. Successfully, too.
I went to the rollercoaster and the Rainbow, but some other rideslooked like a sure way to say goodbye to your lunch. Tried the water ride for the first time, with the result being a very wet ass. The 3-D movie was fun.
Then we had some food in Kallio and went to some band place in Arabianranta. I don't know why the hell we have paid to get in, could've comewith our own bottles and listen from outside: the air, the volume the booze and the price would all have been better.
I invited Anu and Ebu to join us, but they were not drunk enough for the Arabianranta place.
On Sunday tried to nap most of the day with variable success. In the evening Anu and Ebu came over and we tried to cure hangover with sparkling wine and almond cake. Successfully, too.
Friday: the zoo
Went to the zoo with Iain and Glenn on Friday. It was fun even though baboons and south american monkeys were on a summer vacation and the arctic foxes and skunks did not want to look at us. The bears were really cute and we even saw the wolverine and the otter. The otter looked like it was expecting dinner from us.
On the way back the guy who was driving the boat seemed to want to drive into a much bigger boat.
At some point we went to the upper floor of Torni and there was an un-fucking-believable line for the elevator. Then we went to Mbar, which is probably not gonna let any of us in ever again. We did a bit arm-wrestling and Antti emerged as the champion, with Tiina taking the second place.
At some point we decided to go dancing somewhere on Iso-Roba, much to the relief of the staff and other customers of Mbar.
Note to self: when one or more people in your party have to be carried to the bar, it might reduce your chances of getting in.
Note to Tiina: too much alcohol and high heels do not mix. I myself always wear sensible shoes after the 10th drink, and often even before.
All in all, I had a very good time even though I did not like this Rose Garden place. But they did not let us into DTM, so there.
On the way home I took some pictures of the sunrise, but they were not very good. I understand that my eyes do not focus very well when drunk, but how come the camera does not focus either?
On the way back the guy who was driving the boat seemed to want to drive into a much bigger boat.
At some point we went to the upper floor of Torni and there was an un-fucking-believable line for the elevator. Then we went to Mbar, which is probably not gonna let any of us in ever again. We did a bit arm-wrestling and Antti emerged as the champion, with Tiina taking the second place.
At some point we decided to go dancing somewhere on Iso-Roba, much to the relief of the staff and other customers of Mbar.
Note to self: when one or more people in your party have to be carried to the bar, it might reduce your chances of getting in.
Note to Tiina: too much alcohol and high heels do not mix. I myself always wear sensible shoes after the 10th drink, and often even before.
All in all, I had a very good time even though I did not like this Rose Garden place. But they did not let us into DTM, so there.
On the way home I took some pictures of the sunrise, but they were not very good. I understand that my eyes do not focus very well when drunk, but how come the camera does not focus either?
Friday, May 27, 2005
The Corby case
Schapelle Corby, an Australian woman who was on trial in Indonesia for smuggling 4.1 kilos of marijuana into the country, has just got a 20-year sentence. Oh, dear, and here I was thinking that Indonesian justice system has extremely mild sentences, what with Abu Bakar Bashir (of Jemaah Islamiyah and Bali bombings fame) having gotten only two and a half.
I usually have very little sympathy for Western people (or, for that matter, third-world people) who get caught smuggling drugs wholesale in the countries that give huge sentences for it. Problem is, a lot of people are wondering whether this one got a fair trial.
Another problem is that she is claiming that she had nothing to do with it and that in all likelihood it was baggage handlers using her luggage to smuggle stuff. I have been thinking about the same thing for quite a while now, way before I ever heard of Corby. Both from the point of view that if I were a big-time drug dealer, which I of course am not, I would want to have my people to get jobs as baggage handlers for the increased convenience of smuggling, and from the point of view that I am always worried about somebody smuggling something in my luggage or that of my family and friends. How many of you have had stuff disappear from your luggage? Stuff is just as easy to put in as to take out.
In any case, whether the stuff was smuggled in by Corby or by baggage handlers: why do people smuggle weed from Australia to Indonesia? Is it really that much cheaper in Australia? Indonesia seems like such a good place to grow it...
I usually have very little sympathy for Western people (or, for that matter, third-world people) who get caught smuggling drugs wholesale in the countries that give huge sentences for it. Problem is, a lot of people are wondering whether this one got a fair trial.
Another problem is that she is claiming that she had nothing to do with it and that in all likelihood it was baggage handlers using her luggage to smuggle stuff. I have been thinking about the same thing for quite a while now, way before I ever heard of Corby. Both from the point of view that if I were a big-time drug dealer, which I of course am not, I would want to have my people to get jobs as baggage handlers for the increased convenience of smuggling, and from the point of view that I am always worried about somebody smuggling something in my luggage or that of my family and friends. How many of you have had stuff disappear from your luggage? Stuff is just as easy to put in as to take out.
In any case, whether the stuff was smuggled in by Corby or by baggage handlers: why do people smuggle weed from Australia to Indonesia? Is it really that much cheaper in Australia? Indonesia seems like such a good place to grow it...
The Myers-Briggs meme that is going around
I am an INTP, but that would hardly surprise anyone. Mildly introverted, strongly NT and very strongly P.
I guess I was wrong about the bad feeling
We had a comapny party yesterday, and I asked one of the bosses whether there is some trouble. She says no, everything is OK. So it probably is.
The party was not very enjoyable on account of not being in the mood and running out of beer, so I went and had a beer with the English guys, and then they went home and I went to Molly where Anu and Ebu were listening to some scary band. The band turned out to be not so scary, or at least not very loud, but everyone was tired and we went home early.
The party was not very enjoyable on account of not being in the mood and running out of beer, so I went and had a beer with the English guys, and then they went home and I went to Molly where Anu and Ebu were listening to some scary band. The band turned out to be not so scary, or at least not very loud, but everyone was tired and we went home early.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
I have a bad feeling about it
My job, that is. The customer does not want me anymore (quite understandably, considering that there is nothing to do) and for some reason I do not think my employer would understand it. The feeling is irrational but quite strong.
There is a company party tonight, where I'll hang out with thirty people I barely know and I am probably feeling too paranoid to be able to know them better. Maybe I'll get some comment on my paranoia. Maybe I'll understand it wrong, or maybe right.
OK, I am paranoid, but this does not mean that everybody is not against me.
Wonder about alcohol intake though: if too drunk, can't watch people well, if too sober, will be too paranoid.
Ei oo helppoa.
There is a company party tonight, where I'll hang out with thirty people I barely know and I am probably feeling too paranoid to be able to know them better. Maybe I'll get some comment on my paranoia. Maybe I'll understand it wrong, or maybe right.
OK, I am paranoid, but this does not mean that everybody is not against me.
Wonder about alcohol intake though: if too drunk, can't watch people well, if too sober, will be too paranoid.
Ei oo helppoa.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Lilya
I really recommend reading Lilya's LiveJournal if you can (she writes in Russian, so most of you can't). She often writes so well that it makes me want to drop on my knees and say "Master, I am not worthy!".
A good evening with good people, and a hangover
Yesterday Glenn and Iain came over for a few drinks. It was a lot of fun, and the guys were great. I rarely start liking people so much so fast, and now I am a bit sad that for the most part they live in London where I am not likely to see them very often. Well, gotta drink with them some more while they are still here.
After they left I called Anu and she turned out to be in downtown and came over. We opened a bottle of sparkling wine, which in retrospect was a bad idea, or at least I shouldn't've drunk any. After having such a good head start one really should not continue with sparkling wine, and I ended up on my knees praying to the Great White Porcelain God in Norwegian.
I am glad that in my old age I have learned to throw up in the toilet in a clean and ladylike way, as opposed to, say, throwing up all over Keski-Suomalainen Osakunta's club in an uncivilized way.
I passed out in my bed and woke up at half past four to have some tea and take my contacts out. Ugh.
A good friend of mine has always said that one should always be hung over at work rather than at home, because then at least somebody is paying you for it. There is deep wisdom in that, and I came to work a bit earlier than usual.
After they left I called Anu and she turned out to be in downtown and came over. We opened a bottle of sparkling wine, which in retrospect was a bad idea, or at least I shouldn't've drunk any. After having such a good head start one really should not continue with sparkling wine, and I ended up on my knees praying to the Great White Porcelain God in Norwegian.
I am glad that in my old age I have learned to throw up in the toilet in a clean and ladylike way, as opposed to, say, throwing up all over Keski-Suomalainen Osakunta's club in an uncivilized way.
I passed out in my bed and woke up at half past four to have some tea and take my contacts out. Ugh.
A good friend of mine has always said that one should always be hung over at work rather than at home, because then at least somebody is paying you for it. There is deep wisdom in that, and I came to work a bit earlier than usual.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Star Wars (here be big spoilers!)
Saw the new Star Wars yesterday. Yes, loved the action. Yes, would love to see it again. Yes, seeing Yoda with a lightsaber makes me all excited in many ways most of which you don't wanna know about. But still...
Couldn't Lucas for once hire somebody who can write? One would think that he could already have figured that he cannot. The dialog is so painful that I don't know how the actors manage to pronounce it with straight faces. In fact Hayden Christensen does not manage to pronounce it with a straight face at many points.
And how could Obi-Wan have fucked up so badly at the end and not kill Darth Vader? If I fucked up like that I would also go to a corner or to Tatooine for twenty years and just sit there being ashamed of myself.
And the trasnformation of Anakin is soooo believable. Yeah, a guy for whom personal is the same as important and who chooses personal relations over duty would surely immediately become a lot more dutiful after switching to the dark side and start killing old friends right and left. Right.
They hid the kids in such good places, too. Good thing Darth Vader was not looking for them.
Finally, I was so looking forward to seeing a violent death of Jar-Jar Binks, but no such luck.
Couldn't Lucas for once hire somebody who can write? One would think that he could already have figured that he cannot. The dialog is so painful that I don't know how the actors manage to pronounce it with straight faces. In fact Hayden Christensen does not manage to pronounce it with a straight face at many points.
And how could Obi-Wan have fucked up so badly at the end and not kill Darth Vader? If I fucked up like that I would also go to a corner or to Tatooine for twenty years and just sit there being ashamed of myself.
And the trasnformation of Anakin is soooo believable. Yeah, a guy for whom personal is the same as important and who chooses personal relations over duty would surely immediately become a lot more dutiful after switching to the dark side and start killing old friends right and left. Right.
They hid the kids in such good places, too. Good thing Darth Vader was not looking for them.
Finally, I was so looking forward to seeing a violent death of Jar-Jar Binks, but no such luck.
Monday, May 23, 2005
The weekend
The weekend was, well, the first real summer weekend with all the appropriate absurdity and more.
An unbelievably sweet guy at work invited me to have some beers with some coworkers. At first I reacted with a bit of suspicion, but went there anyway, and it turned out well since only nice people showed up.
We had some drinks in a bar, then made a heroic effort to find a restaurant that serves food (I had totally forgotten how hard it is to find a place to eat on Friday night, them went to a worse bar, then to a nightclub that reminded me why I don't go to nightclubs anymore, and then had some tea at one guy's place. The nightclub was awful but the people were fun to be with.
We were supposed to go to Suomenlinna the next morning, and did, even though it was a bit later than was planned and some of the participants were in a somewhat weak condition. Sheesh, the young generation nowadays...
Had some wine with Jari and Riitta Saturday night.
Was planning to stay in bed with Killeri all day on Sunday and have sex in a cheerful summery way, but right after... uhm, right after ..., Anu and Satu called and invited us to go drink in a park with them. They did not, of course, inform us that they had drunk Juha with them, although I suppose drunk Ebu was enough of a warning. It was fun anyway, and Juha did not manage to piss on the picknik blanket even once, though not for the lack of trying. I also got lots of compromising pictures of them all, can possibly blackmail Juha for a good beer.
Note to self: hide all breakable things from drunk Ebu.
Ended up in Juha's place at night. On the way Killeri escaped, but we captured Elaine and Jarkko instead as they were walking their puppy. The puppy is really sweet and huge and did not even bite Ebu, which probably makes him a saint (the puppy, not Ebu).
It was fun at Juha's, but I was too tired by that point and went home to sleep. I had almost forgotten what sleep was. Viu says it's a bad substitute for coffee.
An unbelievably sweet guy at work invited me to have some beers with some coworkers. At first I reacted with a bit of suspicion, but went there anyway, and it turned out well since only nice people showed up.
We had some drinks in a bar, then made a heroic effort to find a restaurant that serves food (I had totally forgotten how hard it is to find a place to eat on Friday night, them went to a worse bar, then to a nightclub that reminded me why I don't go to nightclubs anymore, and then had some tea at one guy's place. The nightclub was awful but the people were fun to be with.
We were supposed to go to Suomenlinna the next morning, and did, even though it was a bit later than was planned and some of the participants were in a somewhat weak condition. Sheesh, the young generation nowadays...
Had some wine with Jari and Riitta Saturday night.
Was planning to stay in bed with Killeri all day on Sunday and have sex in a cheerful summery way, but right after... uhm, right after ..., Anu and Satu called and invited us to go drink in a park with them. They did not, of course, inform us that they had drunk Juha with them, although I suppose drunk Ebu was enough of a warning. It was fun anyway, and Juha did not manage to piss on the picknik blanket even once, though not for the lack of trying. I also got lots of compromising pictures of them all, can possibly blackmail Juha for a good beer.
Note to self: hide all breakable things from drunk Ebu.
Ended up in Juha's place at night. On the way Killeri escaped, but we captured Elaine and Jarkko instead as they were walking their puppy. The puppy is really sweet and huge and did not even bite Ebu, which probably makes him a saint (the puppy, not Ebu).
It was fun at Juha's, but I was too tired by that point and went home to sleep. I had almost forgotten what sleep was. Viu says it's a bad substitute for coffee.
Friday, May 20, 2005
About work, again
It has become quite nice, really: tea and good company (in the "nice people" sense), and not much to do.
I keep thinking that everything I've done so far Anu (who is a translator without any computer science education) would have been able to do just as well, and probably better. Maybe we should recruit her here as a freelance contractor?
I keep thinking that everything I've done so far Anu (who is a translator without any computer science education) would have been able to do just as well, and probably better. Maybe we should recruit her here as a freelance contractor?
Newsweek and riots, again. And Rice
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says: "Disrespect for the Holy Koran is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States. We honor the sacred books of all the world's great religions. Disrespect for the Holy Koran is abhorrent to us all."
Speak for yourself, woman. Who this "us all" is? No matter whether you mean the State Department, Americans, or Westerners in general, a number of people consider being able to express disrespect for Koran to be a fundamental human right.
Can you say "a dumb statement in face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary"? Open your copy of the US constitution, Ms. Rice, if you have one, or google it if you don't:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I am afraid that it says right here that the US does in fact have to tolerate the disrespect for the Koran. They make people learn this, more or less, in order to become citizens. Apparently remembering our constitution is not a requirement for becoming the Secretary of State.
I have no great love of any kind of fundamentalists, but can you imagine even the most atrocious Christian fundies from Biggest Shithole, Bible Belt rioting on the street and killing each other just because some magazine somewhere printed an article about some horrible dumbfucks in, say, Afghanistan flushing bibles down the toilets (assuming they have flushable toilets)? Hold on, there were horrible dumbfucks ruling Afghanistan for a number of years, they were called the Taliban, and not only did they disrespect Christianity in every way, they destroyed two big and historic Buddha statues. And did anyone, anywhere, hear reports of Christians or Buddhists rioting and killing each other because of whatever Taliban did? Didn't think so.
Everyone is yelling at Newsweek now for the stupid article, because Newsweek should of course have known that in some countries of the most peaceful religion there will be murderous riots. Much fewer people are expressing outrage at the rioters themselves. But it's not due to the fact that people are trying to be politically correct or trying to show support for the rioters. It's called "low expectations".
Speak for yourself, woman. Who this "us all" is? No matter whether you mean the State Department, Americans, or Westerners in general, a number of people consider being able to express disrespect for Koran to be a fundamental human right.
Can you say "a dumb statement in face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary"? Open your copy of the US constitution, Ms. Rice, if you have one, or google it if you don't:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I am afraid that it says right here that the US does in fact have to tolerate the disrespect for the Koran. They make people learn this, more or less, in order to become citizens. Apparently remembering our constitution is not a requirement for becoming the Secretary of State.
I have no great love of any kind of fundamentalists, but can you imagine even the most atrocious Christian fundies from Biggest Shithole, Bible Belt rioting on the street and killing each other just because some magazine somewhere printed an article about some horrible dumbfucks in, say, Afghanistan flushing bibles down the toilets (assuming they have flushable toilets)? Hold on, there were horrible dumbfucks ruling Afghanistan for a number of years, they were called the Taliban, and not only did they disrespect Christianity in every way, they destroyed two big and historic Buddha statues. And did anyone, anywhere, hear reports of Christians or Buddhists rioting and killing each other because of whatever Taliban did? Didn't think so.
Everyone is yelling at Newsweek now for the stupid article, because Newsweek should of course have known that in some countries of the most peaceful religion there will be murderous riots. Much fewer people are expressing outrage at the rioters themselves. But it's not due to the fact that people are trying to be politically correct or trying to show support for the rioters. It's called "low expectations".
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Entertainment
Went to see Kung Fu Hustle yesterday. It was absurd and very funny. Want to see it again.
This is very funny too, but in Russian.
This is very funny too, but in Russian.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
A card-carrying EFFI member
It's official: now I am a card-carrying EFFI member (except that don't have a card). Tremble before me, evil forces of censorship and software patents!
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Newsweek and riots
Newsweek printed a story about Guanatanamo investigators flushing Korans down the toilet, there were riots in Afghanistan, 15 people or so got killed.
I am not even saying anything about Newsweek. Burger has pretty much said it all. What I would like to know is why, when a Western magazine reports on Western people flushing Korans in toilets thousands of kilometers from the nearest Moslem country, Moslems on the other side of the world have a huge riot and kill 15 of their own countrymen?
If this is a normal phenomenon (every time a Western magazine reports some desecration of the Koran somewhere some Moslems somewhere kill each other) I shudder to think what kind of ideas this might give to some people.
There were no riots of plumbers reported anywhere in connection with the incident.
I am not even saying anything about Newsweek. Burger has pretty much said it all. What I would like to know is why, when a Western magazine reports on Western people flushing Korans in toilets thousands of kilometers from the nearest Moslem country, Moslems on the other side of the world have a huge riot and kill 15 of their own countrymen?
If this is a normal phenomenon (every time a Western magazine reports some desecration of the Koran somewhere some Moslems somewhere kill each other) I shudder to think what kind of ideas this might give to some people.
There were no riots of plumbers reported anywhere in connection with the incident.
Eek! I got a blue ass!
Had a semidecent day at work today. At least there is something to look at: at least two pretty women and one guy who is somehow very cute without being sexually attractive to me, which is kind of rare. Also a guy in a funny t-shirt and a guy in very short pants.
They fixed the doorbell, too, which is nice when you don't have a key.
Went to Cessu's place after work and had some tea with him and Jarkko. It was very nice and I got a beer. We remembered the old times and exchanged rumors, etc. Even Cessu's kid is not particularly evil and is pretty smart for her age.
It was raining very hard when I went home, and now I got a bright blue ass. Apparently my jeans bleed color. No, no .jpg for you perverts. :)
They fixed the doorbell, too, which is nice when you don't have a key.
Went to Cessu's place after work and had some tea with him and Jarkko. It was very nice and I got a beer. We remembered the old times and exchanged rumors, etc. Even Cessu's kid is not particularly evil and is pretty smart for her age.
It was raining very hard when I went home, and now I got a bright blue ass. Apparently my jeans bleed color. No, no .jpg for you perverts. :)
Sunday, May 15, 2005
The evil anonymous blog
The evil anonymous blog is up and running. It contains mostly whining about my current and former employers. I would appreciate it if people who know about it do not link it publicly to me in any way. the employers are obviously not mentioned by name (neither the companies not the people).
You can ask me for the URL in person or on IRC if you want to read it.
You can ask me for the URL in person or on IRC if you want to read it.
Life and weekend
Spent Thursday evening crying to Killeri and being consoled in the usual way.
On Saturday had to miss Diskurssi because Satu was here. This sucks (missing Diskurssi). I guess now the only thing to do is to catch Laura and get her sufficiently drunk and steer the conversation to the Baltic fish.
Had a nice evening, though. It was great to see Satu and all those people that I only see when Satu is here. Ooster is a very pleasant bar even though beer selection is not great. The non-smoking part rocks.
Today we helped Lyn move. Her new office is cool even though full of stuff from the old renter. In a nice place, too.
On Saturday had to miss Diskurssi because Satu was here. This sucks (missing Diskurssi). I guess now the only thing to do is to catch Laura and get her sufficiently drunk and steer the conversation to the Baltic fish.
Had a nice evening, though. It was great to see Satu and all those people that I only see when Satu is here. Ooster is a very pleasant bar even though beer selection is not great. The non-smoking part rocks.
Today we helped Lyn move. Her new office is cool even though full of stuff from the old renter. In a nice place, too.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Bad things
I don't feel safe writing about my work here anymore. Neither about the employer, nor about the customer. I am considering starting another blog in addition to this one, that does not have my name on it, and writing about work matters there.
BTW, it really sucks when snappy comebacks come to your mind at the right moments, but you don't deem it safe to actualy pronounce them.
BTW, it really sucks when snappy comebacks come to your mind at the right moments, but you don't deem it safe to actualy pronounce them.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Germany shuts down a nuclear reactor
Germany has shut down its oldest and smallest nuclear reactor, and is planning to shut down the rest of them by the year 2020. A 30 percent rise in wholesale power prices in the past year won't slow the decommissioning, according to the Environment Ministry. The nuclear power plants currently produce a third of Germany's power.
How the fuck are they gonna live? Some newspapers mention windpower. I understand that they have a lot of wind, what with all the sauerkraut and sausage. Yeah, and the North Sea, and the Baltic. Still they won't have enough wind even if you order all Germans to stand and fart in the same direction.
According to BBC, Germany hopes that by 2010 wind will meet 12.5% of German energy needs. How they only have to get another 20.83% somewhere by 2020.
According to Bloomberg "Germany aims to make up for the loss by adding more natural- gas and coal-fired stations, which emit carbon dioxide, while trying to cut carbon emissions 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. It has cut emissions by about 19 percent so far in an effort to combat global warming. Nuclear plants don't emit carbon dioxide." Yeah, right. Build more fossil fuel power plants, cut down the emissions, increase public services, cut down taxes, invent perpetual motion and establish world peace and democracy for everyone. And of course a lot of money for everyone so that nobody would have to go to work. And the electricity, as we all know, comes from the wall. Hopefully not the Berlin one.
How the fuck are they gonna live? Some newspapers mention windpower. I understand that they have a lot of wind, what with all the sauerkraut and sausage. Yeah, and the North Sea, and the Baltic. Still they won't have enough wind even if you order all Germans to stand and fart in the same direction.
According to BBC, Germany hopes that by 2010 wind will meet 12.5% of German energy needs. How they only have to get another 20.83% somewhere by 2020.
According to Bloomberg "Germany aims to make up for the loss by adding more natural- gas and coal-fired stations, which emit carbon dioxide, while trying to cut carbon emissions 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. It has cut emissions by about 19 percent so far in an effort to combat global warming. Nuclear plants don't emit carbon dioxide." Yeah, right. Build more fossil fuel power plants, cut down the emissions, increase public services, cut down taxes, invent perpetual motion and establish world peace and democracy for everyone. And of course a lot of money for everyone so that nobody would have to go to work. And the electricity, as we all know, comes from the wall. Hopefully not the Berlin one.
The weekend
The weekend was good even though I was still quite tired. On Saturday was Laura's and Edu's wedding party, which everyone else already wrote about, but I can repeat once more that the party was great and the cake was delicious and I ate too much of it, and the Irish band was good, which is quite exceptional because bands rarely are, and Laura had a real dress as opposed to a white fluffy one, and it was not frightening at all except for one moment there when it was just me and a lot of scary relatives. (The relatives were not scary per se, it's just scary to be alone with friends' relatives and just stand there trying to pretend to be a nice girl from a good family and failing desperately, even though am in fact a nice girl from a mostly-good family.) Anyway, some more friends came and then the party became really fun. At somepoint the party moved to Vltava and it was fun there too, even though I drank the kind of beer that should not be drunk.
On Sunday Heli came over and we had a nice evening and some wine.
On Sunday Heli came over and we had a nice evening and some wine.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Work
First day at the customer's place. So far so good, except that it's been a training session and I am suffering from computer withdrawal.
People are really nice, except for one who made a rather uncharitable comment about stupid Yanks without realizing she is sitting next to one. I decided not to take her up on it, this being the first day and all...
There is a guy there who owns most weird-looking cats. Hope my NDA does not forbid mentioning it. In fact they are kind of cute. Cornish Rex, if I remember right.
Bought a backpack today since my old one fell apart. The damn things are way too expensive.
People are really nice, except for one who made a rather uncharitable comment about stupid Yanks without realizing she is sitting next to one. I decided not to take her up on it, this being the first day and all...
There is a guy there who owns most weird-looking cats. Hope my NDA does not forbid mentioning it. In fact they are kind of cute. Cornish Rex, if I remember right.
Bought a backpack today since my old one fell apart. The damn things are way too expensive.
Friday, May 06, 2005
A meme (from Kristiina)
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
Don't really understand what the question means.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I guess not, not 100% sure. I have gotten some sexual excitement from watching men in the movies, but I think it's mostly the actors' looks and not the characters that I am responding to.
The last book you finished is?
Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.
What are you currently reading?
Jeffery Deaver's The Garden of Beasts.
Five books you would take to a deserted island?
A book about building radio transmitters, a book about building rafts, a book about surviving in the wilderness, a book about navigation and an atlas of very detailed maps of the island and the surrounding areas.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Not going to. Whoever wants it can take it.
Don't really understand what the question means.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I guess not, not 100% sure. I have gotten some sexual excitement from watching men in the movies, but I think it's mostly the actors' looks and not the characters that I am responding to.
The last book you finished is?
Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.
What are you currently reading?
Jeffery Deaver's The Garden of Beasts.
Five books you would take to a deserted island?
A book about building radio transmitters, a book about building rafts, a book about surviving in the wilderness, a book about navigation and an atlas of very detailed maps of the island and the surrounding areas.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Not going to. Whoever wants it can take it.
Go Brazil
Brazil has just refused a $40 million anti-AIDS grant from the US because one of conditions of the grant was condemning prostitution. It was not explained what exactly the condemnation entailed (saying "prostitution bad, fire bad, tree pretty"? banning prostitution and condemning prostitutes in a court of law? having a Catholic priest condemn prostitutes to hell?), but the Brazilian officials, not unreasonably, figured that condemning prostitution is not very conductive to the anti-HIV work among prostitutes, and rejected the grant. Good for them. Probably good for us too, in a way of a reality check.
Could you imagine a bigger waste of $40 million than spending it on telling people not to fuck? Especially considering the recent study saying that thus-brainwashed teenagers, at least in the US, tended to prefer anal sex to the regular one as a virginity-preserving measure. Yeah, this would really stop the spread of HIV.
Could you imagine a bigger waste of $40 million than spending it on telling people not to fuck? Especially considering the recent study saying that thus-brainwashed teenagers, at least in the US, tended to prefer anal sex to the regular one as a virginity-preserving measure. Yeah, this would really stop the spread of HIV.
SMS to police, part 2
After wondering last summer why one cannot send SMS to the police emergency number I wrote an email to them and received an answer saying that the SMS are not sufficiently reliable.
Now it looks like they have finally seen the light and the text messages to emergency services are coming by the end of the year.
Now it looks like they have finally seen the light and the text messages to emergency services are coming by the end of the year.
They should be grateful anyway
Apparently feeling that he should express his own opinion on the matter of Baltic states, which should be different from both Putin's and Yastrzhembsky's, Russian Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov said that Baltic states should be grateful for the occupation anyway.
I am sure many of their (nowadays mostly late) citizens were supposed to be grateful for the exotic adventure vacations in Siberia, too.
I am sure many of their (nowadays mostly late) citizens were supposed to be grateful for the exotic adventure vacations in Siberia, too.
It didn't happen! Besides, we apologized for it already.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said that an apology to the Baltic states for their occupation will not be forthcoming, due to the fact that they have apologized and condemned it already.
When, where? I must've missed it.
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, must've missed it too, because he insists that there was no occupation, but that the Soviet troops were invited into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by their governments. Yeah, and the Afghanistan thing was just a bit of brotherly help. And I am sure our very own US government is just giving a hand to Iraqi people (or at least the middle finger, anyway).
Now what was that little piece of paper that Molotov and Ribbentrop signed again?
When, where? I must've missed it.
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, must've missed it too, because he insists that there was no occupation, but that the Soviet troops were invited into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by their governments. Yeah, and the Afghanistan thing was just a bit of brotherly help. And I am sure our very own US government is just giving a hand to Iraqi people (or at least the middle finger, anyway).
Now what was that little piece of paper that Molotov and Ribbentrop signed again?
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Human life and its worth
Probably talked about it before, too, but here goes:
I have never been able to understand the common Finnish reasoning about the value of life of a violent criminal. It has been explained to me many times, but I still don't. Maybe should try again.
I understand very well the "criminals are also people" idea, in the sense of providing humane conditions in prisons, etc. What I don't get is the idea that a criminal's life while in the process of committing a violent crime should be so valuable that normal people should risk their life or health or flee their home for the sake of it.
No, I am not asking for an explanation here, I think the size of the comments is not enough. If you know me IRL we can discuss it IRL.
Maybe it's just because it's not valuable to me. I mean, I usually have no particular desire to kill criminals and have no desire to hit them on the head with an axe when a kick in the balls is enough, but if there is really a question of killing them vs. a serious risk of an injury to me - hell, the attacker's life is infinitely less valuable than the convenience of not having to deal with pain and inconvenience of, say, a broken arm.
Apparently most of the voters feel otherwise. Considering that most voters are not violent criminals, I would like to know what makes them feel otherwise. I suspect this is just some deep cultural difference between them and me, but it would be nice to understand. I also wonder whether the experience of having been attacked affects people's opinions, and how. (I have my cynical suspicions, but it would be nice to see statistics.)
Another thing: how is the almost-universal Finnish belief that one should flee rather than defend one's own home because the life of the criminal is more valuable than your property reconciled with the fact that citizens are not only allowed but required to defend the country if it is attacked? Apparently the land of Finland is indeed more valuable than the lives of an army of attacking Russians (oops, I mean unnamed neighboring superpower, of course). Why?
I have never been able to understand the common Finnish reasoning about the value of life of a violent criminal. It has been explained to me many times, but I still don't. Maybe should try again.
I understand very well the "criminals are also people" idea, in the sense of providing humane conditions in prisons, etc. What I don't get is the idea that a criminal's life while in the process of committing a violent crime should be so valuable that normal people should risk their life or health or flee their home for the sake of it.
No, I am not asking for an explanation here, I think the size of the comments is not enough. If you know me IRL we can discuss it IRL.
Maybe it's just because it's not valuable to me. I mean, I usually have no particular desire to kill criminals and have no desire to hit them on the head with an axe when a kick in the balls is enough, but if there is really a question of killing them vs. a serious risk of an injury to me - hell, the attacker's life is infinitely less valuable than the convenience of not having to deal with pain and inconvenience of, say, a broken arm.
Apparently most of the voters feel otherwise. Considering that most voters are not violent criminals, I would like to know what makes them feel otherwise. I suspect this is just some deep cultural difference between them and me, but it would be nice to understand. I also wonder whether the experience of having been attacked affects people's opinions, and how. (I have my cynical suspicions, but it would be nice to see statistics.)
Another thing: how is the almost-universal Finnish belief that one should flee rather than defend one's own home because the life of the criminal is more valuable than your property reconciled with the fact that citizens are not only allowed but required to defend the country if it is attacked? Apparently the land of Finland is indeed more valuable than the lives of an army of attacking Russians (oops, I mean unnamed neighboring superpower, of course). Why?
Bugger Welho
Mio (a nice person from a previous job) called me this morning and asked me about my Welho broadband. I told her I don't have it anymore and almost opened my mouth to advice her not to get it either when she told me that good, then they will stop paying for it.
WTF? I did not know they paid for it. Apparently Welho did not know it either, because they billed me too for the same period. Apparently they also billed my employer.
Now Mio is trying to get their money back (I hope).
WTF? I did not know they paid for it. Apparently Welho did not know it either, because they billed me too for the same period. Apparently they also billed my employer.
Now Mio is trying to get their money back (I hope).
Freezer
Got a freezer. Hurrah! Now gotta get some ice cream to put in it.
It really works, too. Even my thermometer which has always shown 26 degrees before regardless of the actual temperature is showing -16 if put inside it.
Bought some frozen vegetables, in case my mom is reading this.
It really works, too. Even my thermometer which has always shown 26 degrees before regardless of the actual temperature is showing -16 if put inside it.
Bought some frozen vegetables, in case my mom is reading this.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Vappu
Vappu was quite good, especially considering that I got very little sleep last week. Nice people, and not too many of them in one place. I think I had too much sparkling wine, and some of it came back up after I came home, and I was very tired in the end, but I had a good time. Killeri went to both parties with me, which was especially nice since he does not go to the parties often.
Saw Laura, Jukka and Nelli, which does not happen often. Was very nice to see them. Nelli is huge in comparison with the last time I saw her. Gotta invite them over sometime soon, except for Nelli since am allergic to dogs. Gotta also gently encourage Laura to put Nelli's pictures up on the web.
Considering my condition the night before (although was not very bad since managed to throw up in my own toilet in a perfectly ladylike way) was feeling very good on Sunday. Woke up early and in good mood, but did not go to Ullanlinnanmäki as was bloody cold and too crowded and could not bear thought of more sparkling wine. Instead vegetated at home all day, watched The Amazing Race (Anu managed to get me hooked on it) and purchased a freezer and a table on huuto.net. Although the bugger who is selling the table is nowhere to be found yet.
In view of my New Life (new job, new haircolor, new bottle opener, new freezer-and-table-to-be and maybe soon even a new Linux distro), and under the influence of paranoid new coworkers joined EFFI. Don't know what took me so long.
Saw Laura, Jukka and Nelli, which does not happen often. Was very nice to see them. Nelli is huge in comparison with the last time I saw her. Gotta invite them over sometime soon, except for Nelli since am allergic to dogs. Gotta also gently encourage Laura to put Nelli's pictures up on the web.
Considering my condition the night before (although was not very bad since managed to throw up in my own toilet in a perfectly ladylike way) was feeling very good on Sunday. Woke up early and in good mood, but did not go to Ullanlinnanmäki as was bloody cold and too crowded and could not bear thought of more sparkling wine. Instead vegetated at home all day, watched The Amazing Race (Anu managed to get me hooked on it) and purchased a freezer and a table on huuto.net. Although the bugger who is selling the table is nowhere to be found yet.
In view of my New Life (new job, new haircolor, new bottle opener, new freezer-and-table-to-be and maybe soon even a new Linux distro), and under the influence of paranoid new coworkers joined EFFI. Don't know what took me so long.
Ullanlinnanmäellä tosi rauhallista
"Helsingissä vappupäivää vietettiin Kaivopuistossa, jonne kerääntyi noin 45 ihmistä," - sanoo Hesari. Ei ihme että he sanovat myös että vappu oli rauhallisempi kuin tavallisesti.
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