Oh dear lord. I have just bumped into someone answering the question 'Do you support Republicans or Democrats?' by saying they'd choose Democrats because they like the idea of democracy. Oh my. (And this is someone who studies in a top university and has an 'aura' of social awareness about them.)
Because obviously, Republicans don't believe in democracy, right?
Friday 28 November 2008
Tuesday 4 November 2008
Obamania
I've suddenly been inspired by annoyance! This hasn't happened in ages and I've been wondering if I should just declare this blog dead. BUT there is still hope, it seems.
This sudden stroke of annoyance has come from the elections in the US. Now I have a degree in International Relations and I'm especially interested in American politics BUT I am sick and tired of all of the people on social networking sites (read: facebook) going on about how they so wish that Obama would win, and please, oh GOD please, go and vote for OBAMA. Ugh.
I should probably be very happy about so many people taking interest in politics, however I'd much rather they took interest in local, or at least national politics. I know a number of individuals who go on about how they will lose any faith in humanity if McCain wins but don't themselves vote in local elections. Perhaps in parliamentary elections but not in local elections. This is something that really gets my blood boiling. I mean you don't do what?! Vote in local elections. My dear person, local elections are probably the most important elections for you and also the ones where you have the biggest chance of actually having a real chance of affecting the outcome of the elections. Even though I realise that parliamentary elections are also very important, I strongly believe in the importance of local elections because your local council decides on things that affect your everyday life, such a waste collection, schools and libraries. This is turning into directionless rambling because I'm finding it hard to concentrate with so many little things around in my head. (I have a feeling there are more than a few typos in this post already too.)
Anyway, right. By all means, have interest in global politics and current affairs, but please don't stuff it down my throat unless you've got something constructive to say about it. You like Obama, fair enough, so does the majority of European people and it seems possibly also the majority of Americans. And never mind how much the media keeps on saying how it's the elections for the most influential post in the world, it's relevance for a normal person in the UK or anywhere in Europe really, is minimal. I mean, yes the president of the US has a lot of power, but with the American governing system being as it is, he's not allowed to do all that much. The congress matters too, you know. And even if you were to just blame the current president of the US of the war in Iraq etc. does it really affect you that much? Also, I don't understand much of how the economy works, but I don't think that you can blame George W. on the whole recession and credit crunch and stuff either. My point is, it doesn't matter THAT much. But great that you're interested in the first place.
Argh. I'm really losing any coherence now so maybe this is a good place to stop. If you'd like me to conclude (and even if you don't) basically, I'm just ANNOYED with the Obama people. Especially when they can't even vote in the elections in question. There. PFF.
Oh, and I'll leave you with a Looney Tunes short which kind of tell you a bit about what the U.S. constitution is all about.
This sudden stroke of annoyance has come from the elections in the US. Now I have a degree in International Relations and I'm especially interested in American politics BUT I am sick and tired of all of the people on social networking sites (read: facebook) going on about how they so wish that Obama would win, and please, oh GOD please, go and vote for OBAMA. Ugh.
I should probably be very happy about so many people taking interest in politics, however I'd much rather they took interest in local, or at least national politics. I know a number of individuals who go on about how they will lose any faith in humanity if McCain wins but don't themselves vote in local elections. Perhaps in parliamentary elections but not in local elections. This is something that really gets my blood boiling. I mean you don't do what?! Vote in local elections. My dear person, local elections are probably the most important elections for you and also the ones where you have the biggest chance of actually having a real chance of affecting the outcome of the elections. Even though I realise that parliamentary elections are also very important, I strongly believe in the importance of local elections because your local council decides on things that affect your everyday life, such a waste collection, schools and libraries. This is turning into directionless rambling because I'm finding it hard to concentrate with so many little things around in my head. (I have a feeling there are more than a few typos in this post already too.)
Anyway, right. By all means, have interest in global politics and current affairs, but please don't stuff it down my throat unless you've got something constructive to say about it. You like Obama, fair enough, so does the majority of European people and it seems possibly also the majority of Americans. And never mind how much the media keeps on saying how it's the elections for the most influential post in the world, it's relevance for a normal person in the UK or anywhere in Europe really, is minimal. I mean, yes the president of the US has a lot of power, but with the American governing system being as it is, he's not allowed to do all that much. The congress matters too, you know. And even if you were to just blame the current president of the US of the war in Iraq etc. does it really affect you that much? Also, I don't understand much of how the economy works, but I don't think that you can blame George W. on the whole recession and credit crunch and stuff either. My point is, it doesn't matter THAT much. But great that you're interested in the first place.
Argh. I'm really losing any coherence now so maybe this is a good place to stop. If you'd like me to conclude (and even if you don't) basically, I'm just ANNOYED with the Obama people. Especially when they can't even vote in the elections in question. There. PFF.
Oh, and I'll leave you with a Looney Tunes short which kind of tell you a bit about what the U.S. constitution is all about.
Monday 25 August 2008
The summer is over
It has been AGES. Again. In the nearly three months since the last post I've gathered up anger against a number of things including landlords, recruitment agencies, old shitty airplanes, back ache, parents, unemployment and the list goes on.
During the time I finished uni, moved out of my Birmingham house, went to Finland, became a godmother, came back to Birmingham, graduated, went to New York, flew back to Finland and now I'm staying at the boyfriend's parents in Manchester whilst looking for jobs and flats in London and it is really starting to get to me.
I had thought that at least we'd have a flat sorted in two weeks. Needles to say it didn't happen. I don't know why, we just seem to attract loads of scams (perhaps we are to blame for this because we've tried to go for the private landlords as opposed to letting agents) and the viewings that we actually did manage to schedule fell through. Pff.
On the job front I've applied to a few, so far got back from one for which I had an interview/test last week. I'm hoping to hear back from them in the next few days. It is all very frustrating and not only because everything seems to go through bloody recruitment agencies now. I mean, I am applying for a SPECIFIC job, I DO NOT want to sign on with an agency just to do that. PFF.
Anyway, this is sort of a mid-post, I shall try to put some effort in one in the near future. Ta-ta.
During the time I finished uni, moved out of my Birmingham house, went to Finland, became a godmother, came back to Birmingham, graduated, went to New York, flew back to Finland and now I'm staying at the boyfriend's parents in Manchester whilst looking for jobs and flats in London and it is really starting to get to me.
I had thought that at least we'd have a flat sorted in two weeks. Needles to say it didn't happen. I don't know why, we just seem to attract loads of scams (perhaps we are to blame for this because we've tried to go for the private landlords as opposed to letting agents) and the viewings that we actually did manage to schedule fell through. Pff.
On the job front I've applied to a few, so far got back from one for which I had an interview/test last week. I'm hoping to hear back from them in the next few days. It is all very frustrating and not only because everything seems to go through bloody recruitment agencies now. I mean, I am applying for a SPECIFIC job, I DO NOT want to sign on with an agency just to do that. PFF.
Anyway, this is sort of a mid-post, I shall try to put some effort in one in the near future. Ta-ta.
Monday 9 June 2008
Movies, pt. II
Since I've been in a happy place for quite a while now I don't really have anything to whine about. So I figured I might as well make post of the movies I've seen after the previous movies post.
Margot at the Wedding
I really liked this one. I preferred it over The Squid and the Whale but then I think I should probably watch that one again. I didn't really get into it, perhaps it was because of where and when I saw it. This is my problem, I need to be in a good mood and comfortable to be able to enjoy a film. I think I might have even enjoyed the first Spiderman movie had the circumstances been a bit better. But back to Margot at the Wedding; I think perhaps the best thing in this was that I really enjoyed Jack Black in it. And I'm usually simply annoyed by him.
Mister Lonely
I thought this one sounded good; a punch of impersonators living together. You could make that into an interesting film. But oh how miserably it failed. It was rather predictable when it wasn't just plain boring. I didn't really understand what was the point of the whole film. The only good things were the storyline following the priest played by Werner Herzhog and Samantha Morton, just because she's well hot, especially as Marilyn Monroe.
Shine a Light
I don't think there's that much to say about this. The boyfriend wrote a review of it, you can read it here. I thought it was really beautiful and a very good concert film. Keith Richards is such a dude. And Mick Jagger's (I first wrote 'Migger Jack's') bum is just way too tiny and it seems that he used to be a lot more laid back and funny when he was younger. Oh well. It was still very enjoyable, there was a point when I had to stop myself from singing loudly along. I thought it wouldn't have been allowed in the cinema.
Persepolis
This was very good. Although at times I thought it was a tad boring. Anyway, I'm now reading the graphic novel, which I do think is better than the film, eventhough the film is very much just the book. But then there are bits in the book that I find very interesting but they didn't end up being in the film.
The Oxford Murders
Because I refused to spend Vapunaatto on a pub crawl, we decided to go to the cinema instead. And because a certain friend of ours is very much into his maths we went to see The Oxford Murders. It was quite horrendous. Although, the good thing was that it reached the level of bad that made it quite funny. If you know what I mean. Anyway, the boyfriend wrote '5 Reasons Why The Oxford Murders Did Not Completely Suck' check it out, it's pretty good.
Iron Man
I liked it! And not only because Robert Downey Jr. is one of the hottest men in the WORLD (although not according to the picture on his wikipedia article, for a better one check this, it's the eyes, me thinks). Anyway, I thought it was very entertaining and had beautiful people in it and eventhough I wasn't at all familiar with the story of Iron Man it did not matter. It's up there with the Batmans fighting for the top spot in my list of best movies based on superhero comics. Although, it must be said that not all of the Batmans are that good and I've still to see Batman Begins.
Il Conformista
This was actually shown at the cinema and we went to see it. It was very good. But it's the kind of film I'm not very comfortable in saying anything about it, and to be honest, I've forgotten what I actually thought about it. It had some very cool shots though. (How lame does that sound?! I'm sorry.)
Planet B-Boy
This was AWESOME. I think my mouth might have been open in awe for about 85% of the running time. Also it made me miss the times I used to do street dance a lot. It didn't even matter that the colour seemed to be a bit well... fucked when they showed it. I didn't really even realise there was something wrong with the colour. Just go and check the videos on the official website, it's a fantastic documentary. And have a look at this too, in fact you should at least watch this, it is full of AWESOME:
Sex and the City
I'm not a Sex and the City fan, whatever that even means. I've seen a few episodes including the series finale double episode twice and cried my eyes out both of the times. However, I've never thought that the series was amazing just harmless entertainment when there was nothing better on tv. Anyway, I still wanted to see the film and eventhough it did make me cry a bit, it didn't really do anything to me. I was really irritated by the r'n'b theme (I mean WHY r'n'b?! It's not like the girls are into it or anything.) and otherwise I though it was just too calculated and slickly produced. In a way it was flawless, but flawless in a very bad way. Plus it was too long. And there was not much of Charlotte, it seemed as if they didn't really know what to do with her character. Plus Kim Catrall really would deserve more money than SJP. And I used to prefer Carrie over Sam, but in the film, Sam was the star. ... One last thing, this dress was gorgeous though.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I loved it. It felt like it was the natural continuation of the old trilogy. It didn't feel new it felt like it was part of the old ones. I had some problems with the story, but I won't specify because maybe not all of you have seen it yet. All in all, I thought it was very good. And since I don't particularly like Raiders of the Lost Ark, I thought it was better than it. Perhaps even better than Temple of Doom, eventhough I really do like it.
Joy Division
This one I saw yesterday. It was half good, half not so good. I thought it felt a bit too pretentious in parts and it sort of fell apart towards the end. And it did turn into just being about Ian Curtis in the end. And I do see why it is a big part of the whole Joy Division story, but given the first half where I though it did talk more about Joy Division the band and not Ian Curtis and the other dudes that aren't that important. It did have some good laughs though, but over all it was a bit of a disappointment. The end of it just felt a bit too much likeit was just straight out from Control.
Margot at the Wedding
I really liked this one. I preferred it over The Squid and the Whale but then I think I should probably watch that one again. I didn't really get into it, perhaps it was because of where and when I saw it. This is my problem, I need to be in a good mood and comfortable to be able to enjoy a film. I think I might have even enjoyed the first Spiderman movie had the circumstances been a bit better. But back to Margot at the Wedding; I think perhaps the best thing in this was that I really enjoyed Jack Black in it. And I'm usually simply annoyed by him.
Mister Lonely
I thought this one sounded good; a punch of impersonators living together. You could make that into an interesting film. But oh how miserably it failed. It was rather predictable when it wasn't just plain boring. I didn't really understand what was the point of the whole film. The only good things were the storyline following the priest played by Werner Herzhog and Samantha Morton, just because she's well hot, especially as Marilyn Monroe.
Shine a Light
I don't think there's that much to say about this. The boyfriend wrote a review of it, you can read it here. I thought it was really beautiful and a very good concert film. Keith Richards is such a dude. And Mick Jagger's (I first wrote 'Migger Jack's') bum is just way too tiny and it seems that he used to be a lot more laid back and funny when he was younger. Oh well. It was still very enjoyable, there was a point when I had to stop myself from singing loudly along. I thought it wouldn't have been allowed in the cinema.
Persepolis
This was very good. Although at times I thought it was a tad boring. Anyway, I'm now reading the graphic novel, which I do think is better than the film, eventhough the film is very much just the book. But then there are bits in the book that I find very interesting but they didn't end up being in the film.
The Oxford Murders
Because I refused to spend Vapunaatto on a pub crawl, we decided to go to the cinema instead. And because a certain friend of ours is very much into his maths we went to see The Oxford Murders. It was quite horrendous. Although, the good thing was that it reached the level of bad that made it quite funny. If you know what I mean. Anyway, the boyfriend wrote '5 Reasons Why The Oxford Murders Did Not Completely Suck' check it out, it's pretty good.
Iron Man
I liked it! And not only because Robert Downey Jr. is one of the hottest men in the WORLD (although not according to the picture on his wikipedia article, for a better one check this, it's the eyes, me thinks). Anyway, I thought it was very entertaining and had beautiful people in it and eventhough I wasn't at all familiar with the story of Iron Man it did not matter. It's up there with the Batmans fighting for the top spot in my list of best movies based on superhero comics. Although, it must be said that not all of the Batmans are that good and I've still to see Batman Begins.
Il Conformista
This was actually shown at the cinema and we went to see it. It was very good. But it's the kind of film I'm not very comfortable in saying anything about it, and to be honest, I've forgotten what I actually thought about it. It had some very cool shots though. (How lame does that sound?! I'm sorry.)
Planet B-Boy
This was AWESOME. I think my mouth might have been open in awe for about 85% of the running time. Also it made me miss the times I used to do street dance a lot. It didn't even matter that the colour seemed to be a bit well... fucked when they showed it. I didn't really even realise there was something wrong with the colour. Just go and check the videos on the official website, it's a fantastic documentary. And have a look at this too, in fact you should at least watch this, it is full of AWESOME:
Sex and the City
I'm not a Sex and the City fan, whatever that even means. I've seen a few episodes including the series finale double episode twice and cried my eyes out both of the times. However, I've never thought that the series was amazing just harmless entertainment when there was nothing better on tv. Anyway, I still wanted to see the film and eventhough it did make me cry a bit, it didn't really do anything to me. I was really irritated by the r'n'b theme (I mean WHY r'n'b?! It's not like the girls are into it or anything.) and otherwise I though it was just too calculated and slickly produced. In a way it was flawless, but flawless in a very bad way. Plus it was too long. And there was not much of Charlotte, it seemed as if they didn't really know what to do with her character. Plus Kim Catrall really would deserve more money than SJP. And I used to prefer Carrie over Sam, but in the film, Sam was the star. ... One last thing, this dress was gorgeous though.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I loved it. It felt like it was the natural continuation of the old trilogy. It didn't feel new it felt like it was part of the old ones. I had some problems with the story, but I won't specify because maybe not all of you have seen it yet. All in all, I thought it was very good. And since I don't particularly like Raiders of the Lost Ark, I thought it was better than it. Perhaps even better than Temple of Doom, eventhough I really do like it.
Joy Division
This one I saw yesterday. It was half good, half not so good. I thought it felt a bit too pretentious in parts and it sort of fell apart towards the end. And it did turn into just being about Ian Curtis in the end. And I do see why it is a big part of the whole Joy Division story, but given the first half where I though it did talk more about Joy Division the band and not Ian Curtis and the other dudes that aren't that important. It did have some good laughs though, but over all it was a bit of a disappointment. The end of it just felt a bit too much likeit was just straight out from Control.
Friday 6 June 2008
Oh dear, Simon...
I'M SORRY IT'S BEEN AGES since the last post. I had my exams and told myself not to blog during revision and all that.
However, during exam time I came across this hilarious article. (I should probably give credit to the boyfriend who linked me to it.)
It is terrible. And it saddens me that it actually got published in the Guardian. In fact, it was the front page story in the Film & Music supplement. Just read through the article please, I hope you agree with me.
Basically, what annoys me in this one is that the interviewer is just not acting professionally. I strongly believe that a good journalist will be able to set their own emotions aside and despite their own opinion can conduct a balanced interview with someone. I also believe that respect (even if it is faked respect) is important when interviewing someone.
In a way I can respect Simon Hattenstone's honesty as he wants to tell Ewan that he doesn't like the film. However, it seems pretty obvious that he did not give enough thought to how he would tell him that. Also, would it not have been better to wait until the end of the interview to say that? There's no need to write up all the awkwardness that follows from the confession. The worst part is that he doesn't just say, 'sorry, this movie didn't really appeal to me' but he goes on and on about it.
What happens then is that he seems to realise his stupidity - Oops. Time to change the subject. I ask about his family. He tries to ask Ewan about his personal life?! That is simply IDIOTIC. You'd think that any self-respecting journalist would know that Ewan likes to keep his private life PRIVATE. I mean, I knew it and I really don't know much about Ewan McGregor. So what is Ewan's reply?
Well done Ewan! What annoys me most about the article is, that Mr. Hattenstone screws up the interview by seemingly not being well prepared and then tries to turn it around by hinting that Ewan McGregor is a bad person because he doesn't want to talk about his private life. From the headline ('Oh dear, Ewan...') onwards it's trying to make us believe that it is EWAN MGGREGOR's fault that the interview was a total disaster.
UGH. I just want to say this: I'm sorry Ewan. I hope The Guardian at least sent you a letter of apology. I still can't believe they actually printed it too. Oh dear, Simon...
------
All paragraphs in italics are taken from the article linked to at the beginning of the post.
However, during exam time I came across this hilarious article. (I should probably give credit to the boyfriend who linked me to it.)
It is terrible. And it saddens me that it actually got published in the Guardian. In fact, it was the front page story in the Film & Music supplement. Just read through the article please, I hope you agree with me.
Basically, what annoys me in this one is that the interviewer is just not acting professionally. I strongly believe that a good journalist will be able to set their own emotions aside and despite their own opinion can conduct a balanced interview with someone. I also believe that respect (even if it is faked respect) is important when interviewing someone.
In a way I can respect Simon Hattenstone's honesty as he wants to tell Ewan that he doesn't like the film. However, it seems pretty obvious that he did not give enough thought to how he would tell him that. Also, would it not have been better to wait until the end of the interview to say that? There's no need to write up all the awkwardness that follows from the confession. The worst part is that he doesn't just say, 'sorry, this movie didn't really appeal to me' but he goes on and on about it.
At the end of the movie, I tell him, we had to rewind to the opening credits to make sure it really was a Woody Allen film and that we hadn't been taken for a ride. "Right, right, right," he says again, like a psychiatrist listening to a particularly disturbed patient. I say it's not your fault - it was the direction and the script. "Is it because of the dialogue? Or the heaviness of the film? Or the tragedy of the film?" No, I say, it's because it seems like a terrible stage production of a terrible film that never belonged to a time or place.
What happens then is that he seems to realise his stupidity - Oops. Time to change the subject. I ask about his family. He tries to ask Ewan about his personal life?! That is simply IDIOTIC. You'd think that any self-respecting journalist would know that Ewan likes to keep his private life PRIVATE. I mean, I knew it and I really don't know much about Ewan McGregor. So what is Ewan's reply?
"I won't discuss that with you, so you could ask me another question." Why won't he discuss it? "I've never discussed it with a journalist and I'm not about to change that."
Well done Ewan! What annoys me most about the article is, that Mr. Hattenstone screws up the interview by seemingly not being well prepared and then tries to turn it around by hinting that Ewan McGregor is a bad person because he doesn't want to talk about his private life. From the headline ('Oh dear, Ewan...') onwards it's trying to make us believe that it is EWAN MGGREGOR's fault that the interview was a total disaster.
I'm wondering how on earth I'm supposed to get to the bottom of McGregor when he is prepared to reveal so little of himself. But in a strange way, I think, perhaps he has shown more than he intended to.
UGH. I just want to say this: I'm sorry Ewan. I hope The Guardian at least sent you a letter of apology. I still can't believe they actually printed it too. Oh dear, Simon...
------
All paragraphs in italics are taken from the article linked to at the beginning of the post.
Wednesday 14 May 2008
NO PORN HERE! pt. II
Right, so this post turned out to be pretty shite. I just sort of got distracted and lost interest in what I was writing. Sorry about that. However, for a more eloquent post on the issue, check this link.
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In other news, I'm still trying to revise, had my first exam yesterday. It was on International Ethics. I wrote on immigration and "porous borders", humanitarian intervention and global citizenship. I might write on some of them here at a later date, but at the moment I'm trying to focus on the foreign and security policy of the US. Hm, I wish I only had the interesting books still to read, but no, it's the most important and boring book I'm trying to tackle at the moment. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine.
------------------------------
In other news, I'm still trying to revise, had my first exam yesterday. It was on International Ethics. I wrote on immigration and "porous borders", humanitarian intervention and global citizenship. I might write on some of them here at a later date, but at the moment I'm trying to focus on the foreign and security policy of the US. Hm, I wish I only had the interesting books still to read, but no, it's the most important and boring book I'm trying to tackle at the moment. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine.
Friday 9 May 2008
Mid-post
I'm posting now just to bring certain things to your attention. I was going to do a proper post relating to one of the things on the following list but I'm in a weird revision induced blah-mood and can't concentrate.
1) I still hate people in the library. Today especially because after a night out in Nottingham yesterday (which didn't include more alcohol than a bottle of Kopparberg) I just couldn't get out of bed before 9 this morning and therefore people had already spread their stuff all around the place when I got there.
2) My post on the text-scandal got picked up by The Golden Strawberry. (I say picked up, but I shamelessly exploited a friend for that.) And from there it got picked up here, which makes me rather proud of myself, simply because it means that people have actually read something I wanted to write. (Although looking back to that post it could've been a lot more eloquent.)
3) A guy on campus completely made my day and reminded me why I love the British so much. I was going to enter the Guild of Students (that is the students union building) and this guy was just coming out of the door and couldn't possibly see me approaching and thus didn't hold the door open for me. And when he noticed me he said 'sorry'! I love 'sorry' and 'thank you' so much I don't understand how can anybody be fed up with 'sorry' or 'thank you'. (To make that last sentence make any sense I'm going to paste here a bit of the blurb for the Birmingham University Nordic Society's facebook group: A group for all Nordic and Nordic-minded people at the University of Birmingham who sometimes wants a break from tea, "sorry" and David Beckham's right foot. Who would ever want a break from 'sorry'?! I'm beginning to think that I'm neither Nordic nor Nordic-minded.)
This is all.
1) I still hate people in the library. Today especially because after a night out in Nottingham yesterday (which didn't include more alcohol than a bottle of Kopparberg) I just couldn't get out of bed before 9 this morning and therefore people had already spread their stuff all around the place when I got there.
2) My post on the text-scandal got picked up by The Golden Strawberry. (I say picked up, but I shamelessly exploited a friend for that.) And from there it got picked up here, which makes me rather proud of myself, simply because it means that people have actually read something I wanted to write. (Although looking back to that post it could've been a lot more eloquent.)
3) A guy on campus completely made my day and reminded me why I love the British so much. I was going to enter the Guild of Students (that is the students union building) and this guy was just coming out of the door and couldn't possibly see me approaching and thus didn't hold the door open for me. And when he noticed me he said 'sorry'! I love 'sorry' and 'thank you' so much I don't understand how can anybody be fed up with 'sorry' or 'thank you'. (To make that last sentence make any sense I'm going to paste here a bit of the blurb for the Birmingham University Nordic Society's facebook group: A group for all Nordic and Nordic-minded people at the University of Birmingham who sometimes wants a break from tea, "sorry" and David Beckham's right foot. Who would ever want a break from 'sorry'?! I'm beginning to think that I'm neither Nordic nor Nordic-minded.)
This is all.
Tuesday 6 May 2008
NO PORN HERE!
There will be a new Criminal Justice Bill (do read the comments on that article, some really good and some really funny comments up there) passed on 8th May banning "extreme" pornography. At first I thought, alright so what is it going to ban, child porn, bestiality... er... can't think of anything else AND weren't they banned before? Hm.
As it turns out the bill defines extreme porn as
* An act which threatens or appears to threaten a person's life
That seems alright. HOLD ON! Appears to? So if the or more people are engaged in some form of BDSM which might seem to be threatening one's life and they filmed it/ took pictures of it no one apart from these people should be allowed to watch it? Huh? It makes no sense to me. And who defines what appears to threaten a person's life anyway?
Right secondly extreme pornography can be
* An act which results in or appears to result in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals
This one I think is not quite as straight forwardly wrong as the one before. Actually, yes it is. There's that appears again. Seriously, what do you mean by appears? And what is serious injury? And so, if it's all staged and no one is actually hurt and everyone has given their consent to everything there's still a problem? Huh?
Thirdly and fourthly
* An act which involves or appears to involve sexual interference with a human corpse
* A person performing or appearing to perform an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal
These I can kind of agree with, I think bestiality is wrong, if it means I'm not open-minded enough, so be it. But really, can you ask for the consent of an animal? Necrophilia is another thing, personally I think it is wrong and I can't imagine why anyone would want to have sex with a corpse or even watch someone else have sex with a corpse, although I suppose you could stage that. But then, I think maybe you are just a bit wrong if you enjoy watching people fucking people masked as corpses. I can tolerate a lot of "kinks" but perhaps that goes a bit far.
Oh, and here are 'Reasons why you should oppose this'.
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Hm. I can't be asked (OMG, I just publicly wrote down 'can't be asked' Oh dear.) to elaborate more. I probably should but pff. The weather is so nice, it's hard to rant when the sun is so shiny. Although I think I might be coming up with a cold though, which is like really, really ridiculously annoying when the sun is shining. Pff.
As it turns out the bill defines extreme porn as
* An act which threatens or appears to threaten a person's life
That seems alright. HOLD ON! Appears to? So if the or more people are engaged in some form of BDSM which might seem to be threatening one's life and they filmed it/ took pictures of it no one apart from these people should be allowed to watch it? Huh? It makes no sense to me. And who defines what appears to threaten a person's life anyway?
Right secondly extreme pornography can be
* An act which results in or appears to result in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals
This one I think is not quite as straight forwardly wrong as the one before. Actually, yes it is. There's that appears again. Seriously, what do you mean by appears? And what is serious injury? And so, if it's all staged and no one is actually hurt and everyone has given their consent to everything there's still a problem? Huh?
Thirdly and fourthly
* An act which involves or appears to involve sexual interference with a human corpse
* A person performing or appearing to perform an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal
These I can kind of agree with, I think bestiality is wrong, if it means I'm not open-minded enough, so be it. But really, can you ask for the consent of an animal? Necrophilia is another thing, personally I think it is wrong and I can't imagine why anyone would want to have sex with a corpse or even watch someone else have sex with a corpse, although I suppose you could stage that. But then, I think maybe you are just a bit wrong if you enjoy watching people fucking people masked as corpses. I can tolerate a lot of "kinks" but perhaps that goes a bit far.
Oh, and here are 'Reasons why you should oppose this'.
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Hm. I can't be asked (OMG, I just publicly wrote down 'can't be asked' Oh dear.) to elaborate more. I probably should but pff. The weather is so nice, it's hard to rant when the sun is so shiny. Although I think I might be coming up with a cold though, which is like really, really ridiculously annoying when the sun is shining. Pff.
Thursday 24 April 2008
Top 5 Miserable Songs, pt. II
The Walrus, a Canadian magazine published their list of 'The Saddest Music In the World'. This led me to wonder what would be my choices for the saddest songs. It was a long list and I realised they were more miserable/depressing than sad. However, I present to you here a top 5 of what I found to be the most miserable/depressing songs I know. Altogether I will present to you at least three of these lists because I couldn't just narrow it down to one single top 5.
Note: This is by no means my attempt to find THE saddest songs ever, this is simply my humble opinion based on music I listen to/ have listened to in the past.
Here is Top 5 Most Miserable/Depressing Songs because I went through my teenage angst between 1998-2002 (in no particular order).
Nebel - Rammstein
I thought this was possibly the saddest, most depressing, miserable - you name it - song even before I found out what the lyrics actually mean (needless to say I don't speak German). It's a fanmade video since the song was never a single and thus doesn't have an official video.
In the End - Linkin Park
Oh come on! Who hasn't been depressed by this one when they were young? It just adds to all the pain a teenager by default feels. And in the end it doesn't really matter.
From Sarah With Love - Sarah Connor
This is a bit of a silly choice and I definitely am not a fan of the song. The reason this is here is that I want to add in a silly little anecdote about an ex. My first boyfriend, after he'd broken up with me and told me he was going out with this other girl he sent me the lyrics to this song. And I was all like why?! What does this mean? Do you want to rub it in me? To this day I still don't understand why he thought it'd be a good idea. (In case this all doesn't make any sense I was very much depressed and heartbroken because of our break up for a long time.) Maybe he thought I could identify myself with the lyrics (which makes sense in a way) but as if I wasn't feeling horrible and sorry for myself to begin with. Did he really need to add to it all? Also, I think the lyrics are a bit stupid and I don't really get the meaning of the song. Pff, I say. Anyway, this is why this song made it to the list.
My Immortal - Evanescence
I bet this is pretty self explanatory. Oh what I'd give to relive the countless hours that were once spent feeling angsty and miserable and depressed (and OMG everything was just so HARD back then) listening to this. Or alternatively 'Hello' from the same album. I managed to tie this back to the above mentioned ex-boyfriend (seriously, I bet I would've been a lot less miserable if it wasn't for him), don't ask me how. Although, I suppose it's more or less obvious. Forgive me for the single version on the embedded video, it has that cheesy, horrible guitar solo that's NOT in the album version.
The Scientist - Coldplay
I had a hard time deciding between this one and 'Trouble' but ended up with this mainly because I relate it to the final episode of Cold Feet. It's the saddest thing ever and oh so miserable and depressing.
Note: This is by no means my attempt to find THE saddest songs ever, this is simply my humble opinion based on music I listen to/ have listened to in the past.
Here is Top 5 Most Miserable/Depressing Songs because I went through my teenage angst between 1998-2002 (in no particular order).
Nebel - Rammstein
I thought this was possibly the saddest, most depressing, miserable - you name it - song even before I found out what the lyrics actually mean (needless to say I don't speak German). It's a fanmade video since the song was never a single and thus doesn't have an official video.
In the End - Linkin Park
Oh come on! Who hasn't been depressed by this one when they were young? It just adds to all the pain a teenager by default feels. And in the end it doesn't really matter.
From Sarah With Love - Sarah Connor
This is a bit of a silly choice and I definitely am not a fan of the song. The reason this is here is that I want to add in a silly little anecdote about an ex. My first boyfriend, after he'd broken up with me and told me he was going out with this other girl he sent me the lyrics to this song. And I was all like why?! What does this mean? Do you want to rub it in me? To this day I still don't understand why he thought it'd be a good idea. (In case this all doesn't make any sense I was very much depressed and heartbroken because of our break up for a long time.) Maybe he thought I could identify myself with the lyrics (which makes sense in a way) but as if I wasn't feeling horrible and sorry for myself to begin with. Did he really need to add to it all? Also, I think the lyrics are a bit stupid and I don't really get the meaning of the song. Pff, I say. Anyway, this is why this song made it to the list.
My Immortal - Evanescence
I bet this is pretty self explanatory. Oh what I'd give to relive the countless hours that were once spent feeling angsty and miserable and depressed (and OMG everything was just so HARD back then) listening to this. Or alternatively 'Hello' from the same album. I managed to tie this back to the above mentioned ex-boyfriend (seriously, I bet I would've been a lot less miserable if it wasn't for him), don't ask me how. Although, I suppose it's more or less obvious. Forgive me for the single version on the embedded video, it has that cheesy, horrible guitar solo that's NOT in the album version.
The Scientist - Coldplay
I had a hard time deciding between this one and 'Trouble' but ended up with this mainly because I relate it to the final episode of Cold Feet. It's the saddest thing ever and oh so miserable and depressing.
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Top 5 Miserable Songs, pt I
The Walrus, a Canadian magazine published their list of 'The Saddest Music In the World'. This led me to wonder what would be my choices for the saddest songs. It was a long list and I realised they were more miserable/depressing than sad. However, I present to you here a top 5 of what I found to be the most miserable/depressing songs I know. Altogether I will present to you at least three of these lists because I couldn't just narrow it down to one single top 5. Therefore, here is Part I: Top 5 Most Miserable/Depressing Songs in general.
Note: This is by no means my attempt to find THE saddest songs ever, this is simply my humble opinion based on music I listen to/ have listened to in the past.
Baby Mine - from Dumbo
Can you really argue with this one? Although, I suppose it's more the context of the film that makes it so sad and depressing.
Hurt - Johnny Cash
I realise this is originally a Nine Inch Nails song, but since I'm not familiar with it and I think Johnny Cash just sounds so incredibly depressing, I chose this one. I think it speaks for itself really.
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Al Green
So depressing. Also has links to at least one movie, which to me makes it even more depressing as it is featured in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant is just well depressed and heartbroken.
(It's Hard) Letting You Go - Bon Jovi
Oh gosh, I remember when These Days came out and I was just about to turn 9, I think, and I used to lie in the middle of our living room floor feeling sad listening to this when no one else was home. I didn't even understand the lyrics back then, but I thought it was the saddest thing I'd ever heard back then. It still is pretty damn sad, if you ask me. It's a fanmade video because it was never released as a single and thus doesn't have an official video.
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
This is my 'I feel so sorry for myself'-song. I'm forever grateful for the lovely Miss Maija for introducing me to it, even though it is definitely up there with if not the most depressing songs as such, then definitely up there with one of the most depressing songs I know. This is what I listen to when I think I'm miles apart from the boyfriend even though he's in the next room. It's just that kind of song. It's a fanmade video because it was never released as a single and thus doesn't have an official video.
Bubbling under (these won't be included in any of the other top 5s, yet any of them could've easily replaced any of the above five songs):
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Ain't no Sunshine - Bill Withers
Suicide is Painless - Manic Street Preachers
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead
Nothing Compares 2U - Sinead O'Connor
Note: This is by no means my attempt to find THE saddest songs ever, this is simply my humble opinion based on music I listen to/ have listened to in the past.
Baby Mine - from Dumbo
Can you really argue with this one? Although, I suppose it's more the context of the film that makes it so sad and depressing.
Hurt - Johnny Cash
I realise this is originally a Nine Inch Nails song, but since I'm not familiar with it and I think Johnny Cash just sounds so incredibly depressing, I chose this one. I think it speaks for itself really.
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Al Green
So depressing. Also has links to at least one movie, which to me makes it even more depressing as it is featured in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant is just well depressed and heartbroken.
(It's Hard) Letting You Go - Bon Jovi
Oh gosh, I remember when These Days came out and I was just about to turn 9, I think, and I used to lie in the middle of our living room floor feeling sad listening to this when no one else was home. I didn't even understand the lyrics back then, but I thought it was the saddest thing I'd ever heard back then. It still is pretty damn sad, if you ask me. It's a fanmade video because it was never released as a single and thus doesn't have an official video.
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
This is my 'I feel so sorry for myself'-song. I'm forever grateful for the lovely Miss Maija for introducing me to it, even though it is definitely up there with if not the most depressing songs as such, then definitely up there with one of the most depressing songs I know. This is what I listen to when I think I'm miles apart from the boyfriend even though he's in the next room. It's just that kind of song. It's a fanmade video because it was never released as a single and thus doesn't have an official video.
Bubbling under (these won't be included in any of the other top 5s, yet any of them could've easily replaced any of the above five songs):
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Ain't no Sunshine - Bill Withers
Suicide is Painless - Manic Street Preachers
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead
Nothing Compares 2U - Sinead O'Connor
Tuesday 22 April 2008
Birmingham
The other day I went shopping in town. I went to the big shopping centre first and did a bit of general shopping and then walked to Fiveways and did my food shop in the big supermarket there. As I was walking through the town and past the canals I had this weird feeling of some sort of nostalgia, I suppose. I have an odd like-hate relationship with this city. Like-hate because the feeling very rarely, if ever, goes up to love.
After the first year of my studies I've not gone to town all that often, partly because it's not a walking distance away anymore and partly because I realised if I don't go there I won't use that much money. And now, whenever I go I don't tend to walk far from either of the two stations I use, one for the cinemas and the other for shopping. And it is the area in between the stations, the area that I only border on both sides, that is the nicest in town. It is so nice around the canals and the park kind of area (which has a name but I've blissfully forgotten it) between the Symphony Hall and the Paradise Forum. That's where I feel like this city is actually an alright place. But when usually I'm just in the shopping hell that is the Bullring and the high street area around it where I most often go, I just get this feeling of anxiety and/or depression whenever I'm there.
Hm, this post isn't going anywhere, I suppose there's not really a point to it. I leave you with a photo of the view from my room. It was taken on a sunny day when they sky was an amazing shade of blue. I like that plant that is on the wall of the next house, it makes the view from my window a lot better than just looking at a white brick wall.
After the first year of my studies I've not gone to town all that often, partly because it's not a walking distance away anymore and partly because I realised if I don't go there I won't use that much money. And now, whenever I go I don't tend to walk far from either of the two stations I use, one for the cinemas and the other for shopping. And it is the area in between the stations, the area that I only border on both sides, that is the nicest in town. It is so nice around the canals and the park kind of area (which has a name but I've blissfully forgotten it) between the Symphony Hall and the Paradise Forum. That's where I feel like this city is actually an alright place. But when usually I'm just in the shopping hell that is the Bullring and the high street area around it where I most often go, I just get this feeling of anxiety and/or depression whenever I'm there.
Hm, this post isn't going anywhere, I suppose there's not really a point to it. I leave you with a photo of the view from my room. It was taken on a sunny day when they sky was an amazing shade of blue. I like that plant that is on the wall of the next house, it makes the view from my window a lot better than just looking at a white brick wall.
Sunday 20 April 2008
Dinner Party
Yesterday I hosted my first (and most likely last) ever proper dinner party in Birmingham. There were three of us, my friend Matt, me and the boyfriend, so it wasn't a big one, but a dinner party nonetheless.
I tried to create a Spanish style menu, so for starters we had my pseudo-tapas selection;
Cantaloupe melon with Serrano ham
Olives in garlic-basil marinade
Toasted baquette slices with garlic and tomato
This is what it looked like (well the melon and ham with the tomato that was to be rubbed on the toast).
The main we had was homemade paella. In reality it was somewhere between a chicken risotto and paella, but who cares. Sadly, when I got back from Finland I forgot to take paella seasoning with me. It's a mix of spices that my family always brings home from holidays in Spain. It gives paella it's awesome colour and taste. I also completely forgot to put the peas in the paella, I think they are a very nice extra in it, but oh well.
For desert we had a dark chocolate fondue (this is where the Spanish theme sort of ceased to exist) with Cantaloupe, kiwi, green grapes, strawberries, banana and marshmallows. It was amazing. I thought it was a good thing to have a dark chocolate fondue, it didn't make it as sweet as it would've been had been made of milk chocolate.
After a short digestion break we had cheese; French Brie, Dutch Gouda and a Roule, with crackers, bread sticks and homemade oaty biscuits.
Along with all the food we drank a bottle of Cava, a very nice bottle of red Rioja (2001), and an Argentinian Pinot Grigio (I couldn't find a Spanish white where I was shopping, so I figured South American will do). Just to make sure I don't sound too cocky, I don't really know much about wine.
What made me very happy was that I think I managed to make our living room look alright. It's amazing what a difference a table cloth (even if it's just an unironed bed sheet in reality) can make. We had to sit on the floor as we don't have a proper dining table and had to use the coffee table instead. But I think it was more or less a success and in the end the cushions on the floor were quite comfy (perhaps all the wine consumed had something to do with that.
I leave you with a picture of what the table looked like (sadly, it was impossible to find three similar plates for starters, but then again, we are students).
I tried to create a Spanish style menu, so for starters we had my pseudo-tapas selection;
Cantaloupe melon with Serrano ham
Olives in garlic-basil marinade
Toasted baquette slices with garlic and tomato
This is what it looked like (well the melon and ham with the tomato that was to be rubbed on the toast).
The main we had was homemade paella. In reality it was somewhere between a chicken risotto and paella, but who cares. Sadly, when I got back from Finland I forgot to take paella seasoning with me. It's a mix of spices that my family always brings home from holidays in Spain. It gives paella it's awesome colour and taste. I also completely forgot to put the peas in the paella, I think they are a very nice extra in it, but oh well.
For desert we had a dark chocolate fondue (this is where the Spanish theme sort of ceased to exist) with Cantaloupe, kiwi, green grapes, strawberries, banana and marshmallows. It was amazing. I thought it was a good thing to have a dark chocolate fondue, it didn't make it as sweet as it would've been had been made of milk chocolate.
After a short digestion break we had cheese; French Brie, Dutch Gouda and a Roule, with crackers, bread sticks and homemade oaty biscuits.
Along with all the food we drank a bottle of Cava, a very nice bottle of red Rioja (2001), and an Argentinian Pinot Grigio (I couldn't find a Spanish white where I was shopping, so I figured South American will do). Just to make sure I don't sound too cocky, I don't really know much about wine.
What made me very happy was that I think I managed to make our living room look alright. It's amazing what a difference a table cloth (even if it's just an unironed bed sheet in reality) can make. We had to sit on the floor as we don't have a proper dining table and had to use the coffee table instead. But I think it was more or less a success and in the end the cushions on the floor were quite comfy (perhaps all the wine consumed had something to do with that.
I leave you with a picture of what the table looked like (sadly, it was impossible to find three similar plates for starters, but then again, we are students).
Friday 18 April 2008
The world is full of McIdiots
A thing that pisses me off more than many other things combined:
People leaving their rubbish on the tables in fast food restaurants.
I really do not see what is so difficult in taking the tray/bag with your rubbish to the bins provided. That's right, there are BINS provided FOR YOU to take your rubbish IN THEM after you've finished eating. Today I failed to resist temptation and had lunch in an evil multinational fast food chain "restaurant" and I can't even begin to describe how much it annoyed me that during prime lunch time when the place was buzzing with busy people eating their unhealthy meals there were people taking up more seats than they needed and leaving their rubbish behind.
The worst thing is that in the past few years the people that seem to be doing this most has changed from loud and rebellious teenagers to middle to upper-middle class people (especially men) dressed office style. These people are usually between the ages 27-40, in their fancy clothes (read: boring black suits), who think too highly of themselves (read: think they're too good to clear up after themselves). I wonder if they actively think that surely there's someone working [their ass off on minimum wage] who's meant to do all the cleaning. I just feel like shouting to these people that YOU'RE MEANT TO TAKE YOUR RUBBISH TO THE BINS YOURSELVES! THAT'S WHY THEY'RE THERE! Pff.
And really, between two people (with no bags, note) YOU DO NOT NEED MORE THAN TWO SEATS! Especially during the busy lunch hours, there's no reason why people should take up more seats than there are people. It really, really frustrates me when people are looking for seats and there are two people taking up tables for four, for example. The situation may be different in a fancy restaurant, but in a fast food place you take up one seat per person, thank you very much. When it's not busy, it doesn't really matter. The worst thing is that many times if you walk up to people taking up many seats and ask if you could possibly take a seat at that table (with no intention to talk to or otherwise bother the people, you just want to eat your food) they look at you with contempt, seemingly saying why should I do ANYTHING for you? Pff, I wish everyone was as loveable and well-mannered as I am.
Pseudo-rant over.
People leaving their rubbish on the tables in fast food restaurants.
I really do not see what is so difficult in taking the tray/bag with your rubbish to the bins provided. That's right, there are BINS provided FOR YOU to take your rubbish IN THEM after you've finished eating. Today I failed to resist temptation and had lunch in an evil multinational fast food chain "restaurant" and I can't even begin to describe how much it annoyed me that during prime lunch time when the place was buzzing with busy people eating their unhealthy meals there were people taking up more seats than they needed and leaving their rubbish behind.
The worst thing is that in the past few years the people that seem to be doing this most has changed from loud and rebellious teenagers to middle to upper-middle class people (especially men) dressed office style. These people are usually between the ages 27-40, in their fancy clothes (read: boring black suits), who think too highly of themselves (read: think they're too good to clear up after themselves). I wonder if they actively think that surely there's someone working [their ass off on minimum wage] who's meant to do all the cleaning. I just feel like shouting to these people that YOU'RE MEANT TO TAKE YOUR RUBBISH TO THE BINS YOURSELVES! THAT'S WHY THEY'RE THERE! Pff.
And really, between two people (with no bags, note) YOU DO NOT NEED MORE THAN TWO SEATS! Especially during the busy lunch hours, there's no reason why people should take up more seats than there are people. It really, really frustrates me when people are looking for seats and there are two people taking up tables for four, for example. The situation may be different in a fancy restaurant, but in a fast food place you take up one seat per person, thank you very much. When it's not busy, it doesn't really matter. The worst thing is that many times if you walk up to people taking up many seats and ask if you could possibly take a seat at that table (with no intention to talk to or otherwise bother the people, you just want to eat your food) they look at you with contempt, seemingly saying why should I do ANYTHING for you? Pff, I wish everyone was as loveable and well-mannered as I am.
Pseudo-rant over.
Thursday 17 April 2008
Cinema, pt. II
OMG! I've spoiled someone's cinema experience !
Last night I went to the cinema with two friends to see Shine a Light. We got there quite early and there were only two people in the screen room before us. They were sitting in the best seats (in my humble opinion) at the right row, right in the middle of it. Therefore we obviously took the second best seats, a row below them, right in the middle of the row. In other words, right in front of them. Now, this is the kind of cinema that is nicely designed so that people's heads won't bother you even if they sit a row below you. However, as we were sitting down and sorting out our finances and stuff and one of us went to use the facilities, I heard the couple talking about changing seats. Then the lady spoke to us in a very polite manner yet very bitchily saying something along the lines of 'you know we were just sitting here, in this big empty cinema and suddenly there are heads in front of us. We were a bit like there's this big empty cinema and these people have to sit right in front of us? We thought about changing seats but then we figured we were here first.' I was in a very good mood and was all 'oh, sorry, we'll move, it's ok.' All the while thinking, WOW I didn't know we weren't allowed to sit wherever we wanted.
So where do we move? The obvious choice is to move behind this couple, as that'd be the next best row and for sure, we want to sit in the middle of the row. And so we do. Guess what happened then? That's right, they move. That's when I got really frustrated (I kept it all inside though, as I don't tend to confront people I don't know unless they're playing loud music in the library ). So this couple had payed for about 10 seats around them? Just because they were there first no one else was allowed to have good seats? WTF?!
If there is an unspoken rule about cinema seats that says you're not allowed to sit in front OR behind (really, BEHIND?!) people, please do tell me and I'll make sure I won't do so again. But really, it's not like we were loud or kicking their seats or anything like that. I'd say that couple was a prime example of people making things too hard and thus causing discomfort for not only themselves but also others (if you know what I mean). Glory for positive thinking, I say.
Seriously, what pisses me off the most is the fact that we were being really nice and moved but even that was not good enough. They made me feel really bad even though I felt like I'd done nothing wrong. PFF. I hate people.
Last night I went to the cinema with two friends to see Shine a Light. We got there quite early and there were only two people in the screen room before us. They were sitting in the best seats (in my humble opinion) at the right row, right in the middle of it. Therefore we obviously took the second best seats, a row below them, right in the middle of the row. In other words, right in front of them. Now, this is the kind of cinema that is nicely designed so that people's heads won't bother you even if they sit a row below you. However, as we were sitting down and sorting out our finances and stuff and one of us went to use the facilities, I heard the couple talking about changing seats. Then the lady spoke to us in a very polite manner yet very bitchily saying something along the lines of 'you know we were just sitting here, in this big empty cinema and suddenly there are heads in front of us. We were a bit like there's this big empty cinema and these people have to sit right in front of us? We thought about changing seats but then we figured we were here first.' I was in a very good mood and was all 'oh, sorry, we'll move, it's ok.' All the while thinking, WOW I didn't know we weren't allowed to sit wherever we wanted.
So where do we move? The obvious choice is to move behind this couple, as that'd be the next best row and for sure, we want to sit in the middle of the row. And so we do. Guess what happened then? That's right, they move. That's when I got really frustrated (I kept it all inside though, as I don't tend to confront people I don't know unless they're playing loud music in the library ). So this couple had payed for about 10 seats around them? Just because they were there first no one else was allowed to have good seats? WTF?!
If there is an unspoken rule about cinema seats that says you're not allowed to sit in front OR behind (really, BEHIND?!) people, please do tell me and I'll make sure I won't do so again. But really, it's not like we were loud or kicking their seats or anything like that. I'd say that couple was a prime example of people making things too hard and thus causing discomfort for not only themselves but also others (if you know what I mean). Glory for positive thinking, I say.
Seriously, what pisses me off the most is the fact that we were being really nice and moved but even that was not good enough. They made me feel really bad even though I felt like I'd done nothing wrong. PFF. I hate people.
On a completely different note though, Keith Richards is such a DUDE!
Wednesday 16 April 2008
'I did not send sexual texts to that woman... Ms. Tukiainen' - On the SMS scandals of ex-FM Kanerva and PM Vanhanen
I was going to write this post ages ago, but I didn't know how to tackle it.
The thing is, I'm utterly disappointed in Finnish people. (Well not entirely, but anyway.) I view Finland as a free and open-minded society where people can be who they want to be without much judgement from other people. Obviously this does not seem to be true when it comes to politicians. For some reason, it seems that politicians are not allowed to have private lives.
The reason I was first going to write this post is this story: 'Finnish FM loses job over texts' So, the story goes that Foreign Minister Kanerva sent over 200 texts to an erotic dancer (OMG!) from, wait for it... his work phone! Oh dear. He should be decapitated for that! NO. So what if he did? It is a very unfortunate thing that this woman decided it was a good idea to give the texts to a yellow press magazine. It probably was for herself, she's got a lot of free publicity out of it. She also ended up causing the FM to lose his job. She must be well proud of herself. (Lately she's been crying in the press saying 'I didn't want this to happen'. Maybe she should've thought about it before she handed the texts to a third party.)
Anyway, what frustrates me more than this dancer giving the texts to a magazine, is the way the gossip press industry works. I know a few people who would want to be journalists and I've even considered it myself, and it just amazes me how people end up working in these magazines and papers. Is it just that when you're not able to get a job as a proper journalist, you've just got to take what is given to you? I just don't understand that total lack of respect for people's privacy.
Right, going back to ex-FM Kanerva texting from his work phone. To me it doesn't matter, I know there are people out there who think it's wrong because it's TAX PAYERS MONEY that pays for that phone. I might be wrong but I've understood that there's only a monthly 'allowance', which is not very big, from the state towards the phone bills. And even so, I bet there are many people out there who misuse whatever benefits they get from their jobs. I know people who have a company car with all the gas payed etc. who use that car for much more than just driving to and from work. Similarly, I do know many people who use their work phones for private stuff. Shockhorror! But a Minister doing that?! That's just unacceptable. PFF.
Another thing that people have commented is that ex-FM Kanerva should not have denied sending the texts in the first place. This maybe true, but take a moment to think about it... In the end, they were private messages that were not meant to be read by anyone else than the two involved (Tukiainen and Kanerva), I'd say he was just trying to defend whatever privacy he had left there. And then when he did admit to sending texts he said that they weren't about erotic in nature,OMG ! LIAR!! Again, I can completely understand he simply tried to hold onto that thin veil of privacy he at that point had left. Maybe, in hindsight, it would have been better for him to admit the texts and the nature of them in the first place, but really, do we care that much? I know I really don't. I still think that whatever texts he sent were private and had nothing to do with his ability to work. And here people will say 'Oh but he cancelled his participation in a meeting in Estonia!' Again, can you really blame him? At that point the media had been after him for about two weeks already, and it really wasn't a major meeting. The texting itself in no way prevented him from doing his job.
Now, the thing is, he had been in the tabloid before about texting to models, dancers and whatnot unnecessary "celebrities". So maybe that was why this thing got so big. Still, it is my firm belief that whatever texts he's been sending and is sending at the moment are his private texts and even if he works for the government, we have no right to know what he'stexting and to whom. What makes this whole scandal even more ridiculous that no one knows what this woman texted back to Kanerva. They've only published a few of Kanerva's texts and we've got no idea how Ms. Tukiainen replied to them. My guess is there has been heavy flirting going on both ways.
The newest thing now is that the editor-in-chief of a Sweden based Finnish newspaper has published texts that the Prime Minister Vanhanen sent to his girlfriend over a year ago. This is possibly even more ridiculous given that she was his GIRLFRIEND at the time. Of course there has been erotic texts back and forth. That's what happens in a normal relationship. PFF.
The most ridiculous thing is that the opposition now has started to say that the government can't be trusted (note: link in Finnish), there are too many scandals and that the weight is too much on private lives. Who can be blamed for this? Surely it is the press. We all make mistakes in who we trust and let close to ourselves. I'd guess most people know at least one person who has betrayed their trust, it's just very unfortunate that it happens to a public figure and ends up in the press. This just frustrates me SO MUCH. As we live in the 21st Century, I'd like to think that people should be free to live outside a nuclear family type of relationships and that people were allowed to be in contact with their sexuality. Sex is the most natural thing there is and it can only be a good thing that people actually talk about it with each other etc. However, I still think that discussions between two people, be it through texts, e-mail or face to face, should be the private property of those two involved and without theconsent of both parties should not under any circumstances be published.
There, I think that's it. Please do comment, as I'm sure at least some of you reading this won't agree with myself.
Oh, I also want to note that I don't want to affiliate myself with the politics of either ex-FM Kanerva or PM Vanhanen. I have met ex-PM Kanerva personally a few times, but the last time I've met him must have been almost 10 years ago now. I've got no real personal link to him though, it just happens that we've been in a few social events at the same time. This post is purely about the ridiculousness of pseudo-celebrities, unhealthy interest in politicians' private lives and the bloody press.
The thing is, I'm utterly disappointed in Finnish people. (Well not entirely, but anyway.) I view Finland as a free and open-minded society where people can be who they want to be without much judgement from other people. Obviously this does not seem to be true when it comes to politicians. For some reason, it seems that politicians are not allowed to have private lives.
The reason I was first going to write this post is this story: 'Finnish FM loses job over texts' So, the story goes that Foreign Minister Kanerva sent over 200 texts to an erotic dancer (OMG!) from, wait for it... his work phone! Oh dear. He should be decapitated for that! NO. So what if he did? It is a very unfortunate thing that this woman decided it was a good idea to give the texts to a yellow press magazine. It probably was for herself, she's got a lot of free publicity out of it. She also ended up causing the FM to lose his job. She must be well proud of herself. (Lately she's been crying in the press saying 'I didn't want this to happen'. Maybe she should've thought about it before she handed the texts to a third party.)
Anyway, what frustrates me more than this dancer giving the texts to a magazine, is the way the gossip press industry works. I know a few people who would want to be journalists and I've even considered it myself, and it just amazes me how people end up working in these magazines and papers. Is it just that when you're not able to get a job as a proper journalist, you've just got to take what is given to you? I just don't understand that total lack of respect for people's privacy.
Right, going back to ex-FM Kanerva texting from his work phone. To me it doesn't matter, I know there are people out there who think it's wrong because it's TAX PAYERS MONEY that pays for that phone. I might be wrong but I've understood that there's only a monthly 'allowance', which is not very big, from the state towards the phone bills. And even so, I bet there are many people out there who misuse whatever benefits they get from their jobs. I know people who have a company car with all the gas payed etc. who use that car for much more than just driving to and from work. Similarly, I do know many people who use their work phones for private stuff. Shockhorror! But a Minister doing that?! That's just unacceptable. PFF.
Another thing that people have commented is that ex-FM Kanerva should not have denied sending the texts in the first place. This maybe true, but take a moment to think about it... In the end, they were private messages that were not meant to be read by anyone else than the two involved (Tukiainen and Kanerva), I'd say he was just trying to defend whatever privacy he had left there. And then when he did admit to sending texts he said that they weren't about erotic in nature,OMG ! LIAR!! Again, I can completely understand he simply tried to hold onto that thin veil of privacy he at that point had left. Maybe, in hindsight, it would have been better for him to admit the texts and the nature of them in the first place, but really, do we care that much? I know I really don't. I still think that whatever texts he sent were private and had nothing to do with his ability to work. And here people will say 'Oh but he cancelled his participation in a meeting in Estonia!' Again, can you really blame him? At that point the media had been after him for about two weeks already, and it really wasn't a major meeting. The texting itself in no way prevented him from doing his job.
Now, the thing is, he had been in the tabloid before about texting to models, dancers and whatnot unnecessary "celebrities". So maybe that was why this thing got so big. Still, it is my firm belief that whatever texts he's been sending and is sending at the moment are his private texts and even if he works for the government, we have no right to know what he'stexting and to whom. What makes this whole scandal even more ridiculous that no one knows what this woman texted back to Kanerva. They've only published a few of Kanerva's texts and we've got no idea how Ms. Tukiainen replied to them. My guess is there has been heavy flirting going on both ways.
The newest thing now is that the editor-in-chief of a Sweden based Finnish newspaper has published texts that the Prime Minister Vanhanen sent to his girlfriend over a year ago. This is possibly even more ridiculous given that she was his GIRLFRIEND at the time. Of course there has been erotic texts back and forth. That's what happens in a normal relationship. PFF.
The most ridiculous thing is that the opposition now has started to say that the government can't be trusted (note: link in Finnish), there are too many scandals and that the weight is too much on private lives. Who can be blamed for this? Surely it is the press. We all make mistakes in who we trust and let close to ourselves. I'd guess most people know at least one person who has betrayed their trust, it's just very unfortunate that it happens to a public figure and ends up in the press. This just frustrates me SO MUCH. As we live in the 21st Century, I'd like to think that people should be free to live outside a nuclear family type of relationships and that people were allowed to be in contact with their sexuality. Sex is the most natural thing there is and it can only be a good thing that people actually talk about it with each other etc. However, I still think that discussions between two people, be it through texts, e-mail or face to face, should be the private property of those two involved and without theconsent of both parties should not under any circumstances be published.
There, I think that's it. Please do comment, as I'm sure at least some of you reading this won't agree with myself.
Oh, I also want to note that I don't want to affiliate myself with the politics of either ex-FM Kanerva or PM Vanhanen. I have met ex-PM Kanerva personally a few times, but the last time I've met him must have been almost 10 years ago now. I've got no real personal link to him though, it just happens that we've been in a few social events at the same time. This post is purely about the ridiculousness of pseudo-celebrities, unhealthy interest in politicians' private lives and the bloody press.
Sunday 13 April 2008
A Tribute to Marimekko, pt. II
I spoke about A Tribute to Marimekko in an earlier post. I ended up buying that long dress and here is a photo of it!
In other news, lately I've been playing on Guitar Hero III and Mario Kart Wii a lot. I very much like Guitar Hero and Mario Kart Wii isn't bad, but it does get a bit repetitive and is frustratingly difficult at times. On the harder settings it seems to be not about how good you are but more about luck. Which is a bit odd given that it is a computer game after all. Oh well. I think it might be time for some Wind Waker action for a change.
I promise I'll do a proper whine in a bit. As it is revision time, I'm sure there'll be plenty of procrastination going on.
In other news, lately I've been playing on Guitar Hero III and Mario Kart Wii a lot. I very much like Guitar Hero and Mario Kart Wii isn't bad, but it does get a bit repetitive and is frustratingly difficult at times. On the harder settings it seems to be not about how good you are but more about luck. Which is a bit odd given that it is a computer game after all. Oh well. I think it might be time for some Wind Waker action for a change.
I promise I'll do a proper whine in a bit. As it is revision time, I'm sure there'll be plenty of procrastination going on.
Saturday 12 April 2008
Snow, pt. II
As promised, here's some photos of SNOW in Manchester the morning after I arrived. There's only two and they're not too good but anyways.
This first photo is of the front garden, it's a lot better than the other one. I like the light on the first photo, it gives it that weird spring-like feeling you get when the sun is warm and bright yet there is snow on the ground. And the birds are singing, obviously. No matter how pretentious it sounds I think you can almost hear the birds when you look at this photo. (I SO think too highly of myself.) This was the first time during my 3 years in the UK when I've got that feeling here. It made me feel like home.
This one is cut from a photo of the back garden. It's not very good (the photo, I mean) and that's definitely the best bit of the photo. As it was on he dark side of the house there wasn't enought light and I was lazy and instead of opening the window I took the photo through it and there's all sorts of reflections on the photo. But that bit is alright. I really like the table and chairs set in he garden.
Thursday 10 April 2008
A Tribute to Marimekko
Oh dear. Today saw the launch of A Tribute to Marimekko. It caused a weird nationalistic feeling to take over me and I took a train at 10am to be in store shortly after it opened. As I was walking through the shopping centre to the H&M store I realised I walked faster and faster in this weird shopaholic state of mind. I HAD to make sure I'd get whatever I wanted. I'm not even sure why I got so excited about it. Did I really want clothes that had prints my Gran used to have for curtains so much? Maybe it is just that I have pretty much always liked especially the 1960s Marimekko designs and for once they'd be in my price range.
Obviously, when I got to the store I was faced with the reality that I was not in Finland and I didn't have to fight for the garments. I doubt there was a que outside the store before 10am when it opened. Anyway, I did enjoy being able to go through the clothes taking my time and I felt an odd sense of superiority when 'stupid English people obviously did not realise how cool Marimekko is'. To be honest though, I didn't find the line amazing, although there was this one dress (I tried to find a picture but could only find this. It's the long black and white one.) I'd decided I wanted in advance. With my luck though, the store had about 15 of those dresses all sizes 8 and 10 (that's 34 and 36 European). WHY?! Because I'd set my mind to it, I tried the size 10 one anyway, just to see if I had false hopes for that dress. I didn't. I think it's amazing and luckily there were my sizes in another store a couple of blocks away.
I didn't buy it. For some weird reason the dress that was actually my size didn't look as nice I thought it would have (mainly because it's a halter neck and with my boobs I can't feasibly wear it without a bra). Oh well, there was also this shorter dress that I liked and I can't decide whether they are worth it SO the boyfriend will have to come with me to the store and decide for me. (I'd hate to be my boyfriend.)
Also, as an addition to the library post below. I can't stress how much I HATE the people who leave their stuff on a desk for hours (there have actually been instances where I've been at the library at 9am and there were someone's stuff lying around until they came back at 11.30am) just because they know that if they take their notes and books and whatnot with them they'll lose their spot. That is just not on! These people effectively take the places away from people who would actually want to study there and then. I can understand going for a 20-30 min lunch or a cigarette break but really more than half an hour is just not acceptable. Especially during revision time when the library is actually FULL.
Obviously, when I got to the store I was faced with the reality that I was not in Finland and I didn't have to fight for the garments. I doubt there was a que outside the store before 10am when it opened. Anyway, I did enjoy being able to go through the clothes taking my time and I felt an odd sense of superiority when 'stupid English people obviously did not realise how cool Marimekko is'. To be honest though, I didn't find the line amazing, although there was this one dress (I tried to find a picture but could only find this. It's the long black and white one.) I'd decided I wanted in advance. With my luck though, the store had about 15 of those dresses all sizes 8 and 10 (that's 34 and 36 European). WHY?! Because I'd set my mind to it, I tried the size 10 one anyway, just to see if I had false hopes for that dress. I didn't. I think it's amazing and luckily there were my sizes in another store a couple of blocks away.
I didn't buy it. For some weird reason the dress that was actually my size didn't look as nice I thought it would have (mainly because it's a halter neck and with my boobs I can't feasibly wear it without a bra). Oh well, there was also this shorter dress that I liked and I can't decide whether they are worth it SO the boyfriend will have to come with me to the store and decide for me. (I'd hate to be my boyfriend.)
Also, as an addition to the library post below. I can't stress how much I HATE the people who leave their stuff on a desk for hours (there have actually been instances where I've been at the library at 9am and there were someone's stuff lying around until they came back at 11.30am) just because they know that if they take their notes and books and whatnot with them they'll lose their spot. That is just not on! These people effectively take the places away from people who would actually want to study there and then. I can understand going for a 20-30 min lunch or a cigarette break but really more than half an hour is just not acceptable. Especially during revision time when the library is actually FULL.
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Library
As it is revision time again and I'm trying hard to spend my days in the library (because for some reason I don't get any work done at home), I've come to remember how ANNOYING people can be in the library.
Note: the following is inspired by my personal experiences in a campus library.
Now, if I'm working in an area that is not one of the 'quiet study' areas I should be prepared to deal with people chatting etc. HOWEVER, it really ANNOYS me when people seem to be unable to turn their mobiles on silent or beep or at the very least turn the volume of their ringtone down. PFF. Fine, talk on the phone with a low voice but does the ringing really have to be loud enough for people to hear it in the next room as well? And still, even if talking isn't exactly banned in these areas, is it really that unimaginable to try to keep your voices down just a tiny bit. In a large room, with a high ceiling and 60+ people in there the noice accumulates even when people keep their voices down, so imagine what it sounds like when people don't even bother to do that. I just hate that kind of total disregard of other people. And again, I do understand it is not a 'quiet study' area, but still, there are many people trying to study. It is not the 'talk as loudly as you can' area either. PFF.
This post would be a bit pointless if all there was would be that paragraph above, thus, there is MORE.
All of the above is also true in the 'quiet study' areas. I do not understand what is so hard in keeping quiet. I can bring myself around to accepting short discussion to make plans for study breaks with friends etc. as long as people keep their voices down. But especially during revision time when the library is full of people studying WTF is wrong with people?! When you see an area full of people who have burried their heads in their books do you not understand that you are then not in a room where you chat with your mates. When these rooms are generally actually quiet all the douche bags gossiping about who slept with Jonathan next door last night infuriate me. If you want to talk to your friends the corridor/staircase is not more than 30 seconds walk away GO THERE, that is where you can talk as much as you want and pretty much as loudly as you want. Same thing with your mobile. If someone calls you, either don't answer it or take it to the corridor. PFF.
Oh, and one more thing. Be my guest and spoil your hearing before the age of 25 by listening to your mp3-player on full volume, but please do it somewhere else than in the quiet library rooms. If I want to listen to music while I study I want it to be what I've chosen myself. I will (and I have in the past) come up to you if you try to impose your annoying party tunes on me by having the volume of your player so loud that I can hear it 3 cubicles away clearly enough to sing along. If it makes me a bitch, so be it, but you should have some consideration to your fellow library goers. PFFF.
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On a completely different note, I flew to Manchester on Saturday (5 April) and in the evening it snowed! And it did so again on Sunday. I took some pictures but I don't have my camera with me now. If any of them worked out fine I'll post some here later.
Note: the following is inspired by my personal experiences in a campus library.
Now, if I'm working in an area that is not one of the 'quiet study' areas I should be prepared to deal with people chatting etc. HOWEVER, it really ANNOYS me when people seem to be unable to turn their mobiles on silent or beep or at the very least turn the volume of their ringtone down. PFF. Fine, talk on the phone with a low voice but does the ringing really have to be loud enough for people to hear it in the next room as well? And still, even if talking isn't exactly banned in these areas, is it really that unimaginable to try to keep your voices down just a tiny bit. In a large room, with a high ceiling and 60+ people in there the noice accumulates even when people keep their voices down, so imagine what it sounds like when people don't even bother to do that. I just hate that kind of total disregard of other people. And again, I do understand it is not a 'quiet study' area, but still, there are many people trying to study. It is not the 'talk as loudly as you can' area either. PFF.
This post would be a bit pointless if all there was would be that paragraph above, thus, there is MORE.
All of the above is also true in the 'quiet study' areas. I do not understand what is so hard in keeping quiet. I can bring myself around to accepting short discussion to make plans for study breaks with friends etc. as long as people keep their voices down. But especially during revision time when the library is full of people studying WTF is wrong with people?! When you see an area full of people who have burried their heads in their books do you not understand that you are then not in a room where you chat with your mates. When these rooms are generally actually quiet all the douche bags gossiping about who slept with Jonathan next door last night infuriate me. If you want to talk to your friends the corridor/staircase is not more than 30 seconds walk away GO THERE, that is where you can talk as much as you want and pretty much as loudly as you want. Same thing with your mobile. If someone calls you, either don't answer it or take it to the corridor. PFF.
Oh, and one more thing. Be my guest and spoil your hearing before the age of 25 by listening to your mp3-player on full volume, but please do it somewhere else than in the quiet library rooms. If I want to listen to music while I study I want it to be what I've chosen myself. I will (and I have in the past) come up to you if you try to impose your annoying party tunes on me by having the volume of your player so loud that I can hear it 3 cubicles away clearly enough to sing along. If it makes me a bitch, so be it, but you should have some consideration to your fellow library goers. PFFF.
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On a completely different note, I flew to Manchester on Saturday (5 April) and in the evening it snowed! And it did so again on Sunday. I took some pictures but I don't have my camera with me now. If any of them worked out fine I'll post some here later.
Saturday 29 March 2008
SNOW!
It's been a while. There are a few things:
1) Having an internet connection that DOESN'T WORK - extremely annoying.
Especially when it's at your parents house far away from anyone else. (Not that I have anything against my parents, I'd just like to talk to the boyfriend, waste my time on fbook etc.)
2) Having numerous members of family who think you're some sort of IT-genius just because you happen to use a web browser that's not Explorer - extremely annoying.
Although, there was a moment of joy with my skills when I managed to secure my sister's wireless. And may I add that the manual I used was more than unhelpful (in a bad way, does that mean I should say 'less than unhelpful'? It does, doesn't it?).
3) SNOW - AMAZING!
There was what they call a snow storm here (I suppose it's needless to say I'm in Finland at the moment, but I'll say it anyway: I'm in Finland at the moment.) on Wednesday. It was amazing, I got out of bed around 11am, I think, and looked out the window and it was all white outside! And better yet, it was still snowing! I went out to get the mail (our mailbox is a short walk down the road) and had to clear the drive way, stairs and stuff of the snow. There was about 10cm (about 4 inches for you ignorant fools out there) of it by then and when I left the house less than two hours later another 10cm had snowed on top of it. So by 3pm, there was about 20cm (8 inches, I'm sure you all know your maths) of snow and it was AMAZING! When I came back with my mum later, we did the whole clearing the front of the house and stuff from snow thing, (I'm sure you have a word for it in English, I just don't know it, should probably look it up) and it was great. The snow was the kind of really light and powder-y snow that flies on your face when you thrown it against the wind. It didn't take us long at all and I felt so happy doing it I almost offered to do the neighbours drive ways as well, but they'd already done theirs. (And in the end, I think I may not have been as happy had I done a lot more.) But anyway, yay for snow. I was so excited I just kept taking pictures like a crazy tourist who has never seen snow before. Sadly, my camera isn't very good and most of the shots aren't presentable, but I'll see if I can find some to put at the end of this post.
As it happens, this is the end of the post, so here are a few.
My foot prints in fresh snow
My shoes after walking through the snow to the mail box
My hat after 20min outdoors
The fence of our patio in the snow
1) Having an internet connection that DOESN'T WORK - extremely annoying.
Especially when it's at your parents house far away from anyone else. (Not that I have anything against my parents, I'd just like to talk to the boyfriend, waste my time on fbook etc.)
2) Having numerous members of family who think you're some sort of IT-genius just because you happen to use a web browser that's not Explorer - extremely annoying.
Although, there was a moment of joy with my skills when I managed to secure my sister's wireless. And may I add that the manual I used was more than unhelpful (in a bad way, does that mean I should say 'less than unhelpful'? It does, doesn't it?).
3) SNOW - AMAZING!
There was what they call a snow storm here (I suppose it's needless to say I'm in Finland at the moment, but I'll say it anyway: I'm in Finland at the moment.) on Wednesday. It was amazing, I got out of bed around 11am, I think, and looked out the window and it was all white outside! And better yet, it was still snowing! I went out to get the mail (our mailbox is a short walk down the road) and had to clear the drive way, stairs and stuff of the snow. There was about 10cm (about 4 inches for you ignorant fools out there) of it by then and when I left the house less than two hours later another 10cm had snowed on top of it. So by 3pm, there was about 20cm (8 inches, I'm sure you all know your maths) of snow and it was AMAZING! When I came back with my mum later, we did the whole clearing the front of the house and stuff from snow thing, (I'm sure you have a word for it in English, I just don't know it, should probably look it up) and it was great. The snow was the kind of really light and powder-y snow that flies on your face when you thrown it against the wind. It didn't take us long at all and I felt so happy doing it I almost offered to do the neighbours drive ways as well, but they'd already done theirs. (And in the end, I think I may not have been as happy had I done a lot more.) But anyway, yay for snow. I was so excited I just kept taking pictures like a crazy tourist who has never seen snow before. Sadly, my camera isn't very good and most of the shots aren't presentable, but I'll see if I can find some to put at the end of this post.
As it happens, this is the end of the post, so here are a few.
My foot prints in fresh snow
My shoes after walking through the snow to the mail box
My hat after 20min outdoors
The fence of our patio in the snowThursday 6 March 2008
Stupid people
[Edit: I can't seem to get the font size right with this one, which is a bit odd, given that there's only 5 options and I've always used the same one. But pff that, you can just add stupid text editor applications to the list of all the annoying things.]
Picture this:
You're walking down a pavement of a regular width (you can easily walk two-a-breast, even three-a-breast if you squeeze a bit). You're walking down on one side, minding your own business and you're not even feeling too pissed off about having to go to a seminar you don't particularly look forward to going. You're doing this when a group of approximately ten people walk towards you, nothing wrong with that really, they're allowed to walk there, after all, it is a public walk way. You'd expect that these people would make some way given that you're on your own and there's many of them. But NO! These people walk fucking three or four side by side. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!
I hate people who don't give way for others! Where the fuck am I meant to go, jump among the cars going by?! There's one of me and many of you, you can walk behind each other, I can't make myself any smaller, can I?! (Well I could, but it would take a change of diet and an increase in exercise, and I'm just not prepared to do that right now. And even if I did, it wouldn't really change the situation here.)
This is all.
Picture this:
You're walking down a pavement of a regular width (you can easily walk two-a-breast, even three-a-breast if you squeeze a bit). You're walking down on one side, minding your own business and you're not even feeling too pissed off about having to go to a seminar you don't particularly look forward to going. You're doing this when a group of approximately ten people walk towards you, nothing wrong with that really, they're allowed to walk there, after all, it is a public walk way. You'd expect that these people would make some way given that you're on your own and there's many of them. But NO! These people walk fucking three or four side by side. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!
I hate people who don't give way for others! Where the fuck am I meant to go, jump among the cars going by?! There's one of me and many of you, you can walk behind each other, I can't make myself any smaller, can I?! (Well I could, but it would take a change of diet and an increase in exercise, and I'm just not prepared to do that right now. And even if I did, it wouldn't really change the situation here.)
This is all.
Monday 3 March 2008
Living, pt. I
Living - a note for all those who find living without mummy's care a tad difficult. And for those who just don't care.
Toilet/Bathroom
- After using the toilet (no matter if it's a weewee or a poopoo) WASH YOUR HANDS. If you don't wish to use the soap, don't but at least rinse your hands with warm water.
- When after pooing your poo doesn't go down with the first flush, wait a while for the water tank to fill up again and then reflush.
- When after pooing your poo is all over the bowl, use the toilet brush provided to clean to largest bits off.
- When after cleaning the largest bits of poo the poo is stuck to the toilet brush flush again and hold the brush in the water flow. This will get rid of the poo on the brush so that the next time someone takes it from its stand they won't have to use a poo-y brush to clean.
- When after pooing the bathroom smells of your poo, use the air freshener if one is provided. If not, there might be some matches, if this is the case, burn one of them and throw it in the bowl. This will get rid of at least most of the odours of your poo.
- Once a week or a fortnight use some toilet cleaner. According to the instructions (these will be on the side of every cleaning detergent imaginable!) pour some of the cleaner in the bowl, all around, leave it to be for a while (usually 5-15 mins) then use the toilet brush to brush the bowl all around. Now flush the toilet and again clean the brush in the water flow.
- When cleaning the toilet it would be a good idea to also wipe the dust and goo that gathers around the bowl (I mean the bits that water from flushing doesn't touch). If you do this whenever you clean the toilet it will save you from doing a very disgusting clean after a year of gathered dust and goo.
- When using the last squares of the toilet roll, REPLACE the roll. It doesn't require much.
- When you start using the last roll of the pack/notice the paper will run out shortly, BUY a new pack next time you go out.
- When after showering the bath/shower floor is all covered in your pubes, use the shower to float them down the drain.
- When after showering you find that most of your hair did not go down the drain pick them up and bin them. You can use a piece of toilet paper or similar if you don't want to touch them bare handed.
- About once a fortnight clean the bath/shower. This you can do using a special bathroom cleaner which you spray on the surfaces and then wipe out with a sponge or a cloth and warm water. This is especially important if your bathroom has bad heating and/or air conditioning. Again, doing it regularly will save you from being disgusted going to the shower and it'll prevent you from having to do a clean of loads of discusting goo/mould/whatever gathers in there. I suggest you also clean walls around the bath/shower, because they too get pretty disgusting after a while.
- Make sure you use your own shower gel/shampoo/other products. If you use someone else's without a permission chances are you'll only end up annoying them. AND especially if you're a student/are using a student's shower gel/shampoo/other products you'll cause them extra costs and they might actually be a tiny bit skint even if you're not. Especially if you haven't bought your own shower gel/shampoo/other products and have been using theirs.
- When in shower, if there's a shower curtain make sure it covers as much as possible preventing the water from going anywhere it's not meant to go. If you're in a bath it means the water should stay in the bathtub, if it's just a shower with a floor drain, the water is meant to stay as close to the drain as possible.
- If there's a bath mat, it is not there to absorb all of the water dripping from you after your shower. This means that you should dry your self in the bath/shower (obviously after you've showered). If you keep your towel somewhere in the near vicinity of the bath/shower this should not be a problem.
- If you do happen to water the whole bath mat, do put it somewhere to dry. If there's a radiator, that's good, if not, see if you can hang it somewhere.
- It is likely that the bathroom will also have a water basin there. This too, should be cleaned regularly, needless to say, I hope.
- Oh and, just as any other room in the house/flat the bathroom floor needs to be hoovered/mopped every now and then. It would probably be easiest for yourself to do it whenever you're cleaning the toilet/bath/shower. Otherwise it'll just look a bit silly, you know, a dusty floor when everything else is clean and sparkling.
---------
While writing this I realised that things that seem natural and obvious to me, actually do require quite a bit of thinking if you've not had to do any of this whilst living with your parents. I would like to say here that I'm very grateful for my mum that she made me do things, and also for my primary and secondary school teachers (and the Finnish curriculum) for being so amazing and teaching the practical as well as boring stuff like maths. I could go on about how we were taught to fight, clean, cook etc. in school. And this was for both, girls and boys, if any of you want to use that silly excuse: 'but you're a girl, you should know these things anyway'. - It is not a priviledge that comes with being a girl, it comes with being a human being!
[edit: they taught us how to quarrel fairly, we didn't have fist fights in home economy.]
In case some of my housemates actually reads this, I want to say that I realise I don't live up to these 'rules' myself. This is mostly because I don't feel that most of you realise how dirty our house is and I don't want to clean things up just so that after a day it'll all look the same again. If you seemed to care more (I know some of you do, but I refuse to name anyone) and actively did something to keep the house clean, I too would do my share. If you decide not to believe me, feel free to bitch about me as much as you want. In the mean time, I'm just waiting live with clean people. Make that a person.
Toilet/Bathroom
- After using the toilet (no matter if it's a weewee or a poopoo) WASH YOUR HANDS. If you don't wish to use the soap, don't but at least rinse your hands with warm water.
- When after pooing your poo doesn't go down with the first flush, wait a while for the water tank to fill up again and then reflush.
- When after pooing your poo is all over the bowl, use the toilet brush provided to clean to largest bits off.
- When after cleaning the largest bits of poo the poo is stuck to the toilet brush flush again and hold the brush in the water flow. This will get rid of the poo on the brush so that the next time someone takes it from its stand they won't have to use a poo-y brush to clean.
- When after pooing the bathroom smells of your poo, use the air freshener if one is provided. If not, there might be some matches, if this is the case, burn one of them and throw it in the bowl. This will get rid of at least most of the odours of your poo.
- Once a week or a fortnight use some toilet cleaner. According to the instructions (these will be on the side of every cleaning detergent imaginable!) pour some of the cleaner in the bowl, all around, leave it to be for a while (usually 5-15 mins) then use the toilet brush to brush the bowl all around. Now flush the toilet and again clean the brush in the water flow.
- When cleaning the toilet it would be a good idea to also wipe the dust and goo that gathers around the bowl (I mean the bits that water from flushing doesn't touch). If you do this whenever you clean the toilet it will save you from doing a very disgusting clean after a year of gathered dust and goo.
- When using the last squares of the toilet roll, REPLACE the roll. It doesn't require much.
- When you start using the last roll of the pack/notice the paper will run out shortly, BUY a new pack next time you go out.
- When after showering the bath/shower floor is all covered in your pubes, use the shower to float them down the drain.
- When after showering you find that most of your hair did not go down the drain pick them up and bin them. You can use a piece of toilet paper or similar if you don't want to touch them bare handed.
- About once a fortnight clean the bath/shower. This you can do using a special bathroom cleaner which you spray on the surfaces and then wipe out with a sponge or a cloth and warm water. This is especially important if your bathroom has bad heating and/or air conditioning. Again, doing it regularly will save you from being disgusted going to the shower and it'll prevent you from having to do a clean of loads of discusting goo/mould/whatever gathers in there. I suggest you also clean walls around the bath/shower, because they too get pretty disgusting after a while.
- Make sure you use your own shower gel/shampoo/other products. If you use someone else's without a permission chances are you'll only end up annoying them. AND especially if you're a student/are using a student's shower gel/shampoo/other products you'll cause them extra costs and they might actually be a tiny bit skint even if you're not. Especially if you haven't bought your own shower gel/shampoo/other products and have been using theirs.
- When in shower, if there's a shower curtain make sure it covers as much as possible preventing the water from going anywhere it's not meant to go. If you're in a bath it means the water should stay in the bathtub, if it's just a shower with a floor drain, the water is meant to stay as close to the drain as possible.
- If there's a bath mat, it is not there to absorb all of the water dripping from you after your shower. This means that you should dry your self in the bath/shower (obviously after you've showered). If you keep your towel somewhere in the near vicinity of the bath/shower this should not be a problem.
- If you do happen to water the whole bath mat, do put it somewhere to dry. If there's a radiator, that's good, if not, see if you can hang it somewhere.
- It is likely that the bathroom will also have a water basin there. This too, should be cleaned regularly, needless to say, I hope.
- Oh and, just as any other room in the house/flat the bathroom floor needs to be hoovered/mopped every now and then. It would probably be easiest for yourself to do it whenever you're cleaning the toilet/bath/shower. Otherwise it'll just look a bit silly, you know, a dusty floor when everything else is clean and sparkling.
---------
While writing this I realised that things that seem natural and obvious to me, actually do require quite a bit of thinking if you've not had to do any of this whilst living with your parents. I would like to say here that I'm very grateful for my mum that she made me do things, and also for my primary and secondary school teachers (and the Finnish curriculum) for being so amazing and teaching the practical as well as boring stuff like maths. I could go on about how we were taught to fight, clean, cook etc. in school. And this was for both, girls and boys, if any of you want to use that silly excuse: 'but you're a girl, you should know these things anyway'. - It is not a priviledge that comes with being a girl, it comes with being a human being!
[edit: they taught us how to quarrel fairly, we didn't have fist fights in home economy.]
In case some of my housemates actually reads this, I want to say that I realise I don't live up to these 'rules' myself. This is mostly because I don't feel that most of you realise how dirty our house is and I don't want to clean things up just so that after a day it'll all look the same again. If you seemed to care more (I know some of you do, but I refuse to name anyone) and actively did something to keep the house clean, I too would do my share. If you decide not to believe me, feel free to bitch about me as much as you want. In the mean time, I'm just waiting live with clean people. Make that a person.
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