Sabrina-Online mentions Finland

I had to mention this, but one of my favourite web-comics, the montly updated Sabrina-Online has mentioned Finland in one of their strips.

The strip is up here for your conveniance…

The comic refers to a series of events earlier on in the series. If you haven’t read the comic then I highly recommend it for both some zany comedy and some character drama.

For more comics I read check out this post.

Vettel is a Kung Fu Fighting Man

Two time Formula One World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, is due to appear in a Kung Fu short film. This is just beyond awesome. If you’ve never heard of Vettel, he’s a German driver for the Red Bull Racing team and World Chapion of 2010 and 2011.

Top-10 Songs by Adrian Smith

Today I’m devoting a whole blog to one of the unsung heroes of Heavy Metal. Adrian Smith, nickname H, is the second guitarplayer for Iron Maiden. An old friend of Dave Murray, Maiden’s number-1 guitar virtuoso and only constant member aside founder Steve Harris, Smith was brought in to replace Dennis Stratton who left Maiden after the band’s debut album due to artistic differences.

Smith was originally a very silent member of the band, but from the band’s fourth album, Piece of Mind, onward he became a regular contributor to the band’s musical output. In fact, Smith might very well be my favourite of the Big Three in the band’s song-writing department. He was absent on Maiden’s 1990s albums while trying (and failing) to launch a solo-career for himself before eventually hooking up with his old friend (on his respective solo-stint), Bruce Dickinson, before both of them would return to the band.

These are my favourite songs by the man, who besides being a very good guitar-player is also a really good singer in his own right. Just check out Reach Out, a single B-side by Maiden, for proof.

10. Back in the Village

This first one comes from the Powerslave album. Back in the Village would appear be nothing but some filler for the album but it’s an excellent aggressive rock number with a great hook and some very good guitar-player from H and Murray.

The song is a sort of sequel to the band’s homage to the 60s cult TV-show The Prisoner, from The Number of the Beast album, The Village being the place where Number-6 was imprisoned on the show.

Although, I quite like this one, I can’t put it too high in the list since it’s actually a collaboration effort with Bruce Dickinson who was probably the original inspirator for the song. Brucie also probably helped write the original Prisoner song, but because of contractual resrtictions wasn’t allowed to be credited on the original track.

9. Sea of Madness

To be honest, I do consider Sea of Madness the weakest track off of my favourite Iron Maiden album, Somewhere in Time. Even so, it’s still a very good track. The chorus is a little weak but the lyrics are really nice and the tricky melodic parts are quite intriguing.

Also, it has excellent melodic variety. During the solo, the song changes almost completely and it’s probably one of my favourite parts of the whole track.

Still, it’s definitely not a timeless classic in the same vein as some of the other tracks of this particular album. However, it’s still good enough to make it on here and one of the reasons Somewhere in Time is one of my favourite albums is definitely because of Smith’s contribution to it.

8. Sun and Steel

This would appear to be another filler track, this time from the Piece of Mind of album, but I really like this one. It has an upbeat melody and vibe and it just puts me in a good mood. The chorus is also really catchy.

The song was supposedly inspired by Samurai films, but I can’t really spot anything obviously oriental about the lyrics or the song itself. Which, I think, is in all a good thing. Whenever bands try to add a little ethnic flair to their songs it can either work really well or just back-fire in a bad way. I’m rather glad that Sun and Steel doesn’t try too hard.

At the same time, the song may come off a bit generic for some which is why I wont put it too high on the list.

7. The Evil That Men Do

This one obviously comes from The Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Though, I’m not a big fan concept albums I do like the individual tracks from this album and The Evil That Men Do has always been one of my favourites. The song is inspired by little more than a quote or paraphrase from Shakespeare.

The song is just catchy as all hell, the lyrics are quite nice and of course the aggressive melody of this one is just brilliant. Smith also does a good job on the epic guitar-solo.

Again, though it’s one of my favourite tracks from Maiden I can’t put it too high on the list since the song is actually a collaborative effort amongst the award winning trio of Smith, Harris and Dickinson. It’s also not the most deepest track out there so it’s kind of hard to isolate what part did Harris actually help to write.

6. Can I Play With Madness

Yet again, this a Smith-Harris-Dickinson combo from The Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, but how could I not include it. Can I Play With Madness is one of my favourite tracks from Maiden. It’s not just a kick-ass track but it also puts you in a really good mood.

The song has a litte bit of a storyline to do with a man and a fortune-teller. The lyrics just kick ass and the music is excellent. However, because it’s yet another collaborative effort I can’t put it on the Top-5.

5. Moonchild

Considering how many hits came off The Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, I’m sometimes surprised how some of its non-single entries tend to get ignored. Moonchild, the album’s intro number, is a perfect example. It’s actually one of my favourite tracks off the album.

The aggressive beat and Dickinson’s brilliantly slimy vocals on this one just sell the whole song and turn it into a stand-out track. The chorus is fucking epic and the biblical references, which the lyrics are laden with, actually help enhance the mood of the track and aren’t just extra burden to it. I also quite like the accoustic intro which is reprised at the end of the album on Only The Good Die Young.

Smith collaborated with Bruce Dickinson on this one, and generally Dickinson had a far bigger contribution with Seventh Son than he did with the prior Somewhere in Time album, but the song is so good that I have to include it in the top-5.

4. Paschendale

This epic number comes from the band’s 2003 Dance of Death album. Paschendale is unquestionably one of Maiden’s finest tracks ever composed. It starts with a humble and quiet intro and then erupts, like a volcano, into a Heavy Metal storm of epicness.

The shifting melody and the well-done lyrics turn this into a very serious but at the same time an extremely enjoyable track and the three-guitar Maiden line-up hammer on like a line of infantry cannons.

Now, obviously, the song which is dedicated to the soldiers who gave their lives in the service to their country in World War I comes from the pen of Steve Harris, but Smith no doubt had a big role in writing the song’s epic instrumental parts and it definitely shows.

3. Stranger in a Strange Land

Another favourite of mine from the Somewhere in Time album. Mind you that the song has nothing to do with a novel bearing the same title but is in fact about an arctic explorer who becomes trapped inside the ice and is discovered by other explorers.

The excellent lyrics are an obvious sign of Smith’s handiwork but my absolute favourite aspect of this song is the steadily developing chorus which becomes longer and more varied as the song goes on. The instrumentation is also brilliant as always.

This list really wouldn’t be complete without this song.

2. The Fallen Angel

Although, this is another collaborative effort with Steve Harris, I had to put this as number-2. If Maiden fans are looking for a Metal Anthem off the Brave New World album, they may be tempted to go for The Wicker Man, but I actually think The Fallen Angel is actually a far superior track.

The hammering melody and catchy, hectic lyrics just make this one stand-out well. The chorus is also just plain epic.

Once again, the biblical lyrics seem like a dead giveaway that they were infact composed by Harris, but again Smith’s musical contributions can be really felt. This track is just an absolute gem. My favourite song off the whole album, barring Out of the Silent Planet.

1. Wasted Years

A very obvious choice, but I just love Wasted Years. This melancholic semi-ballad from my number-1 favourite Iron Maiden album is in fact the second best song by the band in my opinion, next to The Trooper.

Everything from the swirving vortex like guitar-melody which makes you feel like you did just end up in a time-warp, to the absolutely wonderful lyrics turns this into an excellent song. I’ve heard many great cover versions of Wasted Years as well, but none come close to recreating the awesome guitar solo and the over-all vibe of this excellent number.

By far, this is one of Maiden’s finest songs and we owe it all to Adrian Smith for making it.

Honourable Mention: Reach Out

This last one isn’t actually a song written by Adrian Smith, but it is an interesting curiocity to say the least. Featured as a B-side track for Wasted Years, Reach Out is an Iron Maiden song that’s interesting because, despite being made during Bruce’s first tenure with the band, it doesn’t feature Brucie in the lyrics. The song is in fact sung by Mr. Adrian Smith himself. This song displays his awesome singing abilities and it makes me sad that he hasn’t sung in any of Maiden’s later tracks (and just to note Brucie is in the song, providing backing vocals).

Hope you all enjoy…

My Top-10 Cartoon Couples

So now it’s time to shine a light on what I think are the best cartoon couples. I hope I’ve found the best possible variety of couples and for the most part I’ve stuck to actual couples. So no, Jessie and James aren’t on here even though I suspect there’s some hanky-panky going on there (they’re both transvestites, so that’s a start). No, you won’t find Fred and Daphne either, because even though it seems sort of obvious it’s never been officially seen in any of the Scooby Doo media (at least not in any of the ones I’m familiar with).

These are all legit couples.

I was tempted to include at least one same-sex couple on the list as well, but it proved to be too difficult since A.) I don’t really know any great male “gay” cartoon couples and B.) all the best lesbian couples are just in my head. I will give an honourable mention though to Konoka and Setsuna, my favourite little lesbians from Negima, but it’s even debatable if they really count as a couple.

But enough about that, let’s get on with the list…

10. Wheeler and Linka (Captain Planet and the Planeteers)

Now yes, this might be pushing it a bit – I think it was always fairly obvious that these two were an item even though it’s one of those “the girl will never admit it” type deals. Scratch that, we have photographic evidence. The relationship between Wheeler and Linka was interesting on multiple levels, not the least of which that Linka debuted as a good guy Soviet girl in an American cartoon. Wheeler and Linka are my two favourite characters from the show right after Kwame.

Now, Mati does get a lot of crap for having the lamest power of the Planeteers but Wheeler always takes crap for being a stereotype of the “ignorant” American on the eco-conscious cartoon show. Am I the only one who actually liked Wheeler because of that? He’s ignorant, but he’s not an asshole and more than once on the show he does something smart and heroic.

Linka of course was the first really positive Russian/Eastern European character depicted on American television since Chekov on Star Trek. Plus, these two were always the most hot-headed members of the group; I feel they went together well. Plus, we saw more than a few times that Linka actually cares for Wheeler as well.

9. The Question and The Huntress (Justice League Unlimited)

One of the WTF-couples on this list comes from my favourite cartoon show of recent years. The hyper paranoid, conspiracy-theorising man without a face and the vengeful vigilante made for one of the most bizarrely likeable couples on JLU. These guys even beat the Green Arrow and Black Canary in my book.

What makes this couple so weird is that it’s not even inherently obvious why the Question falls for the Huntress. Once they do get together she’s actually the more romantic one. However, their relationship was only really explored in the first season of JLU which is why I can’t put them any higher.

Oh yeah, one more thing: The Question is totally cooler than Rorschach. There, I said it.

8. Keiichi and Belldandy (Oh my Goddess!)

Here’s something different, a university student with a talent for mechanical work and racing meeting a wish-granting goddess. Keiichi Morisato and Belldandy may have gotten together by sheer accident, but their relationship is just really adorable to watch.

Sure, Belldandy does most of the awesome stuff. She is a goddess after all. But Keiichi, rather than abuse the situation where Belldandy is duty-bound to make him happy actually acts very chivalrous most of the time and tries to do the right thing.

Like many people have pointed out, their relationship doesn’t seem to develop very far and Oh my Goddess is perhaps more interesting for all the other trouble this relationship causes rather than the relationship itself, but I just find these two to be a really adorable couple.

7. Mark and Sandybell

Sandybell became one of my favourite animes when I watched it last year and the reason behind that is that it’s easily one of the best romantic drama animes I’ve seen in a long while. It’s a series with loads of tear-jerker moments and crazy drama, but it’s also extremely rewarding since it doesn’t drag its feet.

Then there’s the romantic couple in the middle: Mark, the budding artist, and Sandybell, tomboy heroine and all around awesome-spreader. Mark’s personal storyline is the beating heart of the series to be honest. His character arc is easily the most developed and full. The guy gets the crap beaten out of him before he finally realises his dream and finally goes back to Sandybell.

Sandybell herself isn’t perhaps as interesting but she also has to contend with a lot of bullshit like finding out her father isn’t really her father, that an evil rich aristocrat totally wants her man and that her mother is still alive somewhere but no-one really seems to know where.

But as much as their relationship drives the series, it’s not really its main focus and at times it even takes a backseat to a lot of the other stuff that happens. It definitely warrants its spot on the list, but I think there are far more interesting couples to get to.

6. Goofy and Sylvia (An Extremely Goofy Movie)

I tried not to have too many Disney couples on the list, but this one was too good to pass up. Goofy’s journey back to University life takes an interesting turn when he realises that he has a common interest in all things 70s with the librarian Ms. Sylvia Marpole (yeah, yeah, just go with it).

This all culminates in one of the most awesome moments in any Disney film, with Goofy and Sylvia boogying down on the dance-floor.

I mean this is just priceless, isn’t it: Goofy, one of the funniest characters from Disney, together with a hot librarian. All this just desperately made me wish there would be A Goofy Movie 3 so we could see even more of Sylvia, who is a likeable character in herself and not just a pretty face (on that note, where f*** was Roxanne from the last movie).

5. Dogtanian and Juliette (Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds)

Unless you’ve seen Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, you probably have no idea who these two are. This is probably my second favourite cartoon from the Spanish BRB company, right after Around the World with Willy Fog. However, I think Willy Fog and Princess Romy have nothing on Dogtanian and Juliette.

For one thing, Dogtanian is just a really likeable character. Sure, he’s a bit excitable and tends to end up in trouble a lot of the time but you instantly sympathise with him and want him to succeed. Plus, he is courageous to a fault.

Juliette also kicks ass. She’s not just a damsel-in-distress, waiting for Dogtanian to come to rescue her. She’s the Queen’s confidant and always on top of things. She puts Romy to shame, since Juliette would actually take initiative and be an active player in the storyline. Now granted, she’s not actually a character from The Three Musketeers, but rather a combination of female figures from the Musketeer novels; but that considered, I think, a strong addition. She and Dogtanian just plain deserve each other.

4. Bulma and Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z)

Our second WTF-couple on the list, in fact I’d say the WTF-couple of them all. Want to make a plot turn which no-one would suspect: How about getting a former villain and the series’ token slut together and form a family?

Yes, Bulma, although an important character in the very early days of Dragon Ball (sans Z), really didn’t get to contribute a lot to the later story-arcs. Also, when I said she was the series token slut, I wasn’t kidding. Until she got into her constant on-again off-again relationship with Yamcha, Bulma was hitting on practically anything with legs.

As for Vegeta, he never appeared to show any interest in anyone’s opinion on pretty much anything. He has the ego the size of a blimp and is just constantly out to prove his superiority to Goku, the series lead. However, Dragon Ball GT showed a softer side to Vegeta where it becomes evident that he’ll do anything for his daughter Bra.

So yeah, what exactly got these two together? We can only imagine, but the shock value is big enough to deserve a spot in the top-5.

3. Isaac and Miria (Baccano!)

The happy-go-lucky comic couple of the excellent (albeit at times dark and violent) series Baccano of course had to make it onto the list. Isaac and Miria like to commit crimes disguised as celebrities, fictional characters or anything that just happens to be on their mind. However, they never do anything for selfish ends and try to spread happiness where ever they go.

On that note, they aren’t the two brightest bulbs on the planet – but inherently loveable and sympathetic. They add a much-needed comedic side to Baccano and are two of my favourite characters from a show filled with excellent characters.

In fact, Baccano is filled with numerous interesting and off-the-wall couples as well, so what makes Isaac and Miria so special? I think it’s just that they’re so frickin’ funny.

2. Lupin and Fujiko (Lupin III)

Lupin and Fujiko have about as many different sides to their relationship as there are episodes in the various Lupin-cartoons. The gentleman thief and his busty on-again off-again lover are involved in all sorts of scams, heists and what have you.

Most of the time, their relationship is limited to Lupin lusting after Fujiko. At times Fujiko and Lupin will act like a true couple in love. However, Fujiko will and often has betrayed Lupin on the drop of a hat, but she’s also tried to save his hairy butt multiple times. The same is also true in vice versa.

When it comes to Lupin and Fujiko, the fun part is not knowing whether they are truly in on a scheme together or if one of them will try to double cross the other. It’s the most crazy character relationship in any cartoon I’ve seen.

1. Milo and Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

There are so many Disney couples I could have chosen from, but I think everyone who knows what my favourite Disney movie is must have seen this from a mile away. Milo is the archaeologist who desperately wanted to find the lost continent of Atlantis and Kida was its princess.

Milo is a geeky, accident prone but ultimately heroic linguist who has to grab the flying fish by the fins when Rourke decides to take the Heart of Atlantis and sell it off as a weapon. Milo may be meek but he’s got a whole lot of heart and does everything he can to do the right thing.

Kida is just plain hot and she can kick butt. Also, she wants to revive Atlantis and its culture, so she and Milo go together like peanut butter and jelly.

There are so many Disney couples where the woman is weak and helpless and the guy is handsome, masculine and entirely devoid of personality. I think Milo and Kida take the prize for the most interesting Disney pair by far.

The Mighty 64

The Nintendo 64 is my favorite video-game console of all time, but one thing that was a bit odd about it was that almost every game on the system seemed to have 64 in the title. So how many games did in fact have the fabled 64-bits stamped on their name. I counted, the final figure is a stunning 86 games, a notable percentage considering the N64 only had some 300+ releases.

Notably a high amount of these games were either Japanese exclusives (noted by the letter J at the end of the name on the list below) and in some cases the 64 title only appears in a certain region specific version of a game. I was also shocked to note that there are no less than three games called ”Bomberman 64″. I have also noted any other notable alternate titles for games. For some Japanese games I dropped the subtitle since it was getting too laborious to type the full names. The source for all of these is Wikipedia’s list of Nintendo 64 games. At the end of the list I also have something special…

List of Nintendo 64 games with the number-64 in the title:

1. 64 Ozumo (J)
2. 64 Ozumo 2 (J)
3. 64 Trump Collection (J)
4. Air Boarder 64
5. Asteroids Hyper 64
6. Bakusho Jinsei 64 (J)
7. Bass Hunter 64
8. Bomberman 64 (Japanese title: “Baku Bomberman”)
9. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack (Japanese title: “Baku Bomberman2”)
10. Bomberman 64 (J)
11. Puzzle Bobble 64 (Japanese title, released as “Bust-a-Move 99” in North America and as “Bust-a-Move 3 DX” in Europe)
12. Carmageddon 64
13. Choro Q 64 (Japanese title for “Penny Racer”)
14. Choro Q 64 2 (J)
15. Densha de Go! 64 (J)
16. DerbyStallion 64 (J)
17. Destruction Derby 64
18. Donkey Kong 64
19. Doom 64
20. Dr. Mario 64
21. Duke Nukem 64
22. Excitebike 64
23. F1 Pole Position 64
24. Famista 64 (J)
25. FIFA Soccer 64
26. Fighting Force 64
27. Forsaken 64
28. Gex 64
29. Golden Nugget 64
30. GT 64: Championship Edition
31. Hamster  Monogatari 64 (J)
32. Harvest Moon 64
33. Heiwa Pachinko World 64 (J)
34. International Superstar Soccer 64
35. J-League Dynamite Soccer 64 (J)
36. J. League Live 64 (J)
37. Jango Simulation Mahjong-Do 64 (J)
38. Jinsei  Game 64 (J)
39. King Hill 64: Extreme Snowboarding (Japanese title for “Twisted Edge Extreme Snowboarding”)
40. Kira tto Kaiketsu! 64 Tanteiden (J)
41. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
42. Madden Football 64
43. Mahjong 64
44. Mario Kart 64
45. Mario Tennis 64 (Japanese title for “Mario Tennis”)
46. Mega Man 64
47. Mia Hamm 64 Soccer (North American name for “Michael Owen’s WLS2000”, known also as “RTL World League Soccer 2000” and “Telefoot Soccer2000”)
48. Micro Machines 64 Turbo
49. Monster Truck Madness 64
50. Morita Shogi 64 (J)
51. Namco Museum 64
52. Nintama Rantaro 64 Game Gallery (J)
53. Nuclear Strike 64
54. Nushi Tsuri 64 (J)
55. Nushi Tsuri 64: Shiokaze ni Notte (J)
56. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
57. Paperboy 64
58. Parlor! Pro 64: Pachinko Jikki Simulation (J)
59. PD Ultraman Battle Collection 64 (J)
60. Pilotwings 64
61. Power League 64 (J)
62. Premier Manager 64
63. Pro Mahjong Kiwame 64 (J)
64. Pro Shinan Mahjong Tsuwamono 64 (J)
65. Puyo Puyo Sun 64 (J)
66. Quake 64
67. Quest 64 (also known as “Eletale Monster” in Japan and as “Holy Magic Century” in Europe)
68. Ridge Racer 64
69. Road Rash 64
70. Robot Ponkottsu 64 (J)
71. Robotron 64
72. Shadowgate 64: The Trials of  the Four Towers
73. Star Fox 64 (also known as “Lylat Wars”)
74. StarCraft 64
75. Stunt Racer 64
76. Super B-Daman:Battle Phoenix 64 (J)
77. Super Mario 64
78. Super Robot Wars 64
79. Super Speed Race 64 (Japanese title of “Automobili Lamborghini”)
80. Tamagotchi 64 (J)
81. Tetris 64
82. Transformers: Beast Wars Metals 64 (Japanese title for “Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals”)
83. Virtual Chess 64
84. Virtual Pool 64
85. Wave Race 64
86. Wipeout 64

Games also known for the 64-moniker but not actually called that

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Before Majora’s Mask was released and even for a little while afterwards, many fan-sites and such tended to refer to Ocarina of Time as “Zelda 64″. I even have one official publication from Nintendo, but this was from before the official title of the game was announced. Now-a-days, Ocarina of Time is commonly referred to as OoT or OOT.
• Castlevania – Konami has a rather unhelpful habit of naming several of their Castlevania titles just that, “Castlevania” with no number or subtitle to tell it apart. The habit is even more unhelpful in Japan where several titles of the franchise, known alternately by the titles Akumajou Dracula (Evil Demon Castle Dracula) or Vampire Killer, are also carrying the franchise title with no distinguishing features. It’s therefore no surprise why many people tend to refer to the first of the two Castlevania games on the Nintendo 64 as “Castlevania 64″, to set it apart from the later Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. What’s odd is that the Japanese name actually has a distinct subtitle which is Akumajou Dracula: Mokushiroku or liberally translated Castlevania: Apocalypse. Why didn’t they just call it that?
• Superman – By far the most notorious title for the Nintendo 64. Titus Games’ infamously bad game adaption based on the Superman Animated Series is commonly referred to as “Superman 64″, even though the system number doesn’t actually appear on the box or title screen.

Reason 11: Weird Al

In relation to the 10 Reasons The Phantom Menace Rocks, here’s one more reason. It’s the only Star Wars movie that Weird Al Yankovic has made a devillishly catchy parody song of. Yeah, yeah, he did make Yoda but it wasn’t about Empire Strikes Back specifically. I like this better than the original Miss American Pie. Enjoy…

Finland doesn’t have a gay president.

Even though I voted for the winning candidate, there was a part of me that really wanted today’s blog post to read: “Finland HAS a gay president.” That would have been awesome (both as news and as a blog header). However, since I pretty much declared Sauli Niinistö to win last year, I guess this wasn’t really a surprise.

The Finnish Presidential elections had one thing which I wasn’t expecting. Pekka Haavisto, Green Party candidate and one of Finland’s few openly gay politicians, made it to the second round of voting along with Niinistö. This was surprising for two reasons. For one, I had expected Niinistö to win by a landslide in the first round in the lack of a serious contender. Secondly, I was more than surprised that it was in fact Haavisto and not say, former prime minister Paavo Lipponen or the leader of the popular (racist) True Finns party Timo Soini, who made it to the second round of voting.

Now, I had nothing against Haavisto. Like I said before, it would have been awesome to have a gay president. At the same time I had nagging feeling that it was just not going to happen. I had this feeling pretty much since Haavisto entered the presidential race: Finland simply wasn’t ready for a homosexual, if a politically accomplished, president. The outcome really didn’t come all that much of a surprise. Even though Niinistö failed to get the majority vote in the first round, he was still leading 3-1 in votes when compared to his closest competitor.

At the same time, it’s hard for me to be happy about Niinistö’s victory. Voting participation for the presidential election was at an all time low, lower than the parliamentary elections where the (racist) True Finns party took a surprise victory. My feelings here are that there were just a lot of people who didn’t want to vote for either candidate.

Regardless, I congratulate Sauli Niinistö for his victory. The position of the President of the Republic of Finland was indeed the final huge achievement missing from his already illustrious political career. I voted for Niinistö in the last election and that’s why I voted him again this year. I think in Niinistö, Finland has gained a charismatic leader.

My first two weeks in Glasgow

Going to live in a new country for five months is a scary thought, especially if you haven’t lived anywhere else except places you know. Glasgow has been an interesting city to get to know and hopefully I’ll still have the time and energy to take in as much as it can offer. But let’s talk about what it’s been like up till now.

The first week was both a little scary but I also have to say, pretty damn awesome. Glasgow was of course hit by one of its worst storms ever during the first night I spent here. When the following day I made my way to the building where I would be living for the next five months, I was informed by the landlord that the storm had smashed part of the glass roof over the stairwell. For the next few days, it was raining indoors, though they made an effort to try and cover the hole up, they still haven’t replaced the glass.

Thankfully my room wasn’t affected and I’ve lived quite comfortably despite the constant rain over the days that followed the storm. The first two days I was a little worried about the state of my clothes as the airline missed my exchange to the Copenhagen to Glasgow plane. Thankfully, I already got my bag back during the evening of my second day in Glasgow.

On Thursday, the orientation started and things were looking up. I got acquainted with fellow students from my own country and also met some very nice exchange students from other countries. With the activities organised by the more local students, it’s really been a lot of fun. On Friday, we took a bus tour of Glasgow which was less spectacular than I would have hoped. Although we got to see “most” of Glasgow, the weather was quite bad and we only stopped once during the whole tour. In all, it was only fun in that they pointed out where most of the free museums and such were located.

However, on Friday evening, I got to taste Haggis for the first time. It was a delightful surprise since it’s something I had always wanted to do and already got to do it during my first week here. It was also a tad anticlimactic I have to say. It didn’t come served in the traditional sheep stomach as I would have expected but instead on a paper plate in a nice brown pile next to some carrots and mashed potatoes. As for the flavour, it was good and even reminded me of a food we have back home, but it wasn’t anything special. I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to experience “genuine” haggis while I’m here, but at least this was one experience I found interesting in a culinary sense.

Saturday was by far the most fun I had. We took a bus tour of Edinburgh. Not only was the tour much better thanks to the improved weather, but we also got to stretch our legs and take in the city more fully. And by take in, I of course mean we took pictures of practically everything. We saw Edinburgh castle though only from the outside as admission was £14. We stopped to take pictures with the mighty William Wallace of BraveHeart fame, we stopped at the house where Harry Potter was born and took a brief look at the National Museum. Edinburgh, however, is a more touristy town than Glasgow, which is nice in that it’s very clean and friendly – but those looking for authentic Scottish life might want to look elsewhere.

On Saturday evening the Glasgow International Banter organised a showing of Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. Though I’d seen the movie before, it was nice watching it again. I can’t wait to see the sequel.

Our badass Finnish cakes.

The second week in Glasgow was mostly very quiet with courses starting and nothing horribly exciting happening. I’ve hung out a lot with my fellow Finnish exchange students which has staved off feelings of homesickness. One of the highlights of the week for me was when we attempted to make traditional Finnish party cakes for an event held by the Banter group. Unfortunately we burned the cakes, not to mention they were a bit off-shape anyway, but the end result was still delicious.

I also bought a DVD of the Green Hornet and will be posting a review of it soon.

Lastly here are some general topics about Scotland and the UK, I want to get off my chest:

• The Food – Contrary to the popular stereotype, UK food is actually very tasty, but it’s the little differences in food culture that keep on shocking me. Prepared food is a little bit more expensive here than it is where I come from, which is not a big problem. However, what I can’t understand is the idea that I would have to pay extra to eat out of a salad bar. In my country, in any restaurant that has a salad bar, the salad is included in the price of the meal – here you have to pay extra for it. I am also not a fan of the habit of serving chips (or fries if you will) with practically every meal. The only time I haven’t been offered chips with my meal is when I’ve had a soup, a Subway or when I ordered Pasta Bolognese at an Italian restaurant.
• The Weather – The weather is also much nicer than one would expect. Sure, there was a lot of rain in the aftermath of the storm, but beyond that the weather has been very tolerable. However, it can get very cold - which always makes me wonder why the UKers have still not discovered central heating.
• The Plumbing – I am not gonna lie, UK plumbing is outrageously bad. It’s the 21st century and buildings still have separate faucets for cold and hot water. In many cases, the hot water option is a blatant lie. There are bizarre boxes on walls and strings on ceilings you have to pull the get the water hot and only in a few restrooms have I even seen a single faucet for cold and hot water. How can the country which admittedly started the industrial revolution not understand that the only thing you need for mixing cold and hot water is a pipe shaped like a Y?

My Nanowrimo Project for 2011

So, this year I’ve partaken in the National Novel Writing Month for the second year in a row. My last year’s novel Ae Weizards Counciel (A Wizard’s Council) was sadly not completed since my Candidate’s Thesis and University studies were too overbearing. This year I’ve gotten off to a decent start. Even though I haven’t quite met my word-count quotas, I’ve been writing every single day which is a major step up from last year where I would go for several days without writing and would have to catch up to meet the word-count quota.

I also prepared better this time around. Which actually just meant that I was prepared to write at all since I was actually inspired to hop straight in to it when I heard about Nanowrimo from a fellow student in my Thesis Group. I thought writing for writing’s sake could very well lead to my very first novel but as it turned out the whole idea was too whimsical to produce actual results. I’ve written before, but only short-stories and sadly they haven’t attracted much attention. I’m hoping that I’ll actually finish this year’s Nanowrimo and maybe be able to hone this novel into an actual finished work of literature.

As for the novel itself, Gabriel’s Sword; it’s a fantasy adventure novel where I utilize Judeo-Christian tradition of angels as a major plot element. It’s been quite fun since I can gradually open up the world of the novel rather than jumping straight in (though I felt the need to write a short prologue so that the novel would have some context). So far the novel hasn’t been too character driven but I love writing dialogue which seems to show a lot. The parts where there’s a lot of speech tend to turn out the best.

Conversely I’m absolutely terrible in setting scenes and I find the descriptions of space an extremely laborious and even boring thing to write. This is why, I think, I’ve stuck to writing short stories thus far. A theme I’ve adopted to keep the descriptions of place alive is theming each chapter around a certain colour and shades of it. I can’t say that the experiment has been entirely succesful, but if I can even put together three full sentences to describe the place where the characters are at the moment I consider it a success.

As for the characters, the hardest thing to write so far has been the novel’s lead. The problem is that I didn’t really write her a personality when I first started but I’ve since spent a lot of time humanizing her. A good thing about the character is that she doesn’t quite know what to do with herself and that gives her a lot of freedom. But I’m afraid I am going to have subject her to a major attitude change at some point and that might take away some of the fun of writing about her.

The male lead by the way is the Arch-Angel Gabriel and the great thing is that I can write even rather corny sounding dialogue. He’s the type of character who may say funny things without realising it and to him everything is serious. The best thing is that I’ve excluded the use of contractions from his speech which naturally adds to the word count quota, which is nice.

I’ve tried to make the other characters stand out as much as possible but the story has a very forward pushing narrative where characters enter and exit but never really re-enter the story, with a few exceptions. The book thankfully has action-scenes which I love to write but also scenes that are designed to be more mood driven which I’m constantly worried about. So far, however, I’ve found writing most of the mood scenes quite enjoyable. And it seems that darker the milieu the better.

My major concern however is that I’ve technically already reached designated the half-way point of the story and I’m not even halfway through the final word count (50’000). It’s beginning to seem that I’ll maybe finish the novel in about 25’000 words and have to then spend time embellishing parts of it to make it to 50’000 words. I don’t personally mind but I was rather surprised how quickly some parts of the story get handled.

Still, I’m definitely happy with the quality of writing and I may even return to Ae Weizards Counciel at some point. Right now though, I want to finish up with Gabriel’s Sword.

10 Bad and Really Weird Jokes

What do you call a friar who broke the crown of his head?

- A chipped monk.

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What did the algebra problem think once it stumped the student?

- “Man, I am so hard right now.”

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*knock, knock*

- Who’s there?

*a mime*

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What’s green and hangs from a tree?

- Giraffe flem.

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What killed the dinosaurs?

- The ice age. Dinosaurs didn’t have sweaters.

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What do you call sailors with salt on them?

- Salty Seamen

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A man walks into a doctor’s office with two onions under his arms, a potato in his ear and a carrot up his nose. He asks the doctor: “What’s wrong with me?” To which the doctor replies: “You’re not eating right.”

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Saint Peter took the day off and asked Jesus to fill in for him. Not soon after an elderly man arrives at Heaven’s Gate and asks of Jesus: “Have you seen my son? Well, not my son, but sort of… I’m his father, well, sort of…” Jesus immediately asks: “Are you a carpenter?” To which the old man says: “I am.” Jesus is overcome with joy, extends his arms to the old man and cries: “Father!” To which the old man happily answers: “Pinocchio!!”

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What do you call a bunch of drunks talking in cryptic messages?

- Bar code.

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What’s green, flashing, hopping on one foot and going “woop, woop”?

- A really freaky duck.