The Last Day Of Summer.

The last day of summer never felt so cold...

Or at least last year it didn´t as it was terribly cold today. And I know that technically it isn´t the last day of summer today but tomorrow, but right now I don´t feel the need to nitpick. Oh wait, I just did, didn´t I?

How can I tell it was almost freezing today? As I have spent the majority of the day outdoors. Odd. It all happened when I, at some horrible moment of insanity, agreed to go along with my folks at a fleamarket kind of thing at Kangasala. Meaning I had to get up at 6 AM. After sleeping like 5 and a half hours. No, I´m not tired or anything. It was fine, some nice things made of glass and motorbike stuff for dad. At least I did something. Saw some nice places too. This was one of them. I think the place was called Huovilanpuisto or something like that.
All the flowers were pretty much gone by now and nothing was open, but otherwise it looked really nice. I bet it´s awesome during the summer. I wish I´d had my camera with me, I could have gotten some proper pictures. This one is taken with my cell phone, so the quality is kind of poor as it only has a 2 megapixel camera. But it´s better than nothing, and I thought I´d share it with others.

The evening has been pretty much the same as last week which means I´ve been watching football. Started with the Bielefeld-HSV game. And it turned out to be a funny one. It seemed like HSV is going to lose but in the end they ended up winning 2-4. I also saw something terrifying: absolutely hot, seriously good-looking HSV fan. A man. A German man. I´m still in a bit of a shock. I´m never going to take a look at the people on the audience again.

And the second match of this evening. Arsenal-Newcastle. Absolutely brilliant, the best football I´ve seen in ages. Gunners won, balm to the wounds after last week´s humiliating loss. They were flaming hot tonight. Robin Van Persie´s second goal was absolutely beautiful, how they set up the goal, all the passes before it... And Denilson´s goal to 3-0 was just as dazzling. And Almunia´s save just before half time. Sometimes I can´t help but wonder how great they are at reading the game. Newcastle didn´t stand a chance. It was good to see Vela play, but I really hope RVP is fine after a not-so-nice tackle. I loved seeing Fabregas (his 200th Gunners appearance today, btw) back in the game, the team really needed him. Maybe he´s the reason they were doing so marvellous today. I also dig his hair, but I´m a shallow bitch so this isn´t anyhow relevant. They must keep playing like that throughout the season and I´m more than extremely happy. Only complaint is, the stream I was watching kept going down like every ten minutes. Frustrating, but better than nothing. Oh, and I can´t take a player named Butt very seriously. Sorry.

And a tip on how to spend a half time. Read a website in a language you have no knowledge of. My language of choice was Catalan. Understood more than I ever expected. I was looking for a confirmation for a fact I read on Wikipedia, but didn´t find it. Shame.

I must quit reading my Lonely Planet as I found myself making a travel plan. Nothing bad about that, I guess. If only I get to carry it out... Ok, not if, I have decided that I will, just don´t know when yet. When I have the money probably. But there are so many things I want right now. And my folks are very good at ignoring me when I´m trying to tell them what to get me for my birthday. :D

IWFT

Like New.

Changed the layout, again. I wasn´t really satisfied with the previous one, because it was not a proper picture. This one I found by using such a magnificent tool called Google Image Search. I can´t remember what word I used, but like that matters. New picture, new colours. I still don´t have the red I am so much longing for, but that´s just because I don´t seem to find a picture that suits this. Maybe someday. And I hope this layout is going to last longer than couple of weeks. It should, since I like it. Speaking of layouts, I find the new Firefox pretty sweet. Nothing wrong with the old one, but this one pleases my eye somehow better.

I am going to torture people with some football news. Skip over this part. Russian Roman Pavljutshenko transfers to Totten-fucking-ham. The transfer fee is 15 million euros. Annoyingly good purchase, but they aren´t still doing that well. I think only Pompey is having a worse time and that is likely to be their future as Niko Kranjcar is blown with an ankle injury. Pity.
The third qualifying round of Champions League was last night and Cypriot Anorthosis was one of the biggest surprises as it beat Olympiacos an made it to the group stage. Barca took a beat from Wisla Krakow, but was still better overall. Atletico Madrid left Schalke out and I´m not sure if I am thrilled or sad. I heart the German club, but the Spanish team is doing such a good job... Liverpool was really strugling against Standard. Two matches, only one goal which was scored at the extra time by Dirk Kuyt. Talk about a tough situation. Gunners can be seen at the group stage too thanks to a 2-0 and 4-0 wins over Twente. I was too tired to look for a live stream last night, but it appears that they need Fabregas on the pitch to success. He should be ok now though. I was pretty pleased that Wenger started by benching Adebayor and put Bendtner with Van Persie. Seriously, the Dane is brilliant, I can´t understand why he isn´t making every starting eleven.
// Didn´t feel like writing a new post, so I´m just updating this. The Champions League gruops are drawn and you can check them here. Interesting groups, though I don´t quite get why is H the "deathgroup". Juve, Real and Zenit are all tough, but have they seen group D? Liverpool, Atletico, HSV and Marseille. I would say that isn´t the easiest one. It is also the one that made me smile. Only funny if you know how to link two of those teams. No one can say any of those groups is easy, because the represent the best teams of Europe. I´m really looking forward to the first match.

Argh. Judging by the e-mail I got today it seems like I have to go do all my exams at Turku. Which means it will cost. Why do I have to live here where no-one is interested in the same things as I am? I am so not happy right now.

Glad I cleaned up yesterday since it has been raining all day. The room looks the same, though I rearranged my notice board with a couple of new pictures. I still don´t know where to put all my magazines as the are taking over my bookshelf. Maybe I´ll figure something out.

I found out today that YLE is in fact rerunning Six Feet Under in the spring 2009. Yay. I have no idea of the exact date, but there is something to look forward now. YLE has other nice programs coming up too, my mom is thrilled about Hill Street Blues (premiering tonight at 10.30 PM). Maybe they don´t suck that much after all.

I would so much want to see Disco Ensemble this fall, but not alone. I want to share the awesomeness with someone. Tickets at the Finlandia club gig cost 15 € which isn´t that bad. Someone want to accompany me?
Also, Ladytron is playing at Tavastia in December. I´m pretty tempted to purchase a ticket, because they actually are very good live. We´ll see if I have money for that.
I am also dying to get to see Nine Inch Nails live. Everywhere I check it´s said that they´re on their best tour ever. The visual things at least have been very impressive and I want to hear the new material live. They are touring the States and South America until the end of this year, so they might be coming to Europe next year. There have been hints about that so I´m having my hopes up. Plus, I totally want to see Justin Meldal-Johnsen, the amazing bassist.

I´ve been meaning to put a link list on this site, just to advertise a bit those sites I visit more often than everyone should. We´ll see if I finally get it done soon. Until that.

IWFT

The Sound Of Failure.

Ok, some transfer news. Again. Apparently Milan Baros is going to Galatasary. No offense, but it feels like he´s being demoted. From Liverpool to Aston Villa to Lyon to Portsmouth... Next is prolly some not-so-hot Bundesliga club before he either quits or goes back to Czech Republic. I mean seriously, when was the last time he actually managed to do something. Other than get Pompey a penalty kick at the FA Cup game. The kick that they really didn´t deserve... Anyway, bye bye. Andriy Shevchenko of Chelsea in now a Milan man, once again. Not such a big surprise, since he was pretty useless when playing with the Blues. Not that I mind that. Also, Philippe Senderos is being shipped to Milan and I can say that I don´t mind this either. Yes, he is a Arsenal player, but not so great anymore. Pre-seasons showed him making some bad mistakes. And besides, we have Silvestre now. What I cannot get is that Senderos is supposed to be replacing Maldini at Milan when he eventually decides to retire (after this season, but so was said after last season too...). I feel like I should have some fantasy football-team or something...

Finally got around to watch Lords of Dogtown. A fine movie. Won´t make my all-time favourite list, but it´s a good watch on a boring Monday afternoon. The plot isn´t anyhow spectacular, it does no explaining and leaves the viewer wonder some of the events. It is also kind of predictable, but what can you expect... The actors do a good job, but I think there were too many supporting actors. I got to say that Hirsch and Ledger are fine. It´s a youth movie and serves it´s purpose as one well. Visually it´s cool, and the soundtrack ain´t that bad either. And since it´s a movie about skateboarding with at least semi-hot guys on it, I like it. I know, I am shallow. But I´m also a girl.

I am a bit bored right now too, but I should be doing some baking soon, so that´ll keep me busy for an hour or so. I mean, I voluntarily went for grocery store and did some laundry and am thinking of cleaning the house tomorrow. That must tell how little I actually have things to do. Grandma suggested I visit some relatives at Naantali with her and my parents in September, but I´m not that desperate yet. I think I have a couple more DVDs to keep me entertained for a weekend. Oh, and for the love of all that´s holy, why is YLE airing Musiikki-Tv in the middle of the night again? I want to sleep now that I finally got over my sleeping troubles. I know, I could record it, but then I would never watch it. And I also know it can be viewed on the Internet, but since YLE´s site only supports Windows... Maybe I really should get a hobby. A visit to a bookstore might solve that one. I am seriously considering right now. More when I actually might have something to write about. Or when I have nothing better to do.

IWFT

Golden Dawn.

Let´s get it over with. I know I am somewhat insane, so nobody needs to tell me that. Good. On with the Olympics. I did get up at 7 AM to watch the men´s football goldmedal match. Ok, get up is a wrong term since I switched the TV on and stayed in bed until the half time, but woke up to see it. I´m not sorry I did so, it was pretty nice match. Of course I am happy Argentina won, but Nigeria played truly well too. They just didn´t have anyone to pass the ball the way Messi got it to Di Maria. It was a sweet goal. It could have been a lot more active game, but I understand that the infernal heat (some say the temperature was as high as 42 degrees celsius) wasn´t the optimal. For once I think the referee did a good job, handing out cards when it was obvious Argentina was playing time in the end. A fine final, not the best one I´ve seen, but at least I remember more than 45 minutes of this one... :D.

I did watch some synchronized swimming, the team competition of it. It looked kinda neat eventhough my first thought was "this is an extremely stupid sport". It wasn´t, the Russians were excellent, even I could tell that without knowing more than couple of facts about the sport. One of the Japanese swimmer girls was almost drowning at the end of their performance, but she got rescued and is recovering, so no harm done. Women´s high jump was also a big surprise. I would´ve put my money on Vlasic, but I´m glad I didn´t. I didn´t even remember Hallebaut before I saw her jump. Actually it´s good that she beat the invincible Croat. The relays today were far from yesterday´s thrill, but Wariner was on the roll today when USA snatched the brightest medal.

Last but certainly not least the one sport most Finns had their eyes on this afternoon.
That´s right, the javelin throw. Yes, I´m truly unpatriotic, but I am sincerely happy that Andreas Thorkildsen got his second Olympic gold. He was consistent, and proved there is absolutely nothing wrong with his health or the way he throws. The others didn´t stand a chance. He was outstanding. I also love the way he manages to be so cool after a perfect throw. A little shrug, in a "yeah, I just did what I usually do" -style and maybe a smile. Every time he was throwing I kept my finger´s crossed and hoped he´ll make it. And that the Finns won´t do better than him. Don´t get me wrong here now. If it was up to me I would have given the silver and bronze to the two Teros. But it was up to them, and there were better guys... Glad to see Pitkämäki getting the bronze though. There were three guys I was hoping they´d get a gold and they did, so I´m pretty happy with their performances. Not the worst Olympics at any rate. I´m just thinking maybe I should start using someone as my bookmark again. He was once, but I took another. We´ll see.

Did catch some league football today, Dortmund-Bayern München. Not a very good match, the little I saw looked slow and lacked the entertaining element Bundesliga matches usually have. And Van Bommel, what kind of a captain takes a red card before it´s even tha half of the first half? Whatever. Apparently Liverpool pulled itself together and beat Middlesbro that was leading 1-0 after the first half. The final result was 2-1, if someone´s interested. Arsenal is playing Fulham soon, actually the kick is due in ten minutes.

Reached the last page of Breaking Dawn this afternoon. Like I wrote earlier, not my favourite, in a way a bit dull. I am not really digging the ending, just liked the beginning. But I´ve read it and I knew it was going to have a horrible happy end, so I can´t blame anyone. I´ve got a lot reading waiting, so I shouldn´t be too bored. And the library isn´t that far. But I must go through my bookshelf first, I have many books I haven´t even read. Maybe I should do an inventory again...

More when I feel like it. Until that, take a look at Christo´s photos. I absolutely love his artwork, I am amazed every time I see a new photo by him. That man really has talent. Enjoy.

IWFT

Sweet Sunshine.

The trip to Turku wasn´t really that informative, but at least I did something else than stayed home watching the Olympics. Travelling on train isn´t that great in Finland. No separate compartments or anything. I would´ve liked one. On the way to the old capital there was this Russian woman with a kid that annoyed me the entire journey. The kid was fine, he was kinda cute and behaved well, but the woman... She had to talk or sing to him all the time. That starts to bug when you have to sit a few meters from them and listen. I tried my MP3, but eventually got bored listening to the same songs for the fourth time. At that time I felt I was having a flashback from a train to Nice, just this time it was my own music. The way home wasn´t that bad, I was just tired and kept thinking how wrong it is to call the railway coastal. No water at all. Surely, those who came up with the name have never been on a train from Genova to Nice. I kept remembering that journey as I was bored. And waiting at the Helsinki railway station in the evening. It´s not something I would do if it wasn´t absolutely necessary. It is far from hanging at some Austrian station, which was kind of nice.But yeah, I had to do that and I ended up talking with some guy who appeared out of nowhere. He was n´t intimidating or anything, I wasn´t up to a conversation. He would´ve gotten me a coffee, but I refused. I know he was kinda hitting on me, but at 10.30 PM it just isn´t what I want. The funny thing is when I got home I was actually alert so I ended up staying awake till 1.30 AM... There were some positive sides visiting Turku too. It was sunny and warm and I got to sit in a park. Something I have actually missed. Why don´t we have a really good park here? That would be really nice.

So, since I stayed up a bit too long I got around to check the results of every internetional friendly played on Wednesday. It was no wonder Spain took a 3-0 win over Denmark, but England-Czech Republic 2-2? I would have been ok with that if Baros hadn´t scored the first goal. I was like, cool, the big games are over and now you´re effective? Fine. I was a bit sad that Poland had lost its´ match since I´ve seen how much those Polish people are into football. Much, very much. What did make me happy though was that Robin van Persie had scored for Holland. Good, could you keep up with that with Gunners too or do I have to be disappointed in you again? Speaking of which... Silvestre joining and leaving ManU. Finally some of the defense they really need. I was also happy to hear Fabregas should be playing next week against Twente at the Champions League qualifications. Yay, I can´t wait to see the matches on a big screen.

Olympics. Oh, they´ve been thrilling. The bests are coming tomorrow, the men´s football final Nigeria-Argentina. I loved the way Argentina slaughtered Brazil at the semifinal. Not the best possible playing, but very entertaining still. And the javelin throw final tomorrow. Half the country must be watching it. And I´m once again going to be at least a bit unpatriotic. I´m sorry. The track and fiel sports have been a real thrill to watch. Isinbajeva winning pole vault, Bolt winning 200 meters, the Brazilian woman getting her gold on long jump today, Hooker being the best at men´s pole vault today... It was close that competition would have been a long one. Also, am I the only one who thinks Hooker looks a bit like Jukka Rasila? I am aware that this "that-person-looks-like-that-person" thing of mine is irritating sometimes, but you can google those guys if you want to tell me your opinion. The relays have been a joy. First, USA´s men screw up the 4x100 m relay and less than an hour later the women do the same. And it wasn´t even the final yet. I thought it was so funny. The Jamaica´s women do that excatly same thing at the final and totally fuck it up. A real curse I might say. It was good to see the Russians win the women´s relay, they were amazing. And Belgium wasn´t bad either. Good thing Jamaica´s men managed to do what they were supposed to do and took the win at the 4x100 m relay. I swear Powell was flying his part to the finish line. He was like a lightning. I know, people are wondering what kind of doping are those Jamaicans using, but I don´t want to be pessimistic but to enjoy their dazzling performances. One man having three world records at the Olympics, a runner having those three records. If he gets busted someday, then it´s then, but right now, let us all sports fans have a good time and kill our moods later. The days are going to be pretty empty without sports when September begins...

The reading of the month. I´m almost done with Breaking Dawn. I don´t hate it, which is actually a good thing since I´d heard so much bad things about the novel. I dont love it either. It isn´t much of a page-turner, but just as easy to read as the others have been. The plot could be so much better, it´s too predictable and lacks something the earlier novels have had. I can´t put my finger on the thing, not yet at least. I don´t like the way Meyer writes all the action in the end when the book has over 600 pages. And since it must have a happy ending... Well, action throughout the story would be nice. There is also way too little Jasper and Emmett, too much Jacob (though I like the character more than I did before). Dividing the book into three parts, not the wisest move either. Thank god it´s not another The Host, but I´m not highly recommending it. Have to read it anyway. I´m also nearly finished with Juan Gomez-Jurado´s God´s Spy, an intensive thriller about the Conclave, cardinals, serial killer and all the not so good things about the Catholic church. Seems like I have some thing with the church. I know, I know... I haven´t forgotten what I´ve half-jokingly said a month or so back. I should also pick up my Wilde again, it shouldn´t be too hard to read now that I´ve gotten past all the egoist strories. I have started Orhan Pamuk´s The White Castle that I picked up from the book store just to have something to read and was positively blown away. What a style to read, what a story. The novel is absolutely marvellous, a piece of art. Got my copy of Armand this week, it´s waiting to be read. It might have to wait for a while, but I´m on it.

I haven´t even watched TV much lately, besides the Olympics of course. Just House, Criminal Minds, Entourage and Dexter. I can´t tell if I like this season of House or not, it´s kind of different. Some good, some bad. It has time to prove it has more good. CM is just as fun as always, but it´s mid-season and I´d like to get on with the show. But the new season of Dexter. It started so well, I sincerely hope it´s all going to be just as good. YLE is soon showing the HBO shows, which is something I can hardly wait. Canal+ is airing Generation Kill in September, I hope I get to see it.

This post is again closer to the lenght of a Russian classic than a quick glance to recent thoughts, but then again, no one is forcing anyone to read it. I´m done for now, comments, suggestions, all that stuff is always very welcome. (No matter what language, I´m curious enough to find out even if it´s French or Dutch.)

IWFT

Absolute Beginners.

Back home again. The weekend at Heinola was actually kinda fun, unlike I expected it to be. A bit too rainy and cold, but otherwise fine. I am not that into motorsports but once I got the hang of motocross, it was rather interesting to watch. And since all the riders were relatively young men... I must admit that I did feel sorry for Italian mechanic, who practically did everything for the rider, stood in the rain and ran his errands. A Finn did make it to the podium, which is always a huge plus. All in all, a much better weekend than I hoped it to be. Eventhough grandmother got a bit on my nerves.

For some reason I was overly enthusiasted when the result of the ManU-Newcastle match was 1-1. Ok, schadenfreude when sir Alex´s team isn´t showing it´s best. And of course I was extremely happy that Gunners beat West Brom, although only one goal isn´t that great. Victory is a victory and Nasri proved he prolly is worth the 12 millions. Can´t wait when the physio´s table is empty and all the absentees get on the pitch. Fabregas especially, he is magical. Aesthetically thinking I must say though that the new Gunners home kit isn´t working. I don´t like the stripes on the sleeves, I prefer last season´s all-white sleeves. The new away kit on the other hand... Pure gold, I totally dig it. What is really concerning is that Scolari has pretty impressive team or at least it seems like it. Poor Pompey had no chance at all. Interesting times.

Olympics have been pretty entertaining. Men´s 100 meters was just as good as everyone hoped it to be, but I can´t help but wonder what the world record would be if Bolt hadn´t slowed down in the end. And the right man won the men´s tennis singles. Nadal is having the year of his life. Gold medal yesterday, world number one today. Really cool. He must be one of the happiest men alive right now. Now I´m looking forward the men´s javelin throw and tomorrow´s Argentina-Brazil footall match. Messi against Ronaldinho, sweet.

I finally got my hands on Breaking Dawn. I´m not hating it yet, but then again I haven´t even reached the page 100 yet. In a way I liked the wedding part, but I´m a sucker for all that stuff so... I have seven books waiting to be read, one classic, two criminal novels, a Nobel literature prize winner and some lighter reading. I won´t mind rainy days, I´ll know how to keep myself busy.

I´m making a day trip to Turku on Wednesday, but otherwise I´m just going to hang around home and probably do nothing. Good times, I hope.

IWFT

Sea Of Sorrow.

How can it be that it´s still preseason but yet seven of Arsenal´s players are injured? Seriously, seven. Okay, it includes the long-term absentees Rosicky (due to be back in September) and Eduardo (may be playing sometime in November-December), but then there are Toure, Senderos, Diaby, Nasri and Fabregas too. Toure and Nasri should be fit by Saturday, but the rest... Why am I already saying goodbye to all the silverware they haven´t even won yet? Maybe it´s because the Gunners defense isn´t in very good shape and they really are lacking a good defensive midfielder. And because everyone knows that not having Fabregas playing is a minor disaster. This is far from ideal and the kick-off is on Saturday. Damn those hamstrings... I won´t have the chance to see the first match but I´m working on it. Actually, I´m working on getting myself maybe the best present ever. Not hoping too much, but...

I am on the roll of watching movies. Cold Mountain. The first hour of it was horrible, but I decided that I´ll watch the entire movie since I started. Predictable, nothing new to the genre and the accents were awful, but otherwise it was a beautiful piece and I digged the music. The (mostly non-US) cast was fairly good, though I am not a fan of either Zellweger or Law. Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Baker saved a lot. And of course Jack White. Not my favourite movie, but worth watching if one has nothing better to do. I wouldn´t spend my money on it though. Oh, Twilight has a release date. In Finland, I mean. February 13th, according to imdb. I don´t know if I want to see the movie or not. Prolly going to watch it anyway.

I´ve watched Olympics a lot. And by that I really mean a lot. Tennis, beach volley, swimming, football, cycling, boxing... You name it, I´ve probably seen at least a bit of it. There isn´t anything that interesting on today, except the Argentina-Serbia football match later today. That I´ll watch and if there is some tennis or swimming, then those too. More later, since I seem to write pretty much on daily basis.

IWFT

It Overtakes Me.

Just done watching FA Community Shield match. ManU won, but that is only because Pompey´s penalty kicks were the worst I´ve seen, maybe ever. Commentator made it worth watching. Also, I got the televised Argentina Olympics football match I was hoping for, it was pretty amazing. The talent, the technique. Oh, I have to say, the Olympics opening ceremony was awesome. Man, they really had put some effort on making it a spectacle. Worked for me. For those who don´t know yet, Mark Van Bommel is captaining Bayern München this season. It was about time to tell that. He is also the first non-German captain of the team ever. Remember that when playing Trivial Pursuit or something like that some day.

Okay, I still haven´t watched the skating movie I bought few weeks ago, but I´m working on that. Maybe tomorrow. I did watch The Queen of the Damned. It was actually quite bad, but what can you expect when they combine two books and leave out all the good stuff. No Nicky, who is absolutely lovely at Vampire Lestat. There was the violin thing at the movie and Nicky played violin if I remember correctly. But still, the movie had none of the great things the novels have. No Louis at the end, which is probably the best part of The Queen of the Damned-novel. I kind of dislike the book also, so that might be one reason the movie sucked so much. For what it´s worth, Stuart Townsend is a slightly better Lestat than Tom Cruise. Wrong people are always cast for wrong roles. If you want good vampire stuff, stick to the books. And more talk about books. Tess Gerritsen´s The Bone Garden didn´t let me down. One of her best works, easily. Mostly set in year 1830, brilliantly written and the plot is great. Also, some of the people in the story are real people, so it´s even more fascinating. I recommend. Another recommendation is that you read anything by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Right now, I´m reading the Seville Communion and it´s fantasctic. I don´t know what the thing in his writing style is, but it´s got me hooked. While reading that book I noticed I do have a thing for catholic priests as long as they are fictional. Frightening. Further reading tips... Actually, I´m waiting to get my hands on the new Henning Mankell novel, as it has been called one of his best works. Also very current as it deals China. Thank god I have much time in my hands so I can read all this good stuff. If you know some great novels I should take a look at, let me know. Discovering new things is always lovely. Which kind of reminds me that I really should buy the MGMT album. Damn, all this money I don´t have that I´d like to spend. Maybe I´ll start doing household jobs and get paid for that. In my dreams maybe... I have to do something to get some money for next spring/summer/whenever we (I still hope it´s we, right?) decide to go.

IWFT

You Look So Fine.

As the cleverest ones reading this probably noticed, I did some changes with the layout. I got bored with the black and green and since I finally got around to get myself a new desktop I decided this needed something new too. The header picture was found on the Internet and like last time, I have no idea who has done it, but I think it´s pretty. If the maker sees this and feels offended by me using his/hers pic, let me know. I never noticed how well grey and orange actually fit together. This was originally supposed to turn a bit red, but then I found that picture from my archives and decided to play with it and its colours. Slight changes were made to the picture with Gimp. Otherwise everything is as it was, on the other side though.

I was going to say that there is nothing on the news today, but unfortunately there is. Several people died in a train crash in Czech. The frightening thing is, this probably is the same train that we took from Krakow to Ostrava back in June. It says it goes from Krakow to Prague like our train did. Okay, I know there are many trains that do this route, but still... Thank god nothing happened when we were travelling. I´m not saying it´s a good thing this happened, it certainly isn´t. I remember laughing to a similar event on Wanted. Well, the joke´s not funny any more. // It was the same EC we took as it hit the bridge at around 10.30 AM local time. The wreck looks horrible. Not funny at all.

IWFT

Jesus Adidas.

Ok, just a short comment. Messi´s got balls. He was not given a permission to play at the Olympics and yet he scored Argentina´s first goal today. Okay, he was shown a green light after very long consideration, but I´m just damn happy he is playing, because even though I hate his team, I seriously consider him as one of the best young players in the world. I can´t wait to see a televised match of Argentina. The Netherlands vs. Nigeria was interesting, but it could have been better. (By the way, the grass in China is in horrible state and the referees are a bit too enthusiasted, but the games really kick off tomorrow, so anything can happen.)

IWFT

Not For You.

Some things are really hard. For some people at least. First FIFA said all under 23 players must be let to play at the Olympics and now CAS is saying they must stay with their teams if that is what the team wants. Ok, done with that. NO. The Argentina coach Sergio Batista has already said that Lionel Messi will be playing at the first match. So, Messi isn´t allowed to play but is still on. Gosh, the Barca people must be thrilled... If it was me, I´d let him play, but then again, I wouldn´t mind Barcelona not making the Champions League... Yes, the Olympics really are just around the corner. It´s exciting, especially now that I have time to watch the games. Do I believe some of the Finns bring a medal home? Not really. The shooters maybe, but the others... Slight chance. Of course it would be cool if someone did well. We´ll see. Oh, and I must say that Tuomas Virkkunen is my all-time favourite football commentator. I had so much fun listening to him yesterday when watching the Arsenal-Real Madrid game on a big screen (read:TV). He was like, the Gunners have a real junior team. Well, they do. The middle age of the team is 22,5. And that was before Le Boss decided to include the 16-year-old Jack Wilshere to the first team. It was great to see them play and not watch the game on a matchbox size... I must say, Adebayor is still the same, offside too often. But damn, Vela and Bendtner play extremely well together, it was joy to watch them. (Bendtner isn´t that bad looking either... So if we don´t get Xabi Alonso, I´m willing to give him the second place on that listing....) And I was happy to see Rosicky watching the match. He should be fine soon, which makes me even more happy. Which reminds me of the FIFA ranking... How come is Czech Republic number 8 and leaves the likes of Portugal, Russia and France behind itself? I don´t get it. Spain is number one, of course, but I´m also glad to see Croatia being number 5.

Enough with football. I was productive today. I did clean up my room. By the way, it is possible to hang out a flag the way that it doesn´t take the whole room or even wall. All you need is (the flag, of course) a coat rack and a bit of imagination. I don´t know if it´s the best place, but then again, it´s not the TV table either. And that was pretty much what I was aiming for. I should do something with my bookshelf and all the magazines I keep lying around because I can´t throw them away. (I felt insulted when mum suggested I throw the Euro mags away. Not yet, they are still too much fun and coughing...)

The Sex and the City Movie. It wasn´t half as bad as I feared. It could have been, say, a half an hour shorter. And I hated the ending, all of them so freaking happy. The plot wasn´t the best, but it had it´s moments. Nice clothes, sure. It was missing some of the glory of the TV series and wasn´t as witty as it was on TV, but a good watch anyway. Maybe three stars as the music was horrible... No. But please, don´t let there be a sequel to this one. It was enough for a lifetime. The Dark Knight still is the best of all the three movies I´ve gone to see after coming home, but that is no wonder since it´s actually really great and has some of the best performances of the year (so people say and who am I to disagree?) and because it´s visually so damn beautiful.
And I´m done watching Voice TV because I feel I´ve seen every single video made by Bullet For My Valentine, ever. I don´t want to see any Kotiteollisuus videos for a while either. Maybe I´ll entertain myself by watching some Italian vids on Youtube. At least I have no clue what they are singing about, unlike with Kotiteollisuus...

This was supposed to be a short post, but... I got carried away, once again.

IWFT

Deliver Us From Free Will.

I was supposed to do a lot of stuff today, like clean up my room, but thankfully it was raining and I had an excuse just to do nothing. Okay, I went to the library. You have no idea how fun it can be, just checking the travel guides. I never realised there are so many of them on certain places. But there are. Didn´t get any of those, I´m still waiting to get my copy of Breaking Dawn that apparently is quite bad. I´ll judge it when I´ve read it, but I don´t have that high hopes. I did get the new Tess Gerritsen novel today and it should be pretty good, so not everything can be disappointing. And library had some cds I actually wanted. Like Mando Diao. If I can be extremely happy when I just see the album on a store far from home then why not have it?

I can´t get the big fuss about the Brangelina twins. For god´s sake they are what, three weeks old or something like that. They pretty much look like what every baby does at that age. People should be interested when they are a bit older, but no. Whatever, at least they donated the money and didn´t keep it themselves.
Oh, and as it seems, purple is the colour of this autumn. The Joker-purple jacket is a must for every teenage girl and every fashionable guy is sporting a pair of purple pants this fall. I don´t know what to think of this, to be honest. I think I´ll just stick to the red-white-black...

Football news today revolve around Real Madrid. Van Der Vaart is the fifth Dutch player of the team as he has done a deal with them and thus leaves Hamburger SV (HSV won the Emirates Cup this weekend with a 3-0 won over Juventus.) Emirates Cup wasn´t that good for Real that was beaten by Gunners yesterday. Wesley Sneijder busted his knee quite badly and might be even six months away from the pitch. Mario Gomez is staying at Stuttgart eventhough Bayern München was after him. To be honest, I don´t understand why since he hasn´t been anyhow dazzling lately. Or then I´ve missed all those times, who knows. And I remember that Emmi and I were trying to remember the host city of the UEFA Champions League final 2009. Well, the final will be played at Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The host of 2010 did put a smile upon my face, again. The final in 2010 will take place at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid. I wonder if there is any chance of getting tickets... Only kidding.

I don´t know what to do. Generally speaking. I´m stuck home with my folks and end up surfing on the web every day. Or then I read books that aren´t even worth reading. Stay up until 1.30 AM and watch bad music videos. Don´t get out, because either the weather is horrible or just because I don´t know what I´d do there. I would die for a change of scenery. And by that I don´t mean a city that I´ve seen thousands of times like Helsinki or Lahti... Damn. Do something fun abroad once and you don´t want to be at home anymore. The girl at radio X3M didn´t help at all when she was talking about people talking about their dreams and how they never carry out the things they want. She was like, if you want to, empty your bank account and go. I would... Mum doesn´t help either. She keeps talking about this place in Greece that she´d like to visit, but then she goes all, oh I don´t have money, I am not able to communicate with people, it´s so far away and all that kind of stuff. I could quote Jocke Berg: "I hate people that just sit at home and complain but never do anything about the matter." (Really free translation mine...) If I could be transferred to one place right now, I really much would like to be sitting at Planty in Krakow. I´m missing that park. It was the best of them all. Everyone who ever travels to Krakow should find some time to sit there and look at people and the number 13 tram passing by. It´s more fun than it sounds, believe me. And if you do that in good company, the better.

IWFT

Well, Well.

Wow, yes. Those were my first two thoughts this morning when I checked text-TV and found out Nadal actually made it to the first place of ATP rankings. The time of Federer is over. I knew it yesterday when he was beaten by that Croatian guy, but anyway... And how many people have said that as long as Federer is playing, Nadal will never ever be the number one? Many, I included. Nadal was never supposed to win on grass either, but obviously he proved pretty much everyone wrong. This really is the Spaniard´s year, he is playing and winning so nicely. And Federer is having the shittiest year of his life so far, professionally thinking at least. I wish I´d seen him lose the game at Cincinnati, to see his face when he realises he´s no longer the number one. Anyway, let´s hope Nadal nails Djokovic and wins the whole tournament thus becoming first on the list on Monday. Again, this was one of those "I sincerely am happy for somebody that isn´t even Finn" -moments. Not that I haven´t had quite a few of those lately...

Right now, I´d like to torture the person who decides what people on Emirates Stadium have to listen during half time. Seriously, Sam Sparro? What next, Estelle? Gosh... But at least the match is decent. None of the big Spanish stars are playing, but that could be expected considering that they´ve (most of them I think) started practising this week while others have done that a bit longer. Raul is playing though, but he didn´t win anything this summer. I loved it when the commentator said Raul must be a little pissed of, the one time he´s not on the national team they actually manage to win something big. I was let to understand that he was excluded because he isn´t really a spirit creator at the national.
Also, Gallas gets to keep the band. And Adebayor is staying for a couple of years. Unlike Lilian Thuram, who retires from football. This is due to the heart condition and I´m guessing he doesn´t want to risk his life. He´s had quite an impressive career, so maybe it´s a good thing, to do something else from now on. // Damn, someone should have told me Liverpool is playing Glasgow Rangers today. Missed the first half and you can just guess who has scored at the 23 minute mark. That´s right, Pool´s Spanish gold boy, El Nino. Damn.

I just found something really bizarre. CBS store has a Beverly Hills 90210 iPod Nano for sale on their site. With the faces of the four main characters back in the 90´s on the back. Who wouldn´t want to have one? I really don´t know...
And apparently today ware the first try outs for new Idols. Last season singers have done fine, though Koivunen is nowhere near singing heavy and Abreu doesn´t have the credibility to sing about "The end of love". God only knows what this season will bring. Three hosts. What will they do with them? I mean, even American Idol has only one host and they are doing fine. Three and please every holy thing up or down somewhere, don´t let there be an Idols Extra with Kataja. Please, he isn´t funny and not everyone in this country love him.

I was going to go to bed early last night. Too bad that TV1 was showing Much Ado About Nothing. I had to watch it. Like I had to watch Macbeth. Oh for those who haven´t noticed yet, MTV3 has something really sweet to offer on next Friday. Anne Rice´s Queen of the Damned. Yes, that one with Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah. I am so recording it since I´m not home at that time. And the Olympic games kick off next weekend, so there will be plenty of sports on TV. Shouldn´t be bored all the time then :).

Bro called and will be coming for a visit tomorrow, so that means I get to tell about the trip one more time. And since I had nothing better to do last night I read hostel reviews and I´m pretty sure the very silently moving guy in Zagreb was from New Zealand. Not 100 % sure, but... I´m not stalking or anything, I am just curious. :P See ya sometime in the near future.

IWFT

The Small Print.

I can´t understand how difficult it can be to buy stuff online. Mum bought a bag the other day and I had to stand by her, check if she wrote her name correctly and that kind of stuff. Today I had to help dad buy some new ink for the printer (oh glory days are ahead). Seriously, everyone gets their stuff online these days don´t they. And it´s safe most of the times. No one has ever misused our credit card or stolen our money, so I don´t get what´s the big deal. Not like I´m gonna give my bank account info here or anything, but still. I buy heaps of stuff from the Internet. Most of cds and other music, half the DVDs, books, clothes, software, flights, god knows how many hostel nights (don´t know if that counts since it´s always just 10 % of the whole price...). It´s also nice to get books carried home. Or a book. Got Hornby´s Slam today and I´m almost done with it. I can´t say yet if it´s as brilliant as his previous works, but I like it. Has given me a couple of good laughs. First was when the protagonist thought "Ha ha". Everyone who has seen The Dark Knight might get why it was so funny to me. And the second thing that made a actually laugh out loud might open to two people, but anyway. The people on the book went to a counsellor that was from a certain capital that is situated somewhere south. Really, why? Of all the places on Earth. We have to quit talking about it or actually decide when to go. Like I´d have any money...

Just to give everyone a heads up, Urheilukanava is showing the Real Madrid-Hamburger SV match of Emirates Cup tomorrow at 3.55 PM, live. The Real Madrid-Arsenal match will be shown on Tuesday at 10.50 AM, not so live, but I´ll be watching it. It should be a little better than those friendly matches I´ve been watching online this week. Plus, I might actually see Nasri, Ramsey, Wiltshire and Vela play. And though I still don´t fancy Real that much it´s always better than Barca. Other treat this weekend is Railways Cup that is shown on Canal+, so if you have that (unlike I, but...), there might also be something interesting as teams like Chelsea, Milan and Sevilla are playing each other.

I´ll be off the end of next week since I actually agreed to go to Heinola and help out at that motorcycle race. There will be like 150 racers (men), so there is a slight chance for eyecandy. Plus I know dad will pay me for that. Someday. See you later, which prolly means tomorrow. Oh, and now that I remember, Flickr has some new photos, now including Slovenia, Italy and Monaco.

//Finally. Flanke means cross." In football, a cross is a delivery of a ball from either side of the field across to the front of the goal. A cross is there to provide a goal-scoring opportunity. Crosses are generally airborne - a ball along the ground from a crossing position may be a low cross or a pass." Quoted from Wikipedia. And now that I finally know this one word that has bugged me like month meas, it also makes perfect sense when I think about those people on the list. Mostly midfielders. Thank you Wikipedia for clearing this one.

IWFT