Kingdom & Glory.

As promised, I am doing my very subjective Italian city comparison today. As I´ve only visited Milan and Florence, I try to prove that Milan isn´t such a dull place everyone say. Some basic info first (I´ve gotten this from the Italian Wikipedia, so the accuracy of the facts is upon my understanding. And my Italian isn´t very good.).

Milan: population approx. 1 300 000, biggest sights the cathedral (Duomo di Milano), theatre La Scala (Teatro alla Scala), Galeria Vittorio Emanuele II and the Castello Sforzesco. Milan is a financial and business centre and is also famous of its´ expos.

Florence: population approx. 365 000, biggest sights the cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), Ponte Vecchio, the Church of San Lorenzo and the art gallery Uffizi. This city is considered as the birthplce of Italian Reneissance and was long under the rule of the Medici family.

Ok, I´ve visited both cities during tourist season, but you couldn´t tell that so easily in Milan, as it is huge unlike Florence that has narrow streets and tourists visible everywhere. So, if you hate crowds, Milan is better, but if you are like me and love taking a good look at people, Florence and all the thousands of people are a better option. Sometimes the crowds can get annoying, but I´m still giving my vote for Florence on this one.

Days spent in Milan: 3 and the day we headed to the airport. Days spent in Florence: 4, including the day we arrived there early in the morning, excluding the day we left to Milan. During that time, the average temperature in Florence must have been 35 °C (in the shadow) in Florence with one really heavy rain. In Milan the temperature might have been around 30°C, but no rain. And the sun was shining in both cities, all the time. In Florence you could really feel the heat because of the streets and huge stone buildings and it was a bit pressing. Milan on the other hand is loosely build and the weather just felt nice. So Milan takes this one home.

People. Like said, Florence was full of tourists. There must have been a lot of them in Milan too, but you couldn´t see them so clearly. In general, people left you alone in the city in the north, they might have just looked you long. (I am blond and a girl, so you must understand why.) The only man that actually approached us (me and my friend travelling with me, I´m not schizophrenic) was a local punk, who wanted to know where we were from and he thought we were intimidated by him. We weren´t, which we told him and he just warned us on pocket thiefs and not walking around the railway station when it was dark. He was ok. In general the people were very polite, but not too much, if you get my drift.
In Florence people were looking at us, shouting things we didn´t want to hear and asking questions, really not minding their own business. Men, always, men. Eventually we were extremely fed up with these people. So, this one goes to Milan too. BUT. I must give an extra note to a very nice guy handing out leaflets around the Duomo in Florence. He was fine looking, very sweet and totally noticed we were eyeing him for like two hours. This is why Flornce gets a plus.

Moving around in Florence is very easy, as it isn´t very big, you can easily walk everywhere, like we did. The orientation is not too hard either, since you´ll usually end up near the Duomo, it is very centre. The streets are quite narrow (skooters are popular because of that), but wandering on the alleys is nice and you can find some cool buildings. Hop on-Hop off busses go round the town regularly.
In Milan, well, you can walk pretty much everywhere, but the distances are long. We did walk (saw the city in one day), but were exhausted. The metro system is apparently fine, but I can´t remember seeing any sightseeing busses. This is why this one is a win to Florence.

Finally, the sights. The Duomos get an individual comparison.

Here on the left is Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo of Florence. It was impossible to take a photo of it, so there isn´t a single picture where you can see the entire building. It is massive. And beautiful. It is full of decorations and quite colorful. A real piece of art in a way. I don´t know what the interior looks like as we never got there. All the lines were long, so it must have some really good inside. A tourist attraction, but a fine one.




And this one on the right is the Duomo of Milan. A grand looking white church, extremely detailed in its own way too. If you ask me, this looks more like a regular church. It´s beautiful, but it was under reconstruction (ristrutturazione) so you couldn´t see the entire facade. A pretty one still. This one we saw inside, the entrance didn´t cost a dime. And it was a beauty, but what else can you expect. The treasury had some fine pieces and the entrance fee was only 1 euro. To decide between these two is hard, so I have to call it a draw.

Other sights. Well, the Ponte Vecchio looked very nice on an afternoon/early evening sun, but it was crowded. I´m not very fond of those old
Reneissance buildings, but I loved walking around and between them. Never went to the Uffizi, so I can´t say anything of that. All in all, Florence as a city is a sight and you can take nice pictures and experience it as an entity.
Milan isn´t filled with sights and for example the La Scala was a minor disappointement. We did see the Last Supper, but from what I hear, we were lucky on that one as one should get tickets in advance and that kind of stuff. Everything in Milan seems to be big, huge actually. But you can´t call the city a sight as you can do with Florence. So, the sights win is Florence´s.

All in all, the cities are very different, so this comparison doesn´t quite work. But if you like culture and old stuff, Florence is your thing. Even the strange market selling replicashirts and fake handbags was in a way fun. Milan is your place if you a lot of money and you like to shop and aren´t that keen on culture. Don´t get me wrong, Milan has its share on culture too, but it isn´t that significant. So the result is: Milan 2 - Florence 3+. See, I couldn´t prove that Milan isn´t as bad as everyone thinks. Shame.

(I left the food out on purpose because that comparison would be horrible.)



You can try to convince on liking Milan more, please do. I´d love to read your thoughts on this one.

I like this new TV On The Radio album Dear Science really much. It might be even better than their previous one. I haven´t listened this with thought yet, but had it playing on the background while writing. It works. I can´t describe it, but it´s like Bloc Party ten times better. Enough slow and fast. I don´t regret spending 10 euros on this one. (I decided that from now on I buy psysical copies only if they are somehow special. Saving money and nature.)

Oh, Melissa Auf Der Maur is playing a gig in Finland. A Scandinavia special, as she won´t make a big tour. I´d love to see her. I have to see if I can get someone accompany me, because I wouldn´t want to go alone. After all, gigs are better with company. And Auf Der Maur is one of my favourites and this would be a real rarity.

I need to go to bake as I´m having a guest tomorrow and I can´t let her starve. That would be impolite. I have to admit, I´m a bit frightened what she might have gotten me for my birthday. I mean, I have gotten her presents that justify some sort of revenge. My folks agreed to buy me the Nano and I should get it personalized some time next week.

That is all from now. Comment, suggest what I should write about and I´ll see what I come up with. Until that. Take care.

IWFT

Bang And Blame.

There are moments when I hate supporting a football team. This one right now is one of them. Arsenal-Hull 1-2 home loss. The match was a mess. I wish I had never seen it, I truly do. Did someone see this coming? I didn´t think so. What can I say? Hull were playing well, scored goals, won. Arsenal tried so much, Fabregas and Van Persie especially, but it just wasn´t enough. Not the result I wanted it to be, but I want to be an optimist every once in a while, so I say the season is nowhere near the finish line and there is a big chance Gunners can get some silverware. Right?

No news on Rosicky´s return. He can be back in november or in December or well, it must be admitted, never. I really want him back. And Nasri too. The only consolation today is I, by accident almost, turned the TV on when the Merseyside derby was on and saw two pretty goals by Torres. Nice to see him play again, not to mention his manners. Wish he was a Gunner.

And as I have done my research I now know who Sampsa Timoska is. Got to say, his last name is a bit odd. Playing at Mypa, but who cares about Finnish football, if it isn´t an international match? I don´t.

I´ve got Nine Inch Nails´ Wish playing in my head for sometime now. Why, I have no freaking idea. I wish they´d announce a European tour soon, they have a few Australian dates, so why not come here too. The tour setup has been more than amazing and I know there are fans that are dying to see them in here.

Actually, I´d love to see some bang tour here. Feels like that now that the summer´s gone no one is coming here. I haven´t been to a gig since Provinssirock and I think it´s really sad. Live concerts are some of the best things I know, especially if the band is great. Why do I have to live here where the only artists in years performing are Ari Koivunen and Negative? Don´t take it the wrong way, I´ve seen Negative and they didn´t suck as much as I thouht they would. They are fine live. But still. I want an artist that actually makes me enthusiasted. I am lame, I should get out more. Why no one is asking me out here? I´d prolly say yes, you know, just to do something.

Learning new things is always so cool. I know now what having Irish twins means. Reading boards isn´t always a complete waste of time. Quite funny most of the time. Like Pallontallaajat. net´s board. Just to read people bash Milan, the city. As a matter of fact, maybe I should try to prove them wrong. But not tonight. And I´ll probably end up saying bad things about the city. Maybe I should do some kind of comparison with Florence. We´ll see what I come up with.

I took a bunch of pictures at the motorbike thing today, but I still haven´t checked how they turned out. Hope there are few good ones so I didn´t freeze my fingers for nothing.
I also went to the antique and art expo held in out town this weekend. I know, sounds not cool, but my mum has got our entire family hooked. All the old glass vases and cups, they are pretty expensive these days. And look awesome. Aesthetics, one of the things that make life worth living. In more ways than one.

Wikiquotes is great. I´m having fun with the Finnish version. All these sports commentators. I can´t stand Matti Kyllönen, but what he says taken out of the context... Pure win. Also, Tuomas Virkkunen. Could we pretty please get him commentate the Premier League matches? He´s great. And the amount of unimportant facts he has, endless.

I hate thinking about the future. I still have no idea where I´m going to apply next spring. I mean, I need to study something. Otherwise I´ll get even more bored than now and have nothing good to share with other people. If I don´t get in anywhere I can´t guarantee that I just don´t decide to take off somewhere and do nothing there.

This post has absolutely no point, but I had to get these things out of my system. Once again. Next time I will have a point, I promise. Now I should hit the sack, it is past midnight. Again...

IWFT (Oh, yes, still.)

Wake Me Up When September Ends.

Back home again. And I was just told I have go to some motorbike thing of dad´s tomorrow. Like I´d care. AND. When do these people start asking wether I actually want/am available at that time? Fuck... I´ll let him know how pissed off I am, you can be sure of that. This is almost like the "what do you want for your birthday" -thing. I tell them what I´d like and they get me something completely different. Like last year. I said I wanted a laptop and my folks got me... I can´t even remember what. Ended up buying the laptop myself.

Football news. Wembley will host the 2011 Champions League final. And UEFA Cup is from now on the UEFA Europe League. And Euro 2016 will have 24 teams. Almost like the World Cup. But hey, Finland has a chance of being one of those countries. Wouldn´t put all my money on that though. Premier League tomorrow and the Milan derby on Sunday. I might even watch it, though one of the players I can´t stand is prolly playing.

I suck at reading since I´m still stuck with the same books I was two weeks ago. Great, I´m getting the feeling I´ll never finish either of them. Since when have I been this slow a reader? To top all that, I have at least three books waiting to be read. Should be enough until Christmas I guess.

I might have had something to write about, but if so, I do not remember what. I did take some photos at grandma´s and will post them. They aren´t on Flickr yet since I´ve got the 200 picture limitation full (no, I won´t pay for extra pictures). Here is something for you. People who have slow Internet, I´m sorry, it might take a while to load the pics, but I want people to see them.


I am extremely pleased with some of these. The fourth and sixth are my favourites, the 4th looks like it´s made with computer and the latter has a focus I´ve been trying to get for ages and now I finally caught it. None of these have been Photoshopped, I have set the light exposure on some though. And the black and white has originally in colours, but works better without them. Comments and suggestions are very welcome, as always.

Oh, I have a Stumble Upon icon added to my posts. If you are thinking of getting one, don´t get it in the middle of the night, because reading the HTML code was like a nightmare. It took me ages to find the right line. I know, my own fault. Got it done eventually.

This is all for now. I´m pretty sure a new post will appear during the weekend. Until that, take care, have fun and for chrissake, get out if the weather allows you to. It´s so beautiful out there right now.

IWFT

Talk.

It was strange how beautiful a morning today was, after all that happened yesterday. But it was one of the loveliest for ages.

You know, these things should never happen. Not here, not anywhere. People abroad (after reading a couple of boards) are shocked. They can not believe this kind of thing has happened in Finland. Again. I´m glad the media has learned something from last year, but I still find it horrible that every magazine today is running a minute-by-minute article about the incident. I don´t know what to think of the front page of today´s Helsingin Sanomat. In a way it was good, but in a way it was bad.

The discussion about gun laws, youth mental health, bullying, of all that begins again. The elections are coming, maybe now it is time to actually do something, not just promise. Things need to be done. Young people need to get treated when they start feeling bad, not when they are desperate. Maybe there is a thing or two that can be fixed in our health care system.

And, talk. It helps. Really. (summertherapysessionsinparks) And slow down. Take time for yourself.


I am having some good news too. This isn´t the most important thing in the world, but Arsenal beat Sheffield United at the Carling Cup 6-0 with Vela´s hat-trick. Young Guns (no pun intented, don´t take this the wrong way) were convincing yesterday.

A piece of music news also. Kent is getting out a box that includes all their albums, new tracks and a book with interviews, pictures and that kind of stuff. The price is likely to be around 45 €, but I´m considering buying it anyway. I won´t post the cover picture, since it is a gun being fired. Nothing fun about it at the moment. If you want to see it, go to their website.

I´m heading to grandma´s now. Will be back in Friday. Take care, see you later.

IWFT

The Storm Is Coming.

What has Finland become? This used to be one of the safest places on Earth when you think of schools. But now. Second school shooting within year. Can´t wait that media is going through everything it did last year. Here in one piece of news about the incident. I don´t have anything else to say than that I´m very sorry about all of this. This should not happen. But it does. BBC also reports, as does CNN. First on both on my browser.

And as breaking news just told, there might be bomb threat at a school in Seinäjoki. How marvellous.

Today is not the happiest day since it has been told that ice hockey player Jussi Markkanen has lost his son after a tragic accident. His son fell from a window at the family´s residence and was immediately deceased.

I was pretty happy this morning, woke up in a good mood after sleeping well, having a strange dream (more in a bit), having a tasty breakfast while watching The Flight of the Conchords, almost putting aside the fact that mom agreed me to go to grandma´s tomorrow without asking me before, finally getting my Canal+ and having a Hugh Laurie day with Inside the Actors Studio and an episode of House. Nah, I´m having a good day despite of everything. Call me insensitive if you wish.

But more about the dream as I promised. I´m having these odd ones every once in a while, but more recently now than earlier. Don´t know why... Anyway. In the last night´s dream at first I was on a beach with bunch of people, it was late at night since it was dark. I don´t know who they were, but the evening didn´t end well as someone got beaten up. After that I started to walk to my appartment, though I got the impression it was not my primary place of residence. It must have been a long walk because by the time I got anywhere near the place I was heading to, the sun was shiing. Why this was so cool, was because the place was either somewhere in Brazil or in Argentina, the words gave me the impression (and I remember reading that you can´t read in a dream, but I seem to be able to do that). I´m not even sure why I can say it was either one of those countries, but dreams don´t need to rational. If I had to guess, I´d say it was Brazil.

In the dream I crossed a big street and the junction there somehow, even in the dream, reminded me of Ostrava. I have no idea why. My condo was situated in a nice light pink two-storey building that had an inner yard, on the second floor to be more exact. It wasn´t the cleanest place on Earth, but I seemed to love it. Near it was a bakery and next to or in front of the building was a lovely bookstore I seemed to be fond of. Funny thing is, I never got into the actual appartement in the dream because when I woke up I was talking to a sweet, bald guy in the laundry room. What I can tell of the place I lived is that it had a decorative iron gate or door that led into a brown paneled passage.

I liked the dream and was kind of sad when I woke up. Everything seemed so colorful. Very much orange, brown, yellow and red, it felt like it was a CSI Miami episode, it had the same amount of bright colors. Maybe I´ll get a sequel the coming night. Though that has never happened before. It was strange that it happened in a South American country as I haven´t been too into them. Of course I´d love to travel to Brazil and Argentina, but that prolly happens only if I win the lottery or somethng. I have to admit, I don´t even know that much of those two countries. I guess they are great in their own way. If someone likes to lighten me up on what is cool in South America and what´s not, please do. I´d love it. Maybe I should start saving money for a around-the-world -trip so I could someday see all the places I really want to. That would require a job, but I´m not throwing my dreams away. Never.

As said, I´m going to grandma´s tomorrow and will be spending there a couple of days. Helping her, keeping her company. Which is fine. So, there won´t be new posts for a while, unless I post tomorrow before leaving. I´m back in Friday, SMS me if you really have something you want to share with me immediately. If it can wait, comment here. As you know, I love comments. I am also considering updating that link list a bit, so keep an eye on it.

See ya later!

IWFT

Rollercoaster.

What does an extremely humiliated giant look like? Like FC "epic fail" Bayern München after today´s loss to Werder Bremen. One of the most bizarre matches I´ve seen in ages. Seriously, 5-2 to Bremen. At the Allianz arena in Bavaria. It was the first time in weeks I´ve checked a Bundesliga game and I must say, it totally paid off.

Seven great goals in one match. Bayern was quite useless most of the time, but then again, take a look at their opening XI and that might explain something. Borowski, who came in at the second half, managed to net the ball twice against his old team, but to no avail. Good to see the big ones aren´t always doing so well. Commentator couldn´t believe his eyes, when the score was 0-4 he kept saiyng it was some kind of fairytale. Maybe it was, but a really nice one. Who knows, maybe Oktoberfest kicked off at the wrong time... :D

Bayern fans turned their backs to the team at some point, so the director started showing the audience quite a lot. I know now that Miroslav "every Finnish football lover´s new best friend" Klose has adorable kids. Hope they didn´t get any traumas. Also, I want to assume that the girl sitting next to Franck Ribery was his daughter, she was cute too. At least it might be healthier to think that kids are adorable think a twenty-something man is adorable. (I won´t watch any Youtube videos ever, it isn´t healthy.)

Yes, Premier League today too. Bolton-Arsenal 1-3. Jääskeläinen was on the Bolton goal, but I don´t feel sorry for him. I can´t, we won. I have to give credit for Bolton for making the first goal and otherwise, they did steal the ball and created some bad situations. Eboue was offside when scoring, but it wasn´t flagged, so it was a goal. Bendtner (on the opening XI, for a while I was loosing my faith in him though...) netted the second, but Denilson´s goal was absolutely the finest. There is no way denying that.

Comments were great once again. Arsenal managed to hit the goalpost too many times before actually scoring, so "motherfucking post" makes a lot of sense. The other comment I loved was about Fabregas´ hair. He´s let it grow and is now sporting a "footballer headband" (unfortunately, yes) so someone pointed out that he´s "gonna turn emo". Can´t help it, I laughed. Like I laughed to the fact that Gunners had so many corners that at one point it seemed that Fabregas was just running from one corner to another. Anyway, top of the table. Grand.

More than football too. Anyone want apples? We have tens of them, maybe hundreds. Too much. Imagine every possible dessert that can be made of apples and we´ve served it. I´m sick of them, right now I prefer bananas.

What I don´t want to hear first in the morning, is my dad fixing our toilet door. Or the lock actually. I was trying to sleep late today, but no... So, I got up and went to hang around the toilet to see if I was allowed to use it. I was, with dad´s very assuring words "Now we´ll see if the lock actually works." I was "You gonna break the door to get me out of here if ti doesn´t?". And dad: "Well, I´ll try to fix it, you have everything you need in there." Yeah, except food for one. It worked, so no harm done. But not really the first conversation you want to have in the morning.

I have a perrfect recipe for a rainy fall evening. A warm place, in my case a bed, a fantastic novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude and melancholic music. Mine was Kent´s Hagnesta Hill. It was odd how I got a sudden urge to listen to that album, since it still isn´t my favourite of theirs. Candles would be fine too, but you need quite a lot of them to be able to read.

I have few books unread, but when I was asked about Master and Margarita, now I feel like I should re-read it. I mean, it is one of the best books I´ve ever gone through although it needs concetration. But it´s something out of the ordinary, the plot isn´t a replica of some successfull book, it´s unique. And it made me want to travel to Moscow, which is something I never wanted to do earlier. Maybe I´ll someday get there, with a person who knows Russian.

I must have been in a informationblank somewhere, because I found out today that Foo Fighters is on hiatus. So much for the arena gig in Finland then. Tons of good music coming out this fall, so that cheers up a bit. For example, the new TV On The Radio is out next week. And what I´ve heard this far, it should be amazing. Pay attention to what is playing on the radio and you might a new favourite. I did.

Everyone have a good end of the week. Share your thoughts, I do.

IWFT

Forgotten Works.

I thought it was time to update a bit, so I did. A new improved profile with a semi-fine quality photo. It´s once again taken with PhotoBooth, so it isn´t the best one can get. But it´s what you get. I got around to update my album collection, you can check it by clicking My music on the sidebar, as the link list is also up, finally. I decided I´m not making my soon a NIN-soon...

And I have no idea who has made that wonderful diagram, but I´ve got it from ETS.

I actually had something to write about. Oh yes, I went through the YLEX playlist. They have approximately 85 songs on the list, A,B,C and upcoming together. They might have a D-list too, I´m not totally sure... Anyway. I checked them and there were 6 songs on all the lists that I like or that make me smile. Six. Out of 85. I won´t bother calculating the percentage, but it´s not huge. Why can´t they get more good music? I know, it´s supposed to be as variable as much, but still.

The six songs that I actually find ok are Walking On Air by Kerli, Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon, Jungle Drum by Emiliana Torrini, Ukonlintu & Virvaliekki by Olavi Uusivirta, Hevonen by Samae Koskinen and my absolute favourite at the moment Mountain by Biffy Clyro. I can´t believe I haven´t found this band earlier, it´s amazing.

Talk about music. I remeber ranting about the upcoming Bond-theme a couple of months back. Well, it´s out now, you can find it online. I just took a listen to it and it left me a bit confused. Um... I don´t hate Another Way To Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys. It´s a lot. It has nice strings and piano and it´s unbelievable how well the voices of White and Keys match. Never expected it. The song is a bit too slow, it never picks up the energy you would wait from a Bond theme. Like someone has said, it´s not epic enough. It won´t be the same kind of hit some of the earlier themes have been, it will go nicely on the background, but won´t jump up. Shame, but probably the truth. Now we just have to wait for The Quantum of Solace to premier. I´m looking forward to it. Casino Royale was great, hopefully this will be too.

One more thing about music. Sometimes insomnia pays off. The other night I was still up at midnight and listened to Night Classical, I think. The program won´t matter. But I was forced to stay awake for another nine minutes by the London Symphony Orchestra, since their beautiful version of Stairway To Heaven was played. Seriously, maybe the best version of the song I´ve ever heard. Of the song I think is one of the most over-rated songs.

And a bit of football before I end. I was checking the UEFA Cup results. Nothing too surprising, but two goal scoarers amazed me. I mean, someone tell me when was the last time Milan Baros has managed to score for the Czech Republic national team. Because last night he netted twice for Galatasaray. I couldn´t believe my eyes. Why? Time to shine on the international duty too, isn´t it Milan?
Mario Gomez also hit twice for Stuttgart, which is odd in a way. Every time I see him play, he is somewhat terrible. Or maybe he just really sucks when it comes to international matches. Germany has good players too.

I have to complain about YLE or whoever decides which Champions League match gets televised here. Bayern München-Lyon, seriously, why? When you could have picked Zenit-Real Madrid (ok, I think it´s played earlier than the others, but who cares...), Arsenal-Porto or Fenerbahce-Dinamo Kiev. But no, they choose a dull pair. Dull, because everyone who owns a digibox has a chance to see both teams play when they switch Urheilukanava on at the right time. Never show those teams that are a bit more rare here. I would have liked a bit more interesting match for my birthday.

I love HBL doing those sports specials, like this weeks Champions League. Only thing is, I found myself staring at the picture of Sergio Aguero. And it was a long stare. Not because of his looks, but because of his tattoo. The picture is small, but you can see what I´m talking about. Looks familiar, doesn´t it? I remember solving a mystery of a similar tattoo this summer. It´s pretty popular to get your name written like that. And it gets me nearly choking on my cocoa when I´m caught off guard. Thanks.

Oh, now that I remember. Haneke´s Funny Games, the new version, is now on DVD. Because of that, I feel the need to share the Italian trailer with everyone. I still love the way the guy says the name of the film.

It´s more than likely I´ll be writing an entry tomorrow. Until that, have fun with the links.

IWFT

Running Out Of Turbo.

Seems like I´m having an R-phase with my titles. At one point it was all S´s.

I´m a bit pissed, because it looks like nobody is able to broadcast tonight, so I won´t get any Champions League football. I was kind of looking for the Juventus-Zenit match, but no. I just have to keep myself updated with the always so trusthworthy YLE text-TV. Which is telling me most of the games today haven´t picked up that great turbo, quite a lot 0-0 after first half.

Cluj created a surprise yesterday then. Beating Roma. Good for them, would have been nice to see that instead of the dull Chelsea-Bordeux. Nothing else wrong with that except it was all Chelsea. The French team did nothing remarkable. Blues were fine. And you have no idea how hard it is to me to admit that...

I am getting bored to death at home. I know, I should do something about it, but it´s not like I can just hop on a plane and take off somewhere. So I end up hanging online wasting my time. I should get out more, but hanging here where nothing happens... Maybe I´ll take my camera out tomorrow. I haven´t taken any photos for a while.

It just dawned to me how odd things people collect. Or maybe I have never thought about it enough. I can get figurines, shoes, stamps, all that normal stuff, but dead animals, rubber ducks, bottle caps, boxes... Maybe it´s just me who thinks it´s not 100% normal. So I started thinking, what do I collect myself? Do a couple of hundred books, cds and DVDs count? Since it´s not rarities, it´s basic stuff. I´d say it does not count. So, what then?

Ok, I have a thing for foreign magazines. It´s just so hard to get them home in good condition, so I only have two Austrian, one Slovenian and one Czech mags at the moment. Money is my other favourite. Not in a Uncle Scrooge kind of way, but I can say I have a pretty nice collection of euro coins, normal ones from other countries and then some of those special coins. I should check what I have, because I can´t even remember what my piggy bank has inside it. And non-euro currency is fine too, some of it is on display at my notice board. Things from abroad is the simplest answer I guess.

I used to have tons of porcelain figurines, they are stacked somewhere in our linen closet I think. Seriously, I must have had over 100 of those. The dusting was nightmare. I´ve kept some of my favourites visible. I also have huge amount of post cards, if I started counting them I think I would get at least 300 of them. But apart from that stuff, I can´t think of anything I collect or have once collected. If you have a collection of something very special or even normal, share the story with me. I´d love to hear it.

I really should sleep instead of writing nonsense. I am trying to stay offline tomorrow, I´ve spent way too much time on nin.com forums talking abou Meyer books. I´m actually trying to read Midnight Dawn. It just appears to be, well, not so good. She´s lost her touch maybe. I´m not even half way through with it, so it might get better. After all, Twilight is best of all her works. She can´t have fucked it up completely, right?

Ok, I´m off to bed. I really need to get a grip of myself.

IWFT

Reflection.

I´m starting with a shallow bitch rant today. Sorry. But I had so much fun shopping. And the only reason why I take my mum with me when I buy new stuff is that there is no way in hell I´m paying my 99€ boots or coat. Yes, I finally managed to find those leather boots I´ve been dying to have. Don´t know how to describe them, so you´ll just have to wait to see me wearing them. Can´t take pictures either, because dad has my camera. And a new coat too. Black, like pretty much always. It has a bow on the back, which is a lovely detail.

Finding a cardigan that does not have any wool on it, is damn hard, I can tell you that. As I can´t wear anything wool, mohair, angora kind of stuff, I was starting to think I won´t get one. Lindex saved me and I got a very nice purple cardigan. I also finally bought the turquoise dress that´s got me drooling. It´s hanging in my closet as I type this. Yes, shopping is way too much fun.

I had to make a quick visit to the MacPeople Store at WTC to take a look at the new Nano. It´s just as lovely and pretty live as it seems on your screen. They only had the black, so I can´t tell if the colours are as vibrant as they seem, but I think they are. They are having more of them by next week, but if you want to save some money, take my advice and buy yours online. You´ll save at least 10 euros.

I have to say, Rosso has the oddest playlist I have ever heard. First of all, every time I even enter the building, there comes a time when I still haven´t found what I´m looking for by U2 starts playing. Today was no different. It´s like every time I listen to Pop Republiken on X3M they play an Editors song. I swear, every time. When I was leaving the restaurant, the song on was Loser by Beck. A family restaurant and that song. Not my first pick, but then again, I´ve been to a restaurant showing the video of Beastie Boys´ Body Movin´...

I´m kind of sad I went shopping today, actually. Not because I lost money, but because I missed the chance to see Liverpool kick ManU´s ass. I´m delighted anyway. I rather see Pool on top of the chart than ManU. Always. It would just have been so great to see it. I´ll watch Gunners beat them, so...

Gunners gave Blackburn a really cold shower this afternoon. 0-4. With Emmanuel Adebayor´s hat-trick. I was very sceptical on him when the season started, actually until today. Good to see him having fun, churning those goals. One of the best comments before Ade´s first goal was: "Bloody hell, how many passes was that to a goal?". I can´t tell, but for minutes Gunners were keeping the ball and just passing it to from player to another, like they were warming up or something. And Adebayor decided to end it with a goal. It was nice.

Almunia was doing excellent today, when he needed to do something, which wasn´t that often. What is really, really unnerving is that Eboue was taken out with strecher and Clichy wasn´t looking that good either when leaving the pitch. I honestly hope both of them are fine, the injury list is already long. Is Arsenal somehow injury prone team or what?
Oh, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere both debuted today, like seeing them in action. I just can´t shake the feeling that I am old, when the commentator said something along the lines: "...when he initially joined Arsenal as a 9-year-old back in 2001...". Wilshere is young, but that young... Actually, he is the youngest player to appear on a Premier League match. It just feels so, bizarre. Huoh.

I´m playing with iTunes and Genius now. It´s kind of nice, gives good recommendations. Too good, since I keep thinking, oh I should get that song and get to know that band or artist. This is some evil plot by Apple to make me consume even more... :D

I should get to my reading. Or at least stop hanging at my laptop and do something. I will. Starting now.

IWFT

Doomed Now.

First things first. I love the new iPod Nano. I know, I know. It looks hell of a lot more like the 2nd generation Nano than 3rd gen, but I never actually loved the 3rd gen. It was too square for my liking. That´s why this new sleek baby is something I must have. You haven´t seen them yet? Take a look at here. That´s the Finnish version of the site, but I´ll think you´ll get your way into the English or whatever version you prefer if you´re interested enough. Oh, the best thing with these new sweeties? I can´t say if it´s the Genius or the Cover Flow. I like using Cover Flow on my Mac, but Genius just sounds to brilliant. I have to get one to see how it actually works. And the colours. They are so lovely. It will be extremely hard to decide which one I want. The green is awesome, but I find the purple kind of nice too. Then again, I have been thinking of getting that red one, since it´s a (RED) product, but I might confuse it with my cell phone. Thank god I don´t have to decide now.

I nearly choked on my hot chocolate this morning. It was an ordinary looking ad on the back of a NYT liite, advertising Artek chair. It was the one word that I found so funny. The chairs in different colours were called "rockstar", "poet", "storyteller", that kind of names. And then there was this one called pianist. Thank you very much. I told you I can never think about it the normal way, not even the word.

I started reading One Hundred Years of Solitude. It´s too early to say wether it´s the best book ever or just fantastic. I have one problem with it though. One of the characters is called Aureliano, and I can´t help thinking of this man. He plays is the Argentinian league. Back in Zagreb we caught a glimpse of it and of course heard the name, and now I keep associating to him. So, really, this book is forever, to me, the Zagreb-novel. It might not be a bad thing.

Talk about Zagreb. The new issue of Anna magazine is running a story about an extended weekend in the city. Pretty basic stuff, see that and visit there. I was just very disappointed it didn´t mention shoeshops. It´s a women´s mag and women love to shop shoes, right? What would be a better place than that?

The same aforementioned magazine also presented some cities and other places people ought to visit. Including Milan. Yes, been there, done that. What really surprised me on that little article, was that it said one should book their, well I can´t get a better word right now, visit to The Last Supper beforehand, since there are even two week long waiting lists to see it. We didn´t book and still managed to see it just by walking to the building and meeting that woman with tickets.I don´t know, I guess we were unusually lucky. But we saw it. If someone wants to share their story on seeing or not seeing tha painting, feel free.

One more thing. I´ve been reading a lot of women´s mags this week... That wasn´t the thing though. MeNaiset just was asking their readers if they´ve been wondering the performer of the song on the Rexona roll-on TV ad. My instant answer was no, because first time I saw it on TV, I was, god can I never get rid of this. The song is Gabriella Cilmi´s Sweet About Me. I´ve seen the video tens of times I think. We should have kept a record. But Italian music TV apparently loved it during the summer. The video is fine, the band is having fun, but after you´ve seen it 3 times a day it gets a bit boring. So now, I haven´t been wondering about that.

Ethiopia was kicked out of the World Cup qualifying campaign. News on BBC. Got to love NewsFire for getting these news. If you are using OSX, you might find it nice.

I rest my case for now. Comments are always welcomed.

IWFT

Music Is The Victim.

First of all, if you still haven´t seen the video of Rage Against The Machine performing Bulls on Parade and Killing In The Name a capella at St. Paul, check this video. I wouldn´t say it´s hilarious, but it is really cool. They just get a megaphone and start singing. And manage to sound quite good, considering they were years apart and just made, well, I guess you can call it a comeback. Maybe it´s not that bad that they got back together...

I´m going to boast some of those bands I´ve been really into lately. Some new, some older, but all the same great to listen to.

Modwheelmood. Fabulous Swedish-Italian duo. I absolutely love their music. It´s so beautiful, you can´t believe how, somehow fragile music one can do with synths. I could listen to them for days and I´d die to see them live. Wonderful indeed.

My again-found favourite Bloc Party has a new album out. Digitally, in physical form sometime in October. I´m too lazy to find the date. But I did take a listen to the songs on their MySpace. Very electronic, it seems to be the main trend right now. It sounds kind of great though. Maybe it´s lacking some of the Intimacy of their previous albums, but I can´t deny the fact that they sound good. In a way they new sound suits them very well. I have to wait till I get the entire album on my hands before I say anything more.

I was also exploring Glasvegas´ MySpace. Shame they don´t have full songs there, because they sound very nice. Love the accent and all of those who´ve been stoked about all the other Glaswegian bands should check this band out. YleX has been playing one of their songs quite a lot and it has been to mu liking. There is also a clip of their version of Nirvana´s Come As You Are. Interesting, it reminds me a bit of the unplugged version.

I´ve mentioned Does It Offend You, Yeah? earlier, but I think it deserved to be mentioned again. Epic Last Song is one of my favourites at the moment and I am also digging Dawn Of The Dead. Check them out. I know most of you will hate them at the first time, but they really grow on you. At least they should. If they don´t, then I don´t know what´s wrong with you. :D

A second mention to MGMT is also in place. Oracular Spectacular is a stunning album. It´s not in depth with your soul and inner-self kind of album, but some of the lyrics are well-written. And if Time To Pretend, Kids and Electric Feel don´t make you feel like dancing then probably nothing does. Weekend Wars is something I´m very fond of too.

And before I forget it completely, TV On The Radio has a new album coming out September 23rd. The songs I´ve heard have been totally promising, so I have high hopes on the newcomer. Maybe after this album somebody else than critics and indie people start liking this band. They should be liked, they deserve it.

Apparently R.E.M. had a great set at the Finnair Stadium on Tuesday. I´d like to see them and their special guests, but the ticket prices were ridiculous and so I stayed home. I´m not a fan, so I´m saving the money for something else. Like for the editors album that hopefully comes out sometime soon. They´ve said they have new material, it just needs to be recorded. An End Has A Start is one of the best British albums I´ve purchased in the past years, so I hope they´ve come up with something similar. Or better. We just have to wait patiently.

That´s my two cents on music today, hope you´ll click the links and find something you like. That´s what I do quite often.

I´ve been studying the entire week. I would have never believed that reading about the crash of world economy in the 1920s´ would be fun, but it was. The guy who wrote the book I´m reading is very good with words. Not too complicated and a hint of humor here and there. The translator has done well too, I haven´t noticed anything odd.

I got to the end of The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk yesterday. It was interesting, the way it ended and sort of made me think the whole story again. Not the easiest novel to read, you need to pay attention to the plot and characters and most of all to their stories, but it pays in the end. Garcia Marquez´s masterpiece is waiting patiently to be read and I´m thinking of starting it today.

I feel like I´ve been neglecting TV lately, since I haven´t watched it. Mostly it´s because there is nothing good on. House, Criminal Minds and Dexter are pretty much the only series I want to watch. Oh, and of course Entourage with new episodes airing. But the rest... I did watch the pilot of The Black Donnelly´s. It was promising, but it doesn´t have the "it". I´m highly anticipating Flight of the Conchords that premiers on Monday, at a terrible time though. Looses some of the potential viewers because it airs around 11 PM. And Prison Break returns next week, but I´m not stoked about it. They should have made it a one-season show. Not that I wouldn´d love to see William Fitchner´s Mahone. He´s stolen the show as far as I´m concerned. Maybe I should take a look at some of those new series that Brits and Americans are thrilled about, but I hate screening them on my laptop. The picture quality usually sucks and because of that I get bored easily. It should be one hell of a show then. If someone wants to suggest a series I´d should check out, feel free.

Just got the bill of my studies. Thankfully I don´t have to pay it myself. Actually, I should be studying right now instead of posting this, but I´m ahead of my schedule, so I won´t be mad at myself.

I´m done, have fun.

IWFT

Lounge Act.

This is going to be torture to all of you who don´t like football. Because that´s mainly the only topic today. Ok, a bit something else in the beginning. Another bizarre dream I saw last night. It was about shoes. High heels to be more excact.

I was, once again I don´t know why, on a cruise ship. There was this man who was trying to charm me and he gave me the most perfect pair of high heels. They fit amazingly fine and were absolutely fabulous. So beautiful, dark, electric blue and it looked like the fabric was decorated with some kind of lace with flowers. It is so hard to describe. They looked something like these, but ten times more gorgeous. Man, if I could ever get shoes from my dream. Someone care to manufacture me my dreamshoes? I promise I´ll wear them. In the dream I had a pair of very nice green, velvety stiletto heels too, but I didn´t like them as much as the blue ones. And I´d like to know who the man was. The cruise ship part is bugging me too. Maybe I´ll get an explanation tonight.

Oh, I heard the Meyer is going to write a sequel to The Host. Why is she about to torture us? It honestly doesn´t need a sequel. One book was enough, the story was told. Right?

Fine, beautiful game. I´m watching Finland-Germany right now. Not because I´d support Finns, but because Germany has the most fun coach ever. Yes, I´m having my one-person Joachim Löw fan club here right now. Imagine if he was coaching Finland... Though then it would mean that we´d need to find Finns that live and breathe the game, not just play it. Some interesting situations so far, but nothing dramatic.

I am going to watch Spain -Armenia this evening, well, night actually. Interesting to see if del Bosque still places Fabregas on the starting XI after his blast on Saturday. He was really pissed when he was substituted by Alonso, everyone could see it. I was totally surprised by his actions, but they don´t make him any less great a player. We´ll see. I´m keeping this updated.

France won´t be having Nasri today as his knee has been bugging him and they want to play safe. Which is totally fine by me, because leagues are back this weekend.

//Finland-Germany ended 3-3 with Klose scoring a hattrick. Interesting match, Finland was better than I ever expected. Germany (fine, Gomez) managed to fuck up couple of good situations. All in all, it was a really fine match, it was great to see it.

Russia won Wales and Bosnia-Herzegovina took the points from Estonia. Capdevila has scored for Spain and Walcott for England (about time). Cesc didn´t make Spain´s opening, btw, and they are playing with two forwards. Shame my favourite forward won´t be making an appearance. Just got to settle with Villa, who just put the ball in the goal making the numbers 2-0. Armenia is taking a huge beat. France and Italy have both one goal, leading Serbia and Georgia respectively. Croatia-England 0-3 with Theo-boy´s second and Rooney´s goal.

All my streams went down for at least ten minutes, annoying. Got to hope this one I just got stays up until the end. // This update posted at 11.39 PM

//Interesting results. My favourite is Portugal-Denmark 2-3. Yes, that´s right, the Danes won Portugal. If I wasn´t dead tired I´d be jumping of joy. Seriously.
Luxembourg won Switzerland 2-1, which is a middle-sized shock.
In Northern Ireland the result against Czech Republic was 0-0. The latter had a certain Baros on the opening XI, which surprised me. A lot, I might add.
Croatia-England must have been great. England got their revenge, 1-4. Theo W. also made a hattrick and by now proved he really deserves his place on the team.
Lithuania beat Austria and France got that really important win as Serbia went down 2-1. Italy is also a winner of this evening.
Spain-Armenia ended 4-0, with Marcos Senna scoring the last one. Started getting better and better towards the end and one of the good moments was seeing Bojan play. Yes, it was cool. The referee was from Finland and on my opinion did his job well.

Oh, in case you like languages, in Spanish corner is corner, just like in Italian a weekend is weekend.

I´m done for this evening. I´ve been up for god knows how long and have been writing for hours about football to a post that most likely no one will read. I´m hitting the sack now. I´ll write when I actually have something worth telling.// posted at 1.10 AM

IWFT

The First Cut Is The Deepest.

I hate tuna cans. At least those tuna cans that are sold here. The lid is deadly. Why can´t we have those paprey-like lids that I remember Italian cans have. I am not sure if they are made of paper, but they didn´t feel metal when I had an encounter with one. Why all this resentment? I´ll tell you.

I´m spending a weekend alone as my folks are making their last visit to our summer cottage. So, I decided to make some pizza. It all went fine until it was time to throw the tuna in. I opened the lid and the next thing I realised was that my finger was bleeding, really much. It´s funny how you react in a slipt second in a situation like that. Of course I ran to the sink to get the water clean the wound. Well, it was still very much bleeding when I started to think about a band-aid. None in the kitchen, so I had to make my way to the toilet. Wrapped the corner of the kitchen towel around the cut and took a few steps.

In the toilet I had to clean the cut again. The person who says Septidin doesn´t smart when you put it to the wound has never tried it. Because it does. Not that it did that much good. You know how much a wound on your finger can bleed, right? A lot. Then started the desperate search for a band-aid. Not a single one that would have fitted my finger without trimming. Yeah, there was what was left of a one meter on band aid, but I didn´t have scissors. Besides, it would have been impossible to cut anything with just one hand. Finally I found one plaster that I did stick to the finger. I had to get a new one about two hours later, but now the cut has settled. Finally. Thank god I´m not one of those people who faint when they see blood. I did sit on the toilet floor for a while, since the incident made me feel a little light-headed. All is well now though. It was just so funny. My family seems to have a thing for finger accidents. Remember when I told my dad hit his finger with an axe? It was his ringfinger, left. Today I cut my ringfinger, right. I didn´t get stiches and believe that this is going to be fine in a couple of days.

The pizza was delicious. After I removed a very bloody looking pineapple slice out of it.

This action took about fifteen minutes of my day, so I´ve been doing other things too. Well, watching TV mostly. I know I´m ten years late on this one, but I finally decided to give The Sopranos a chance and watched the pilot. I don´t hate it, but I´m not in love with it either. Yet, at least. Actually, I think it´s better to start with it now than when I was something like eleven. I might get it better now, if you know what I mean. Like Six Feet Under. I love the show, but I was pretty young when it premiered here and I know I have missed things because of that. But if the rumours about its´ rerun are real, then I can´t wait.

Other show I´ve spend my hours on today was Holocaust. YLE Teema showed the first part yesterday and I recorded it. The name pretty much tells what it´s about. First episode was a bit over two hours, but it´s worth it. This show has been highly appraised and I understand why it´s on Teema. Shame that most people are going to miss or just aren´t interested. They should.

I´ve got entertainment for the rest of the evening, I happened to find a stream of Spain - Bosnia-Herzegovina, but as my Spanish still sucks, I can only understand the names. Like I´m going to let that bother me. And you can guess what people are singing... Now it´s stuck in my head for days. Again.
What is totally odd, is that France is taking a beat from Austria. 2-1 right now. Anything can happen. I´m having fun with this. More later.

//WTF was once again my first comment. Austria-France 3-1. Never saw that coming. Italy barely won Cyprus, final result was 1-2. Romania´s 3-0 loss to Lithuania wasn´t that expected either. Otherwise nothing special. Spain - Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, by Villa´s rather Torres-esque goal. The Euro final -esque goal. Not a great game, but entertaining, though BIH didn´t really stand a chance. It was just odd, Ramos was playing a position that would have made me mistaken him for a almost attacking midfielder, if I hadn´t known better. Oh, apparently in Spain Fabregas still goes by his first name, which is somewhat disturbing. And I will never read comments again, because they remind me of what I have once said in the late hours. Or early hours. About certain people. Or person... Thank you.

IWFT

Go.

I wasn´t going to post today, but... Apparently I don´t need a second thought on getting a job, since I was told today that I have one - I just need to make one phone call tomorrow to ensure it. Awesome. My jaw nearly dropped when I heard this. Ok, it´s not a fancy job or anything and there is no way to tell how long I get to work, but hey, a chance to get some cash. Who would say no?

I don´t hate our library as much as I did earlier. I can´t tell what it is, it isn´t like they´ve got bunch of new cool stuff there or anything. I did have loads of fun reading magazines and trying not to laugh out loud about certain things. I think the guy sitting next to me (and coughing all the time) wouldn´t have approved my behaviour. I just got to ask those who go to the library more often than I do - any library for that matter, because this is something that hasn´t happened before- do the people working there greet everyone entering the building? The young guy greeted me with a typical Finnish style by nodding his head and I was like, what. No one does that. I did have a purpose for my trip to the said library, but I had to ask the woman to get me the book from another library since their copy was out on loan. I did get One Hundred Years of Solitude though. It´s been bugging me ever since I saw it on the Londoner´s table in Zagreb, so I decided to do something about it.

In the news today: Antti Niemi wraps up his football career, because of his wrist injury. He intends to continue as a scout for Fulham in Finland. In a way I´m sorry to hear this eventhough I don´t even support the Finnish national team. But Niemi has been a great goalie and should have gotten more respect than he did.

Today has been a quite a good day. Yeah, it has rained more than is healthy. But I finally got my lovely laptop bag, paper version´s of my graduation photos and two awesome CDs. Currently I´m listening to Does It Offend You, Yeah? and soon moving onto listening to the grand MGMT.
Oh, also HBL informed me that they´ve extended my subscription for two weeks - for free. Thank you. A good day indeed.

// I´m editing this just to let everyone know, that the new nin.com site is up and what´s even more better (at least I think so, for the moment) is that the forum has gone public to everyone interested. The forum is cool, has been since the beta was introduced to the ETSers an Spirales in mid-August. They went public pretty soon, but then again, I don´t mind. Interested? Join, have fun like I do. Don´t be a douchebag.

IWFT

Half Day Closing.

Soap operas are done for this fall. Robinho got out of Real Madrid, but instead of Chelsea his new address is Manchester City. The transfer fee is a hefty 32,5 million pounds (approx. 42 million euros). Dimitar Berbatov moves to the same city, but to the other team for 30,75 million pounds. Spurs are desperately trying to get their shit together with the Russian Pavlyuchenko from Moscow and the Croat Corluka from Man City. Liverpool snatched Vitor Flora and Everton now has Louis Saha (formerly ManU man) and Marouane Fellaini from Belgium. I happened to see him play at the Olympics and got to say, he´s not bad at all. Those are prolly the most important and interesting last transfers at the Premier League.

Elsewhere Nicolas Pareja signed a deal with Espanyol and Mika Väyrynen is going back to Heerenveen. Injury news tell that Fernando Torres is out for two to three weeks due to his injured hamstring. He´ll miss two World Cup qualifying matches, at least. Hope is getting well soon.

HBL game me a huge laugh this morning. Apparently the German national team is yet again a one more player short (Ballack is injured and out) because Torsten Frings broke his nose at a basketball match. Seriously. My first tought was WTF and then I couldn´t stop laughing. Almost beats my favourite joke right now. That being: "What was Marc Bolans last hit? - A tree." (Courtesy of thomasjeffy over at ETS.) I don´t know why it´s killing me, but it is.


Ok, I am loving my new haircut. Short on the back, but a bit longer on the front. The picture might give you a faint idea, but since it´s taken with Photo Booth and I´m not an owl, you can´t really see the back. It has a bit the same as Victoria Beckham or Rihanna had. Before the latter cut her hair even more shorter. But hell no, I´m not intentionally copying them, never.


Um, why am I so late on everything? I mean, getting into Kings of Leon now. Fine, they haven´t broken up or anything, so I haven´t actually missed a thing. And by getting into them I mean musically, because I´ve been drooling on Jared Followill for ages. Just decided to purchase one of their albums, eventhough I had made a decision not to buy any more CDs. MP3 are nice, but they lack the art and are so neutral. I´m considering getting some stuff from iTunes as none of the Finnish record stores sell the EPs I´d love to have. But maybe later. Now I actually have to check my account´s balance. Abroad cash withdrawals... Damn, they are elaborate with them. Might as well tell what colour the building hosting the ATM is.

I started planning my studies. Schedule, when to do which exam. Believe me, it´s not that easy to decide when you start checking the books and how much you have to read. And there is no way I´m doing an exam in June. May will be the last as I know I have to study for the entrance test too. I have been thinking about getting a job, but I don´t know if I could manage to study and work at the same time. Some money would be nice though. I have to think about it a little more.

The Road to Guantanamo is on YLE TV1 today evening. I will be checking it out, it should be interesting. Some other TV treats this week are Generation Kill, premiering at Canal+First tomorrow at 11 PM and ice hockey Finnkampen, if that´s your sport. Finland´s U21 football team is facing Denmark´s boys on Friday, so keep your eyes open for some possible eye candy. :D

IWFT

Time To Send Someone Away.

You know what to expect, right? Good. First of all, I am truly sorry to read that Fernando Torres got injured yesterday. A Reds man yes, but I was brainwashed to like him during the summer. Apparently it´s a hamstring injury, which never means good, I´ve learned. Fine, some recover from it faster than other´s, but I don´t know how serious a problem it is. Hopefully not one that takes nine months to recover (krhmrosickykrhm), because I´d like to see him play. Especially now that the World Cup qualifyings are starting.

Expect heavy traffic today, since it´s tha last day of the summer transfers. Quaresma is going to Inter and it should be more than likely that Robinho leaves Real Madrid for Chelsea. What I´m interested in is wether Wenger catches Alonso from Liverpool or not. Maybe Gunners don´t need him, but I´d like to see him at the Emirates Stadium. And it has to be said, Nasri is going to a Arsenal legend, definitely. The way he´s played this far... Fabulous.

La Liga kicked off interesting. First the Catalan catasrophe, Barca taking a beat from Numancia, the underdog. Deportivo was better than Real Madrid on the televised match that I actually watched. Real´s playing was terrible. Like the commentator said, maybe some of them are still a bit hungover from winning the Euro. Atletico Madrid leading the liga, but it was just the first round. Anything can happen, even if the giants stumbled yesteday.

Serie A had some stumblers too. AC Milan lost, Roma, Juventus and Inter had draws. Maybe this will be the season when the big ones don´t rule. Or then they are just rusty after the summer. We´ll take another look in May.

Fine, getting an e-mail about how to do my studies was worth.. nothing. I knew all of it already. Gosh, why do they even bother. "Be in contact with a local school and ask wether you can do your exams there." Like I haven´t tried that already. No, I can´t do that since people at Lahtis aren´t nice at all. They do keep reminding that they want money for it. Phew.

I did some shopping yesterday. New make-up. I am falling in love with that line. It´s reasonably priced and the stuff looks good.
I also saw a lovely dress, but didn´t buy it, because I have no occasion to wear it. Which is a huge shame. I do have to keep looking for the perfect shoes, still. I found a pair that was almost what I´m looking for, but they were not genuine leather, so I don´t know what they´d look after two months of wearing. Still looking... I so want to go do some shopping, but I think my bank account´s balance disagrees with me. Hate the fact that I want so much stuff I can´t afford. The high heels are a must though. Like making a couple of t-shirts too. Why are they still undone? Got to get a grip of myself.

Going to get a new haircut tomorrow. I don´t know what it´ll be like, but it sure as hell is better than the one I am sporting right now. I hate it when my hair gets all curly and won´t settle nicely. It isn´t very convinient to have the wet-hair look here, it´s not warm enough.

I hate reading the news these days. The domestic news are just plain boring. It´s all Big Brother and Idols and if it´s something else then it´s prolly saying Finns are too fat or something about the budget or president/prime minister/foreign minister-who get´s to attend what meeting. The foreign news just make me sad. Hurricane Gustav about to hit New Orleans. At least they are evacuating people this time, trying to do something. Maybe I should quit reading newspapers.

I´m going to go do something else than whine. More when I feel like it.

IWFT