Eating Muffins

Posted by jukkahoo

Vastakkainasettelun AIKA ON OHI! Yay, Tarja!

Paluu normaaliin tilaan voi alkaa. Tulossa raporttii Turu keikast ja hassuja meemejä.

Posted by jukkahoo

I was on telly few hours ago. Namely on MTV3, which to all you non-Finns stands for Mainostelevisio as in Commercial Television and is also the biggest network here in Finland. They have this morning show called Ihana aamu (Wonderful Morning) where I was supposed to be talking about sf and fandom.

Today (27th of January) is the 30th anniversary of the Finnish fandom, ’cause this is the day when the Turku SF Society was founded, in 1976. Yes, only 30 years ago. How times fly.

*sigh*

Anyway, I went to speak on behalf of fandom, and I think I did a decent job at that. Sisättö called me the Finnish Ambassador of SF on his blog, but I felt more like a regular fan, sitting there under all those hot studio lights and feeling a bit iffy, since I was (and am) fluish. The seven and half minutes we had went by far quicker than I anticipated. And it took me whole of fifteen minutes to realise, I never even mentioned Finncon 2006, or mafia’s, or Tom Ölander or whatever. I rambled about Warlord of Saturn and my cancer blanket, but forgot the frakking FINNCON!!! My bad.

But I did remember to point out that this is the 30th anniversary of TSFS and that we fen are pretty much like all the rest of the people out there. Only a bit more loonier, perhaps. The interviewer seemed to like it too as well as the production people, as we had a very nice chitchat after the gig. Maybe I can coerce them to do an episode closer to Finncon, with a GoH or summat. Perhaps I ought to email them about it…hmmm.

Damnation! I forgot my light saber, too!

All in all, I think it went well. Haven’t watched it yet and I think I am saving it for next week or so, when me mum is coming to eat some sushi and see her eldest appear once more on national tv.

Tomorrow I’m hopefully heading to Turku, where the Official Celebrations are being held. I think this performance counts as my present to TSFS and Spin. When was the last time you got some national TV-time? 🙂

And since I am now at it, I think I ought to say something about my recent (Wednesday) trip to Hyvinkää where I spent couple of active hours (feverish, yes) talking about phantasy to 7th and 8th graders, their teachers and librarians. I had made this 45-50 minute "Fantasy fiction 101" speech, which I then did twice. Fairly decent Powerpoint extravaganza. So much so, that I glanced my notes only twice during those presentations. Darned shame in a way, since I actually had written some good points down that I failed to mention during the show. Then again, it’s always nice to give a speech/whatnot without having to rely on your papers, eh? There is that sönösekuu feeling of improvisation and duality of "knowing your stuff" and "showing off".

The youngsters seemed to be listening, at least some of the time, since there was precious little whispering and/or snoring. The teachers and librarians thanked me at the end of it, having noted the same thing about the silence of the lambs (they were scattered around the audience, so they should know). Don’t really know how much they got out of it, but I guess it could’ve been worse, like two hours of math, or something.

And what did I actually say, you may ask? Well, basically I divided tha topic into five smaller categories: 1) What is Fantasy?, 2) The History of Fantasy, 3) Themes and Topics of Fantasy, 4) Writers of Fantasy, and finally 5) Fantasy in Finland. Fiction of Impossible to Johanna Sinisalo and beyond. The whole lot, incl. (1) one kitchen sink. All the basics from Gilgamesh to William Morris and Tolkien, with Good vs. Evil and Bildnungsroman thrown in. And I didn’t forget Harry Potter, either.

Weird habits meme coming up!

Posted by jukkahoo

Sain tänään kohtauksen lähteä maailmalle tutkailemaan, josko antikvaarisissa kirjakaupoissa olisi lisämateriaalia huoneustomme jäljellä olevan tyhjän tilan täyttäjäksi. Ja olihan siellä. Seuraa luettelo mietinnöin varustettuna:

David Nevin: 1812
– näyttäisi olevan historiallinen romsku Ameriikan tuon vuoden sodasta pohjoisen naapurivaltion kanssa. Aihe ja aika kiinnostaa.
Hope Mirrlees: Lud-in-the-Mist
– Fantasy Masterwork-sarjan kauan kaivattu osuus, jota Neil Gaimankin kehuu kosolti.
Lord Dunsany: The Charwoman’s Shadow
– samalla ajatuksella kuin edellinenkin, fantasian klassikoita.
Howard Waldrop: Howard Who?
– Kovakantinen novellikokoelma tältä äimistyttävien tarinoiden suoltajalta. Tästä tullee useampikin novelli suomeksi ihan lähiaikoina Kirjavan toimesta.
Holly Black: Tithe
– suomeksikin näitä Spiderwickin kronikoita (tai mitä ne nyt ovatkaan) julkituoneen kirjailijan esikoinen on moderni haltijakertomus, josta on kuulunut melko lailla positiivista hyminää.
George MacDonald: Phantastes
– Lisää klassikoita, tämä on itse asiassa niitä aivan ekoja puhtaasti fantasiakirjaksi laskettavaa matskua, yhdessä William Morrisin kanssa.
Donald James: Monstrum
– lähitulevaisuuteen (2015) sijoittuva tarina sarjamurhaajasta Moskovassa, joka on vasta tokeutumassa maata ravistelleesta sisällissodasta.
Seabury Quinn: The Adventures of Jules Grandin
– Liikanimellä "Sherlock of the Supernatural" raskautettu Jules Grandin ja hänen kirjoittajansa Quinn olivat aikoinaan kultaisella 30-luvulla yksi suosituimmista ja rakastetuimmista pulp-hahmoista. Ei pitäisi olla kestänyt ajan hammasta kovinkaan hyvin…
Martin Scott: Thraxas
– kehnoksi haukuttu World Fantasy Award -voittaja. Lukemani jatko-osa (Thraxas and Wizards?) oli keskinkertaisuudessaan kehno esitys, mutta tässä määritteli ostopäätöstä enemmän se, että kyseessä on siis todellakin WFA-voittaja, sarja täyteen!
Bob Shaw: Land and Overland -trilogia (The Wooden Spaceships, The Ragged Astronauts & The Fugitive Worlds)
– kaksoisplaneettojen välillä matkustetaan ilmapalloilla ja puisilla avaruusaluksilla! Ei voi olla huono!
Theodore Roszak: The Memoirs of Elisabeth Frankenstein
– Flickerin tekijän koukkaus kauhun puolelle, vuoden 1995 Tiptree-voittaja.

I just bought a load of 2nd hand books. All in all, a very satisfying haul, doubly so as Sari deemed to say: "that in lieu of your normal purchases, this is a positively decent bunch of books".  Phew.

In other news: not a lot, as might be observed by the silence herewith. I was merrymaking with the shadow-mafia yesterday and as sisatto writes, did jump over various obstacles in order to catch a tram. No permanent damage, nor ripped clothing.

Sari has flu.

Ho-hum.

Election day this Sunday. Use your vote.

Äimistyttäviä tarinoita has been well-received thus far. Order your copy from the GooGooMuck. €3. Cheapo.

Posted by jukkahoo

I finished with Marvin’s special number of "Äimistyttäviä tarinoita" (Ammazzing Tales) this Wednesday morning and then spend several hours trying to find a computer hooked to a laser printer, which could understand my Pagemaker file. Evidently I am more than archaic. 😦

Fittingly, I was only able to get acquainted with said machine by sheer coincidence. BIG thanks and kudos! to my sister-in-law, Mekku! And still we had some major communications problems with some of those pesky &"¤%"£# pictures. How in the ¤&"%! can some #%#!ing program turn b/w pictures into grayscale, after you have painstakingly both scanned and saved black and white drawings as @%¤$!ing b/w files?!?

Anyway, Marvin 3/2005 was printed (as my understanding is) today and will be folded and stapled next Thursday. So I’ll have it by then, and possibly couple of others – worthy of it – by next week. Or, possibly at the first meeting later that day at St. Urho’s. It’s jam-packed with goodies from the likes of Boris Hurtta, Petri Salin, Jaakko Ensio and Marko Kivelä – not to mention Juri Nummelin and Yours Truly. Nifty pictures by Petri Hiltunen, Maija Pietikäinen and Ninni Aalto. And again, me. Pulpish delights and far too many tyops, my fault. Sorry about that.

Now: Very tired.

Next: I have this article I’m in the middle of, which should’ve already have been written and delivered. Sorry about that Anne! I will get it done ASAP. Now… must… get… some… sleep…

And could the last person leaving this year turn off the lights? Thanks!

Posted by jukkahoo

Paikka: Casa Tali

Aika: 20.12. 2005 kello 17.00 eteenpäin. Se on tiistai.

Tarjolla: sushia, salaattia ja shämpylöitä. Ja jos oikein on jano, niin ehkä Pepsiä?

Tervetuloa! Omat pullot mukaan. Saa tuoda herkkujakin.

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[edit] Ai niin, saa ilmoitella tulostaan, jotta ostan tarpeeksi kalaa susheihin. Kala-allergikot tuovat omat lihapullansa perunasalaatin vierustaan. Siitäkin voi ilmoittaa vaikkapa tähän perään.

[edit2] Typepad hukkasi osan postauksista ja kommenteista, mutta on pikku hiljaa palauttamassa niitä ruotuun. Merkonkin Sartre-vihamielisyydet ovat olemassa 🙂

Posted by jukkahoo

I’m going to nick this from Matthew Cheney’s brilliant Mumpsimus blog, since I really would like to hear from you guys. What do you consider to be the so called literary sins you’ve committed?
We all have our favourites, our guilty pleasures and comfort reads, but what are all those have-to-read classics and/or notable books, that you haven’t been able to process thru? Or in some cases, can’t stand the sight of. Confess your sins! What has irked your wrath? What is not really good, even though simply everybody says so? WTF?

I’ll go first. Krhm.

I don’t really get Phil Dick. Yeah, it is evidently a sin, but I just can’t seem to to enjoy him. I have read few of his books and the ones that I seem to be able to appreciate, are the old, straight-forward amore pulpish tales like the Eye in the Sky. I did enjoy The Man in the High Castle and Flow My Tears the Policeman Said (or is it Policeman Sayid?) somewhat, but Ubik and Valis I just coudn’t care less. or even finish. I have no idea what’s going on in those books, but more importantly, I don’t care. My eyes glaze over, I lose the will to live, I fell asleep.

What else? Oh yes, Kimmo Saneri. Nope. A short story or two, but nothing more. And really, a short story is enough. Been there, done that. Greg Egan. I tried Distress, but couldn’t get past first thirty pages. Should have another go, evidently, but alas. And Stephen Baxter… *sigh* Greg Bear’s Blood Music was crap from the word go. Then again, that and most of the previous ones have one thing in common, they write more or less hardcore-sf, which really lets me down every single time. Painovoima 700, Lohikäärmeen muna etc. Dullness galore. I just cannot fathom the Bore city. Hoyle, vomit. Ian Watson is another bore. I also really don’t care for Joanna Russ’ Female Man (Naisten planeetta), but that I’ve said many a times, so that’s no real revelation here.

OK, now you. Play along and went out. Go for it!