Hello, how are you folks doing? :)

So lately I've been wasting my life. Why? World of Warcraft why. Yes, that's right. I started WoWing and slowly it has sucked my life and I'm all happy with that. I'll soon hit my first lvl 70 too.

Also, this Sunday we're recording our first demotape. Who knows, maybe we'll even send it to some strange Finnish labels and hope for the best. Maybe one day we will make something awesome, like a 7-inch record. Heck, maybe we even score some chicks someday when we are wealthy and famous... or not. :D I've been writing tons of songs so we certainly have lots of material for the future, though "writing" is such a broad term. There really ain't that much writing involved when you just grab your guitar and smash the strings like there's no tomorrow. We're also searching for a new rehearsal place, mainly because I'm sick of that pee-smelling little hole where we play now. Too bad that the town where we live doesn't have that much to offer when it comes to band activity, so it might take some while till we find a good place to play.

Aaaaand... I'm moving... again. This time I'm moving to my sisters old place and share a flat with one of her friends. I'm actually waiting towards to it since the apartment where I live now has become a quite boring environment for me. I need some change, so it's definitely coming to a right spot.

Well that's about it for now. Not that much going on, but at least it's something. :P

So it's been a long while. Sorry about that, I've been hospitalized for over a month now because of my declining mental health. I'm on heavy medication now and we are waiting for it to work. Hopefully it does the trick, I've definitely been feeling better lately, but that could be because of healthy diet of food and rest we get there too. It's an open hospital so we can come and go how we please, but because there's no computer I haven't been that much online. I really like the staff and the other patients too.

So how's everybody been? I'm finishing my first book at the moment, it won't be long till it's finished. Maybe a week or two and that's it. I had to put my studies on hold because of my health, but hopefully after January I can continue them. Also I soon have my birthday, 21 years old.

I love my sis. Sure, she's a pain in the butt at times like all the little sisters, but most of the times she's a pretty cool dude. And I mean dude. You see, my sister is the biggest tomboy in the world. I'd never wanna piss her off because I can honestly say that she would kick my ass and curse me with horrible words. I bet she could wrestle a bear and come out on top. I remember how I accidentally kicked her to the face with ice skates (don't ask) and as a retaliation she punched me to the groin... twice. Oh yeah, did I mention that she drinks booze like it's water?

Not only is she a "cool dude", but she's also the loudest person I've ever met. Even when she talks with her normal voice it sounds like someone is slamming trash cans in a tunnel, and holy hell does she make the weirdest sounds when she's angry and yells at everything. Someday I will record her speech and make rocking noise music out of it.

One thing I've never really understood is the way she changes her look all the time. You may see her in complete goth outfit for one day, and the next day she looks like a gangsta rapper. It's kinda creepy.

Also she has this habit of changing her boyfriends like socks. I'm not surprised though, she's a very strong-willed chick and I'm pretty sure it takes an equally strong-willed guy to tame her. Most of her boyfriends have been complete douchebags, I've only liked two of them. Oh well, maybe one day she will find a guy who can handle her.

But like said, I love my sis. She's the only person I can talk with pretty much anything, and she's the only person that really understands my quirks. Although we're not twins, I've always felt that we connect in a way that twins normally do. It's hard to explain, but hopefully you get the point. She's a bit lazy but I still know I can rely on her when I ask, and that's one of the things I really appreciate about her.

Of course I'd never say anything like this to her since I'm a macho Finnish-guy who doesn't show emotions no matter what. Heck, I don't even know why I even wrote this, I blame boredom. 8)

So here's some milkshake-related pics:

[spoiler]

Strawberry milkshake [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

Chocolate milkshake [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

A cow, this is where the milk for your milkshake comes. Cows rule. [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

Milkshake in a container [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

Danelectro DJ7, also known as "milkshake chorus pedal". It sucks. [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

A milkshake machine. I want one! [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

Bottled milkshake [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

Milkshakes, a character from "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" [/spoiler]
[spoiler]

Oblivians, a kickass garage punk-band. Has a song called "Do the Milkshake" on their brilliant album "Popular Favorites". [/spoiler]

Man, milkshake... is there anything better?

No.

Ah yes, the exams are finally over and I'm very pleased with my performance. Especially the two-part Finnish test went very well, thanks to my magnificent essay on life outside of earth. Other parts went great too, with my sharp-eyed analysing skills and thoughtful mind. The philosophy test was slightly harder than I expected, but all-in-all I think I did pretty well. I didn't really like the fact that most of the questions were about morals and ethics and jazz like that, but whatcha gonna do eh?

I've been thinking about starting to press my own shirts and pins from now. Why? Because I'm a cheap-ass punk, that's why. And also because that way I'll at least have some control over the things that are on them.

The Cows are awesome btw, and so is No New York. Just a little point to feed my brilliant ego and snob-nosed elitist inside, because most of you probably have no idea what the hell I'm talking about. Dwell in your ignorance, mortal ones. Buahaha.

I'm all out of money, I've mostly lived with instant noodles for the past month or so. It sucks, because I hate instant noodles. But I take it as a practice for my future plans to move into a crumbled old shack and live a life of voluntary poverty.

I asked my friend to record a bunch of 30 second clips of him banging the drums randomly, so I can over-dub my guitar feedback and bass-smashing on top of it. It will be a masterpiece.

That new therapy of mine ended. It was a nice change of phase, lots of things we did there. I actually asked if I could get more sessions since I really liked the therapy lady, much more than I like my usual one, and I enjoyed the stuff we did there. Also I have a new therapist since my old one went on a holiday, a guy this time around. Very nice dude, though he looks like a fish. A bearded fish.

What else? I have no idea. It's 6 AM, I haven't slept and my dog just raped my pillow so I don't wanna go to the bed. I really should get him castrated since he does crazy stuff like that from time to time. Also my mom just got a new dog and I'm not sure if I wanna see them two to hit it together.

But that's it for now, love ya all.

EDIT: Just took the dog outside for a walk. I really love walking early in the morning when the streets are silent and a thick fog shrouds everything. You could almost expect a horde of vampires appearing from the middle of it all.

So instead of writing a long rant about my last week or so, I just thought it would be more convenient to list the stuff I did. Damn right I'm lazy:

Owned like a madman in skate. demo.
Wrote 10 new songs.
Bought a couple of new records:
- The B-52's - s/t
- Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
- The Heartburns - F**** Up In a Bad Way
- Oblivians - Soul Food
- Reatards - Teenage Hate
Named my poem collection.
- Wrote probably the first poem that I don't consider to be a complete POS.
Drank booze.
Made a trip to Kotka to get a new dog for our mom.
Started adventure therapy.
Realized the essence of life, unfortunately I can't share it with you or I'm forced to kill you.
Watched three Chuck Norris flicks:
- Breaker Breaker
- Missing In Action
- The Octagon
- Also on a related note I had a marathon of Chuck Norris' Karate Kommandos animation series. It rocked.
Stopped smoking, cold turkey. Yeah I'm that hardcore.

Yup, that's about it. I also made this sweet sig about The Marked Men, but it still needs some work.

Yesterday my mom and I visited my grandpa's grave at the local cemetery. I really like that place, it's very beautiful. It's like a total opposite of those haunted, gothic cemeteries you usually see in horror movies and Tim Burton films, it's a very peaceful resting place. One of my favorite things to do there is just cruise around and check out different tombstones. My favorite kinds are probably those simple, natural stone-ones that usually decorate graves of the cremated. However as much as I like visiting the place, there's this one grave that is really damn depressing to say the least. The "tombstone" itself is this really crappy tiny piece of stone and the writing on it has almost completely disappeared. Also there's never any flowers there, only leaves that have fallen from the trees. It's such a shame that no one takes care of that grave, it looks so lonely there.

Also I took a joyful trip to Helsinki yesterday. The reason? My friend and I went to Tavastia Club, which is a popular Finnish rock club, to watch Martin Rev perform his solo stuff. I'm a massive, MASSIVE Suicide fan so I knew that no matter what, I would enjoy the concert. And must I say... it was highly inspiring. Sure, Rev was old as hell and with those crazy goggles he wore, he looked like Baxter Stockman in his Fly-form from the Turtles, but holy hell did he kick some major butt. I don't think I've ever heard such sounds coming out of just one keyboard and the way he played it was most impressive. Basically he just rammed his fist to the keyboard to create some sweet noise. Sometimes he gave a gentle stroke, and the keyboard answered with beautiful white noise, and sometimes he punished it by punching it with all he got, and the instrument growled in agony like some giant monster of doom from the blackest depths of abyss. His performance actually solidified my theory that as long as you have the rhythm section in good balance, it doesn't matter what and how you play anything else. It really was an eye-widening performance and yes, it ruled. It's actually a shame that there weren't that many people witnessing Rev's performance, most likely because despite the huge influence that Suicide has had, they are still a fairly obscure band. It was actually pretty easy to notice from the crowd those who actually knew who he was, while everyone else just stood there, probably thinking "What the hell is this s**t!". Also one last thing I must say is how damn charismatic he was, although he said like ten words during the whole concert, one of them being a simple "Thanks for coming".

Rev's warm-up band was called Shogun Kunitoki, a somewhat post-rockish electronic band from Finland. They projected some highly visual experimental art-films to the wall while playing and although I did like their sound, I was way too eager to witness Martin Rev to enjoy myself to the fullest. One thing I must mention is that my little trip to Helsinki really opened my eyes to how much larger that place is when compared to my own hometown. Especially the nightlife there was, well... more lively than ours. Yup, but that's about it. I actually hope that I had some pics to show from my trip, but I never remember these things beforehand. So sorry for that, maybe next time. ;) In the meanwhile let this awesome picture I made act as a visual representation of what went down there:

[spoiler] [/spoiler]

Oh yeah, it was amazing. 8)

I've been a bit depressed lately, so I thought a bit of shopping would help me lift the mood up. After grabbing some pizza from a nearby store, my adventures lead me to a local record shop. I actually went there to see how much Nintendo DS costs there, but I got distracted by their cd shelves so I kind of forgot to ask any of that. Oh well, gotta do it tomorrow I guess. But anyhow, I grabbed three albums there.

Marianne Faithfull - A Stranger on Earth



I'm ashamed to admit, but "Broken English" is the only Marianne Faithfull album I've heard before this. So I thought this might be a great gateway to introduce myself to her other stuff. I'm totally digging it, I guess her earlier material is on my buy list next. And damn does she look beautiful on that cover. Forget all those modern day skanky pop-hos, Marianne Faithfull I heart you.

Leonard Cohen - Greatest Hits



Often referred as one of the finest compilations, as well as one of the most depressing albums there is, Leonard Cohen is always a treat for ears. Simply put: the man is pure c.lass. He could belch on the microphone and record it all with a lousy cassette recorder, yet it would still end up being an amazingly cool and poetic piece of art. I must say that I really wouldn't call this depressing, it's certainly very sad but for me, it's more cathartic in the end than downright depressing. There's something very purifying in it's moody atmosphere. This re-release came with a really annoying slipcase, but thank god they hadn't touched that iconic cover art. I would have wept blood. IMO slipcases are devil's work. In a slightly absurd moment, my mom actually told me how much she loves Leonard Cohen. Now, this came as a total surprise for me since my mom listens mostly pure crap. What made the whole ordeal even more surreal was the fact that we actually talked of how much we both love Cohen's work. I never would have imagined I'd talk about music with my mom.

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water



Easily my favorite S&G album, I already own it on vinyl but seeing it with a mere price of 3 euros, I just had to get the cd version too. That's the one thing I really love about our local record store, it has this one section that has these really low price records with even the most expensive ones costing only 3 euros. Mostly it's filled with horrible filth like 90's Eurodance compilations and stuff like that, but sometimes you get lucky and find c.lassics like this.

There was more stuff I would have liked to get such as Weezer's Pinkerton, some Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley's Grace, but unfortunately I had to leave them alone since I'm getting that sweet Nintendo DS soon. So with couple of new albums and a massive bag of gummy bears (gummy bears = ownage) in my grasp, I happily jumped down the street, all the way back home. Now if only I would get my Xbox 360 back...

Tribute to all you trolls out there by SinkO aka A collection of some of my favorite Trolls ever.

[spoiler]
Cavetroll from LotR


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Hugo


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Theodor Kittelsen's Troll pictures


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Troll


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Mortiis


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Edward Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, ultimate Troll theme song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzyi3C4gNnE
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Finntroll


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Troll 2


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Rölli-Peikko, yeah most of you probably don't know who the hell this is :(


[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
The Moomins


[/spoiler]

Gotta love them trolls. 8)

God I hate modern album/dvd covers that look like Photoshop vomited way too many ugly layers on top of each other. Not only is it visible on way too many music albums, these horrid stinkers have also made their ways to movies as well. I'd take a poster of Eastwood's "The Gauntlet" any day and proudly wear it on my wall, but there's no chance in hell I could even imagine putting a "Children of Men"-poster up there, even if it is a great film. Of course there has always been ugly covers, but somehow the photoshopped-ones always seem to catch my eye. Besides, those old covers usually have this sweet camp charm that I'm very fond of, I mean just look at Saint Vitus' Born Too Late album cover. It's really ugly but it still kicks butt. Also note that I'm not dissing Photoshop here, it's a great piece of program that has an incredibly amount of possibilities. What I am dissing is the lack of artistic value and originality, especially in these cases when the outcome just looks really lazy and uninspired. I long for the days when the cover art could be an actual piece of art instead of piece of crap, and instead of just being there because it's a must, it was an actual part of the album itself. But don't take my word for it... just look at these horrid pieces:

Megadeth - United Abominations



Now I really liked this album. It was a really pleasant surprise for me, since I was expecting it to suck hard, but all in all it was an incredibly catchy piece of music that at it's best, reminded me of Megadeth's golden days (which I'm a big fan of). But oh my god that cover "art" is ugly as hell. Also the title is really dumb, but that's just a part of Megadeth legacy.

Bryan Ferry - Dylanesque



Don't get me wrong, I have some intense dislike in stores for Bryan Ferry but even he doesn't deserve a craptastic attack of ugliness such as this horrid cover. Just look at it, and I mean LOOK at it. It's like staring straight at some dark void.

Plies - The Real Testament



I don't even have a comment for this one. It is pretty funny to see a rapper materializing out of smoke coming from the Holy Bible itself, but I'm confident enough to say that it will never make it to the list of greatest album covers.

Purified in Blood - Reaper of Souls



Pretty standard metalcore right here, though I must admit that there were few tunes I liked thanks to some very Slayerish riffing and few solos that reminded me of Iron Maiden. But surely they could have done much better with the cover? It's just really cheap, cheesy and overall depressing to look at.

Mystic Circle - The Bloody Path of God



This album sucks a hella lot, but it's the cover that really crosses the border of good-taste with it's color scheme that looks like someone threw up crayons. Also the whole concept is just really stupid. I guess they tried to make a statement of the horrible deeds done in the name of Christian faith, or maybe they just tried to pull some "evil" and "blasphemous" stuff out of their hats, but they failed... miserably, and when looking at it, it's easy to figure where the general opinion of metalheads came from.

And as for the movies:

I Spit On Your Grave



A notorious horror movie with a great line of original posters, with each making a possibly great cover for a DVD. But guess what they thought was the best way to publish this c.lassic? By wrapping it under an ugly re-make of the original cover that makes the whole movie look like a generic teen-slasher. I actually almost passed this one while going through movies in the store, simply because a quick look at the cover made me think of some dull teen horror. Thankfully I took a closer look at the title.

And guess what? They did the same thing to Bride of Re-Animator, a sequel to an amazing horror-flick. In a way, this cover art is even worse than the I Spit On Your Grave-one:



I don't know why, but the cover art makes Dr. Herbert West look... well... strange. It's almost like he's wearing a thin latex-mask or just way too much face powder. Gosh. I haven't seen the cover art for the original Re-Animator, so I can only hope that it hasn't fallen like the Bride here.

Blood On Satan's Claw



Another cult-favorite of mine, the new DVD cover is just plain ridiculous and generic BUT... there's a trick to it. Instead of forcing you to watch that painful mistake, you can just flip the cover paper and feast your eyes on an alternate cover that looks like an original movie poster or something like that. Sure it's very low-guality but that just compliments the movie's low-budget look and s.tyle, making it really easy to tell what kind of movie it is from simply looking at the cover. They really should pull out stunts like these more.

Yeah, maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing. Take it as a drunken rambling if you want.