MM for lumme (waterlily), with a bonus dragonfly on the petals of the flower.

Alkukirjaimet #031: MM

And while it is on the aesthetically pleasing side, it’s hard to imagine the establishment suddenly abandoning their set-in-stone ways and embracing the new markup.

See It Sunday 12.5.2013: Modern

And people should be less worried about that.

But being wrong, bigoted and loud, that’s when Public Shaming comes in to take down the offenders. And there’s some spectacular displays of subhuman behaviour (a lot of it done under real names, so the Penny Arcade Theory does not apply).

PO for poliisi (policeman).

Royal Canadian Mounted Police puts on a human face in Ottawa.

Alkukirjaimet #030: PO

Thursday Challenge 9.5.2013: Wet

Slayer was one of the first thrash bands I became aware of back in early 1986. Hell Awaits had recently been released, and it got quite a lot of air time in Radio City’s Hevitaivas (the only show that played metal). After the rather safer Metallica and Megadeth, Slayer was something rawer, something far more vicious. Something that seemed to exceed the listening norms of my schoolmates. Hence, as I had quite a backlog to acquire, I somehow missed the release of their seminal Reign in Blood album, and lost touch with the band for a while. But got re-acquainted with South of Heaven in 1988 (now loaded with summer job cash, new albums became a weekly thing) – the band had slowed down, but lost none of their intensity. My interest in the band peaked with Seasons in the Abyss and I lost touch with them once again. This time pretty much for good, the newer albums somehow disagreed with me.

Saw Slayer live in 1998. The gig still clocks in as the loudest concert I’ve been to. Tried removing earplugs for a couple of songs towards the end of the concert, and was assailed by such a volume that the plugs went back in quickly indeed.

The bandmembers of Slayer were strangely distant. Apart from Dave Lombardo’s frequent departures and rearrivals, the rest of them were nowhere as vocal as the likes of Hetfield and Mustaine. Jeff Hanneman I knew as one of the most incomprehensible soloists in the metal world and of his interest in wartime Germany. The former gave us plenty of unimitable songs, the latter gave us Angel of Death – a sadly misunderstood true thrash metal classic. The third ascpect that I dimly recalled was his infatuation with Heineken, proven to be common knowledge in the pictures his fans posted in the Drink A Beer In Honor Of Jeff Hanneman event last Saturday.

A mossed-up tree stump in Noux national park.

Thursday Challenge 2.5.2013: Nature

Entryway to a Salvador Dali exhibition.

This serves the challenge in two ways: the artist had truly an uncommon amount of imagination and in the exhibit in Wanha Satama quite a few of the items had an imaginary provenance.

Photo Thursday #285: Imagination

Cold and dark in Lapland.

Photo Friday 3.5.2013: Temperature

The current one, October this year seems to be reliable.

And there was much rejoicing.

Star Wars.

After all these years.

After all these viewings.

It still reigns. Not as the best of its own franchise, not as the best film of the genre. But as something that will never fade.

Movie Monday #86: Still good.

Santa Claus is part of a whole another mythos.

The elves are not so nice.

And you really have to do everything yourself.

Movie Monday #85: Domestic.

In addition to sporting some of the greatest sci-fi scenery in ages, Fifth Element excels in its costumes. Over the top and very varied.

Movie Monday #84: An outfit to kill for

Compared to her, the selection is pale and thin indeed.

Movie Monday #83:Disney Pricesses.

NEN for perhonen (butterfly). This is a small tortoiseshell (nokkosperhonen) photographed on Söderskär.

Alkukirjaimet #029: NEN.

Bulldog ants would not be nice close by.

See It Sunday 5.5.2013: Close.

The novel is a tale about a finnish man who is not happy with his nationality – he wants to be a swede, no matter what the cost. Not just a swede by nationality, but a man fully converted into one.

And while such an identity crisis is easily described, it takes a whole book to resolve matters. After all, it is a tremendous change.

And a humorous change, the story of the protagonist veers between absurdism and obsession, and the pages flow fast while reading.

Unavoidably, there’s some repetition, but that only adds to the manic nature of the changing man.

Vadelmavenepakolainen was a pleasant surprise, I aim to tackle the author’s later books with a shorter interval from the publication dates.

Movie Monday #82: Annoying Title Sequence.

See It Sunday 21.4.2013: Darkness.