Fantastix Funderar

Finncon party day 2

2010-07-18T02:35:00.000-07:00

The Saturday evening started with a visit at the Le Fee Verte where I met the swedish fans and had a possibility to enjoy a few beers. The Swedes claims that the quality of Finncons is measured in the amount of new beers they can find. This years Finncon is then quite good I can imagine.

After that it was time to head for Lozzi where the main party was held. The restaurant was hot like hell but the terrace was quite cool and the evening was spent walking from table to table, talking to people and enjoying myself. The talk was about all kind of stuff rom science fiction to fandom to litterature and live in regular. One interesting thought was about trying to get the swedishspeaking finns to write a short story about how they think swedishspeaking areas will look after about 60 years. Publish it in a anthology and even try to translate it into Finnish. A thougt well worth thinking about. Walking around and talking to people made me realize that this is what Finncon and fandom is all about. Meating people with the same interests and feeling part of something.

After a few hours it was off to Sohwi and around one a clock in the night I went to the hotel for sleep. That was a smart move and I fell asleep almost right away. For my part the Finncon was as great as ever and I have not regretted that I came here.
Sedan bar det av till Sohwi och efter ca ett tiden gick jag till hotellet för att sova. Ett smart drag för jag somnade nästan omedelbart. Summa sumarum så var Finncon partyt lyckad och fick mig väldigt glad att jag kom till Jyväskylä.

Todays completely unnecessary information
Sundays paper Huvudstadsbladet has a great article about Finncon and Iron Sky. Read it and ponder about why you did not come her. Feel ashamed... feel very ashamed.

A few images can be find on my picasawebsite.

Finncon day 2

2010-07-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

When the day slowly turnes inte evening it's time to prepeare myself to the Finncon Party. It takes place in Lozzi, a restaurant near the Conventin Center. It´s quite interesting because there will not be any music so the main focus on the evening is on performance, entertainment and discussion.

Todays program went really well. Arrived at Jyväskylä University a little before 10 and met a few friends. We talked about yesterdays Sowhi evening and so forth and then we all wen't off to watch the opening ceremony of Finncon 2010. The main information beside presentating the guests was the remind everybody attending Finncon the most importent thing. Enjoy and Have Fun! After this short openingceremony it was time for the first panel for the day.

The panel had the name Dinosaurukset mustielevat (The Dinosaurs remembers) and Ben Roimola, Pekka Sirkiä and Matti Roswall talket about the Beginning of the Finnish fandom. It was fun but made me feel very old. But what does it matter. Afterwards in the yeard we said that Finncon is the only place where a 50 year old man kan walk around with Badges on his chest without being laughed at.

The next post was the Atorox prize. (Atorox is the prize given for the best short fantastic short story published in Finland last year). I voted myself and it was quite fun the see the end of the voting and my voted walking quite hand in hand.

The Winner was Heikki Nevala and his story Koneesta sinä olet syntyvä. (From Enginde You will be Born). Second place was J. Pekka Mäkelä and his story Kolmekymmentä vuotta (Thirty year) and third was Anne Leinonen's story Pienen rasian Jumala. (Small Box's God)

Then it was time for the Swedish Speaking Finns program 150 years of Swedishspeaking fantastic litterature. The panelist were Ben Roimola, Kenneth Lindholm, Petri Salin and Vilgot Strömsholm and they talked about Swedishfinnnish fantasticbooks. A very good panel (if I my say it myself) and it was fun to see so many people watching the panel and that we all had so many books to talk about. And then we only scratched the surface. After that it was time to rush to a meeting with Swedishspeaking Finns. To bad that there were not that many ther but we got a few quite good ideas anyway about how to explore this majority of fans in Finland.

Then it was time for a coffe and strolling around in the audience talking to new and old friends and enjoying myself.

Finncon has been a fantastic happening and one thing that has done this convention so special is the lack of young teenage girls running around in the feets with fluffy ears and long cute tails. That Animecon is not a part of Finnncon this year has done the convention much good. Here are propably around 1000 persons anyway so it's a good convention.

Below is a few images from the convention

A few of the audience in the Panel about Swedishspeaking Finns panel

The Dinosaurs are speaking. From Left ot Right Ben Roimola, Pekka Sirkiä and Matti Roswall

The terrace at Sohwi is Filled with Finncon participates.

Icehockey is a serious business when You fight for the Bronze medal. Petri Salin in action.

And now off to the Finncon party. I'll be back

Finncon day 1 part two

2010-07-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

After a quite warm travel and some problem finding the Omenahotel I arrived to Sohwi that is the only place to hang around when you are at a Finncon. It´s close to the convention and it has quite a lot of different brewerages.

A great place to meet a lot of interesting people. Some old friends and some new friends. And that is why there is a Finncon. It's the place to get to know people and connect with other that are interested in the same things.

The Finnkampen wen't better than I thought because i only loosed two games and one game won. Could it go better. No I don't think so.

Now it's time for breakfast and then off to the conventioncenter.

Have a great day.

Finncon day 1 part one (not there yet)

2010-07-16T00:15:00.000-07:00

Here I am on the train towards this summers highlight. Finncon 2010. A whole weekend dedicatet to a science fiction. Can life be better. I don´t think so. Today there are not that many programs but on the evening there is at Sohwi a icehockey tabletop tournament that I thibnk I have to participate in. Haven't played icehockey for about 15 years so I think it's time to check if my skills are fit for this kind of stuff.

Just finnished reading an old Finnishwedish science fiction book by T. A. Engström called Rymdkulan (Spaceball). It´s a story about a ball of Palstinyl that takes a few young boys and a scientist out in space. It´s quite hillarious and a product of it´s time. Somewhere on the line there are quite a few racial steretypes and attytydes that the author tries to smooth over by saying that it does not matter if the color is black, white, yellow or green boys are always boys. (Witch is true). Then he tells the story aqbout Blackie Smith (A black boy) that has been bought by the proffesoor from a communal institution in Harlem. And the indian boy from Southamerica get a frequent question if he has ever tasted human flesh and so forth.

That is one of the books that I will present tomorrow at the Finnishswedish science fiction panel at 2 a'clock pm.

But now for something completely different. I have resignated from my job at Scanvision and Have only one week left. Then it´s time for me to start a new carrier on Haltik. That will be fun and I am really looking forward to that work. It´s gonna be a hard days work and I have to really do well if I am about to handle the job but right now I have a great deal of confident and I think I will handle it.

Vacation, football and Robin Hoods

2010-07-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

These last days has been quite slow with the computer. Actually I don't have so much inspiration to do anything. Been watching the Raseborgs Sommarteaters play Robin Hood and have enjoyed it a lot. It's very good and extremly entertaining. This play is qhat I expect of Summer and outside theatre. It's funny, interesting, entertaining, touching, and sometimes even very dramatic. I have seen it twice already and will see it at least two more times.

Went yesterday to watch Ridley Scotts version of Robin Hood. And that again was a much better movie than I have heard. The movie made me think of Bernhard Cornwells Uthered and Saxon books. It gave a very realistic picture of the origin of Robin Hood. And to my suprise I even thought that this is the right way to tell the story. Would love to see how he would do with a sequel.

I was last week intervjued about Rasecon and my interest of Science Fiction. The intervjue was published in Sundays Västra Nyland and was quite fun to read actually.

Right now I am laying on the sofa watching Uruguay vs. Nederland and it's a quite entertaining game. 1-1 after the first half and the both goals have been very beautiful. Excellent goals.

A Grown man cryes

2010-06-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day when a grown man sat on the sofa at home and cried. But before that there was fear, anger, joy, and rage. After that there was a lot of hope but suddenly all the hope dissapeared and left was only dispare and then tears.

I am talking about yesterdays game between England and Germany. I am a big fan of England and sat down on my couch with my dreams of a World Cup final that ended in bitter tears and a lot of anger towards a referee that did not had any clue what was happening on the field. There were bitter words of anger about how stupid German national socialists should all be shot and the referee hanged in nearest goalpost and all kind of stupid things.

I am very aware of how stupid all these things sounds a day after. Germany was a lot better and deserved their win. That is nothing to do to that. But I am so disappointed in everything in the English football team. It was a bleak performance of a bunch of stars and the defense was like a pubfootballteam. Where everybody wants to score but nobody wants to defend.

But that was that. The life goes on and after 2 years there is Fifa european cup and after that 2 years and then it's Fifa world cup in Brazil. And what would be better than Worldcup title in the country that clamis to have the best footballplayers in the world. Go england.

The best things about football is that it's filled with all kind of weird feelings. I have these last hours claimed that World Cup is over for me but probably tonight at 5 a'clock i will invade the couch and watch the game again.....

Ooh! And by the way. I have never been any good in football. I practiced when I was young but never had a place in the team. I was never even choosed to the team when it was match time. But that is a completely different story.

GO ENGLAND! I still believe in you....... after a few days have passed.

Midsummer

2010-06-26T04:22:00.000-07:00

The midsummmer came and with it the Rain came. Yesterday at the midsummer eve it was raining the whole day. But that does not matter because we were not going anywhere. The only place was to Tammisaari and visiting some friends and that was fun. It´s nice to meet new people sometimes and old friends.

Today it´s barbequing at our place. The meat is marinated and the vegetables is ready to get their turn on the barbeque. My wifes parents is coming for a visit and that is not as bad as it sounds. :) Their quite fun actually and I am in a lucky position to have a Mother- and Father-InLaw that is great.

I have been reading a lot lately... mostly comics but China Mievilles book Kraken is don and that was a great book. Not as great as The City and The City but good anyhow. A bad book of China Mieville is better than most authors excellent books. I am gonna write a review when I have the time. Now I am reading Roger Luckhurst book Science Fiction (a cultural history). And that is a quite interesting book to. It´s fun to read about books that I loved when I were young. And all kind of symbolism that I did not have any kind of clue about when I read them but that makes sense now. Fun. I have just finnished the chapter about pulpbooks and is beginning on the year 1945- and the new era in SF.

Now I see that our guests is arriving so it´s time for me to quite this. Cheers.

Darth Vader in Love

2010-05-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

Now this is actually a very funny video. It´s a great story about a man who falls in Love with the wrong women. How could a relationship like this work. I just wonder. :)

Today we went with my wife and I to Fiskarsvillage and watched the exhibition there. Now that was a experience that everybody should do. Bloody marvellous. Go and watch the woodworks, the jewelry art and graphic art that are in the exhibitions. They are so beautiful

Slice of Sci Fi

2010-05-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Rasecon ´10 is closing in and the project is going quite well actually. I have had a quite busy spring even if we do not have so much work at the office. But that is something that has a tendency to increse the stresslevel. Anyway. The guests are ready and right now i am planning the discussions and thinking about what will become of them.

The first discussion is about reading science fiction and fantasy. Is that harder than reading regular fiction? Does science fiction demand more of it´s readers than mainstream fiction? I think so. I have a lot of friends that tells me that they can´t read something that is not true. When I ask them what they mean with that they tell me that in science fiction noting is realistic or real.

OK! Like it´s realistic and real in a Midsommer murder case or in a Patricia Cornwell novel. That is what I think is the hard part. You can´t have a hyperdrive or a spaceship that travels through a wormhole but you can have a area in England where almost everybody gets murderd. :)

The next panel is about Television and science fiction and Fantasy tv-series. What´s worth watching and what is not worth watching. I have this last time been watching a lot of TV-series for this program and that includes complete Legend of the Seeker season 1 (watching season 2 right now), V the reebot, Spartacus - Blood and Sand, Being Human, Misfits, Better of TED (thats a comedy not so much science fiction or fantasy but it do have it) and last but not least Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. So as you can see there have been a lot of crappy Tv-series this last year.

But Flashforward, V and Stargate Universe has been quite good actually.

Shall write more about them later. I bought yesterday the Adam Roberts novel Yellow Blue Tibia and that seems to be a very interesting novel. Too bad I forgot it at work today so I can get back to reading it on Friday. But that does not matter because today it´s Fifnland USA in World Championship in Icehockey. Let´s see what that becomes.

Whats Up Doc?

2010-05-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

Not much actually. My shoolwork is done. My evaluation was last Friday and that made me happy.

Other plans for this spring is Rasecon ´10. It´s a small 4-hour Science fiction convention with a couple of guests. I think it is going to be fun. The Library asked me if I would like to continue this and do another one next year. Then they could try to arrange some funding so we could have a author from somewhere else. That would be fun. Trying to do a real science fiction happening. Cool. :)

Not much more to talk about. Today I watched the movie Willow again. It´s been a while and it´s more fun that i Remembered. Even the monsters is fun even if the dialoque sometimes is quite terrible.

Well thats that for today. Try to post more some other days. OH! I have been thinking on buying a real digital camera so I could have some great images to post on my blogs sometimes. What would be a good one?

OIJJ! Yeah I bought myself a used Digital camera. And that was a great thing to do. Now I can get back into photography again. Like I used for a few years ago.

May and it´s fucking snowing outside

2010-05-04T01:02:00.001-07:00

So that was that when it comes to Summer. Yesterday was a really beautiful day and today there is snowing outside. What the Hell. I dream about it being summer and warm and dry and beautiful. Not cold, wet and grey. This is like living in a terrible Dystopian Science Fiction novel.

But back to some more funny stuff. I have been watching some television these last days. First I saw the magnificent TV-drama Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. This is a comedy about a Hero that travels through a Fantasy realm battling evil that comes in different shapes and forms. The most evil of them all is the Evil Chancellor Donold David Dongalor (played by Matt Lucas from Little Britain).

Sometimes the serie is very funny. At least the dialogs between Chancellor Dongalor and his Evil Adviser Barnabus. The rest is mediocre but these two are really funny and hilarious. I think it´s well worth a visit this series.

The other TV-series is the reboot of V. This is a series that it took a while for me to start liking. It´s started like a regular science fiction series. Made me think about Flashforward but after a wile the characters have grown and now it´s a quite good show actually. Well worth a Visit :) too.

During the weekend it´s fotoZAFARI in Karjaa Galleri Zebra and means that it´s a competition where you have 8 hours to take 12 pictures. Every hour there is a new mission and the theme for this year is Happiness.

May is on the way

2010-05-03T02:36:00.000-07:00

The winter seems to be over and now it´s time for the spring to start showing us it´s best side.

The Sun is shining, the bird are singing and the urge to throw the winter clothes into the closet is huge. But the mornings are still cold and thanks to that I have got a sore throat. Should not have left the Scarf at home during the weekend. But what can you do. Nothing.

I think it´s something genetic in us people living in this Northern hemisphere that as soon as the sun is up the clothes goes down or off. We have been suffering for 5 months in a dark and cold world so that as soon as it´s bright outside we think it´s summer.I don´t know but I think so.

Been watching a not so good but entertaining TV-series called Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. Sometimes it´s been very funny and sometimes it´s been a real drag. Boring and stupid and filled with terrible acting. But Matt Lucas as the Evil Chanellor is really hillarious.

I bought myself a used digital camera and next weekend it´s time for a Fotosafari in Karjaa. That is gonna be really fun. Looking forward to that like hell.

West Side Glory?

2009-12-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

I går på Tisdagen var vi tillsammans med Raseborgs revygänget till Pargas (el. Väståboland som de nuförtiden heter) och tittade på deras revy West Side Glory?. "En sann historia om kommunal växtvärk" är undertiteln. Och till sist och slut måste jag medge att den var mycket, mycket rolig.

Redan i var det andra eller tredje sketchen när "Sekreta utskottet" dök upp på sitt möte mitt i natten var jag såld. När de med sina ficklampor började undra över de försvunna miljonerna hade vi plötsligt en röd tråd. Detta var både på gott och ond en väldigt kul idé.

Färjköer, verktygsproblem, tvetydiga skämt, musikal och andra sketcher upplöste varandra och allt gick väldigt smidigt och stiligt till. Detta kan bero på att scenografin var enkel och stilig och det behövdes inte så mycket för att bygga upp scenerna.

Min stora favorit var nog musikalen West Side Glory? där en ung man förälskar sig i en Nagu flicka (som gjorde en helt fantastisk insats utan att säga ett ord) trots att mamman fixat åt honom en äkta Pargas-brud.

Revy är något som är väldigt svårt att bemästra i synnerhet om man vill göra en revy som har anknytningar till det lokala men även som roar oinsatta personer. Här har nog Pargas revyn gjort det mycket bra. Man förstod nog skämten även om man inte är insatt i den lokala politiken... Men så finns ju alltid Kimito.. och åt dem kan man ju alltid skratta. :)

En annan grej som jag gillade väldigt mycket var sångnumret om paret som chattar med varandra på Facebook - även om de är gifta. Lysande.

Det enda jag litet kunde klaga på är att det var litet svårt att höra ibland.. Om man inte skärpte sig. Att ha en röd tråd i revyn gjorde också att vissa saker blev litet tvångsinsatta. Men roligt var det.

Tack Pargas för en underhållande revy och hoppas ni kan komma och titta på Karisrevyn "På Ruinens Brant".