#so i can see as many finnish artist as i can

[annamariemir4ge]

following the finnish music festival season this year made me realize that kuumaa aren't the only artists that i actually need to see live if i happen to visit finland

[beesgobzzzing]

Article translation

Hooja and Käärijä are performing together for the first time in the first semifinal of Melodifestivalen in Luleå. Maybe Hooja will be participating in Melodifestivalen for real in the future:

You never know, Hooja says. [Bees note: Their manager said in a podcast during the fall last year that they were not interested in competing in Melodifestivalen, so this is definitely a politicians answer.]

Among feather boas and pink sequins, dressed in their particular fur hats, baklavas and fleece jackets, Hooja and DJ Mårdhund has arrived in Luleå Energi Arena. [Bees note: Mårdis and myself has referenced this as Coop Arena before, and that used to be it's name. Like many arenas elsewhere, this one also takes it's name from their main sponsor, which changes every now and then.] They are debuting in Melodifestivalen. They do have someone who has a lot of experience from this setting with them - Finnish Eurovision favorite Käärijä. But they're not taking part in the actual competition.

Together they are here as an interval act in Melodifestivalen's first semi in Luleå, where they are performing their new song "San Francisco Boy".

The trio has taken a break in show preparations and sit down on some chairs by one of the arena entrances. Käärijä is not wearing a mask, but does wear sunglasses just like the duo from Gällivare.

You're a bit secretive, and I think it's fun to work with artists who don't only have the music but another level to it. You have nice clothes too, Käärijä says.

Outside the glass doors another masked artist, Fröken Snusk [Bees note: her artist name translates to Miss Dirty], appears and waves to her coworkers before she once again disappears into the darkness.

Why are you making a song together?

Why not? I listened to Hooja's music and thought "oh, Swedish music can sound like this". Of course in a positive way, Käärijä says and laughs.

He says it's not always easy to make music with other artists. But the collaboration with Hooja has been painless.

Everything went so quick from meeting for the first time until we had a finished song, DJ Mårdhund says.

It was destiny, Hooja adds.

(Text under the picture: Käärijä has watched Melodifestivalen at home in Finland and is happy that he gets to enter the stage in Sweden with Hooja. "Dreams can become true", DJ Mårdhund notes.)

That the song is called "San Francisco Boy" has nothing to do with anyone from the trio having been there.

We have seen San Francisco in pictures, very nice pictures in my opinion. They have a nice and big bridge, DJ Mårdhund says.

Maybe we should go there together and make "San Francisco Boy part 2", Käärijä says.

Käärijä competed for Finland in Eurovision in 2023 with the song "Cha Cha Cha". He came in second after Sweden and Loreen's song "Tattoo". Being in Melodifestivalen now is not something he minds.

It's fun, I love Loreen, and I like you too, Käärijä says and points at Hooja.

He won the audience vote in Eurovision and quickly became a fan favorite. Not least of all in Sweden, where his song climbed the charts. He wasn't quite prepared for the love from the Swedish audience.

There were a lot of Swedish people who wrote to me and said they liked my song. I didn't think Swedish people liked Finnish music, but it was really nice to see that the song charted so well in Sweden.

The trio has a very full schedule during these few days in Luleå. Hooja describes the whole event as "hullaballoo".

There are a lot of people running around but it's a fun show, he says.

Being the interval act together with Käärijä feels safe, according to the duo.

It feels good having you here, you've done this kind of thing before, Mårdis says and looks at Käärijä:

You're almost being a father figure for us.

But will being the interval act this year make Hooja want to compete for real in Melodifestivalen in the future?

You never know. We are not going to say: No, we would never do that. But we're not going to give a definite yes either, Hooja says.

Wow, what a politician's answer, DJ Mårdhund says.

Maybe I should get into politics instead, Hooja says.

[booigi-boi]

How my video chat with the Tin Can Bros went 🐐💛

I got to talk to the three of them separately with a special guest (James and Mariah) so I'll put this into three sections (writing this down mostly for my awful memory, gonna be long)

Brian and James

First thing Brian said when the call started was "have you gotten any new tattoos since the last time we saw you?" A: No :(

He and James asked about Finland and what it is like

I was asked something about what is my fav thing about Finland (minus sauna) and I said the nature. I told them to visit northern Finland both during summer and winter cause the nature is fucking amazing, ok? They googled it and James said he's putting it on his list, lol

Brian asked while googling if I've ever been to the Snow Castle in Kemi, and I laughed a little and said I was actually born there so yeah, I've been there multiple times

I was also asked if there's something I'd like the rest of the world to know about Finland

I answered how I hate how other countries have turned saunas into a luxury item, when in Finland literally every house and apartment building has a sauna. Also told them the correct way to pronounce sauna

James asked me how I learned about TCB. Said I discovered SK in mid 2018 and somehow figured TCB was also a thing. He also asked how I got into Shipwrecked, and to that I just said Spies Are Forever. Brian nodded and said "they're cool"

(Honestly, I'm leaving so much out cause we really just talked about my country and how happy it is, lol)

Corey and Mariah

Brian and James left for another call once Corey and Mariah joined (I didn't expect them to do this call like this tbh /neutral)

Mariah was excited about the fact I'm Finnish, she was enjoying meeting people all over the world

Corey asked if I had any questions for them and I had to admit I suck at asking questions and never know what to say (he was cool with my child brain)

Mariah said she had so many questions she would have liked to ask me. She really liked looking at the wall behind me and seeing all the shit I have on there

Then my cat decided she wanted attention and hopped on the table and made herself known to them. Told them she was Lotta and she's 14

After a while Corey asked me what my fav project from the Tinlightenment was, and I said I've been most excited for Gross Prophets. Corey revealed it's going to be difficult to rehears it without an audience and it's apparently super silly (in a good way)

Before they left Mariah asked me what was my fav movie or musical or anything so she could get to know what I'm all about, so I excitedly told her about Tetsuo the Iron Man (more about this later)

Then Joey joined all alone and it was time for Corey and Mariah to leave

Joey

Joey didn't have a guest with him so it was just me and him on a call together. He complimented my long ass vampire nails

He heard us talking about movies and asked me about it, so I said how Mariah asked me about my fav movie

He got a little excited and asked me about it, so I told him about Tetsuo, and how it's one of those movies that you're either going to love cause how artistic it is, or say wtf did I just watch

He got intrigued and googled it and read its description. He was interested (pls google it)

He read reviews and said how it's either 5 stars or 1 star, and I told him it is very 50/50

He put it on his list and promised to tell me once he had watched it :3 (hopefully not on discord cause I don't use it, lol)

Then before time was up, he asked me about my hospital stay last year (which I didn't talk about publicly and he was one of the few people that knew about it). It was kinda nice of him to ask about it and ask if I was good now (I am)

One last thing he asked about before he had to leave was if I was going to the new Starkid concert this year, and I said no, unfortunately. Maybe he was little saddened about it, but he told me last year wasn't that long ago and we might see each other again at some point

Then he wished me a good rest of the day and told me we'd see each other soon (next month when I again embarrass myself in Quiplash)

One last note, but I was kinda surprised how Joey didn't apologise to me for the 100th time for something he promised me back in 2023 and still hasn't done it, especially since he seems to apologise about it any time we have an interaction, lol (but I'll talk about it more when that happens, shhh)

Sorry if it was all so long, but I did leave out stuff too, sksks. Honestly, I kinda needed this, it was nice talking to people and they're all so easy to talk to 💞 James and Mariah were a nice surprise, can't wait for Gross Prophets 👉👈

[eldoradofineng]

Heyyy! 🤗

I realized that since I started to be a bit more active here a couple of months ago I forgot to introduce myself. So, to not be a complete random on the käärijä tag here goes:

I'm 32 and from Helsinki. Favorite things about Käärijä include tiddies, pits, pötsi and baby girl personality.

The song I sing in the shower: Paidaton riehuja

The song that make me feel extra sexy: Rock Rock (especially the remix)

The guilty pleasure: Auto jää (I hate how much I love this live)

With the most important stuff said, a funny story-time of how käärijä appeared to my life very unexpectedly (I'm putting it under the cut to not disturb the tag too much lol):

In around 2013-2014 a then co-worker of mine asked me to join her on a pub gig in Pukinmäki Helsinki of some rando rapper from her home hoods. I wasn't really into Finnish rap so agreed to join if she buys me some drinks. And oh did she deliver! By the time the gig started I was pretty smashed.

I only remember from that gig that the audience was maybe around 30-40 people and we kind of formed a circle. And in the middle was a small intense dude hopping around like crazy. I remember him thanking her mom for showing up and that was sweet. Loved the show, loved him! But the next morning was very Morganesque for me and I didn't even remember his name 😞

Then many years later at a student party somebody played me Välikuolema and I heard the name Käärijä for the first time. I started to listen to him a bit more but didn't really follow him much.

As for many, the shit truly hit the fan in 2023 when I heard CCC and saw the mv. I was up until 5 am. Something in my brain shifted and I have been on that road ever since.

That spring I told that old co-worker of mine that I finally got tickets to see my new fave dude Käärijä for the first time live! You can only imagine the pure shock and horror when she revealed that "Bro, we saw him years ago on his first ever gig, maybe you don't remember... I remember you had some weird drunken shenanigans with a chair that night". And then she showed me this picture:

During these past 1,5 years this image has haunted me. So let it now come to light and stand as a warning: Kids, don't drink. You might miss a historically important moment. That night I indeed chose to obsess over a chair instead of Käärijä and forever I will carry with me a sense of shame because of this 🥲 (as a disclaimer: no I'm not a weirdo that is turned on by furnitures, I truly have no explanation to this chair stroking activity).

So yeah, thanks for coming to my Ted talk!

I have loved the humour, art and the overall sense of welcoming community in this fandom so wanted to also give something back 🥹❤️ I am not an artist nor do I have the chance to go see his gigs atm, so may my contribution be (for the time being) sharing this embarrasing moment and hopefully it brings you joy 😂

[frikatilhi]

Thanks for your answer. I’m also not trying to make this a competition, I think I’m just very sad and feeling deluded. Because while you’re right and we don’t know them and what’s going on and how much time they have, I think we can say for sure that joker out, all of them, keep making the effort to include Finland in their tours, for Jere and their Finnish fans both, while Jere has made an effort because he followed them around in Finland? Where it was literally the most convenient for him? Where the boys started almost all their tours/had it included? How many gigs did Jere have in Slovenia or even mentioned it? How many gigs did he have in his euro tour? That's like... five countries.... he's doing things that are convenient for him and Bojan makes an effort to include Finland every time while Jere has done nothing.

And when was it said he was supposed to be in London? Because Tomi was there? That doesn't mean Jere also was supposed to be there and if he really would've cared then he would've found a way to make it happen, but he hasn't and every time he's firing up your Bojere hopes by mentioning Bojan, because he knows you eat that out of his hands and tbh its just sad. Delulu doesn't hurt if you know you're clowning, but some of you thinking your delulus actually could've happened/were supposed to happen is honestly so sad to see, cause ngl, I WISH that's what would've happened as well. But it doesn't, it didn’t and it wasn't supposed to, and I can't keep making excuses for myself, cause I clearly see how this is going atm.

Wow, okay?

I know it's literally in the name we have given ourselves, but really, this is a nice hobby that isn't actually supposed to make anyone sad. In reality, whether Jere goes to Slovenia or not doesn't actually affect me or my mood. It's not... that serious? It's something we enjoy clowning about. Does this really need to be spelled out?

And about where Käärijä's gigs are... It doesn't work that way. The artists don't actually get to decide where they perform. The fact that Jere hasn't had a gig in Slovenia has nothing to do with his relationship with Bojan or Joker out, and everything to do with where venues want to book him to perform and are willing to pay enough to make it worthwhile to go there.

And vice versa, Joker out have not been in Finland so many times because they've made a special effort to proritize it, but because they are popular here and venues want to book them. They kinda have a gold record here... Unfortunately, Jere does not have that kind of pull in Slovenia.

Here is Jere saying in the UMK chat that he was supposed to go to London but couldn't.

The rest of that... oh dear.

[starlene]

A list of Finnish productions of The Addams Family the musical (incl. professional, community, and school productions)

2013: Tampereen Työväen Teatteri, Tampere [professional]

2015: Oulun teatteri, Oulu [professional]

2016: Tiirismaan lukio, Lahti [high school]

2019: Musiikkiteatterikoulu Skene, Helsinki [community]

2019: Kaarinan Nuorisoteatteri, Kaarina [community]

2020: Rantasalmen Nuorisoteatteri, Rantasalmi [community]

2021: Vaskivuoren lukio, Vantaa [high school]

2021: Jyväskylän kaupunginteatteri, Jyväskylä [professional]

2021: Munkkiniemen yhteiskoulu, Helsinki [high school]

2022: Teatterikorkeakoulu, Helsinki [university]

2022: Kotkan Kaupunginteatteri, Kotka [professional]

2023: Seinäjoen kaupunginteatteri, Seinäjoki [professional]

2023: Viikin normaalikoulu, Helsinki [high school]

2024: Salon lukio, Salo [high school]

2024: Ruokolahden Musiikkiteatteriyhdistys, Ruokolahti [community]

2024: Keravan lukio, Kerava [high school]

2024: Porin lukio, Pori [high school]

2025: Eurajoen teatterinuoret, Eurajoki [community] [upcoming]

2025: Vantaan Näyttämö, Vantaa [community] [upcoming]

2025: Turun Kaupunginteatteri, Turku [professional] [upcoming]

Just to prove that I'm not exaggerating when I say everybody has done it here already. I'm not even 100% sure this list is complete, but it's what I could find. That's 20 Finnish Addamses so far, if you didn't count them already. (Let me know if you know about other productions.)

For context: in Finland, the high school musical theatre scene is not nearly as robust as it is in the US. Only some high schools have musical programmes. So, looking at this and keeping in mind that some of the community productions have been produced in co-operation with local high schools... I don't know how many high schools do musicals around Finland, but looking at this, it certainly feels like at least a third of them have done The Addams Family already.

For further context: in 2024, Finland had 5 619 399 inhabitants. That means we've got one production of The Addams Family the musical for every 280 970 Finns. Sure, the theatres would run out of space fast if every single one of those people decided to go see their allocated Addamses – but when you substract babies, the people that are not interested in musicals at all, and the people who hate The Addams Family in particular... I just think there's plenty of The Addams Family available for everyone interested, even without any professional, publicly funded theatres investing their resources in this particular musical.

Searching for all the Finnish Addamses, I noticed one of the high school productions was credited as one single student's high school theatre diploma. Of course, that student had other people onstage with them – but if a high school can licence this so one singular student can get their diploma, it must be a very cheap musical to licence indeed. Which is great for community and school theatres, really! I see why they want to do it; it's got plenty of roles for a variety of performers and fun aesthetics. Good for them for getting to do a musical without bankrupting themselves.

But the professional theatres, man. I really have nothing but disdain for them, and for this musical when staged in a professional setting. It's simply not a good musical, not even an okay one, nor is it a good adaptation of The Addams Family. It's a bland, boring, heteronormative La Cage aux Folles ripoff, and while it may be a good vehicle for community theatres to show off their talents, for professionals... Choosing to stage this particular musical has nothing to do with artistic ambition or wanting to give the audience something interesting; it's all about choosing something cheap based on a familiar IP to get butts on seats.

Which would be okay for a private for-profit theatre, but when you're doing it with taxpayer money... I just don't think it's a really great look. I know times are hard and the theatres need to make their money because the public funding doesn't cover all costs, but even so. Staging the 20th Finnish production of The Addams Family after several nearby-ish high school and community theatres have already done it... Was there seriously nothing else at the bottom of the barrel for them to scrape?

[bcbloodmass2024]

Gather around, my braindead friends. I am so happy to announce the first annual

LOST SOCIETY FAN WEEK!

This event will run from Friday, August 9th, 2024 to Thursday, August 15th, 2024. You can participate by creating fanart, fanfic, moodboards, edits, or anything else that expresses your love for the fabulous Finnish metal band, Lost Society!

NSFW content is allowed, but must be tagged appropriately.

While I would love to see y’all participate in all 7 days, it is not required. Create as little or as much as you want.

Without further ado. Here are your PROMPTS:

Day 1/August 9th: SAMY

August 9th is Samy’s 29th birthday! 🥳 Let’s celebrate by creating something where our favorite tiny, slutty singer is the focus. 🥰

Shipping two band members together in your creation is allowed, but Samy must be the main character.

Day 2/August 10th: MIRKO

Please create something that honors the badass, bearded, biker bassist, Mirko Lehtinen! 🐺

Shipping two band members together in your creation is allowed, but Mirko must be the main character.

Day 3/August 11th: ARTTU

Let’s post something in honor of the grumpy but gorgeous guitarist, Arttu Lesonen! 🎸

Shipping two band members together in your creation is allowed, but Arttu must be the main character.

Day 4/August 12th: TAZ

The focus of today’s creation should be Taz Fagerström, the big blonde beast who plays the drums! 🥁

Shipping two band members together in your creation is allowed, but Taz must be the main character.

Day 5/August 13th: FRIENDS OF LOST SOCIETY

Many other artists - including members of Blind Channel and Santa Cruz - have close relationships with the members of Lost Society. Let’s focus on those relationships today!

At least one member of Lost Society must be a main character in this creation.

Day 6/August 14th: FAVORITE SONG

Create something inspired by your favorite Lost Society song - or just tell everyone which song is your favorite!

Day 7/August 15th: BRAINDEAD/FREE DAY

Create something pertaining to the concept of being “braindead” - or just create anything you want! This is your last chance to share your love for Lost Society, so please express yourself however you like. 🖤

Please use the tag #lostsocietyfanweek24 when sharing your creations!

[thomasthetankieengine]

In honor of Krampusnacht, here's a really odd post I found awhile ago.

I don't want to be too snide, but I seriously wonder if the OP has ever seen a goat before. They can, in fact, be black and always have tails, horns, and hooves.

While the origins of Krampus are not precisely known, using goats and other hooved animals like horses as a symbol of the wild and chaotic aspects of nature as a long history in most European cultures. It's why Pan, Silenus, the Fauns, Centaurs, and Satyrs were so often depicted as goat and/or horse men and it's why they were portrayed as raging ids who enjoyed getting rip-roaring drunk, carrying off women, and having orgies.

Such traits lended themselves well to the conception of the demonic after Christianity was adopted in most of Europe. Admittedly, though, in this case, it's hard to know if Krampus was a post-Christianization figure formed from Christian conceptions of the demonic or if he was based at all on an earlier figure from Germanic paganism. We're really fudging around in the dark here, because our knowledge of Germanic paganism, especially that of the non-Norse, is extremely incomplete. Here may had similar origins to the Yule goat and the Finnish Nuuttipukki, but even that is speculative.

One thing that can be pointed out is that Krampus is similar, in many ways, in the European conception of the Wild Man, which overlapped considerably with the Greek Satyrs and the Roman Fauns. It is worth noting here that Krampus celebrations in Germany and Austria frequently involve the men who dress as Krampus ingesting a great deal of alcohol — and remember what I said earlier about how the Satyrs and Fauns were often depicted as constantly drunk? Before modern toxicology came about, alcohol was often conceived of as something slightly magical and becoming drunk after drinking it was understood as being literally possessed by its supernatural and/or divine creators. In ancient Greece, of course, this was understood as being possessed by Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, nature, insanity, and ritual ecstasy.

There's another post made a friend of the OP who appears to be trying to argue, amongst other things, that any mythological creature with horns and tails has antisemitic origins and was definitely influenced by antisemitism.

And ... um... I don't want to be too dismissive here, but I believe they are reversing cause and effect. To be blunt, Jews obviously do not actually have horns, cloven hooves, and tails; they were given them by medieval artists to make them seem inhuman and associate them with demons. In other words, those associations already existed before they were applied to Jews. Admittedly, though, you do have to walk a fine line here.

In any case, part of this post is just plain old wrong. Krampus generally didn't eat children; instead, he usually beat them with birch rods for being bad or dragged them off to hell. Similarly, I'm less than comfortable with the common sentiment on this site and that every folkloric and mythological creature said to attack children must be antisemitic in some way.

I don't want too dismissive here, but I think it should be understood that much for the reason for why mythological and folkloric creatures were said to specifically attack babies and children because infant and childhood mortality rates in the pre-modern past were incredibly freaking high. It's generally estimated that, for most of human history (by which I mean "up until the 19th century), around 50% of all children born would not live to see their 16th birthday.

Furthermore, pre-modern people did not have microscopes or modern biology at their disposal and thus they know anything of microbiological worked or why it was that babies and children tended to catch and die of illnesses far more often than adults did.

This is not a folkloric motif that you see only in European cultures and Europe had its fair share of evil creatures who preyed on children before the idea of the idea of the blood libel was formed in 12th century England.

Witness the Mesopotamian Lamashtu and Akhkhazu, the ancient Greek Lamia and Mormo, the Malay Penanggalan, the Filipino Manananggal and Aswang, the Arabic ghoul, the Germanic ogre, the Afghani Madar-i-Al, the Japanese oni, the Azeri Div, the Inuit Ijiraq, or the Egyptian Abu Rigl Maslukha.

Many of these creatures have also had their dual purpose of frightening children to make them behave Which, funnily enough — is exactly what Krampus' purpose was and is as well.

One more thing, though. When doing research on this topic, I found out that parents in Syria and Lebanon would often tell their children to be good and go bed on time or the Anglo-Norman king, Richard the Lionheart, would get them. Not sure if they still do, though.

[beauty-and-passion]

A wrap up of 2024 - and a look at 2025

I know, this post should've come earlier.

But this is the third year in a row I have gotten sick right in time for Christmas. First year it was the flu, then Covid, now it was the flu again.

And so, once again I didn't feel well for a couple days before Christmas and spent the remaining ones from Christmas to New Year trying to speedrun my recovery, because even if I didn't plan to travel anywhere, I still had small plans and didn't want them to get ruined.

In the end, I managed to recover just in time to celebrate New Year in a nice restaurant with some friends, while on January 1st I celebrated my birthday with a full day in a spa with my mother.

And yes, it was amazing. The place was extremely relaxing, filled with soft lights, sweet perfumes and a nice ambiance music. We had lunch and it was very tasty, despite not being filled with a ton of dishes. Also, we had unlimited water and a delicious herbal tea with ingredients like licorice, chamomile and fennel.

And the saunas? Oh, they were amazing! There was a bio-sauna and a steambath with a temperature around 50°C and a Finnish sauna (70° C).

Speaking of the Finnish sauna, the spa also offered a specific ritual in which the temperature slowly rises in the span of 15 minutes until it reaches 105° C.

Of course I had to try it. And it went as follows:

5 minutes: the temperature rises from 70 to 80° C. I feel sweat run down like water, it's pleasantly hot, the rose essence is pleasant and I feel great.

10 minutes: the temperature rises from 80 to 90° C. Heat presses on me, but not in a bad way: it's like hot, gentle hands. The essence is now mint and I feel even better.

15 minutes: The temperature rises from 90° C. The heat is so strong that I can feel the first layer of my skin burn. I had to leave, and so I did.

Long story short: I managed to resist for 11 minutes in total, before leaving the sauna and moving to the frigidarium. And even though the temperature inside was -2° C, I barely felt any cold for a solid minute.

However, once I was out of the frigidarium and back into the pool, my head and body were as light as a feather. Best experience ever.

And this is why yesterday I went to the spa again, this time with my brother.

We did every sauna at least two times, we did the ritual two times (the first time, I tried to resist a bit more and almost fainted from low blood sugar - so the second time, I stayed inside for 7 minutes only), we spent all the time in the swimming pool and took a nap in the relaxation rooms after lunch. And we also did a relaxing massage.

So at the end of the day, we were both very relaxed, smooth, satisfied and extremely tired. But at least, we closed the holiday season by feeling new people - and we're ready to tackle 2025 at full strength.

____________________

A look at 2024

2024 has been a busy year for this blog. I said I would've moved from being Sanders-Sides-themed only and so I did, by talking about a ton of different projects and works.

So let's take a look at each of them, shall we?

*

Lore Olympus: it has been very refreshing to finally take out all I had bottled up inside about this webcomic. And it has been even better, to see its end and talk about it for the last time.

Do I miss it? Absolutely not. It was stupid and its stupidity was fun to read. But there were also too many pointless things, that diluted the story too much and made me waste a ton of time.

So, I would still not recommend it to anyone. Sorry people, you will miss the cartoonish supervillains, the Avenger Assemble part and Gaia-Ex-Machina, but I can assure you, you can live without knowing them.

*

CCCC: oh, now we're talking! This album was amazing, the themes were super interesting and it has been wonderful to see an artist like Chonny put so much care and attention to detail to a project that was clearly extremely personal for him.

Listening and talking about CCCC has been a beautiful experience for me and I am still very grateful to the anons who made me discover this little gem. I had a lot of fun writing about it - and I'm happy others enjoyed it too!

And if you know nothing about this album, please try listening to it. It's clever, it's mature, it's definitely worth your time.

*

Epic the musical: this also deserves a place among all the beautiful experiences. I found out about this project by accident and I imagined it would've taken a very long time before seeing it complete. Instead, Jorge Rivera-Herrans finished it in record time. And he did it, while keeping quality, care and attention to detail to the max.

It has been fun to see every step of this project, to be jumpscared by a sudden data release for a new saga. And I'm happy to say that, despite the small imperfections, this album is still great, Epic is still a wonderful retelling and it doesn't ruin the spirit of the original work at all - on the contrary, it makes me want to re-read the Odyssey!

I've been very happy to listen to these songs and write my thoughts regarding each Saga. And I will gladly write more about Epic in the future, once we will see more of the upcoming projects.

*

Sanders Sides: and if we see a project wrap up beautifully, we also see a series that will never have a good ending - or an ending of sorts for that matter.

Some people still want to believe the finale will come one day and I'm glad for them: hope is a wonderful thing and if they're happy, good for them. But my hope for a satisfying conclusion for this series died long ago (hence why I wrote my own ending and moved somewhere else).

All I do now is check the only place with real updates (the criticism tag) and wait for the day Mr. Sanders decides to make a new SaSi video. And, once that day comes, I will write a post about it.

*

Gravity Falls: all-absorbing, all-encompassing and all-consuming, just like it was the first time and I wouldn't want it any other way. This series will forever have a special place in my heart, writing nine analysis posts was just my way to reconfirm that yes, I still love it.

Aaaand yes, I still have a fanfiction draft. It's still in my drive. But I don't feel very inspired at the moment. Maybe because I don't have enough time to do it, considering that real life is taking most of my attention at the moment.

However, I won't rule out a possible resurgence of Gravity Falls again. And not just on my blog.

*

TMA: I started this series with low expectations, just because I wanted to see what was the fuss about it - and have some fun in the meantime.

But then my expectations rose, my attention grew and now I'm involved, curious and with way higher expectations than before.

I still have to finish it, but for now, TMA looks like a very promising, interesting series. There is a big attention to detail and, despite the imperfections, there is a ton of love and care behind every new chapter.

So if you enjoyed my "reaction posts" in 2024, get ready because they will come back in 2025. The story is not over and I need to see how it goes.

______________

A look into 2025

TMA posts will come back very soon: I am already checking the first chapters of season 3 and writing down my thoughts. Hopefully, they will start to come out before the end of January.

I also plan to finish TMA as a series, wrap my thoughts about it and maybe write more posts about it - like a list of my favorite MAGs? Still don't know, I'll see when I'll cross that bridge.

And yes, I want to start The Magnus Protocol too. But TMA comes first, so I want to focus on that for now.

Then... who knows? I don't have real plans for now aside TMA, just random ideas. And that's great, because I have a lot of free room: I can discover more stuff, talk about more random things and check what you will suggest.

We have a ton of time to find out more and have fun.

______________

Once again, thank you

I would like to take this moment to thank you, you wonderful people who interact with me and my posts: without your comments, hearts and asks, I would be just an idiot shouting into the void. If I'm not, it's only thanks to you <3

And I would like to thank even more all the incredible people who follow me: you gave me your trust and I will always do my best to make my posts enjoyable, interesting and as fun as possible.

And long. Yep, they will keep being long, sorry not sorry, I just love to babble <3

I hope 2024 has been a good year for you and I wish you all a wonderful 2025.

Stay tuned and we'll see each other (hopefully!) soon.

[teal-skull]

Sometimes something you hear a random person say in a museum sticks to you so much you buy a magnet and never forget it.

Let me set the stage

I spontaneously went to an art museum, and it had an exhibition on impressionism. It showcased works from classic impressionist masters mixed in with nordic impressionists.

I walk up to what is obviously the crown jewel of this exhibition. It has been given it's own wall, with good spot lighting and a big junk of text beside it. I orientate myself so that I can take in this painting.

The painting is Les glaçons (Floating ice) by Claude Monet.

A pair of youngsters walk up to the painting. I think they are somewhere between 16-20. They had cool outfits, emo-ish style. They stop to look at the painting. Then one says to the other in finnish:

"This is fine/fancy but in my opinion meaningless." (Tää on hieno, mutta musta merkityksetön)

I, a person who has visited Monet's house in France, stand there, baffled by this. I'm white guy blinking at this person. In my mind I say: "Bro, that's Monet!!"

I kept examining the painting for solid five minutes, thinking about what that person had said. I was conflicted because while I disagreed hard, because a scenery painting in my opinion can have a fuckton of meaning, I could see where they are coming from, and in some sense, I saw a little spark of truth in that nihilist take. More of my thoughts are behind the read more link.

In order to never forget this moment (and perhaps out of some sort of spite) I bought a magnet with the painting on it.

Now whenever I see it on my fridge I think "fancy but meaningless...."

The thing is, while I don't think thats honestly might not always be the best way to look at art, and especially older paintings, there is some truth to those words. It's a very nihilistic take, but I find myself unable to completely disregard it. We have beautiful things in the world where their only meaning is to be pretty. They don't have any deep meaning given to them. Beauty is nothing but an obscure subjective experience we project into things. A fancy decorated hand mirror is indeed "fancy but meaningless". It's just a pretty object. And in some sense, that applies to art as well.

But then again, couldn't the meaning be that these beautiful things bring us joy, and turn the mundane into something that sparks happiness in us? Is that not meaningful in itself? Is the experience of beauty meaningless when it can awake so many emotions in us? Could it be that the purpose of this piece of art isn't to convey a deep message about society, but to capture a passing moment of natural beauty into something that will last long after the moment is gone? Or perhaps for the artist to show us what he he sees in nature, how the colors play, how there are no lines how light plays on the water's surface? In the text it's said that Monet had to paint this in freezing weather, and it was a huge labour, undoubtedly also physically. But he withstood the cold for art, to get his vision and to capture the moment. Saying the painting is meaningless is like completely disregarding the actual hard labour and years of practice that was needed in order to produce this particular piece.

It it not about being a physical manifestation of the artist's work, and technical skills and mastery of depicting light and color? Fancy, and therefore meaningful.

[lageografiademicamino]

UMK 2024 Song Review - Windows95man

The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö continues with another entry!

Windows95man - No Rules!

Windows95man is a shy family man from the Finnish capital area who's made a name for himself as multitalented entertainer. The man is a visual artist and a photographer plus owns his own gallery in Helsinki but is the best known aka Windows95man. It all started from Youtube but quickly grew to become famous as a DJ who wears cut off shorts (magic shorts according to him) and Windows95 t-shirt.

He represents the same liberated crazy spirit as Käärijä last year. He does a lot of things that are not seen suitable for a Finnish man of his age in style and in music and feels no shame of doing so! Good for him!

No Rules is his first song in which he collaborates with Henri Piispanen who delivers the vocals.

No rules is a throwback from the 90's which according to Windows95man influenced his musical style the most (as born in the mid 80's). Musically this is part of the eurodance genre and reminds many of E-Type.

Musically it holds all the necessary elements that a proper 90's banger needs and Piispanen impresses with his high notes (can he deliver live?). However, what is a strong point for No Rules can be also its death.

This is a nice, funny, catchy add to UMK24 selection but doesn't really meet the high quality of the previous songs, does it. This can be seen as a joke entry especially with the music video which reminds me a sketch on TV. Musically this can be quite irritating for many. It doesn't offer anything new and some listeners might tune off before the song has reached its 3-minute run.

Last year Portion Boys delivered a similar entry but still bringing their own musical value to the table. I just don't see No Rules doing the same despite of possibly becoming a guilty pleasure for some UMK fans. In Eurovision this is something what we could have sent a decade ago but now UMK as Eurovision has topped its game since. Wiwibloggs were on point with their a Nokia reference - it's nice to down a memory lane for a moment but would someone still buy one? No.

This is still a decent first single and I hope nothing but the best and love in the future!

What do you think of the fifth UMK24 track and would you vote for Windows95man to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!

[mattstrahm]

i think about so many things so much ?

i wish there was a way to talk about things relevant to this blog easier without straight up doxxing myself. i suppose with enough looking into it you could figure it out but i am actually trying very hard to not say too much, but i kind of do wanna pay attention to and talk about liiga hockey more and i kinda do wanna talk about the new outdoor sporting areas we're getting and such but like... i don't really even say i'm from finland anymore, it's kind of obvious, but it's not like in my bio anymore, nor is my name, which is very obviously finnish i feel. idk i don't like helsinki but maybe if i lived there i would feel normaler about posting about it.

i'm trying very hard to make progress on what i'm working on. i still don't know what the, like, etiquette is posting about something someone paid money to charity to get out of you. anyway. i'm writing so out of order and it's such a mess but i am getting words down which is the most important part i think. i'm waiting on something for easier research and i think i can start writing more in order after that and it'll be good. i also fear in the name of staying faithful to the vibe i am making the fucking D-plots of the whole thing too convoluted. oh well. i'll figure it out i'm sure.

i also saw a post about posting whatever you want and not being ashamed bc it's fanfic and you can do whatever and maybe from the things i've posted you can tell i believe in that and i also think... well. i don't really believe in anoning fics to hide that you wrote them, i tend to use anon as an extension of the artistic expression. if someone wanted to know about my anon fics i don't know that i'd have any issue with talking about them. but i think the works i have posted on anon work better and have more to say if you don't know anything about who wrote them. there's no additional context to consider, it's just the work itself. maybe that's silly. i just think writing some horny freak shit is just gonna get you respect in fandom circles more than anything. at least in my mind.

on smaller things, a buddy gave me their d+ login so i've been binging air crash investigation which is fun and also tumblr is recommending me blogs going "look it's a hockey blog" and then it'll be a photo of my boy enemy i picked up from wjc B( i don't wanna see that kid's face ever UNLESS someone is gonna write a fic with the premise of "he was such a dickbag because he has a crush on whoever on team finland and he wanted attention" then maybe i can forgive him for a moment... but as i don't think that's not happening i wish ry*n le*nard the worst !!

[toyahinterviews]

This interview by Markku Fagerlund is from a Finnish music magazine Suosikki conducted in Stockholm 1.12.1981 during the Good Morning Universe European Tour

THE NEW WILD GIRL OF ROCK: I'M CRAZY ABOUT BUNNIES!

Now I’ve seen her – the hottest rock girl in the world Toyah (Willcox) Compared to this red-headed hurricane other female singers – and some men – look like statues of salt. Toyah is 145 cm of pure fizziness and sex After the concert Suosikki was granted a special interview with her. An honour that only a few magazines in the world have had. Toyah had a look through the latest issue of Suosikki and liked what she saw. Her message to the readers is “keep going strong!”

Toyah Willcox is a 23 year old multitalented artist who has finally had her breakthrough during this year. The latest album “Anthem” has been well received in Europe (currently n:o 2 in the UK) and the gigs have been massively successful Toyah is also famous as an actress. Her sexiness has been noticeable in films like “Quadrophenia”, “Jubilee”, “The Corn Is Green” and countless TV series including “Shoestring”, in which she played an uninhibited punk singer. The episode aired in Finland as well. In December Toyah was on a European tour so we got the chance to get to know this ferocious singer On stage Toyah is like a small red-headed whirlwind. Despite her small size she is an entertainer of a great calibre. She is a bundle of speed who does not give her audience a moment’s respite. Toyah has a very talented four peace band which is lead by guitarist Joel Bogen, her musical partner of many years On the records Toyah’s music is mystic, melodic rock which plays with different themes. Kind of a mix of David Bowie and Kate Bush. On stage the music is a lot more untamed. The drums and the synths create a pulsating platform which Toyah directs with her tight sexy voice She knows how to control the audience. Dressed in black mini-skirt (which is just a belt really), black tights and a tiny top Toyah dances around the stage with a wireless microphone. She squats down by the front of the stage to pose, gets up and continues to move quickly around, singing the whole time

The majority of the songs are from “Anthem”. At first the audience sits completely still, not knowing how to react to this devil but then they start to move to the music. During the most famous hit “I Want To Be Free” the fans rush to the front of the stage and sing along. Another conquest for Toyah The Toyah I meet after the gig is thankfully a bit calmer and very sympathetic. There’s no signs of being a diva but even in normal clothes and makeup she still looks so damn good it hurts MARKKU: Which one is more important to you – singing or acting? TOYAH: Both. Otherwise I wouldn’t do both. I’ve loved acting since I was a kid and it’s a part of me. But then I couldn’t live without music either because I can be myself. When I’m acting I’m playing someone else MARKKU: How did you get interested in acting? TOYAH: Even in school I made up all sorts of stories and pretended to be whatever just to make my life more interesting. That’s where it all started, I guess MARKKU: What about music – did you have certain idols? TOYAH: Of course, many. But above anyone else David Bowie and Marc Bolan. I admire Bowie because he’s like a chameleon. He's always changing his image and music. He’s constantly ahead of his time MARKKU: Judging by the record covers, stage clothes and makeup image is important to you TOYAH: It’s very important. I spend an enormous time designing the record covers. One took 24 hours to shoot before I was satisfied with it. Somebody might say it’s dangerous to concentrate so much on the images but we’re a live band If I was creating these looks only in a studio without people seeing me in real life that might be the case. It’s happened to a lot of bands. The different mystic images are just a part of me

MARKKU: During your gigs you have a habit of going amongst the audience to sit and talk. Isn’t that dangerous for a woman? TOYAH: Only in Enland where the audience starts to grope me. But I think it’s fun to get involved with the audience MARKKU: How do you deal with the troublemakers? TOYAH: Feel that (Toyah shows me her arm muscles, which feel really hard and trained) I punch them to the floor MARKKU: When are you thinking of slowing down, maybe getting married and having kids? TOYAH: Not for years. I think I’m still a kid myself. My biggest love at the moment is bunnies. When I find a suitable place I’m going to start a funny farm. They’re so cute, do the stupidest things, wave their big ears about and eat grass. I’m mad about them MARKKU: I’ve heard you have your own makeup line? TOYAH: Yeah, so the kids can imitate me. No, not really. I’ve designed an affordable collection of makeup which is named after me. The idea is also to give the kids tips as well because I know all the makeup tricks. The makeup is being manufactured in 3 different factories and it’s selling better than in my wildest dreams Toyah’s career isn’t just a bed of roses. Last spring she fainted during a gig due to overexertion TOYAH: According to the doctors it was a close call. I might’ve died. I should’ve stopped the tour but carried on to the end with willpower. After that I’ve made sure something like that never happens again I exercise daily (ballet, jazz dance, gymnastics) and have a good diet. One experience of overexertion was enough. It was horrible. It was like as if my heart exploded and I felt the most awful pain. I’ll never forget it 

You can read the interview in Finnish below (click on the image to view a large version)

[artharakka]

ohhhh OC questions 11, 13, and 20?? 👉👈

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Nila, I think. He/they (the language Nila speaks has no gendered pronouns so eh?) are an old old oc of mine I recently resurrected to be a companion NPC in a ttrpg/dnd campaign "Llehia" I'm currently DMing (more behind the scenes material for that on my patreon). He wants to trust people and see good in them which is why they can come across a bit naïve at times. But I don't think he's necessarily stupid, just trying to break the cycle of being cynical and if things go south, he's fast to dodge (he hopes).

Another one is Willow. Not necessarily in the usual sense but more like "can sometimes be overwhelming and irritating". Might also make you a cup of tea so also warm I guess (expect their hands, they are always cold). We also enjoy a good olde sun & moon symbolism with @artist-rat whose character Ash we associate with the moon. Willow and Ash are twins 🌞🌙 Also Willow started as my Skyrim character Paju (willow in Finnish) and you bet I had the Dawnbreaker.

(Nila on the right, Willow on the left with very fast sunglasses)

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Ohohohoho so many! But two that do and say stupid shit in order to get a reaction from other people are my Dragon Age inquisitor Sonera, and once again, Willow. Willow enjoys irritating their twin sister Ash's short temper (and Ash's girlfriend Rhea). Too bad those two are strong butches, which is why Willow is always ready to flee with a shit-eating grin. (Don't worry though, Willow and Ash are actually really close). Sonera's humour is lewd her hobby is trying to see how far they can throw a dagger and still hit some poor fool's toes. Both Willow and Sonera would be the types of friends who see something cursed online and immediately send it to everyone.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Not many! In fact right now I could only think of one, which might tell more about my own musical talents and how much I think of singing. But I think Rhiam would sing in bath/shower (would never admit that though. They are very shy). And to be honest I don't exactly know what kind of voice they would have! I just know the tone I use when we play the campaign. But I think their singing voice might be a little higher than expected.

Rhiam is good at inventing and sometimes freestyling their own spells, so I think they might even invent their own songs. Or in modern AU where they haven't lived on a farm without electricity, do very dramatic imaginary covers of their favourite songs. I think they would like Lady Gaga and Marina 💕

So many thems I notice! But tbh my first language doesn't have gendered pronouns either so that causes it a bit. But Nila as said is he/they, doesn't matter to him. Sonera is bit same but with she/they, mostly she. Willow is just they, and Rhiam is... kind of at crossroads. Has been he but doesn't really vibe that. So vague they for now.

[iibislintu]

i'm honestly a pretty picky reader nowadays bc i've read so many fantastic books in my life, but my biggest pet peeve is reading something that's been translated from another language and seeing the original language's conventions through the translation

like, i'm reading a french book right now, and i don't even know french and i can still see the language's syntax and grammar under the layer of finnish words

(one of the top finnish translators, kersti juva, says in an interview that in creating a translation, you have to ruminate on the text, to understand what the author is trying to say and then use the instrument of your own language to transmit those ideas)

(and this is what i try to do when i'm moving between languages - just like i can't play a tune the same way on the piano and the guitar, i can't do two languages the same way)

(and the thing with ruminating is that it takes time)

and that's why reading a bad translation makes me feel so strongly - oftentimes these are foreign books that have become hugely popular in the original language, and now are being translated by big publishers at breakneck speed so that the popularity is still there when the translation comes out

and i hate it that artists - translating literature is an art form - are forced to perform badly so that the money making machine that is the publishing industry, can profit even more

[frc-ambaradan]

UPDATE!!! on the Lo$ mess

Given the rising wave of panic about the latest news according to which The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck won't be published anymore, Don Rosa has intervened to give some clarifications. And basically anseering my questions as to what role Disney exactly has in the publishing of Disney stories, since they're not produced by Disney and they are published by different companies in the world which most of the time are in fact the producers of said stories and thus they do detain the rights over them for a degree.

Here's Don Rosa's post (read it all and carefully, pls):

What he says here is: he never had a word from Disney. It was one of his publishers who informed him about the thing and currently there have been no official confirmations nor denials from Disney.

Second: there's only one story banned which is "The Empire Builder from Calisota".

Third: he had to clarify about the role of the publishers 'cause apparentely there are some people who lashed out at the publishers accusing them of being co-responsible of the decision which is not the case! Guys, don't jump at people throat with no reason like that! Why do you that?!

There may be many people who think that the Disney comics are produced and published by Disney: this is not the case. I speak for what I know: Disney has barely no say in italian Disney comics (and I suppose the same applies to Egmont). Stories and art do have to fall into Disney's main guidelines but aside that, authors and editors-in-chief of the different Disney magazines and Panini Comics can basically do whatever they want.

All Disney comics are created by writers and artists working for independent publishers who hold the license to publish "Disney" material. The decision on the Lo$ therefore comes from the company, which is not a publisher, but rather owns the publishing rights to the comics and decides what can be published and what not.

So, basically: Don Rosa was pissed and vented it all on the social media XD Totally understandable.

Now people... CALM DOWN, LET'S TAKE A DEEP BREATH, LET'S STOP LASHING OUT AT DISNEY AND JUST WAIT AND SEE HOW THE PUBLISHERS WILL HAND THIS.

Let's trust our publishers. They'll find a way.

And most importantly: let's do not attack them.

They do a wonderful service to us and to the characters we love. If it wasn't for them, especially for publishers/producers like Egmont or Mondadori back in the days and Panini Comics now we would have no stories by Don Rosa, we would have no stories by the amazing finnish/italian/danish artists and authors. We must keep our publishers dear. I know they sometimes do things we don't like, they raise prices and take decisions we're not on board with, but the most they do is good.

It is good to be angry, I was angry, everyone was angry... but... why would you lash out at publishers? What did they do wrong?! 😭 What are they? Scapegoats? They're on the same boat as we are!

We must learn to read nuances. We must find a way in between. We must find common ground. This applies both to Disney and to us fans :)

(Also, thank you, Don Rosa, for asking us not to panic when you were the one to start the panic wave in the first place XDDD).