You'll Only End Up Like Rimbaud - Get Shot By Verlaine

I took a look at the pictures I took at the con - they're bad, so I won't post them here. The only decent ones were taken back at Helsinki, and are of the signed books. But, because Photoshop decided to hate me today, you won't see them, either. Maybe when my brother comes back I'll post them, PS likes him better.

But now I'll tell you about the little pile of second-hand books I bought when we went exploring all the little shops and flea markets with my friend. The thing about doing that is that it's very dangerous; there are so many interesting, beautiful, old, cheap books that you can't possibly buy all of them. My mission was to find a copy of Pride and Prejudice, which I did. It's so beautiful! <3 I also found the Professor by Charlotte Brontë, a book I had never heard of. Such beautiful cover, I fell in love instantly!

I'm looking forward to reading it. I also bought Dangerous Liaisons by de Laclos and the Wizard of Oz, though these two are in Finnish. (For some reason I don't have a pic of them, I think I remember the light being bad...)

My bookshelf is getting fuller and fuller. ^^; There's a gap at the moment, what with both my Lynches absent and the removal of - and I'm very smug about this, too - one of my entrance exam books. I didn't like that book. Too bad I can't burn it, it's a tad too valuable.

There are the Finnish books, also. And the CD I bought at Jyväskylä! The latest record by the Loved Ones, Distractions. Good punk, methinks. I'm exceedingly happy about how my Riverside-books look like now.

Under Privilege of the Sword there's the Tenant of Wildfell Hall, a copy from 1923 that my dad gave me. It's delightfully pretty, like most old books. Under that, there's the Albatross Book of Living Verse. I've never been big on poetry, but for some reason I find 1500-1800's English poetry interesting. In that book I found a poem of John Suckling's that reminds me of Twilight and thus makes me giggle:

Why so pale and wan, fond lover?

Prithee, why so pale?

Will, when looking well can't move her,

Looking ill prevail?

Prithee, why so pale?

Why so dull and mute, young sinner?

Prithee, why so mute?

Will, when speaking well can't win her,

Saying nothing do 't?

Prithee, why so mute?

Quit, quit for shame! This will not move;

This cannot take her.

If of herself she will not love,

Nothing can make her.

The devil take her!

So there's a few words of wisdom, Jacob Black. Think about that.

Oh well. I finished Austen's Emma a couple of days ago, and then devoured Maguire's Son of a Witch practically in a day. I think I started from page 74 yesterday and was finished with the 500 pages by 1:30am.  So now I've got only the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance to go before I can get my claws on the Fall of the Kings. After that I think I'm either going for Joe Abercrombie's the Blade Itself (something I've been meaning to read for almost a year...), Maguire's Lion Among Men or the re-reading of the entire Harry Potter series. We'll see.

But now I gotta go take a shower and then head to the bank to pay my University membership stuff. Ugh, I hate banks.

Anyway, I'll be back with movies, since we're having a movie night tonight and I watched the Omen yesterday. Oh, and I also saw the Disaster Movie and (FINALLY!) Star Wars episode III.

Bye!

~Wilzo

So Many Happy Feelings

Oh, so much to tell. Let's do this in some kind of order. (I'll add pics when I get them loaded up and if they're any good.)

Finncon was a definite success. We didn't get lost (much) on the road, I didn't wreck the car and we found free parking space in Jyväskylä. Yay for that! The con was so great, I felt at home. The first panel we participated was Introduction to Mannerpunk - I laughed so much! And I may have squealed just a little at Ellen Kushner's mentioning Scott Lynch as a male mannerpunk author. I missed the GoH speech of Ellen's, because I chose Adult Fantasy and later wished I hadn't. The Gate Theory of Young Adult Literature -panel was a disappointment so we left it early on, which gave me the opportunity to go get my Swordspoint signed. I swear, Ms Kushner was so nice and I made a total fool out of myself, speaking bad English due to my nerves and was going all fangirly. But I'm eternally thankful for the opportunity to buy the Fall of the Kings - if the authors ever stumble upon this somehow, you need to know it was equal to the best moment of my summer (of which I will tell about a little later). Thank you so much!

Sunday started much earlier than Saturday, at 10. I went to the Orwell's 1984 Here And Now -lecture and got slightly paranoid. After Big Brother it was time for the vampire panel, which I liked very much. I wish I was more confident, because I think the panelists would've been amused to hear that Stephenie Meyer is planning on writing about time-travelling mermaids next. (The discussion led to speculation of what might be the next big thing - one of the panelists expressed interest in Näkkis.) Then there was the Bimbo Panel, which made me roar with laughter. The theme was dirtying all the childhood favourites from Disney to My Little Pony to Star Trek. I think that affected both me and my friend quite a lot, for the next couple of days were spent pointing out everything twisted in stuff meant innocent.
Ellen Kushner's reading was just the perfect thing. She read from Swordspoint (having read Thomas the Rhymer at length the day before) and then the Man With the Knives. She had grown men in tears after that one, and I was so close to crying myself.
After the reading I met up with my friend again, and ran into my high school art teacher. We talked for a while, until it was time for me to go hear the vampire book tips. I got interested in a couple of books, so it wasn't all wasted time.
The last panel I participated was Dreaming of Reality with Cheryl Morgan, Ellen Kushner and Pat Cadigan. It was a riot and I swore to find Ms Cadigan's books somehwere, she was so funny! It also came up that Ms Kushner would like to see a film made out of Swordspoint, and that she felt Ben Wishaw (Keats from Bright Star) would be a good Richard. Now, I think Privilege of the Sword would make a better movie, and I'm not all too sure about Wishaw as Richard, but I would definitely go and see the movie.

Our arrival back our summer house about four hours after we left the con was grand - windows down, Elvis blaring. We had a great time, and discovered that Disney is good music for driving.

We came back to Helsinki on Monday night. On Tuesday happened what we'd been dreading - the results from the University arrived. But fortunately, this became the thing in my summer rivalled only by the delightful writers of the Fall of the Kings - I got in.
I'll start my studies on English Philology in September in the University of Helsinki. I'm so excited!

But this is turning into quite a long update. I probably forgot something, but I'll just tell about it in another post if it was important. The bottom line is that it was a great con and that my July has been awesome. I hope it stays that way.

<3: Wilzo

Fairies On Steroids

Okay, so I said I'd say a couple of words about the newest Twilight movie, Eclipse.

(I chose this picture 'cause there's no Edward, lol. xD)
Sooooo. Eclipse. It wasn't as bad as New Moon, but not as good as Twilight. The way the vampire backstories were cut pleased me. That was probably partly due to the rating, PG-13, because I think I remember there being more blood in the book. The three stars still can't act to save their lives, though now that I'm watching Robert Pattinson do this with the knowledge that he hates Edward and is playing him through that emotion I enjoy his performance a lot more. (Does that sentence make sense? o_O) About the werewolves I'm a bit torn - I'm not sure whether I like them or not. They are always together and with my poor facial memory it's hard to tell who is who, but I understand and accept that there's no time in two hours and ten minutes to get into each one of their characters too deeply.
My favourites are still Billy Black and Charlie Swan. The only moment Kristen Stewart gets some life in her eyes and acting is when Bella and Charlie have the awkward birds-and-bees conversation.
Oh, and I liked Jasper in this one. Maybe because he took charge and was all cool and stuff. I don't know what Jackson Rathbone did there, but I liked it.

All in all, a little too long a movie, pretty average. I still think they would've been better off if they had kept Catherine Hardwicke directing the whole saga - her style is so great for adolescent movies!





Then a few words about the Ghost Writer. I naturally liked Ewan McGregor, though he wasn't at his best, but Kim Cattrall really amazed me. Not a trace of Samantha to be seen! Polanski did alright work, as well as Brosnan, but not much else to say. It was an okay thriller, and didn't look like it was filmed for TV (like the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo...), and the ending still bugs me so I guess it was a good one. I'd maybe give the movie 3.5/5.

I'm off to town in a minute to meet up with a friend. Yay, leaving for Finncon the day after tomorrow. Can't wait, I'm so excited!

Love,
Wilzo

+30 degrees Celsius

It's so frickin' hot. Our balcony is like a sauna, and flowers were about to die when I arrived with the water. I hope they survive.

RUISROCK. It was so much fun. We arrived to Turku aroun 3pm, said buh-bye to my dad and brother and went off to find some food and the bus stop. We found both, but then realised we had no idea how often the busses would be going and decided that the weather was nice enough for a walk. Actually it was very warm (though not as warm as today) and the walk was several kilometers and we had too little water with us, but we survived. ^^

So we hung around the festival area looking at the stands and drinking free, ice cold Coke. We watched half of Negative's show (Jonne Aaron sure isn't as young as he was five years ago...), saw some of Tarot's (they were great) and Arch Enemy, and waded around in the water next to the beach stage. It was so cold and nice.

And then it was time for what I'd come for: Rise Against. It was a great show, they played a lot of songs I didn't think they would but always hoped, like Survive and Entertainment, and of course one of my ultimate faves, Give It All. The band seemed to be having fun, which made me happy. They seem to have taken a liking for circle pits, because last October in Helsinki Tim said they wanted to see "that Finnish circle thing" and now he announced in a speak that he wanted to see one again. (Damn, how can it be I don't remember which song that was? Something off Siren Song, I think. Or maybe Revolutions Per Minute.)

After RA we went to see NOFX, and found that we both like them. I got a shirt, and I've been humming Don't Call Me White since then. After that we just hung around, talking and joking around (playing with Finnish language a lot, yes, we were very tired) and then it was time for the last show - Ozzy Osbourne. Irene's a fan, and I was curious as to whether he would stay on his feet for the whole show. It was fun.

Around 1:30am it was all over and we tried to be cunning and take a shortcut to get ahead of the main crowd getting out. Our endeavour ended with me having my left hand shoe stuck in a ditch in mud. The whole shoe was muddy inside out, and was slightly uncomfortable to walk in. Anyway, we decided to walk back to town, since there was so much crowd trying to get into the busses. We were at the bus station a bit after 3am, about ten minutes after the bus we had intended to take had left. So we had to wait for an hour for the next one. Thank gods we had the sense to buy breakfast when we first arrived to Turku... Our bus left 4am, we were in Helsinki about 7am, and I got to bed at 7:45am.

So altogether a very good trip. :D My shoe still leaves my heel and ankle dirty, but I'm washing it once more before leaving to Jyväskylä and Finncon next weekend.

Ruisrock ends.

We'll be leaving again on Thursday, and at the moment plan on coming back to Helsinki on Tuesday - the day we both get to know whether we got into University or not. I'm a bit scared of that, because I really would like to get in but don't feel I did good enough in the exam. But I have my fingers crossed, and it won't be the end of the world if I don't get in this year, but... Yeah.

I think that's all there's to say. I have no pictures from Ruis, because I didn't have my camera, but I'll ask my friend if I could post some of her photos here.

I'm gonna go eat ice cream now and watch Breakfast Club. <3
Next update's probably coming when I get back from Finncon.

Lotsa love and ice cubes,
Wilzo 

Am I loud and clear or am I breaking up?

Soooo, one of the days I've been waiting for is finally here - the Friday and first day of Ruisrock! :D I'm only going to be there today, because beloved Rise Against is playing. It'll be so very awesome. Irene should be here in about half an hour, and then we'll be off. I've packed, now I only need to change my clothes and put on some make-up.

I've been listening to RA quite a lot for the past week, just to ensure I know every song by heart. xD I've been trying to decide which one of their albums is my favourite, and I only know it's (probably) not the Sufferer and the Witness. Well, it's good to know I like everything they've made so far.

At the moment there are two songs in my head - the Strength To Go On and Historia Calamitatum.
 "What we are is the sum of a thousand lies

  What we know is almost nothing at all

  But we are what we are 'til the day we die

  Or until we don't have the strength to go on"

 "When it rains it pours like summer storms

  These skies as grey as leaves

  The rivers flood the banks and spill into the streets

  But the people laughed and swore that they'd restore the city piece by piece

  And then the clouds gave way as if to agree

  When it rains it pours"

The latter one would be great to hear live, particularly if it would start raining then. I doubt they will play it, though the rain is highly possible - it's been almost subtropic here and a proper rain would help a lot. (Or thunder, which I've been waiting for.)

About other stuff - I'm currently reading Austen's Emma, saw the Ghost Writer and Eclipse in the cinema and watched Penelope and the Curse of the Golden Flower yesterday with friends. I'll possibly say something more about the movies, especially 'bout the Twilight.

Now I better go get ready and make sure I have everything I need with me.

Am I loud and clear, or am I breaking up?

Am I still your charm, or am I just bad luck

Are we getting closer or are we just getitng more lost?

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours first

Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse

Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words

We live on front porches and swing life away

We get by just fine here on minimum wage

If love is a labout I'll slave til the end

I won't cross these sreets until you hold my hand

I've been here so long, think that it's time to move

The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon

Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

I've got some friends, some that I hardly know

But we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world

We chase these days down with talks of

The places that we will go

We live on front porches and swing life away...

~Rise Against: Swing Life Away

<3: Wilzo

Finally!

The Finncon 2010 programme is finally here! :D I've been waiting for it for so long... This is going to be my first Finncon, so I'm excited about it. Here's what's going to be going on:
Finncon 2010 programme

Friday's fine, not much that I want to attend to. Saturday, however, poses a problem: adult fantasy, the debate about whether Avatar sucks or not and the Guest of Honour speech of Ellen Kushner's are all at the same time. Right now I wish I could split in three, because I would love to be there for all of those. But I guess I'll just decide it when the time comes and see which one is most appealing. At least I get to go to the Introduction to Mannerpunk, the one I'm most excited about.
Sunday's more or less fine, though there seems to be the decision between the imaginary creatures of folk mythology and the new coming of vampires, but I can skip either one. Oh, and it seems that the kaffeeklatch with Ellen Kushner is at the same time and the vampire booktips, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to go sit in a café with an awesome author and some other fans who are probably smarter than me. ^^;

Another thing I'm really looking forward to is this: destroying genre favourites of our childhood! :D I expect that includes stuff like laughing at the ambiguous lines in Moomins and Biker Mice From Mars and such.

Anyway, I'm hyped. I can't wait! Still about two weeks to go! Luckily it's only a week til Ruisrock and RISE AGAINST!  I'm excited about that, too.

Reading matter. I borrowed Gregory Maguire's Wicked from a friend of mine (in exchange, he got the Lies of Locke Lamora. I'm just dying to discuss that book with someone else than my brother) and I liked it. It's the sort of book that grows on you; I didn't find it beautifully written like Kushner's books, or witty like Lynch or Wilde, but there was something that drew me. The musical is coming to Helsinki, and I'm definitely going to see it, even though I've understood that it's not quite the same as the book. I also plan on reading the sequels, Son of a Witch and Lion Among Men.

But right now I'm going through Kushner's Swordspoint, and I have my fingers crossed I'll get Fall of the Kings from Science fiction flea market at the con. And I'm planning on reading all the Harry Potters again, because after reading some fanfiction I fell in love with it again.

I guess that's all for now. The July has begun, and adventures lay ahead. (Only 20 days until I get to know whether I got into University or not!)

~Wilzo

PS: Digged up the list of possible actors for the characters of Privilege of the Sword:
  Lord Ferris - Alan Rickman/Daniel Day-Lewis
  Lucius Perry - David Tennant
  Lydia Fitz-Levi - Jennifer Love-Hewitt
  Alcuin - Orlando Bloom
So I obviously didn't get all my ideas right in the last post. ^^ I'm still trying to figure out who would be a good Mad Duke or St Vier, though I think Day-Lewis would be a great Alec if he was a bit younger. Or maybe John Malcovitch? (I seem to like St Vier the most, so it's hard to think of anyone who would be good enough.)

I also forgot to tell that I went to see the Finn-Brit Players production of the Dangerous Liaisons. It was unbelievable, I enjoyed myself immensely. I'll be sure to see them again when they get the next play out!

UPDATE 11/12/10: What on earth have I written "Lydia Fitz-Levi" in both this and the last update? It's Artemisia Fitz-Levi, Lydia is a Godwin! >.<