Looking Both Ways (A Recap)

And so we're here again. Tomorrow I can proudly wear my imaginary "I survived the Mayan Apocalypse, Twice!" t-shirt and make fun of people. Tomorrow I will officially — and unofficially I might add — been without smoking for exactly 100 days. Which mean I — or We — have spent roughly £544 on other stuff. I also celebrated my 300th post a few posts ago, but I decided — I forgot, okay? — not to make a big deal — no one really cares but me — about it. Tomorrow, it will stop being 2012 — for those of us using the Gregorian Calendar at least — and start being 2013.

So sit down, this is going to be a long one.

The Bechdel Test

You there! Yes… you. Go, donate! Donate now! Next year I am going to write more about why we all should all care about this. Because you should. Feministfrequency.com is pretty awesome and very, very needed.

A Christmas In Pictures

Since I talked about posting pictures of my Christmas I decided to create a new set on Flickr. So, here you go. Enjoy the embedded slide show after the jump.

The Siegel-a-thon Continues

After having watched "The Five-Year Engagement" we are now going to continue the Jason Siegel-a-thon with "Jeff, Who Lives At Home". I like Jason Siegel. He does good stuff.

The Festering Turd That Is Sylvia Browne

I'm an agnostic. I use to think that I was an atheist but as it turns out I simply don't "not believe" any more than I "believe" so I have realised that the closest approximation — and it's a very close one — is agnosticism. I acknowledge the possibility that there are deities, one or even many for that matter but until science discovers a way to measure their existence or the existence of matter reacting to those deities I can't know for sure. Believing fairy tales is for suckers. As far as I'm concerned you either know something or you don't. But that is of course what I think and as such you are free to think otherwise… and as long as you keep your stupid beliefs to yourself, so will I. Alternatively you can always write a lengthy post about how "we can't know how old the earth is" and that "creationism is just as valid as science". And I promise that I won't read it.

Five Gold Rings

This post title makes no sense without the previous post title. And the only reason I point that out is because some time, in the not so distant future, someone might find this post and they might wonder "What the fuck?!" this ppost relates to "The Twelve Days of Christmas" -song. Rest assured. It doesn't. But if I've kept you so far here's a link to the lyrics… bye.

Now, that we finally got rid of those people, let's get real. And when I say real, I don't actually mean real "real", I mean I'm going to tell you what I ate for Christmas real.

Chicken. A nicely sized 1.5 kg chicken roasted in an oven, with spices. The usual spices like pepper, salt and olive oil. Oh, and also raisins (or sultanas as some might call it). It was actually pretty good although a bit weird. Then we had Christmas pudding, which is well… sweet and "no thank you". We had Holly as decorations for the table. We also kept Finlandsvenska traditioner alive like watching Kalle Anka (which is actually a Nordic tradition, but it is one that has always been and important tradition for the Swedish speaking people of Finland) and the giving of Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.

We also had gingerbread cookies that I personally made because, well… gingerbread cookies with actually ginger in them is pretty weird to me. Our gingerbread cookies don't have that. They do have pepper though, which seems to be a spice that isn't quite as common here. At least not the fun and unexpected places.

We also had Swedish meatballs. I say Swedish because that's what it said on the packaging but it could've just as well been Scandinavian meatballs. Good though.

So, in the end… what we basically did was, take a chicken, stuff it with English stuff and eat it one day before Christmas (on the Eve of Christmas) instead of the day. Then we just continued celebrating how best we pleased, regardless of the consequences.

Counting down to New Year Eve.

Which we're obviously going to mix-and-match as well.

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

So I have celebrated an English Christmas in England — the "in England" being a fairly obvious part — and apparently the experiences I have had so far are not extra-ordinary by any measures. Which is to say, I'm not special in any way. Everything I have experiences so far is not, and I repeat, not special in any way. But coincidently, this is one of those occasions when I don't mind, not being special.

The "And English" being a less obvious part. Why, you might ask? Because, the Christmas we celebrate — although not vastly different from theirs— is one of differences worth mentioning. None more apparent than by visiting English pubs and talking to people that have… simply lived here for… well.… 60+ years. The have already had the pleasure of having the experiences that of most us inevitable seek to replicate, regardless of not knowing it. Their experiences are honest. To the point. And without the guilt of overcompensation for the past.

And whilst I suppose a part of me should assume that they're lying — because I'm Finnish and distrustful — most of me is still going to err on the side of caution and simply assume that they speak nothing but the truth. Because we all know how well known the English are for speaking the truth.

Good? Irony pointed out? Excellent. Now I can tell you about our Enginavian Christmas without you judging me. Well… too much at least. Or at least until my friend in Thailand starts writing a fecking blog…

Yeah. dude. We're still waiting.

So. English Christmas. What is it like? I could, should but won't… post a picture of our Christmas feast. Mainly because I will probably pale in comparison to the others have had, but I will still describe it and hope that that is good enough.

Stay tuned for part two.

Merry Xmas To The Power of Two

Tonight we dine! On crackers, cheese (including Stilton, fuck yeah!) and wine. The entertainment for the evening has so far consisted on "Just Friends" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". So, to all a good night and a merry Xmas.

I love Ryan Reynolds in this movie.

A Bird Amongst Cats

Merry Xmas according to my country of origin. Tomorrow, you can look forward to the congratulations according to my country residency.

We Are But Floating Wax Bubbles

Today's post. At least for now, is the delightfully thought-provoking Zach Weiner's Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and today's comic. I thought about linking to the image.. or just posting it here. But that's not very nice, I mean think about it, I would have deprived Zach from almost seven, maybe even eight visitors. Assuming everyone who reads these clicked through and visited smbc.

Anyway.

Click the preview to read the rest.

A Slight Delay of Plans

As I am sure you've all noticed I haven't uploaded a Christmas song yet. Don't worry. The plan is still to record and upload it. But after yesterday's company party and today's hangover I simply wasn't up for singing the song just yet. That and the fact that it isn't quite ready yet. As in I'm still writing it. I'm hoping that at the very latest I will have done by Christmas.

At least that's the plan I have set out. Now whilst I know it deviates from the original plan of "today" it's still close enough to be valid. I'll just have to put off going to Disneyland for a couple of days. Which is fine. So a new plan is born. Out of necessity rather than anything else. And I'm fine with that too.

Until then, here's another video of a Russian guy playing acoustic guitar. Only this time it's "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses. It's still just as feckin awesome though. Enjoy.

Acoustic Dubstep By A Russian Guy

This is pure awesome!

I Can Haz Secret Too

Well. Kind of, at least. The plan/secret is this; Write and compose a Christmas themed song. Have it done by tomorrow. Record and upload to youtube by Saturday. By Sunday, having simultaneously achieved world fame with said song, cured all forms of cancer and saved everyone's Christmas — that was obviously going to suck, without said song — retire to enjoy life and maybe go to Disneyland.

Good plan, right?

I've gotten this far on the song; "It's that time of the year, the season's drawing near…"

See you (pop)starside.

Bioshock Infinite, First Five Minutes

Are you excited? I know I am!

Jingle Bell Rock

Nothing brings in the Yule tide spirits like a little Walk off the Earth.

Hell Of A Town

Like I said earlier. Quantity over quality. But also this video was kind of cool so there's also that.

Rough Trade, by Oglaf

Because a) Oglaf his hilariously awesome albeit inappropriate at times and b) I'm too tired to write anything.

I'm Thankful For This Shitty Song

This shitty song almost makes me want to kill myself. But only almost. The fact that this shitty song has over 13 million views, now that, makes me want to kill myself.

But instead of actually "offing" myself I'm just going to continue to write sad and brooding songs called "Most Lesbians" or "My Undying Love For You Will Never Decompose (But My Body Might)".

Speaking of which, I haven't uploaded a recording using my new equipment yet. I should really do that as soon as this cold I've caught — or flu or whatever — subsides. My voice isn't its best right now because of it. But at least — thankfully and finally — my singing voice has normalized more since I stopped smoking.

At some point I want to start recording and uploading unfinished songs, riffs, or just random bits. Basically the musical equivalent of a sketch. Why? Well, no real particular reason other than the fact that I personally think the result is never quite as interesting as how you got there. So, in that spirit I should contribute with my process of working.

In the end, it's probably mostly because I'm a self-indulging narcissist. But let's at least pretend I'm doing it for the good of mankind… or whatnot.

An Atomic Duke Worth Having

Happy Holidays people, here have some Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition as a gift from me — but actually from GOG.com — to you. Better hurry up though as it's only valid until this Friday at 14:59 GMT. Or in the famous words of Duke himself: "What are you waiting for? Christmas?"

Robot Unicorn Attack

I am lost for words. No really, I am. And if that's wasn't enough. It's gets better worse.

The 467 Character Post

4 hours of sleep last night. 10 work days until my Christmas vacation is on! I've spent most of today drawing different t-shirts for the digital avatar of Carlos. Obviously you have seen some of them already but most of them are going to be my little secrets until the revised Fiinix Design Carlos Eriksson website is finished. Now, I am going to go to sleep. So, even though this post is quite short, it's long enough (467 characters, haha!) to not fit into a tweet.

Doctor Molestation

Fatawesome.com is awesome… and well… fat too, I suppose? And here's the proof of its awesomeness and coincidently of my sense of humour, as well. Consider yourself warned?

Posted after the jump because the image is quite long.

Funny vs. Amazing

This video is amazingly cool. But be warned as there might be a spoiler or two in case you haven't seen Prometheus yet.

This is just funny. Have a happy 11 minutes of what's left of this Friday. Also, double post. How cool is that? Pretty cool. Unlike Skype.

How Skype Took A Dump On My Metaphorical Carpet

Taking a small break from writing copy for my website — in between the gingerbread baking — I take a moment to reflect… on life, death, and…

Nah, I'm kidding.

I rant about Skype and its piss poor User Experience.

Fuck You, Pay Me!

Originally I was going to call this post "Fuck You, Pay Me!" in honour of Mike Monteiro but I decided against it and changed it to "Sit Down And Shut Up!" because I thought it might be too offensive. Then I changed my mind back and forth for a while, always wanting to revert back to my original idea but always feeling a bit hesitant, like a small child doing something they know is naughty. In the end, as you can see I decided on the more — possible — offensive way because… well… Fuck you. Pay me. That's why.

The Reinvented Light Bulb

I would like five of these please, LIFX.

The Other Kind of Writing

Today I'm writing and rewriting copy (text) for my website. Pretty much all of my earlier copy is being revised, reworded or simply removed to make room for better copy. Some of it is shit, some of it is okay and some of it is actually still  — surprisingly — good and probably won't need as much work. Here's a few movies I can recommend for you whilst you wait. Solaris, a science fiction-psychological drama from 2002 starring George Clooney. Creepy good but not for those who don't like a bit of thinking. Paranorman, a 3D stop-motion animated comedy horror film from 2012 made by the same studio — Laika — that made the beautiful and excellent Coraline. I'm not actually going to spoil this one at all but if you're even the slightest fan of stop-motion animation or their earlier Coraline, you need to see this movie right now.

Also, have a comic why don't you.

Today's comic brought to you by the excellent kateordiecomics.com.

A Dickensian Christmas

I was actually going to write a post about the relationships between Love and Hate but I am too tired to get the bubble charts to display accurately. Damn it! The numbers don't add up! I will have to save the charts for some other day. Instead I am going to keep this one short and just tell you about how we went to Rochester and experienced their Dickensian Christmas.

You Can't "Like" My Poop Any More

I would like to say that I have been going back and forth with it for some time now but the truth is, I haven't. As you might notice, the "Like" button is gone. And it isn't coming back either. Now there are a number of reasons — three — for this and I will gladly tell you them all, even the really, really sad one.