Batman: The Dark Knigh Rises (1/5): Plot didn't make sense. Glorifies violence and cruelty.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2.5/5): Plot haphazard, but entertaining.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (3/5): An entertaining and illuminating peek inside teenage girls' fantasies and fears about love, marriage and pregnancy.
This Must Be The Place (3.5/5): A strange road movie with peculiar "everything-worth-doing-has-been-achieved" atmosphere.
Sinister (4.5/5): This horror movie had very simple plot hashed together from classic
horror movies and books. It puts all shots to creating thick atmosphere, suspense and scares with extremely skillful
visual tricks and music. In the end all loose ends are tied together. Don't watch the trailer, it spoils too much.
Film festival films:
Alois Nebel (4/5): A Czech animation about the fall of Berlin wall. Captures well the confusion
and dislocation of people during a historical transition period.
Shopping Tour (3.5/5): A Russian zombie film. Events take place during a shopping tour to Finland.
Starts as a drama about loss of father and single parenthood, then turns into zombie slapstick.
Crazy Horse (3/5): Didn't expect to see a softcore porn in the film festival, but that's
what this film is. Couldn't watch to the end as two girls were sitting next to me.
Indie Game (score not relevant): A peek inside the world of very small game programming
teams. Well-made document for those interested in the subject.
Film Of The Year award is divided between Alois Nebel (a film with strong real-world
historical zeitgeist) and Sinister (a pure-bred genre film), because it's not meaningful
to compare genre films to films about real-world phenomena.
This blog used to have 10 readers, 5 of which I could name. That changed after I read an introductory investment book and wrote a few posts about economy. People started to find this blog through relevant google search words. For the first time in 9-year history of this blog, readers liked to read about a topic which also allowed weekly posts. To see how deep the rabbit hole goes I've started a "respectable" new blog featuring only weekly posts about economy.
With prudent blogging done elsewhere, this blog will remain for "bored office drone me", dedicated to searching excitement and new experiences from sex, whores, satan worship and pole dancing. But since there's not much (paid or unpaid) sex in my life and I find the mere idea of impaling small animals for Satan disgusting and revolting, there won't be much to write about.
It is hard to write about politics, since most claims break down the moment you check facts.
In an Uusi Suomi article, PTT think tank's Lahtinen claims that from 2008 to 2012 Finnish public sector swelled by 40000 employees, while private sector shrank by 70000 persons, resulting in horrible budget deficit and Greek level debt unless we react now.
Bullshit.
Stat.fi says that from 2008/II to 2012/II private-sector employment decresed by 47000 persons, while public-sector employment increased by 1000 persons (40 times less than in the article.)
However, the time series is very noisy: there is a 100000 person seasonal variation between 2008/I and 2008/II. A think tank who knows conclusion beforehand can pick statistics to support just about any claim.
Scientists recently observed traces of a suicidal Higgs boson. That is a good moment for celebrating science. Without fruits of science, you wouldn't read this message. You wouldn't have the equipment to receive it, and you would be busy doing heavy physical work for subsistence. The www protocol which tells your browser how to render this page was first designed in the very same CERN. Thanks to science, engineering and markets, machines do things for you, giving you ample food and leisure.
Therefore science is worth celebrating and worth funding, but also worth watching over to prevent nasty stuff, say, geneticists developing artificial pandemies.
Peer review is central to science. Symbolically, this big moment was chosen by peer review - peer physicists determined that the smoking ruins of some boson, probably Higgs boson were sighted, and that it was an important milestone.
The non-technical Wikipedia overview of Higgs boson is perfect. It tells for laymen why those whippersnappers matter. It also contains links to the real stuff for those who have IQ and training to understand particle physics (I don't.) And it captures the uncertainty under which scientists work.
In particle physics, elementary particles and forces give rise to the world around us. Physicists explain the behaviors of these particles and how they interact using the Standard Model—a widely accepted framework believed to explain most of the world we see around us. Initially, when these models were being developed and tested, it seemed that the mathematics behind those models which were satisfactory in areas already tested would also forbid elementary particles from having any mass, which showed clearly that these initial models were incomplete. In 1964 three groups of physicists almost simultaneously released papers describing how masses could be given to these particles, using approaches known as symmetry breaking. This approach allowed the particles to obtain a mass, without breaking other parts of particle physics theory that were already believed reasonably correct. This idea became known as the Higgs Mechanism (not the same as the boson), and later experiments confirmed that such a mechanism does happen—but they could not show exactly how it happens.
The leading and simplest theory for how this effect actually takes place in nature was that if a particular kind of "field" (known as a Higgs Field) happened to permeate space, and if it could interact with fundamental particles in a particular way, then this would give rise to a Higgs Mechanism in nature, and would therefore create around us the phenomenon we call "mass". Around the 1960s and 1970s the Standard Model of physics was developed on this basis, and it included a prediction and requirement that for these things to be true, there had to be an undiscovered boson—one of the fundamental particles—as the counterpart of this field. This would be the Higgs boson. If the Higgs boson was confirmed to exist, as the Standard Model suggested, then scientists could be satisfied that the Standard Model was fundamentally correct. If the Higgs boson was confirmed not to exist, then other theories would be considered as candidates instead.
The Standard Model also made clear that the Higgs boson would be very difficult to demonstrate. It only exists for a tiny fraction of a second before breaking up into other particles, so fast that it cannot be directly detected and can only be detected by identifying the results of its immediate decay and analyzing them to show they were probably created by a Higgs boson and not some other reason. The Higgs boson requires so much energy to create (compared to many other fundamental particles) that it also requires a massive particle accelerator to create collisions energetic enough to create it and record the traces of its decay. Given a suitable accelerator and appropriate detectors, scientists can record trillions of particles colliding, and analyze the data for collisions likely to be a Higgs boson, and then perform further analysis to test how likely it is that the results combined show a Higgs boson does exist, and the results are not just due to chance.
Experiments to try and show whether the Higgs boson did or did not exist began in the 1980s but until the 2000s it could only be said that certain areas were plausible, or ruled out. In 2008 the Large Hadron Collider ("LHC") was inaugurated, being the most powerful particle accelerator ever built. It was designed especially for this experiment, and other very high energy tests of the Standard Model. In 2010 it began its primary research role which was to prove whether or not the Higgs boson actually existed.
In late 2011 two of the LHC's experiments independently began to suggest "hints" of a Higgs boson detection around 125 GeV (the unit of particle mass). In July 2012 CERN announced[1] evidence of discovery of a boson with an energy level and other properties consistent with those expected in a Higgs boson. The available data raise a high statistical likelihood that the Higgs boson had been confirmed. As a result, further work will be necessary for the discovery of the Higgs boson to be considered conclusive (or disproved). If the newly discovered particle is indeed the Higgs boson, attention will turn to considering whether its characteristics match one of the extant versions of the Standard Model. The CERN data include clues that the additional bosons or similar-mass particles may have been discovered as well as, or instead of, the Higgs itself. If a different boson were confirmed, it would allow and require the development of new theories to supplant the current Standard Model.
When you in US say "ignorance is bliss", we say "tieto lisää tuskaa" (knowledge adds to pain (Ecc. 1:18)) When the name of a big IT subcontractor, Tieto, surfaces during failed public-sector IT procurements, we say Tieto lisää tuskaa. There is also a metal music festival named Tuska. Tieto made a bold ad to turn this catchphrase from negative PR into positive.
Just one week after the black rituals of Steelfest, a shooter in Hyvinkää killed two persons and injured seven. One of the few people with a clue of the root cause is Jouko Piho, who claims that the shooter was possessed by a demon. The shooter can't give any explanation why he did it, which further supports demonic possession. Also he didn't get the idea of shooting from the music, as he has no reported history of interest in black metal.
What is the probability that a shooting happens just one week after a major satanic ritual? In Finland, shooting incidents happen about once every 2 years. In any 2-week period (after summoning ritual), the independent probability of a shooting incident is (2 weeks) / (52 weeks / year * 2 years) =~ 2%.
Hyvinkää has about 45000 inhabitants. Finland has a little over 5m inhabitants. Therefore the probability that a shooter emerges from the same city of ~50000 inhabitants where the rituals were held is about (5 000 000 / 50 000) =~ 1%.
Therefore, the likelihood that it was pure dumb luck is at most 0.02%. This is the probability that a shooting incident occurs within 2 weeks following a black ritual in the same city of ~50000 inhabitants.
Based on this scientific calculations, you must either believe that a malevolent supernatural entity exists or admit that you put dogma above observations!
To prevent these horrible tragedies from happening in the future, Finnish government should immediately set up a working group to formulate demonic policy, which sets up the instutional framework for preventing, indentifying and mitigating incidents of demonic possession.
Death metal and satanic black metal dominated Steelfest's lineup 19.5.2012 in Hyvinkää. When I arrived, Forced Kill was warming up audience by shouting "The next song is dedicated to everyone who thinks that there are advantages to being a vulture!" Dart Management, which just got 1/3 of Greece's remaining treasury after buying bonds by bottom price would surely agree.
The dagger, the chalice, the torch and the iron
The 4 satanic bands had a little contest on the most outrageous stage show. They were all very good at creating the kind of haunted, intense atmosphere which sets black metal apart, where the musicians don't just entertain the audience but channel visions from the other side. Sawhill Sacrifice established baseline with corpse paint and intense drumming. While they are musically great, they need more work on their core message (claiming that Cthulhu will rise from the dead isn't very credible message.)
Cavus continued preparations for the black ceremony by announcing that they were prohibited from summoning the devil, bringing rats and playing with blood, and adviced anyone interested in those to come to the backstage.
After that, Sacrilegious Impalement whipped the audience to frenzy with their perfect combination of fast and relentless music and well thought out mystical, satanic message. The singer had a chalice of blood (maybe from the rats of Cavus?) which he also sprinkled to the audience. Afterwards some listeners took photographs on the grass with the unwashed bloodstains. They also had an inverted, sharpened cross as stage prop - I half expected them to impale something there, but they didn't go that far.
Enochian Crescent finalized the mass with a baptism of fire to cancel the singer's Christian baptism, first warming up an iron with a torch and then grilling himself.
Also animals were killed for the pleasure of Steelfest audience. Not by impaling them to a sharpened, inverted cross but instead beforehand to provide meat for the delicious double steak hamburgers in American Diner's vendor stall. If someone wants to feel shocked and ban something, start with the actual, irrevocable "fun kills" by banning the hamburger stall.
Barely Legal
You could see that the satanic bands were mainly restriced by Finnish criminal law. First of all, impaling something to an inverted cross would have been a first degree animal protection crime, producing a 4 - 24 month jail sentence. Some high priest grilling an acolyte with a hot iron (instead of the singer grilling himself) would have been manhandling, prosecuted even if the "victim" won't sue.
Blessed to resist Islam
Sacrilegious Impalement had heeded the call to arms by Ironmistress by printing T-shirts which resist "the laws of Sharia invading our homes", using Paganism to fill the memetic void when Christianity is too weak to resist Islamic extemism. I saw just one such T-shirt, so it is not a mass movement even if black metal bands would love to lead the nativist defense against violent Islam.
Also Taake's main singer had Norwegian flag as a cloak, and one girl in the audience waved Norway's flag.
If you want peace, prepare for war
Death metal lineup started with Forced Kill and Corpsessed, culminating in Sotajumala's (War God) brutal hammering. War God's message combined cold, harsh military discipline, necessary for effective national defense, with the mindlessness of dying. It appealed to the Finnish audience (3/4 male), most of which had served as conscripts and done the mental exercise of imagining what it is like to be in war. Also shouts from audience reflected that.
Other bands
Also Saattue, XII and The Crown played in the festival, but I didn't see them. Thanks for the organizers, it was a great event except for one thing. Instead of being racist, xenophobic assholes, permit the mages summon devil to the party next year!
History is a nightmare from which we have just woken up, except that larget swathes of humankind haven't, and will shoot anyone who tries to wake them up.
Graveyard is full of irreplacable men.
Others have failed before you and will fail after you.
And this is what success looks like.
"The lyrics are partly just random screaming, because we couldn't find the original lyrics anywhere..."
The romantic fantasy drama The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn was fun to watch as a reflection of teenage girls' fantasies about ideal mate. Curiously, it had one ideal male figure (Edward) for girls on pill, with soft demeanour and a sensitive interaction style. It also had a strong hothead (Jacob) to appeal to girls not on the pill and are on their period. I was also surprised by the obsession to make Edward tick all high status marker boxes.
Although it was not realistic, it was the only movie which dealt with serious topics (mate choice, sex, pregrancy a la Rosemary's Baby) and where human beings behaved according to human psychology. (The main reason I don't really like movies is that many make my "people just don't behave that way!" warning lights flash red.)
Action flick Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows offered 2 hours of good entertainment, but I'm already forgetting the plot, which was too inconsistent to stay in memory. The central theme was 'steampunk Lord of the Rings', Sherlock was Gandalf, complete with a sneak into Mordor and meeting with Balrog.
Drama road movie This Must Be The Place told about a super wealthy former rock star. It had post-singularity feel, as most people in the movie had all their material meets met, and they mainly drifted in existential void, seeking ways to amuse themselves. Having no material competition left and not that much need for workplace style co-operation, they used disproportionate effort to control the frame of conversation and refuse to answer questions straight.
The biggest foreign policy question facing Finland is the future of Eurozone.
Our elected representatives can guarantee junk bonds with 20% of our GDPhave already pledged 26% of our GDP to junk bond funds, and allow European Central Bank to create 5% inflation with bailouts and quantitative easing.
EU and euro have been positive forces thus far, but now I see more threats than opportunities in tighter integration.
During Finland's EU negotiations, Paavo Väyrynen demonstrated both ability to oppose EU and also pragmatism (unlike Timo Soini) to admit defeat after the vote had been cast against his views and join again the negotiation tables where decisions are made.
Today I met a streetwalker for the first time in Finland, when walking in Helsinki city center at 2 am. After identifying her from stockings and small pants despite -7 Celsius, I made eye contact. "Hello little one", she said with thick accent. I grumbled "hello." She continued "is the little one feeling cold?", at which point I was already past her. Motherly context may not be the most effective at rousing the flames of passion, but probably she knows something I don't about the kinds of persons who actually pay up.
Someday, I'll lose my virginity after paying for it. I won't report it here, because maintaining privacy requires reciprocal silence. It won't solve my social skills developmental task, but it is actionable and it is remotely possible that I'll learn something useful in the process.
