Consuming Poe

♫ Axxis – Lady Moon

About the time I write about something else but Berlin. :> Now it's all about Edgar Allan Poe, games and movies. Or maybe not in plural, but anyway. No need to be afraid of spoilers, there won't be any.

Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy

During the Steam Summer Sale I purchased a Midnight Mysteries game bundle which comprised four games of the series. The reasons why I bought it were simple: The first game was called "The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy" and the price was very... small.

All those Midnight Mysteries games are puzzles, consisting mostly of hidden object search. Not solely, but mostly – the Poe game has less variety in its puzzles than the rest of the games. It's obvious it's older: it was more frustrating, simpler with its game mechanics... It lacked achievements and bonus content. But yeah, it was about Poe!

To cut a long story short, in the game you're trying to solve the mystery behind Poe's death by collecting clues. You see these scenes with multiple strange items scattered around, and you're supposed to pick up the ones the game is asking you to. This may sound easy, but it's damn difficult! The game art is very beautiful and detailed, and thus, the hidden objects don't really stand out from the background. Of course it would be too easy if they did, but... While this is the whole point of the game, it is also its weakness.

I may be a particularly impatient person, but honestly, I cannot say those puzzles would remain motivating and fun after you've seen a few. And they go on, and on, and on, for the whole duration of the game. I completed it, and my Steam clock says I've spent 5 hours playing the first game. I know it took me less to complete it because I just spent quite a while doing the puzzles again in order to get some screenshots.

Of course you will get to see some cut-scenes, something fancy every now and then (like talking to Poe's ghost). However, the game is carried on by looking for objects again and again. And they are not always even related to the mission in any way: it's quite unnecessary to find an apple next to Poe's tombstone. You just have to do it for the sake of, well, searching.

My efforts were rewarded with some pirates, which made the game worth continuing for me. Edgar Allan Poe and pirates, I can manage with a few annoying puzzles... But I wouldn't wonder if most people couldn't.

I've completed the second game of the series, Salem Witch Trials, and am now crawling through the third one, Devil on the Mississippi. Salem Witch Trials is about Nathaniel Hawthorne while Devil on the Mississippi  revolves around Mark Twain. The fourth one, which I haven't even started yet, Haunted Houdini, is surprisingly about the famous illusionist Harry Houdini.

And would I recommend these games? Well, it depends. I would recommend those to the fans of the respective principal characters, but only if they have the patience the games require. I barely do. However, the second and the third one have been more interesting to play than the first game since they do have a bit more to them, yet still the majority of gameplay is all about hidden objects. However, even though the game art is beautiful and the sounds rather nice and atmospheric as well, I don't think the game is worth its Steam price. If you want to try it, wait for some nice discount!

The Raven

Onto better things then! Some time ago I finally got to see The Raven as well – the movie I already hyped in the past. Ah, the long wait was over... I didn't even bother to find out how violent the movie would be – the R rating is too vague for me, in Finland movies get an age limit of 16 or 18 depending on how much gore there is. I tend to avoid those with the rating of 18 since I'm not a friend of extreme gore... But well, The Raven wasn't too extreme for me. :> I almost got worried at some point, though.

The plot in brief: strange and cruel murders begin to occur in Baltimore, being suspiciously similar to Poe's stories. Being expert enough to help a professional detective in the case, Poe joins forces with him in order to find the culprit.

It seemed the movie was easier to follow for an avid Poe fan than an average viewer. I didn't probably notice it since the references were familiar, but perhaps I did pay some attention to how vague the movie managed to be. Hardly anything was thoroughly introduced, but I don't think it's too bad. It left the movie seeming slightly superficial, and if you're looking forward to a murder mystery which will keep you engaged for the whole duration of the movie, making you solve the mystery on your own as well, The Raven isn't probably the type.

John Cusack's interpretation of Poe was interesting. Many people seemed to be sceptical beforehand, and many seemed to be disappointed after seeing the movie. I don't think it was that bad at all. He wasn't so poor, although the result was probably not quite what I would have imagined Poe to be like. But I'm not so strict, it's refreshing to see different ways to portray a miserable writer.

Visually, the film was beautiful and interesting. The plot wasn't strong or well-developed, but entertaining enough. I wasn't disappointed, but not awestruck either. The movie was good, but not magnificent. I would certainly recommend it to Poe fans. It may not provide wannabe detectives with enough food for thought, but at least one fangirl liked it.

P.S: We thought Cusack looked like Tony Kakko every now and then.
P.P.S: Now I'm dying to get some posters of The Raven on my walls because they are so beautiful. I've found some online, but can anyone recommend a good movie poster store online, preferably in Europe, with reasonable shipping costs?

The art of war

♫ Sabaton – Karolinens Bön

I've been a slightly lazy blogger, and slightly busy in real life as well. And if I was going to write about what special I've been doing lately, you might have a déjà vu after reading "I went to see Dreamtale live" for the fourth time. *giggles*

The theme of this post is warfare as a source of inspiration for artistic endeavours. Personally, I have very contradictory feelings when it comes to war and military related imagery. I'm quite sure most people can say they hate war and wish we could leave in peace and so on, and so do I. I'm also pacifist to the point of not being enthusiastic to try firearms if I ever got a chance (I'm talking about perfectly legal hobbies here). If I was a man, I would refuse to take military service, opting for civil service instead.

However, I cannot deny that warfare is a huge part of history, inspiration for stories, and probably even a remarkable part of human nature. It doesn't matter whether we are watching Star Wars, playing a sink ship game or reading some fantasy novel; war, battle or fight is often a part of the whole thing, not necessarily everything though. And why wouldn't it be? Two (or more) quarrelsome parties disputing in violent ways is often more interesting than peaceful conciliation. I also enjoy my regular dose of warfare whenever I've watching, reading or playing something.

This blog post is about real history though, not fictional wars. I've never been a fan of war movies or books, and I have been lucky enough to graduate from a Finnish comprehensive school, high school and university without having to read or watch The Unknown Soldier. I only had to watch a few scenes of the film in the Finnish film history lectures I had to take (which were probably the most horrifying compulsory lectures in university). And well, I can say I hate live action war films with a passion!

Some time ago I came across this DVD on sale, only for 5 €. Since I had seen it in a movie theater after its release and enjoyed it, I knew it would be worth my money. Yesterday we finally had a proper movie night and watched it, and well, it was still good.

Waltz with Bashir is Ari Folman's animated documentary film, released in 2008. It depicts Folman himself trying to complete a puzzle of his memories and recollections of his time as a soldier in the Lebanon War in the 80s. And it really is a documentary film, not a drama or an action piece "based on true events" – this means it doesn't have a real dramatic arc but consists of both interview and action footage like television documents. I think I once read how some professionals in the field wondered why Folman wanted to make this kind of film using animation, but I think the choice was perfect (not only because I wouldn't have watched it otherwise). The visual style of the movie is very interesting, and I think it portrays the soldiers' feelings very well: what it is like to be utterly scared, or to have a feeling of being on a vacation even at the front.

If there is a hole in your history knowledge and you don't quite know who were fighting in Lebanon and why, the movie won't leave you much wiser. It concentrates on the veterans' feelings, fears, memories and traumas rather than politics. I would recommend it to anyone who's interested in historical wars too, but first and foremost to those who haven't enjoyed other war movies like me.

And I guess the movie's success implies it is a good one; the front cover of the DVD states it was nominated for an Academy Award for the best foreign language film and it won the Golden Globe award of the same category. (Being an Israeli film, the main language is Hebrew.) One fangirl also had trouble sitting still back then in the movie theater when OMD's Enola Gay started playing in one scene. It's also a good war related piece of art!

I won't include everything I enjoy of this theme into one single blog entry, so I will move onto music now. Ever heard of Sabaton, a Swedish heavy / power metal band whose lyrical themes revolve almost solely around historical wars? Not only are the lyrics interesting, but their musical style combined with the frontman Joakim Brodén's strong voice makes their songs very enjoyable. (Most of their songs are in English but I also really like the Swedish versions of their new songs; somehow I think Swedish suits metal music.)


Primo Victoria is about the Invasion of Normandy, and the song which got me into Sabaton in the first place.


A Lifetime of War is from their newest album Carolus Rex which was released a few weeks ago. The lyrics are a good reminder of how insane warfare actually is.

I truly suggest checking out more of their songs or videos if you got interested. I guess I will stop here, though I might write more about the theme in the future, I already have something on mind. Until the next time anyway, so long!

P.S: Anyone else experiencing problems with Blogger loading CSS stylings? My blog background and linked fonts suddenly stopped loading, sucks!

We come in peace, kind of

Iron Sky is out! The movie premiere was on April 4th, and I went to see it with a bunch of friends. Yeah, we had all been looking forward to it. In the summer of 2009 I and one of those friends were listening to a presentation given by the filmmakers, introducing their plans, and back then we wouldn't probably have believed that in less than three years we would actually be queuing to a movie hall to see it.

So why exactly have I been so interested in a sci-fi comedy to begin with? That's exceptional of me, I'm not exactly a sci-fi geek (it's enjoyable in small portions) and I'm certainly not into comedies that much! But well, the movie is hailing from my hometown. Although the production doesn't seem that "Finnish", being a co-production with Germany and Australia, while the film is in English and German, it's been interesting to take peeks at what some people I know have been working on. Had I been more daring (=talented, or had I had more self-confidence), I could have applied for a trainee post in the graphics department of the production as well.

I'm going to say a few things now, but don't worry – there will be no spoilers.

I thought the movie was somehow surprisingly fast-paced. Some say the actual plot – a Nazi community on the dark side of the Moon, a refugee camp after World War II, intent on returning to Earth – was dealt with too lightly, as if they hadn't made the most out of the actual idea. I can understand what they mean very well, but somehow that didn't bother me. It was entertaining, not deep and thought-provoking. Perhaps logic failed here and there – but if one is not looking for a coherent sci-fi film but remembers this one is a comedy piece, I would expect them to like it, at least a bit. I really liked the style of humor in the movie – I'm very picky after all, easily condemning entertainment to be too naive, stupid or what not. I'm not the easiest person to genuinely amuse.

Visually the movie was stunning, the Moon Nazi base was simply awesome. And if you're into uniforms, male or female, you might want to watch it just to be inspired by Klaus Adler or Renate Richter's attire.

How about my own outfit? I guess someone in the social media encouraged everyone to really dress up for the premiere, so I decided to...do it? Alright well, my outfit was a very strange mix of casual and formal, sloppy and elegant, put together after a long and exhausting day at work. I didn't have much time either.

I recently bought a black satin waist corset, second-hand, because I had thought I needed one – partly because I've never owned a simple black corset, and partly because my pinstripe one is slowly coming to the end of its road – or at least the bones are so twisted already... I paired it with a narrow skirt (wouldn't exactly call that a pencil skirt though), suspenders and lace gloves + a grey T-shirt. :| Okay well, I wouldn't have accepted just any T-shirt, but what I wanted was a shirt with some other colour but black. I realized I really don't have many options. Seriously. That's not particularly uniform-like, not even close to being formal, but my most formal button-up shirt with some uniform-inspired details is, well... Well, I've been laundry-fighting it for quite a while. I'm not sure if I can save that piece anymore. :/ Might need a few new button-up shirts, at the moment I have none that I could wear.

Otherwise I'm exhausted; the movie ended quite late, I had work on the following day, and what a long day it turned out to be! I had such an extreme workout right after work – so extreme that my muscles are probably crying blood now more than ever before (do bruises actually count as "muscles crying blood"? I have several in my legs). After the workout which almost killed me I had promised to see a cover band play Iron Maiden. The band started over an hour late, which meant my day was very long, and I was so exhausted. Now I've probably paid back a part of my sleep debt, but well, no rest for the wicked: It's Emilie Autumn time tonight! Today I'm actually intent on taking my SLR camera to the club, so I hope I can provide you with some good quality concert photos later! So long and happy Easter!

April goodies!

♫ Verjnuarmu – Kuuvven sylen syvyyvessä

Recently, I realized quite a funny thing; I noticed I am looking forward to the release dates of some movies and TV shows, which is quite exceptional for me. Even more so, since they are not animations! ...yet not exactly realistic portrayals of this world either, but that's another thing.

The Raven
This movie just sounds way too good! I suppose I'm not the only avid Edgar Allan Poe fan who's looking forward to this movie, yet I know it could always be a major disappointment too. The director is James McTeigue and the movie is starring John Cusack as Poe himself. (Some Poe fans have already got upset because of that.)

"A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet pursues a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories."

The US release date is April 27th, so... I'm not sure when it will hit the theaters in Finland. It seems it doesn't have a world premiere date.

Click here to watch the trailer! I think it looked good, does anyone agree with me?

Iron Sky
Almost here! Less than a month left before the tour with sneak previews begins in Finland and it will hit the theaters some time in spring (the beginning of April in Finnkino theaters in Finland)! I heard about this movie for the first time in the summer of 2009 when a panel discussion type of event related to it was held as a part of Lumous Gothic Festival. Later, I got to hear about it a lot at school – and I would have had a theoretical chance to end up as part of the graphics crew, but practically, well, that's not the type of stuff I do. I never started practicing 3d graphics seriously. Anyway, I know a few people who are part of the crew.

The plot in brief: After World War II, nazis fled to the dark side of the Moon and set up a military base there. In 2018 their descendants return to the Earth.

I have contradictory feelings about sci-fi; it can be interesting for sure, but many sci-fi themes don't interest me by default. Space is one of those themes which doesn't get me immediately excited, yet I was a Star Wars fan as a kid... Thus, I'm quite sure I wouldn't be looking forward to this movie this much if its origin wasn't in my hometown. However – it's an international production, and its languages are English and German.

Click here to see the trailer!

Game of Thrones Season 2
April 1st! Well, maybe not for me, gotta wait longer and figure out how I am going to watch it, but anyway; a person like me, who rarely watches TV series (and with "rarely" I mean that I've barely seen a single episode of any popular TV series you could come up with) fell in love with this one last summer! It's an HBO production, and a very good quality series in my opinion.

Haven't even heard of it? Well, it's based on George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. Does fantasy genre make you shiver of disgust? Well, I know people who are not particularly fond of fantasy, but who loved this series nevertheless!

Click for a trailer!

I will most likely write more about those movies once I've seen them. And then, well, I haven't yet written about the first season of Game of Thrones. I will probably make a more elaborate post of it as well, some time in the future. These were just interesting sneak peaks of the things I'm looking forward to! So long!

Fairytale gone bad, part I

♫ Indica – Lilja's Lament

I'm surprised to see I've got some new readers again. *gasp* You are all warmly welcome aboard.

Today I'm going to write about some revamped fairytales. I really liked fairytales when I was a kid, and basically I still do. However, having heard the traditional variations once or twice or too many times, I've got more and more interested in their alternative versions. Certainly, these ideas are not particularly new. Traditional stories have been used as an inspiration source in literature, movies, game industry... You name it.

One of my favourite titles is Ludwig Revolution, which I already briefly mentioned in my A-B-C~! post. It's a manga series by Kaori Yuki (whose most famous series is Angel Sanctuary, which hasn't yet got me on my knees). To cut a long story short; I was a much more avid anime and manga fan at teenage, and back then I went through hundreds of unknown titles. I never knew mainstream particularly well. However, I read many somewhat-entertaining titles, but after all these years, I can only remember a few which really stood out from the rest. Ludwig Kakumei, in other words Ludwig Revolution, was one of those.

The main character Ludwig is basically a prince, or the prince of many well-known fairytales. However, not all the stories revamped included a prince in the first place in their original versions, but what-bloody-ever; why not make Little Red Riding Hood run into Ludwig anyway?

"My face isn't my only useful feature. It's magnificent when I take off my clothes too."

"From the moment birth flings them unprepared into this world, humans are lonely creatures. Don't think that you'll gain anything just by sitting around waiting for something to be handed to you. So long, 'sleeping beauty'." 

Another title I really truly like is probably also much better known; Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. On the other hand it doesn't question the course of Alice's original adventure in her childhood as it tells a story of what happened when she returned there on the threshold of adulthood.

And the Wonderland turns out to be entirely mad, doesn't it? At least it's probably much darker and more violent than it was in Alice's childhood.

Some people said that the movie probably proved that Tim Burton had been cooperating with Johnny Depp for too long. I can barely agree because I liked Depp as the Mad Hatter. He was probably the strongest character – I mean, the most harmonious, the most interesting personality, the strength that kept the movie in one piece. While Alice was a bit flat, Mad Hatter saved the day.

Colleen Atwood won an Academy Award for best costume design for Alice in Wonderland, and in my opinion she truly deserved the award. Mad Hatter and the Red Queen looked amazing and imaginative. On the other hand the movie won the best art direction award as well – and it can barely be denied; it's full of eye candy.

Since this theme is of great interest to me, I'll probably delve more into revamped fairytales and eventually write more blog posts about them. I wonder if the new movie Red Riding Hood is worth watching? I think I read it got a bad reception. In 2012 Untitled Snow White will also be released – maybe it's something to look forward to?
So long (sleeping beauties)!

Mutineers... hang!

♫ Alestorm – Wenches & Mead

Ahoy me hearties! I'm sorry about the silence again – moving is quite hectic. In fact I haven't yet moved, but I guess I should be packing – however, it's a dreadful chore! The number of boxes and packages on my floor is increasing, but my apartment doesn't seem to be getting any well... well... more ready to be abandoned?
The cargo overboard!

Now I'm going to write about the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides. I saw it a few weeks ago, and had a great time! Didn't see the 3D version, but that's alright – I don't quite enjoy the third dimension after all, it makes it hard for me too see anything clearly.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers, so please do keep reading even if you hadn't yet seen the movie!

I didn't have any expectations in advance. I had watched the trailer and probably followed some news, and had figured out that most of the cast would be new faces. I was probably just slightly disappointed on finding that out because I had actually liked Elisabeth and Will's story (unlike many others, it seems). Fortunately Jack is a very strong personality.

Well, the movie didn't leave me disappointed or longing for Elisabeth and William. There were some new interesting personalities. I didn't like Angelica that much, might be prejudice or something since the actress was Penélope Cruz. My favourite one of all the new faces was Philip, a young missionary. I guess characters with some strong feature – such as Philip's faith – are often particularly interesting.

Philip tied up on the right. He also looked quite good in the movie, although the actor, Sam Claflin, is just a, well... normal-looking young man? Nothing exciting outside the pirate context.

Just like the previous pirate movies, On Stranger Tides also both looked and sounded awesome. I haven't yet listened to the soundtrack that much (but a little!) but the songs were very enjoyable again. The PotC theme, which is used in so many places, is very, very attractive and instantly brings about a piratey feeling.

I don't think the movie was "just another unnecessary sequel" – it was a strong, independent movie and a story in its own right. Certainly worth watching, and would be worth watching again as well. And guess what's best – I'm most certain that they have some plans for the fifth movie! Looking forward to that, YARR!

A-B-C~!

♫ Sonata Arctica – Still loving you

I seem to have got a few new readers! *gasp* Welcome aboard.

I got (or stole?) the idea to write sort of... the alphabet of my life? I guess it also works as some sort of an introduction of what my life is like, considering that I haven't yet written enough to let possible readers in on all aspects of my life. Maybe rather many of the things mentioned here will be covered better in the future. And well, every now and then it was difficult to come up with good things for each letter, but... Oh well. A long blog entry will follow.

Animations
I have always loved watching animations. I prefer 2D to 3D, but basically pretty much anything goes or at least awakens my interest. And why did I say "watching animations"? Because I'm not too fond of making them. Damnit, they require patience which I don't have! I've made a few, and although I lack the patience, I've found myself taking one optional course in traditional animation at school... And even better, I've found myself making an animation for a commission! It was an insane task, but turned out nicely enough (I didn't make it alone though, but with a friend) and thanks to that project, I got to see a circus show for the first time in my life. Oh well, my favourite animations comprise such titles as Howl's Moving Castle, Mulan, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Thumbelina, Waltz with Bashir...

Blackmore's Night
I must immediately point out that I haven't lifted up every favourite artist of mine here in this alphabet listing, but only a few ones (maybe when the letters haven't meant anything else to me). Blackmore's Night represents such epic, fabulous, fairytale-like aesthetics that I like in music. Their music takes me far away – to other countries or worlds and to centuries past, anywhere. I particularly like to listen to them when I'm roleplaying.
Blackmore's Night – Under A Violet Moon [Spotify]

Computers & cameras
I'm a geek to some degree. And proud of it! Basically, I love my computer(s), my screens and each efficient component I have. I'm geek enough not to buy anything but custom-made computers, desktops of course. And I could barely live without two screens, although I have to settle for one at work. I love my Adobe software, and my Wacom tablet, and just... the good stuff I have! And I had to include cameras in the letter C because P for photography was already taken by other things, and somehow my computers and cameras go well together. I could say I have several cameras, but I haven't used my compact film cameras for years, so they don't count. But I have two digital cameras, a compact and a SLR one. Both by Canon! Umm... maybe I'll take photos of my computer later, though I'm not sure if it is that interesting...

Dancing
I haven't gone in for dancing since before teenage, when I used to go in for some basic disco dance for a few years. And I don't have ambitions when it comes to dancing – it's just what I enjoy when I'm partying. I don't need alcohol as much as I need a good dancefloor and some good music - preferably 80's synthpop or something they play at goth clubs.

Edgar Allan Poe
He'd be my favourite author. I've been a fan since I was fourteen. I like both his poems and short stories. The Raven is simply brilliant!

Fairyland
Hmm, how should I explain this concept... Well, sure I would like to live in a fairyland, but basically what I mean is creating an artificial fairyland – maybe this is the madness I'm talking about in my blog description. Seeing bizarre things all around you and trying to make your life even more senseless.

Graphic design
Love, hatred and frustration. A great interest, and a great source of blood, sweat and tears. Basically what I've been studying for years and what I do for a living.

Hakuei
He is a Japanese singer, songwriter and a bit of this and that from a model to an actor and from a producer to a comic artist. First and foremost a singer after all. The vocalist of my favourite bands Penicillin and Machine. His music and other projects have been a great source of inspiration for me for years.

Individualism
After years and years spent suffering from an identity crisis at teenage, I've finally found the real me, whom I consider strongly individual and I'm rather proud of that. I don't need to belong to any "group" or "scene" in order to be accepted and have friends. I tend to say that I'm not what I look like and I don't look like what I am.
Part of the whole individualism thing is having a somewhat unique name. I only have one first name, and as far as I know, I only share the same name with three other people. I don't know their last names, but if I google with my name, I can only get search results that really do point at me. It took me long to learn to appreciate that, I never liked being called with my real name. I've never considered my real name embarrassing, stupid or too old-fashioned, but back then when I didn't like it I just thought it was too long. Nowadays the most irritating aspect is the fact that barely anyone can spell it correctly. And now, that'd be the so-called individual me..:

Japan
I guess Japan gets to be mentioned here, because it was a great interest for me for several years. It still is, but I don't listen to Japanese music, watch anime, read manga or do anything like that as much as I did. I haven't even had the time to continue studying Japanese on my own. However, the culture, both old and modern, fascinate me, and I still do want to visit the country!

Knowledge?
A tough letter too. I'm not obsessed with knowledge and I don't even keep gathering it like mad. However, sometimes it's nice to know a bit about the things going on around you. I could also have chosen "kissing" or something, but... No.

Ludwig Revolution
One of my favourite manga series, basically revamping old fairytales. By Kaori Yuki, a very, very talented manga-ka! I've also heard that Hakuei was a source of inspiration behind the character Ludwig!

Music
Ooh yeah. (=a song by one of my favourite bands, Machine) Music. It's worth a letter although I'm not obsessed with music. I don't listen to music everywhere – not even always at home. I do not have an mp3 player or iPod or anything like that. I just carry my headphones to work and listen to Spotify there if I bother, for example, if I have some long-term task to concentrate on. Either way, various things from 80's synthpop to sort of battle metal excite me and keep me going!

Nature
Environmental values are rather important to me. I'm not an environmental activist, but I do value nature, want to protect and preserve it. I also appreciate animals of all kinds and want to respect each creature's right to live. (Photo © me.)

October
I was born on October 13th and I think there's something suitably epic about the date. After all, every now and then my birthday is on Friday the 13th and October is a nice autumn month.

Parapsychology, Pirates
Now this letter was a tough one! Pirates, parapsychology... Oh, and Penicillin, but it was mentioned with Hakuei. I've already written a long blog entry about my love of pirates. I shall, eventually, write about parapsychology as well. I've been interested in ghostly incidents since I was fourteen. I'm somewhat sceptic – not in such a way that I'd question the stories I read/hear, but I do believe most poorly-documented ghost stories are not paranormal at all. However, I do not like the word "paranormal" – I'd rather believe ghosts are a totally natural phenomenon, only such that scientist haven't yet been able to explain.

Quality
I prefer everything of high-quality. Especially when it comes to expensive things such as computers, cameras or other electronics... Not that it wouldn't be nice to have clothes and accessories of high quality as well. I'd rather pay for quality than go for a very good bargain.

Roleplaying
Now this is a hobby I've been obsessed with since I was fourteen. Creating stories and sort of living them through is just... amazing. Maybe I'm hooked. I spend a lot of time thinking about RP-related issues, from plotting to well... anything. Reminiscing awesome RP scenes. However, at the moment I only go in for rping in a MMORPG world.

Style
I couldn't possibly mention all the interesting things separately and although I'm currently a bit obsessed with steampunk, I didn't want to reserve S merely for that. I may not follow trends, but I really do like clothes and accessories and several things contribute to my own style. Steampunk, pirates, goths, Japanese youth fashion, comics, times past... Oh, and graphic design.

Typography
I guess it's enough to say that I'm a typography nazi.

Ultravox and other 80's synthpop bands
Though Ultravox's Hymn is an awesome song! The video can be a bit confusing.

Vegetarianism
I've been a pescovegetarian since I was thirteen. Now it's a self-evident lifestyle for me. I feel healthy, light, good... My diet produces less greenhouse gases and I don't support intensive production of red meat or chicken. However, I don't preach. I accept other people's diets as well as long as I don't need to hear the old lame joke "I've made a deal with the bunny – I won't eat its food and it won't eat mine".

Weekends
At the moment I work at the normal office hours, thus, weekends are the time when I can sleep – and even better, stay up until early morning.

Xmas
...okay this was a tough letter, but at least I can honestly say that I enjoy the magic of Christmas spirit.

Yami no Matsuei
One of my favourite anime and manga series. One of the few manga series that I actually have purchased.

Z-z-Z sleeping
Self-explanatory! Though I like sleeping in the morning, not going to bed early...

Yo, ho, haul together, hoist the colors high

♫ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Original Soundtrack –
I don't think now is the best time

I truly feel like writing about my love of pirates.

Sure my "feelings" are highly romanticized, but so are the legends and stories, I guess. :D But I'm not denying it, I am a romanticist.

I tend to say that if I cannot maintain myself as a graphic designer, I will become a pirate. At the moment I am, however, doing design for a living... Nevertheless, I'm always prepared to board.

I live in a piratey hole, I guess. That photo looks awkward, but yes, it's my front door. It looks like a warehouse door, I know. That why those friends who've never been here before have trouble finding the right door. Or not anymore, since I can tell them to look for the Jolly Roger. However, I pity every courier who has to come knocking on my door...
I have to thank my neighbourhood's kids for giving me the idea to make such a flag. Thanks to them, it suddenly felt like an obvious idea – though I wonder why I didn't come up with that earlier, given that I had spent years wondering how to block that window (it had a blank white curtain for three years) and also given that I've liked pirates for long...
And how did they do that? One afternoon, two small boys knocked on my door. I went to open, and they totally froze, not saying anything for a while, until the other one asked; "do you have a ring?" I was very, very dumbfounded, not understanding what on earth they were actually after. I tried to ask though, but they figured I couldn't answer their question in a satisfactory way, so they left without telling me what was going on. After that, they came to spy on me through my open window. Now I call them treasure hunters.

Despite my interest, I hadn't seen Pirates of the Caribbean movies until this week. Now I watched all of them, and now I feel all piratey. Yarr.

The movies were all entertaining and nice. However, such piratey language is occasionally a bit difficult to follow... :/ Audiovisually stunning, too. That's why I'm listening to the soundtrack now, and oh, the boats – what they looked like! And everything else too, but I was particularly fascinated by the Flying Dutchman. Oh so epic...

I feel like drawing piratey images again...

Pirates sure have made my life epic in other ways too. Roughly a year ago, a friend had a housewarming-costume-party, and I decided to dress up as a pirate. With my souvenir sword, my piratey pants from Baby, the stars shine bright brand's collection Alice and the Pirates... and a pirate map of the city, tied to a bottle of rum as a housewarming gift, I sailed there.

That map could have turned out much better, but I made it completely with Photoshop, thus, the lines are not nice, lively and delicate. I also made it quickly. (The "real" places would be these: Ocean of Näsi = Näsijärvi, Gulf of Dead Women = Naistenlahti, Unholy Sea = Pyhäjärvi, Mountains of the Cursed Bishop = Pispalanharju.)

However, I had fun while working on that map, and I thought, probably even told a friend, how awesome it would be to get to make some pirate illustrations as a real commission.

A month passed, and I was contacted by one editor of a newspaper in which I had worked during a few summers. She asked if I could make an illustration for a newspaper article dealing with pirates. The deadline was a bit tough – I got the commission on one Wednesday midday, while I was at work, and the illustration was to be in their hands by Friday morning. However, I couldn't possibly say no. I spent two evenings, after days at work, drawing like a madman, but I had great fun, and I delivered the illustration on time. (And I slept quite a little.)

But like I said, I cannot say no to a commission of my dreams. Unfortunately, for some copyright reasons, I'm only showing the image like that... As the article dealt with modern piracy, swords have been replaced with assault rifles and sailing ships with, eh, tankers? I don't know about these marine things much, and despite my love of pirates, I'm not particularly much in love with seas or ships.

An acquaintance said my life resembles a movie because it was so absurd how I got that commission.

By the way, if the skulls in the illustration and in my curtain seem somehow similar, well, I can say, they are – I used the illustration sketch when I was painting that fabric.

Somehow my interest in steampunk goes well with piracy. Both give me a lot of creative ideas, for designs, drawings, interior, clothes...

And somehow, pirates never fail to fascinate me. :D In 2008, my absolute favourite group in the Eurovision Song Contest was – surprisingly – a band of pirates!

Pirates can also seem credible in bright colors. I've never seen anything else but this video of this children's TV show:

I wonder if I've now said everything I've got to say about pirates – for now, I'm rather sure this won't be over. Oh but no, I almost forgot, I dressed up as one on Halloween too. Or to be precise, on All Saints' Day, when a friend had a costume party. That time I drew a map by hand, but unfortunately, I have no evidence of it anymore as I gave it to the party hostess. But it turned out much better, being hand-made. I am aware that Facebook is available in pirate English as well, but I don't use it, don't know why... Maybe I truly should? So long – and until the next time – yarr! Follow my blog with Bloglovin'

So I fell in love with an uncommonly gentle man

♫ Waves Under Water – Serpents and the tree

I don't like Sundays. They usually turn out useless, as I wake up very late, but know I'd better go to bed relatively early. What could I try to do if I could comfortably be awake for only ten hours? No wait, I could try not to screw up my sleeping pattern during weekends, but that's no fuuuuuun... I guess it's somewhat alright to be inefficient every now and then. A friend and I tend to talk about Sunday angst, which basically means that you cannot enjoy your day off since you know the following day will be Monday. At worst, Sunday angst begins on Saturday, when you think that Monday is the day after tomorrow... I'm not saying that working is like hell, I just don't like early mornings – that's it.

Anyway. After watching Beetlejuice I had to entertain myself with another Tim Burton movie too. About the time for Edward Scissorhands too – I really had not seen it earlier, although I had wanted to. However, I'm lazy to do anything about the movies I'd like to see... It really took me this long, I should have watched it about twenty years ago. Okay well, at least ten years ago, maybe it wouldn't have been too good for me to watch it at the beginning of the 90's... However, I had seen lots of pictures of Edward, and I'd always been fascinated by his attire, and many sharp objects – such as scissors, knives and swords – are beautiful in their own right.

I've learnt that my opinions often differ from the masses, and thus, I was not certain at all that I would like Edward Scissorhands, although I know what kind of people usually like it. I was rather surprised to find out it really struck a chord with me. Johnny Depp has never stirred up strong emotions in me. I've seen him in only a few movies, thought he's okayish, rather flexible and such... But well, he did awesome job as Edward, making him so disarming.

I really liked the mansion in the movie, it was visually so stunning. All in all, a wonderful movie.

On Friday I decided to watch Coraline. I think I had even considered going to watch it in a movie theater, but I guess I forgot... The main reason for me wanting to watch it would be because it is an animation, another reason could be the director Henry Selick – who also directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think there were some common aspects between the visuals in those two movies – I wonder if the art departments comprise same talents...

However, Coraline was a little disappointment. It was entertaining, nice, relatively interesting... But not fantastic. For some reason, I couldn't really root for any of the characters. I guess it was worth watching once, but maybe not twice...

I need to find more interesting movies with fantasy or macabre elements that are not full of gore horror... But I guess now I'll just go curl my hair. So long!

I've finally seen the exorcist...

♫ Gary Moore – Over the hills and far away

I'm not a Monday girl. Yesterday was pretty frustrating. I felt like anyone could tell the day of the week by looking at me... A typical Monday morning I suppose: I put on a grey shirt in a hurry, then I notice my bra with a butterfly motif is showing through, then I grab a pinstriped vest to save the situation, but realize (once I've put it on already) that it's low-cut in such a way that it doesn't cover that part of the chest. And then, I have to hurry over to the bus stop. Being aware of the fact that the vest doesn't suit my skirt...
Maybe a tasty glass of absinthe-coloured apple soda at Café Europa with a friend was better than an average Monday.

Tuesday was better. I wasn't in such a hurry in the morning, didn't have a remarkable bad hair day and I figured out that my new skirt goes well with my relatively short Ashbury Heights T-shirt.

Sure you can disagree, but I personally liked being able to hide the hem of the shirt. I don't think I had a particularly creative day otherwise, just a regular work day. I would very much like to dress nicely every day as I really like it, but I'm bad at planning outfits ahead. Well – excluding special occasions, but I have a very, very hard time deciding my everyday clothes. I guess I don't give it any thought earlier than when I'm applying make-up in the morning... Results are like this.
I guess I look young? Girlish rather than feminine... The last time someone guessed my age they said sixteen. More than half a decade wrong...

I love the back print of this shirt. However, I am not trying to be particularly provocative. I've once heard that's "horrifying". At work the coffee table is located behind my back. Had I known there would be a meeting (=others gathering behind my back, I didn't participate) today, I would either have chosen something else to wear, or I wouldn't have taken off the blouse I had on top of that. I don't care about what our clients or co-operating companies think of my style, but I do care of what they think of the company because of me. Now I only hope the scary businessman didn't notice or didn't care.

Photowhoring is a strange issue to me. I may do that a lot (or I'm not sure if it is a lot compared with someone else) but I rarely publish those photos anywhere, mostly because I'm such a perfectionist and my appearance is far from perfect. I know that facial distortions and other such things I think I see are somewhat fake, since I'm used to seeing a reflection of myself and not the "real me". However, I guess photos reveal such things that are real, such as my skin flaws...

That said, my blog won't be all about me showing off myself. However, I think I have to break the ice with some photos anyway. :D

No need to tell me I'm holding the camera wrong. Had I done it in such a way right-handed people usually do, my hand would have been in front of my face. Though I'm not sure if it's necessary to see that arrogant expression...

And speaking of something else, I finally watched Beetlejuice today. I did it because of the vinyl wall art quote I posted here earlier. Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed the other Tim Burton movies I've seen... which are few and far between. I'm not a movie geek.
Well, the 1980's = instant win, I guess. I'm not into live action horror movies because I don't like gore and splatter at all. I would barely watch horror movies with the age limit of 18. However, Beetlejuice was exactly the type of macabre yet slightly bizarre horror that I enjoy. However, I couldn't root for Betelgeuse himself that much. (His speech was just a bit annoying. Difficult to follow every now and then, I had no subtitles...) Somehow I found Adam and Barbara very agreeable.

He reminds me of someone, but I'm not exactly sure who... Anyway, it might be Edward Scissorhands' turn next, maybe tomorrow. I admit I haven't yet seen that movie either... So long!