As some of my readers may remember, in December I published a post about the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film, and boy I was kinda harsh (but the film was crap.) But now onto the final film of the infamous Harry Potter series. Again, this is NOT a spoiler free zone, if you want a read that does not spoil the film, go read someelse's boring blog.

Moira and I went to see Part 2 on the first showing in Finland, at 0:07 on July 13th, and in 2D. I don't get why this one had to be in 3D, as none of the others were, and there wasn't that much in the film to make it stunning in 3D. I personally thought this film was the best film of the lot. By far. Prior to seeing to this one, I thought that The Half Blood Prince was the best, but this one put even that one to shame. I also watched all 7 previous films before going to see this one, and what a laugh I had. Can I just saw, the first film: AWKWARD!

Deathly Hallows Part 2 managed to stay mostly true to the book, albeit a few weird twists and turns. This film was nowhere near as dark and gloomy as Part 1, and made it a much more enjoyable cinema experience. As I said earlier, we opted for the 2D cinema experience, and it was fine! No need to spend more money and sit through it with uncomfortable glasses perched on the end of your nose. The film gets into full swing quickly when the three main characters make their way to Gringotts with Griphook to find one of the Horcruxes that's in Bellatrix LeStrange's vault. The scene is action packed and fast, but well made. it calms down for a while, but then quickly gets going. 

Most of Part 2 is set in Hogwarts (yay!) whereas in Part 1 we never went there (boo!). Snape is headmaster, and Hogwarts has been turned upside down. Snape has always had this incredibly cold front, and he's been perceived as angry, and a follower of Voldemort. Through all the book and films, I always wandered if Snape really was as rotten as made out to be, and in this film we find out he really isn't.

Alan Rickman is AMAZING as Snape in Deathly Hallows Part 2. I've always liked him and loved his interpretation of Snape, but he really blew my mind in this one. One of the most important sequences in the books and the films are the one where we find out what a man Snape truly is. As we know, since the day he met Lily Potter, he has been in love with her. I cried the whole way through in the film when Snape's memories and feeling were relieved. Oh my god, the waterfalls cascading down my cheeks... This really has affirmed Snape as one of my favourite characters of the entire Harry Potter series. He's like an onion, layer after layer gradually revealed.

Snape does die in this film, and it's a major event in the entire series, and I thought that David Yates could've really gone all out and milked everything he could of the death scene, but it just left a small tang on the tip of my tongue. Death is a big theme of the final book and film, but I felt that the topic was only scathed lightly in the film. But then again the massacre in Gringotts was really bloody, so I just felt that the film makers didn't manage to get a good balance between it being really light and fluffy and then being really gory.

Man, the Weasley's really stepped up to the plate in Part 2! Molly Weasley, played by the awesome Julie Walters, delivers the one line we all waited for, and she did deliver it! The entire cinema errupted into cheers when "bitch!" rung around from the speakers, brilliant movie film. And Ron (Rupert Grint), the little pullaposki (a finnish term for people with little chubby cheeks) boy from the first films grew up into a fiercely protective BOYFRIEND BECAUSE HE AND HERMIONE FINALLY SNOGGED! 7 films and books in the making, that one. Phew.

As good as the beginning of the film was, the very last minutes were weak and just plain awkward. The book ends with a epilogue set 19 years after the defeat of Voldemort, and in true style, the films follows this. Oh, and they used the same actors to play the characters in their mid-30's. Shit move. I almost wet my pants when I saw Tom Felton as middle aged father, OMG THE BEARD. But I adored Ron's little beer belly. Very fitting. Hahaa, I'm still laughing a week on. :D

Finally, after 10 years, no more Harry Potter films are to be released. Bit of a relief, in my opinion. Now counting down the days for The Hobbit. Lol.

But just incase you are already feeling withdrawal symptoms from the world's most famous Wizard, have a laugh and spend an evening watching this:



And when you're done laughing, move on to A Very Potter Sequel, because Umbridge will make you fall of your chair laughing. This coming from personal experience...


Also, if anyone is interested, I am now in possesion of a Twitter account, LOL :D find me here: twitter.com/#!/Stiilio

Well, it's been quiet on the blog front. To be honest, there hasn't been that much to report. Also, I've started another blog, in which I just collect some of my fave recipes :) You can find it at yummytummy-yummythings.blogspot.com/

But now, a lot has happened in the past weeks, and I thought now is a good time for an update.

I spent two glorious weeks in New York City in March! I fell in love witht his vibrant city, so full of life and action 24/7. I did all the touristy things; I took the ferry to Staten Island, went to the statue of Liberty, saw the museums, went to the top of the Empire State Building and Top Of The Rock... The list goes on. One of the main reasons of my decision to go to the Big Apple was Broadway. 

Musicals are a passion of mine. I've seen so many on stage and screen, and I own goodness knows how many soundtracks. I know the songs, the tunes, even some dance moves. So, before my trip I decided to buy a couple tickets in advance, and leave it at that. I decided that I would go and see Mary Poppins and Wicked, so I booked my tickets and waited anxiously for the days of my shows to arrive. Mary Poppins came and went on her parrot headed umbrella, and then I was satisfied to wait for Wicked a few days later.. Almost. Then it just got too tempting. I was walking through Times Square, and went past the the TKTS booth, and had a look at what they had on discount for that night. I ended up leaving the booth with a ticket for Chicago. And blimey, that is one sexy show. Girls in tight, short dresses with fishnet stocking, suave men in suitsm the orchestra on stage... Awesome.

Next in turn was Wicked, one of favourite musicals. having scored a front row seat, the show was stunning, with the actors a mere few metres away. It was.. wicked (terrible pun, I'm sorry.)! And then a week after my first show, I could not resist Phantom, and found myself in the reals of the Opera Populaire in Paris, with the Phantom taking me on a sweeping journey of love and music. Absolutely fantastic.

After returning the Europe, Daddy, Fiona and I went to see War Horse in London. And my god, I have never ever cried so much in a play. The story of one man's love and friendship with a horse is simple, but the way that the whole production was done, made it so good. And the puppets of the horses just blew my mind. Taking 3 people to control and move them, they are strong enough to carry a man on them. The mannerisms of the horses on stage are spot on, and the hwole thing really is amazing. Everybody in the theatre was crying, and a small girl sitting three seats away from me was sobbing pretty much through the entire second half. I recommend it to everyone, but go with a huge wad of tissues in your pocket. You'll need them.

I got back to Finland, and followed up my little holiday with a week of sick leave, due having 3 wisdom teeth removed. By far one of the most unpleasant things ever done to me, that was one crap week. The teeth on the bottom row of my teeth did not want to come out at all, and this resulted in my dentist having to cut ope my gums around the teeth and then having a go at the roots to get the bastards out. The top of the tooth had to be cut off, then the roots were separated from the bone, before removed from my mouth. Both of the teeth came out of my mouth in 3 pieces.  How gross is that?? Also, the holes and cuts had to be stiched up, so until today, I had stiches in the back of my mouth. Seriously, how nasty is that? The tooth on the upper row of teeth on the other hand came ou just fine and dandy; one good tug and it came out whole. Thank god I'd gotten a seriously big dose of anasthesia and could not feel anything. Just seeing the knife go in my mouth was almost enough to make me pass out.

I got prescribed some pretty hardcore painkillers and antibiotics to stop loads of bacteria festering in my mouth. Painkillers did the trick, I managed to stay pretty pain free for the most part... The antibiotics were fine.. until they gave me a yeast infection. Seriously. A yest infection. In my unmentionables. WTF?! As if having 3 teeth out, 2 of them having been CUT out, I get itchy lady parts? Not fair.

Also, I now have a brace to wear at nights to stop me from biting the insides of my cheeks. That would make it brace #6. Yay for me and dental issues. FML.

Anyhoo, I leave ye with something more jolly than yeast infections and stiched up mouths.




Cell Block Tango from the movie "Chicago" with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Also, I may be slightly obsessed with the new album by The Strokes. It is (quoting Smauks) redonkulous.

Well, here I am. Sitting by my table at 1.30am, updating my blog, when in 4 hours I am leaving to Dubai and have yet to start packing. Guess who isn't going to sleep tonight?

Christmas and New Year's have both come and gone, and they were both really lots of fun. Crimbo was very low key, on Christmas Eve, my Grandparents came over for dinner and pressies, and then my Mother and I proceeded to veg out in front of the tv on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We watched Love Actually on Xmas Day and ate pizza. Love it. We also managed to make our way through Bridget Jones' Diary, which features the ruggedly handsome Colin Firth as Mark Darcy. And then on Boxing Day, there was a Pride and Prejudice marathon on TV, 5½ hours of Colin Firth as one of the sexiest men in entertainment history.

                                                                      

The BBC version of Jane Austen's most popular novel was originally broadcast in 1995, and 15 years later is still on all tv screens regularly. For the women of the 90's, Firth's Mr Darcy was THE man. Suave characters were the objects of all women's crushes, Hugh Grant was fronting every romantic comedy gracing the cinema screens, and then to think of what we crush on now.

15 years later, the biggest heart throbs are the likes of Robert Pattinson (which is beyond me to be honest, I mean the guy glitters in the sun for fucks sake!), Daniel Radcliffe, and numerous other young boys. Naturally, a few men remain in the game, Johnny Depp makes all women want to change their pants after seeing him in a movie, and apparently Brad Pitt's six pack is somewhat of a treat. Fail to see that one myself...

So where have all the great gentlemen characters gone? All we have nowadays are teenagers, played by men in their late 20's, sucking faces with young, ugly girls trying to make it big time. I'm not saying that they all suck and should just bugger off, I of course have my own crushes... But standards have changed. 

Oh, and if Edward Cullen and Mr Darcy got into a fight, Edward Cullen would get his arse kicked into oblivion. I don't care if he is a super fast glittery vampire. And seeing Darcy walking with a wet shirt, requred a cahnge of underwear.

And then for kicks, the coolest chick on the block, one of the great James Bond villains. Grace Jones,

                                                                                         

I went to movies last night with a bunch of friends, and now I have to vent out about it. I will warn my readers in advance by saying that this entry will contain spoilers. If you want a spoiler free movie rant, go read someone else's blog.

The film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1.

The film, as we all know is based on the book by J.K Rowling, and the book is the last one in the HP series. The first book , Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was released in 1997, and for the next 10 years, the whole world was anxious to read more about the Boy Who Lived and his battle against Voldemort and the vil that starts eating up the wizarding world. 7 books were released, with short supplement books released for charity, such as Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,  it was inevitable for the books to be made into movies. The first film was released in 2001, and now we've made it to the end... Almost. Warner Brothers made the decision to split the last book into 2 films, and they are to be released 8 months apart. Part one has just been released into cinemas world wide, and Part 2 is to hit our screens mid July 2011.

I was maybe 10 years old when I first layed my hand on a copy of the first Harry Potter book. I remeber reading it, and wanting more. By this time, the 2nd and 3rd book had already been released, so I imeeadiatly got them and read them. Shortly after having read the three books, the 4th book (which is my favourite by far), was released. I swallowed all that the book had to offer in a matter of hours, and relished in the magical world of Harry, Ron and Hermione. I learned to love and hate the characters, the magic and the wonder of the world that Rowling had managed to create. I wanted to go to Hogwarts, I wnated to fly a broom and play Quidditch, I wanted to roam around the Burrow and go shopping on Diagon Alley. I was a huge HP fan, loved the books, and being young and naive, loved the films. Then I grew up and learned to criticise films.

The world had to wait another 3 years before we go the 5th Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, and it was a disappointment. The thickest of the whole lot, I read it in a day. The book was far too descriptive, with not much action going on, and then at the end, Rowling kills Sirius Black, my favourite character. The 6th book was far better than the 5th, and the 7th and final book was not bad at all. After the books had all been released, all we had going for us were waiting for the films to be released, one by one until they have all been released.

But now, to the actual reviewing of the latest installment of the HP franchise.

The seventh book as a whole, is a lot darker than the other books, and focuses on Harry, Ron and Hermione finding the remaining Horcruxes, which contain parts of Voldemort's soul, and they have to destroy them in order to be able to defeat Voldermort. It's a quest not just about finding these small pieces of souls, but a quest to find out who they truly are, and what they are.

The film starts darkly, and continues to be dark and murky for the entire 2,5 hours. It it portrayed far too darkly, taking it to a whole another level from the book. There is very little lightness present, a mere pathetic dance scene between Harry and Hermione in the middle of the film to ease away some of the stress the characters, and to be honest the audience too,are feeling. A scene lasting a minute is not enough when the entire film is well over 2 hours long. The book has at least managed a fair balance of dark and light.

I have to apologize to the friends I went to see the film with; I fear I laughed at inappropriate parts and was loud with my commentary at places. My first bit of laughing when one shouldn't was the scene between Harry and Ginny in the kitchen of the Burrow on the morning of the wedding. Ginny asks Harry to zip her dress up, and as the camera turns to her back, it's revealed that she isn't even wearing a bra. And then far too sensually for a Harry Potter film he zips her up and then two proceed to make out. And then there is Fred, who thank god saves the scene by standing by the sink with a cup of tea and tooth brush sticking out of his ear, watching them. With a cheeky "morning" he manages to salvage the otherwise dreadful scene.

The other scene that had me shouting out loud was towards the end, when Ron and Harry had managed to retrieve the sword of Godric Gryffindor from the bottom of a lake and are about to destroy the locket (that is one of the Horcruxes). Ron has the sword, and is to destroy the locket, and when Harry opens the locket using Parseltongue, Ron's worst fears come bellowing out. One of them is that Ron thinks that Harry and Hermione are involved (Ron has a major thing for Hermione). It is a major element, and a great fear for Ron, and definitely has to be included in the scene, but the problem I had with it was how they'd done it. Harry and Hermione were amidst a could of smoke that had erupted from the Horcrux, and were looking very silver, making it obvious that they were somehow computer generated, This, however did not do them any favours. Hermione looked like she belonged in Avatar. They were taunting Ron, and eventually started kissing. They were nude. The were both naked, kissing in the middle of a forest. I believe I shouted out "porn" very loudly when the nudeness was revealed. This film is aimed at kids, and young children will go and see this, and this scene is very inappropriate for a Harry Potter film. There are so many other ways to have done this; and I understand the need to get a rise out of Ron, but soft porn is not the way to do it.

This Potter even manages to get even a bit of horror into the film. The scene when Harry and Hermione are in Godric's Hollow at the house of Bathilda Bagshot, and discover that her body has been taken over by Nagini, Voldemort's snake, is downright scary. Slowly, Bagshot's face contorts and twist, and then snake slowly emerges from her mouth and attacks Harry. I'm (wo)man enought to admit that I jumped in my seat, and some people actually screamed.

The one good thing about splitting the film into 2 parts is that now most of book is included. In someways it's nicer to have half a book squeezed into 2,5 hours rather than a book in it's entirety. But still I felt that the ending of the first film was strechted. I felt at least 5 scenes would have been perfect ends for the film before the it actually ended. And the ending? Cliche and cheesy. Voldemort finally gets the Elder Wand by breaking into Dumbledore's grave, lifts it up and casts a spell. An order of originality for Mr David Yates, please.

One major problem in all of the films: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint aren't very good actors. Grint is by far the best, and holds his character well, but Watson and Radcliffe are an utter bore when they're on screen. That said, the supporting cast is stunning. This films included actors such as Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Julie Walters, Alan Rickman and Ralph Fiennes to mention but a few. But the screen time they have is miniscule, as this films revolves around the 3 main characters. And to think that those actors don't come in cheap.

To sum up: a far too dark film, with unnecessary scenes and failed editing. In Finland the film is rated K11, meaning that it's banned from under 11's, unless they are accompnaied by a parent. This means that 9 year olds who have read the book will go and see this and most likely leave with nightmares. I'm not even kidding. The rating in Finland is far too low, I would have put a K13 at the least on this one. I for certain would not let a pre teen go and see this. When reading the book, if it get's too dark you can stop reading it, close the book and it's gone. Sitting in a cinema, the film is there for 2,5 hours, unstopable until you leave the cinema.

I am anxiously awaiting Part 2, to see how the saga has been brought to an end. Awaiting July 2011 and a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 rant.

On this glorious Saturday evening whilst everyone else is out getting absolutely hammered, I am sitting on the floor of my apartment and updating my blog. Good times, lovers.

Winter has arrived in Finland. It's below freexzing and we have snow! Actual snow! I really forgot how much I missed snow. Having missed last years über winter I really am glad to be experiencing snow and the frost having a nip at my cheeks while I go for a walk. When I wake up and look out of the window, I relish in the fact that everything is covered in fine white snow. Can life really get any better?  At first when we got the snow, it was too warm so it immediately turned into slush. And my feet would be soaked. My tootsies got the worst of the brunt when crossing the road from the tram stop to get into my flat. That is roughly 20 meters. And now I fear I may be getting the flu. Which I really can't afford. to. I am working too much to be ill.

I think I should share the details of my working life to you. Most morning start with a wake up call at 5.45am (euw) and is then followed by a 7 hour shift at a bakery in Kerava. That's fun stuff to do, and time really flies as there is always something to do. Still getting used to having to be up at an inhumane hour but at least my rent is getting paid... If I'm lucky, I'll have the afternoon off, so I'll indulge in a swim at the local pool, and end up listening to the jabberings of the old grannies who are getting their daily exercise in the same lanes as I. It's seriously funny.

Some days the bakery will be followed by a few more hours at Hemtex, the textiles shop where I work too. That's is actually a lot of fun, I seem to have found a passion in giving people advice on how to decorate their tables for Christmas and such. Good times. The only problem is getting to some of the shops. I am employed by a recruitment company, and therefore am not working in only one store. And I've told them I'm avaible to work in all of the stores, so here I am running around Helsinki and Kerava earning my keep. What a cosmopolitan life I lead.

I have discovered one very scary thing since I started working at the bakery. I now wake up around 9am WITHOUT an alarm on the morning I don't have to work. Now knowing this is me wer're talking, is indeed a very scary occurance of events. I am so worried I may have to see a doctor. And today, I had work from 1pm onwards, so the old me would have put the alarm for noon and then crawled out of bed and then forced a bit of food and a cuppa down my throuat and then gone off to toil away. But now, I woke up at 8am with no alarm ringing anywhere, then proceed to clean my apartment (this meant doing dishes and putting all the rubbish that had accumulated over the week away, and putting my clothes away), wash 2 loads of laundry AND take out my carpet to the balcony and shake all the dust off it. And I still had loads of free time before I left for work. That if anything is the ingredient for a fucking scary horror film.

And what is the result of me being so super efficient in the morning and having a load of free time before work? I go shopping. And spend far too much money. And all I got was a few candles, a bag and a skirt and together they cost just shy of 100€. Holey moley what is wrong with me??? That is only a few items, and they cost 100€?? What the hell happened to me being cheap? Oh yeah, I just buy me nice stuff but have an empty fridge. Well, not empty, there is some ketchup, mustard and about a dozen cans of beer in there. Rock on.

Christmas is fast approaching. Everything is getting very red and glittery, gingerbread and joulutorttu are being sold everywhere. This is the thing that I really love about Christmas. Not actual xmas itself, but the build up and wait for it. Opening a window in my advent calender in the morning, having a nice hot mug of glögi (sometimes with a little bit of a kick), bying a tree and then waiting anxiously until Christmas Eve so we could decorate it (we alway wait until xmas eve to decorate our tree, even if we got it well in advance), the smell of Christmas scents permeating the air... The list goes one. This Christmas will be spent with Mum and on the Grandparents. Sadly no Moira which will be a real shame, but she is staying in England for Crimbo with Father and Fiona (who have now been married for almost 2 months!!!!) and the rest of the England lot. But I refuse to leave Finland for Christmas. I love it too much. The foods, the gingerbread house I'm going to make with Mumpsi... Ah, love. Mamma and I already have our Christmas Day planned out. Lying around watching a fabulous array of movies, such as Bridget Jones, Love Actually (watching Love Actually at Christmas has now become somewhat of a tradition for the 2 of us), Sound of Music.. I am really looking forward to it all. It's going to be a good one. And the it's New Year, and the after New Year comes the family trip to Dubai! Bujakasha!

New York has been booked, will be visiting the Big Apple on 14-28/3/2011. I will be living in theatre district.... I am already drooling at the thought of all of these Broadway shows. Wicked, Phantom, Chicago, The Lion King..

Tomorrow is Harry Potter 7 night with the Lintsi gang.

When I went to London during the first week of October,  I went to the theatre. And I have to write about my experience, becuase it took me to a completely new universe. The show: The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Phantom tells the story of the opera ghost of the Opera Populaire in Paris in the 19th century, and how he falls in love with a young dancer, Christine, and teaches her to sing, making her his Angel of Music.

Phantom is a show that I'm very familiar (musically and story wise) even before seeing the show; I've seen the film (which really is quite stunning, and  withGerard Butler as the Phantom, I need a new pair of pants after seeing him sing), played the music in orchestras and in my own time, and have just loved it. But nothing can compare seeing the show on stage, especially at Her Majesty's Theatre, where Phantom is still playing 24 years after it opened in 1986. The setting and props are the same from the original production, only the actors and actresses have changed. To those who know the music of Phantom, knows that when the first chords of the Overture start, the chandalier of the old opera house rises to the ceiling after being on the ground as a part of an auction. Knowing this, and also anticipating it, I still got goosebumps when this happened, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It really was such a powerful moment, sending shivers through out my body. The feeling did not leave until many hours after the show had attended.

Phantom is what a musical is supposed to be like. It keeps the audience riveted in their seats, and every ounce of one's concentration is put towards the show that is running in front of you. Musically, Phantom is incredibly. It has a stunning balance of delicate love songs, and  strong, powerful pieces that actually send shivers down your back. My personal favourites from the show are "Music of the Night" which is sung by the Phantom after he takes Christine down to his lair, and  "Masquerade" simply because how it is done on stage. The burst of colours, dancing and strong choruses make it a real highlight.

The original Phantom on stage was Michael Crawford. Quite an interesting choice in my opinion to play such a strong singing role. I knew Crawford from playing silly man Frank Spence in the BBC sitcom Some Mother's Do Have 'Em. It took me a while to realize that it was the same guy, when Crawford becomes the Phantom, he is stunning. His singing skills and presence as the Phantom makes me weak at the knees.



Enjoy Michael Crawford. He will blow your mind.

Hey ho there!

It 's been rather quiet on the blog front lately.. Oh dear.

Since my last update, some things have changed, such as my address! I finally moved into my own little apartment, and I've fallen in love with it. It's not very big, consists of one room and a teeny weeny toilet/shower. My bed is a high one, and I've made a little nest there. I have a very small kitchen, that is satisfactory, but it's quite frustrating because I can't use the front hotplate (and there is a grand total of 2 hotplates) when the oven is on. I found this out whilst making tortillas. But other than that it's fine.. Just a bit small and slow :D

I've had some problems with my washing machine. I washed clothes in it for the first time over the weekend, and discovered that the machine won't complete it's spin cycle nor will it empty out the dirty water from the machine. What followed? Me emptying out a load of soaking wet clother into my tiny toilet, wringing them out by hand and then desperately trying to find a place to hang them so they would dry and not drip all over my wooden floors. And after I'd managed not to get my apartment wet, I got to empty out my the rest of the water from the maschine (with help from Kaisu), and having "washed" a black hoodie that had never been washed before, the water was a murky dark blue... Nasty stuff, my friends. Yet when Mother came over the next day to have a look at the offending piece of machinery it completed a spin cycle beautifully and even removed all of the murky water hiding in the machine.

Yesterday, I attempted to wash some clothes again. And guess what? I failed. No, no flooding, but the damned washing machine decided to be a bitch, and not work. This time, it didn't even rinse my clothes. So I had pile of sloppy, soapy clothes sitting in a cursed washing machine. Thank you to the wonderful beings that are Grandparents, I went over to my Grandparents' today to do a whole lot of clothes washing and ironing. And even got a little tip for it. Hopefully I won't have to wash my clothes for a while... Well, I might do it in England next week and borrow the washing machine in Kew.. Daddy and Fiona be warned.

The one good thing to come out of this? I get a new washing machine that works.

Yet again, Linnanmäki has closed it's gates for the winter, essentially making me jobless. Well, for 4 weeks at least. Then it opens up again for a Carnival of Lights for the October half term, which I of course am working at. Yay. But working hard for 3 months is now finally over. I came back from my grand adventure at the very enf of May, and after just 2 days of sleeping off my San Francisco jet lag, I had to start working. At times it killed me and I was so frustrated, that I just wanted to scream and punch every customer in the face, but other times it was great fun. I have great co workers who make it worth it, and the fire works tonight were the cherry on top of a cake. A nice big juicy one. The fire works were really spectacular, and realizing you were being to watch them, made it all even more cheaper. My friends and I were shouting out loud that it's over!! Which it really is. At least for the next two weeks.

Because I have spent the majority of my summer working, I feel like I've completely deserted all of my friends who I don´t know from work. Because for 2 months I was working 10 hour shifts almost every day, and then coming home  and being so knackered that I didn't want to meet anyone, and then when I did have the occasional day off, I had to take care of all the shit I dind't have time to do when I was working, and then the rest of the time I just slept. I sleep a lot. Even my Mum commented on the fact that she hardly sees me, because I´m either at work or then sleeping. So it would seem this summer has been spent working (and occasionally sweating) my butt off, then sleeping because I'm working so much. Love the cycle??

But now I have a full 4 weeks to relax, find another job, sleep, hang out, go to Stockholm with dear old Mother, go and see the finnish version of Wicked (yikes!) and jet off to England for a wedding. Sounds busy. But considerably more enjoyable than Linnanmäki.

Saul came over for a few days, and it was fun! I took him to Suomenlinna, we ate tortillas at Sohvi's house with Kaisu, watched the Moomins with Sohvi, Kaisu and me translating them into English for him, went to Korkeasaari with Moira., and then to top his trip off, I took him to Fever. Good old Fever. Man, I hate that place!! It was a bit of a squeeze with Saul being here, as Fathe had decided to come here at the same time. So there were 5 of us in the little flat. Speaking of flats, I should be ready to move into my OWN flat in roughly a week. <3



Aah, Idina Menzel <3 <3 <3

Now the ridiculous and at times extremely uncomfortable heat that was over Finland has finally passed. And now it´s suddenly really cold. It´s around 15 degrees, which I find is a very pleasant and nice temperature, but after having weeks of heat and humidity, it´s fucking cold. I´m at work wearing 3 t-shirts and a top and a fleece, with a scarf, hat and fingerless gloves, and I´m just cosy. But only just. Lose any of those items giving me warmth I would shiver. Also, as it´s still August, I refuse to don my über sexy red wind jacket. That is for Septmber and utter coldness! It´s so chilly at home that I´m wearing wolly socks here. And by that, I sleep in them. Ridicurous. Even my fingers are cold typing this.

Hah, I went to see Wicked in London last week and it was awesome! I also bought tickets for the Finnish version, and I´m really quite anxious as to what becomes of it. It´s been translated into Finnish, and I find that a lot of the magic in the musical is in the lyrics, and I fear that a lot of the pure exhiliration of the show will die. I have the original Broadway soundtrack, and that features Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as the main characters, Elphaba and Glinda, and they rock my fucking socks.


I can´t help but laugh out loud everytime I see this scene, from Kristin Chenoweth´s last show on Broadway, singing Popular (one of my personal favourites from the show!) and she goes on to do a whole load of imrpovising, even making Idina Menzel crack up! Man, they're good! Though the person who filmed it should never be let near a camera ever again.

Tomorrow 10 hours at work, starting at 09.45. I love my life.

I fear my little darling blog will hate me for not being so attentive towards it as I used to be.

I have once again discovered my love for Green Wing, the simply greatest comedy ever to be filmed. Sue White is my new hero.

My summer spent working and toiling is almost over. Only a few weeks and the park will close it´s gates, letting people settle in to their normal day to day routines. School has started for everybody. But not me. Eventhough I haven´t been in school properly for 18 months, it still feels weird not taking the bus and making way to the stuffy class rooms and being utterly lazy when it comes to homework. Last year felt like a long holiday, in a way :D I am not a student, at the moment I'm a member of the working class, but when the park closes I won´t be a member of anything. Except life. And that´s fucking cool. I´m back to my seriously crazy routine of going to be aroun 4am and waking up well past noon. I love it.



Witness the greatest thing ever to garce our screens.

I am a murderer. I ran over a tenny tiny mouse on my bike on my way back home from work today. My front wheel crushed it's wee body, and I heard the crunch of it's spine snapping.

EVIL.

I went to see Inception last night, and I just can´t not write about it here.

It was one of the most intense movie experiences of my entire life, without a doubt. For 2 ½ hours I was concentrating, I almost feel like I´ve never concentrated like that before in my life. I felt that if I stopped the concentration at any time during the film, I´d lose the whole plot, and go insane with not understanding anything from the film. It requires every last drop of concentration and strenght that your body posses, it pulls you in so deep that at times you feel as if you´ll never quite make it out. Which is quite creepy, as the film focuses on getting into the deep subconcious of a dreamer. I won´t get into the plot anymore than that, it´s complicated, and it will spoil it for you if I start blabbering away.

When the credits started rolling in the end, I felt my body relax, and I expelled a large breath. I felt like I hadn´t been breathing properly for a couple of hours, almost as if I´d forgotten to breath. Never before have I felt like that after a film. Never. And I´ve seen my fair share of films! I kept on leaning forward in my seat, feeling the need to get closer to the whole thing, and at the end I was just hanging on the edge of my seat, gripping my hands together, my entire body rigid.

The one complaint that I have: the lack of the title of the film at the beginning. That bothers me no matter what film it is. Play them staright at the beginning or after a few mintues (or after 15 minutes if it´s a James Bond film), but please, don´t show the title after the film ends, and twice within about 30 seconds. Boo.

Inception is without a doubt one of the most epic masterpieces ever made, and has definitely made it into my Top 10 movies, especially when doubled with a stunning Hans Zimmer soundtrack. But would I ever buy the film on DVD? I think the reason Inception had this strong effect on me was because I was in a dark cinema, and all I did was concentrate on the film on the screen. Watching it at home, with lots of distractions around; computers, noises, people hustling about would just throw me totally off track with Inception. My advise: Go see it NOW and in a cinema. You will not regret it. Then go have a beer to stop your hands from shaking.

I thought I´d do something that I haven´t before; a book review. I felt I should spread the joy of books to you, and get you guys to read them too!!
I want to try and do more than just this one, but we´ll have to see if that ever happens :D

JULIE & JULIA: MY YEAR OF COOKING DANGEROUSLY

The book is the story of Julie Powell´s attempt to find herself again, through cooking every single recipe in Julia Child´s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The book contains 524 recipes, and Julia challenges herself to cook all of them in 365 days. And write a blog about it in the process.

Powell is a secretary in a government organization, bored out of her mind with the mindless job, with cooking being her solace out of work. For a year, she struggles with creating the prefect mayonnaise, and making the perfect aspic dish (the most disgusting sounding thing on this planet, google it). In the end she triumphs, having completed her yeatr of crazy cooking.

Powell writing is incredibly witty, and her blog makes me laugh out loud. Her writing has an edge, and she´s excellent at connecting with her reader, whoever it may be. Her blog created a huge buzz from readers and media when it was first written in 2002/2003, and having completed the project, Powell was offered a book deal, which resulted in said book. This book has now been turned into a movie starring Amy Adams as Powell, and Meryl Streep as Julia Child.

In the movie, Child has an incredibly obvious part. The film delves into Child´s life in Paris where she first started cooking when she found she had nothing else to do, at the renowned Cordon Bleu. She excelled in her classes, and began collecting recipes together with two other french women in order to create a french cook book for americans women. This project resulted in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In the book, it would seem that the entire thing revolves around Powell and her crazy cooking, and that Julia is merely a mention here and there, despite the name of the book. But as the reader gets further and further into Powell´s obsessed world of french cooking, you realize that Child is actually an invisible force pushing Powell on with her journey. To the reader, she is almost like a higher power, you feel her guiding Powell on, but also yourself as you won´t want to stop reading the book once you get started. Julia Child is present in every single sentence that Powell has typed, the guiding force.

You will want to go and cook something extraordinarily fancy after you´ve finished this delicious piece of literature. It might also give you the crazy idea to do something similar as Powell, cook through an entire fat cook book in a year. I personally don´t own a copy of said cook book, but maybe someday it will find it´s way onto my book shelf. At the moment I´m not buying it simply because it really doesn´t sound vegetarian friendly. Some recipes require you to use bone marrow (EUW) and others to bone an entire duck. Not my thing. I´ll save those things for culinary school... Also the sheer amount of butter in those recipes is enough to give anyone a heart attack. Christ on a bike.

I recommed the film, the book and the blog, they're all excellent. The film is best when you´re chomping on something at the same time. It will make you hungry! Read Powell´s blog blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html

Currently reading: Andre Agassi: Open

So yesterday, after a 4 year wait, I finally witnessed the greatness that is MIKA, live on stage. He made it to Finland, and gave us one of the most energetic and lively shows I´ve ever seen. And that´s saying a lot, as I´ve been to quite a few gigs during my life time. His set list was perfect, and the songs were in excellent order; the gig started with Relax (Take It Easy), with Grace Kelly and Lollipop being the encore songs. I almost cried in ecstasy when MIKA came on stage! I went to the with such a good group of people from Lintsi, Jusa, Katri, Elsa and Emma <3

Never in my life have I produced so much sweat as I did last night during the concert. By the end of the gig, my hair was sticking to my face and neck with every last starnd being drenched to the bone, my pink t-shirt clung to my body, turning see through and revealing my black bra. That was not good. It looked like I´d entered a wet t-shirt competition. Except it wasn´t water, it was sweat. Also, for once in my life, I´d put on decent party make up. And what happened to it? It ran down my face. I had two HUGE black circles of mascara and eye liner underneath my eyes, I truly was a sight for sore eyes. But the concert was worth every single bead of sweat!!

I may be obsessed with this song :D

It would seem that I have become exceedingly worse at updating my blog. It´s a shame, as I do enjoy writing it and letting my little minions know what's going on in the mind of Stiil. It has been more than a month since my cake update. Man, that was a yummy cake. Mm. 

So there have been a few MAJOR changes going on in my wee life. First one is: I am not going to be moving to England in September and nor am I going to be going to uni in Oxford. Instead I´m going to be staying in Finland! I´ll be taking another gap year, spending it working, and then applying for schools in the spring so that in a years time I can start training to be a chef :)  This means that I also get to move into my own little flat, and decorate the whole place. Muhahahahaaa. I already have a place hunted out for myself. The location is just excellent! It´s on one of the main roads in Helsinki, Mannerheimintie, in the same building as a Pizza Hut. Above it, mind you. It´s on the 6th floor and is really quite small. It´s 23 square metres :D One room with a high bed and a non existant shower. Literally. To shower, one needs to sit on the black toilet seat and let the water pour onto oneself with the small shower head. Now that, if anything, is a propber student shower/loo. 

I couple of weeks ago I went to Ruisrock with Lalla, 3 days of music and heat and dirty feet. It was excellent, but my god it was hot! If you live on another planet, then you won´t know about the uteer ridiculous heat wave that has taken over Finland. It´s been +30 degrees, and you sweat whilst doing nothing (add to that 12hours shifts at work in clothes that don´t breathe and start smelling). But the heat aside, Ruissi was great. There´s a beach on the festival area, so you could take a nice cooling dip in the sea waters of Turku when the sun and sweat got too much. This years artists included: PMMP, Maija Vilkkumaa, Ths Sounds, The Ark, The Baseballs, Slash (The guitarist of Guns and Roses), Ozzy Osbourne, Belle and Sebastian, Regina Spektor and Jenni Vartiainen and Scandinavian Music Group. Just to be so very kind to you readers, I shall tell you something that will make you want to grab the nearest bucket or bowl and vomit. This happened on Friday evening, during the concert of a certain Mr Osbourne. In the middle of a song, he started to undo his belt, and the next thing I know he´s got his back towards the audience with his trousers around his ankles and he´s mooning the entire crowd!! I did almost puke a little in my mouth when I saw the nasty globes of his arse. The man is 61 years old. I do not wish to witness the buttocks of a 61 one year old, unless they are the ones of Grace Jones. Now that is quite a fine bum. But Ozzy... EUW.

Last week I also ventured out to see Muse!! <3 <3 <3

Gmail is made of poo.

I feel as if all I´ve been doing lately is work. I spend so many hours at Lintsi, it feels like my second home. Whee. At least I can go and look for a new job once the season has finished in September.

Saul is coming to Finland! BUJAKASHA.