Frankie reads 2014

[Anna Begins]

No worries, I completely get where you are coming from. But I guess I don't personally find it a problem and maybe that's because AIC is (perhaps undeservingly) one of the least favorite grunge bands of mine. If it had been Nirvana, I would've written some very angry hate mail   

 

 

 

This reminds me: I was in high school when I heard that Soundgarden had disbanded. I was gutted! And I took my anger against this coat rack thing. No, I didn't smash it, but I took a pen and wrote "Soundgarden broke up. Booooo! ' I bet the writing's still there!

Ya but, at least we got the Foo Fighters

Re: Soundgarden, I was the same way with Rage Against the Machine.  Then, they ended up with Chris Cornell as singer (well, as Audioslave, or whatever  )!

[frankie]

Ya but, at least we got the Foo Fighters

Re: Soundgarden, I was the same way with Rage Against the Machine.  Then, they ended up with Chris Cornell as singer (well, as Audioslave, or whatever  )!

 

Oh, Foo Fighters! I have mixed feelings about that one. When they released their first album, I bought it. As a cassette I liked it very much, although it took me some time to get into it. I still remember how I played the tape over and over again at my cousin's place in Helsinki where I bought it (we didn't have music shops in my small home town ). I bought their next album as a CD and liked that one as well but didn't get to buying the third one. And I felt that after that they became rather 'mainstream' and I kind of turned on them. I guess I was still being a silly teenager and I was upset that they did so well, because I was still in moarning about the whole Cobain thing and Nirvana's end. But if I'm honest and adult-like, I have to say Dave Grohl has done well for himself and from what I've read and heard, he is very down to earth and a really decent guy. 

 

I wonder what Krist Novoselic is up to...  

 

On RAtM: I bought one of their albums but eventhough I sort of liked it, I never got into it. There was always something about the sound that bothered me. And I think it was way too political for me at the time, I was so young. I think I appreciate their efforts more nowadays, eventhough I'm still not a fan of their sound. I think System of a Down does the political stuff better, but then again, their music is of a different genre. And by the way, if you happen to like System of a Down, please do go to youtube and listen to Fair to Midland's Arrows and Anchors -album. Bloody fantastic!  

[Anna Begins]

Oh, Foo Fighters! I have mixed feelings about that one. When they released their first album, I bought it. As a cassette I liked it very much, although it took me some time to get into it. I still remember how I played the tape over and over again at my cousin's place in Helsinki where I bought it (we didn't have music shops in my small home town ). I bought their next album as a CD and liked that one as well but didn't get to buying the third one. And I felt that after that they became rather 'mainstream' and I kind of turned on them. I guess I was still being a silly teenager and I was upset that they did so well, because I was still in moarning about the whole Cobain thing and Nirvana's end. But if I'm honest and adult-like, I have to say Dave Grohl has done well for himself and from what I've read and heard, he is very down to earth and a really decent guy. 

 

I wonder what Krist Novoselic is up to...

 

On RAtM: I bought one of their albums but eventhough I sort of liked it, I never got into it. There was always something about the sound that bothered me. And I think it was way too political for me at the time, I was so young. I think I appreciate their efforts more nowadays, eventhough I'm still not a fan of their sound. I think System of a Down does the political stuff better, but then again, their music is of a different genre. And by the way, if you happen to like System of a Down, please do go to youtube and listen to Fair to Midland's Arrows and Anchors -album. Bloody fantastic!

I can TOTALLY see that about a Nirvana fan feeling like the mainstream-ness of Foo Fighters being too much.  I wouldn't consider myself a "fan" but I feel like you do about him being down to earth, decent guy, etc.

Krist Novoselic was busy around here, working on political reform and campaign finance reform (basically putting a cap on how much you can spend in an election from special interest groups).  I don't know now though, that was a while ago.

And Rage!  Where were they during Bush??  My friend and I constantly talk about this because they were so anti-establishment when it was Clinton- of all people- but then, Bush gets in TWICE and not one of them complains, speaks out, etc?   Kinda lets me down.

System of a Down I've never listened to much, basically they never had many hits here, maybe more in Southern California where they are from (google, a girls best friend) but I did hear a lot of them in Dublin, oddly.

[pontalba]

:D  Glad you had such a great time, frankie!!   Sounds absolutely super!   

[chesilbeach]

I love that your family name and dog are immortalised in the book, Sari! To find out by reading the book, and then being able to share it with your family, must have been brilliant.  What sort of dog was Tessu?

[Karsa Orlong]

I think Mauriusz is a genius, too. Maybe not as well known a genius, but still. He was dead keen on having everything right. 

 

The thing is, I'm not that organized as to notice if bands make mistakes when playing live. I don't know what happened, if it was because I was in the front row (!!!) or what, but he made one mistake with his guitar and I could see in his face that he wasn't happy     But the gig was awesome, awesome, awesome. Awesome!! 

 

When it ended, they didn't come back for an encore, but I think that might be because they played for as long as they were supposed to and did not quit earlier, like some bands might... ? And they just weren't allowed more time. So when they left, it was so weird... I'd been so into the gig that when it was all over and everyone walked away to see other bands, I just stood there, aghast, and thought, what now? What am I supposed to do now? It can't have ended so quickly... It really felt like they'd only just started. Time flew by. I got this kind of 'musical hangover': I've had a blast, time flew by, I wanted more, but all fun ended, and all that was left was the sad aftermath of not being able to experience the same fun and orgasmic music for a long long time again. 

 

 

 

Well I'm so glad you enjoyed it.  I think they're getting better and better as a live band, and their chemistry on-stage and with the crowd has come on by leaps and bounds since I first saw them    Actually, I sort of like it when bands make mistakes, even complete train wrecks where they have to stop and start the song all over again (only seen that happen once, though).  Do you have the set list?  I'd love to know what they played 

 

 

Re the Foo Fighters - I've never really understood the fuss.  A couple of good tracks but most of it does nothing for me.  But I can forgive Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins for their musical ordinariness cos they're both MASSIVE Rush fans    Soundgarden, Audioslave and RATM, on the other hand, I love.  I've never seen RATM live, but seeing Audioslave play Killing in the Name is an experience I'll never forget - it was awesome being in the crowd for that 

[Anna Begins]

 

Re the Foo Fighters - I've never really understood the fuss.  A couple of good tracks but most of it does nothing for me.  But I can forgive Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins for their musical ordinariness cos they're both MASSIVE Rush fans    Soundgarden, Audioslave and RATM, on the other hand, I love.  I've never seen RATM live, but seeing Audioslave play Killing in the Name is an experience I'll never forget - it was awesome being in the crowd for that 

We had an annual concert we used to go to once when we were younger, and one year, this band that was on first, called Rage Against the Machine.  No one had really heard them at this point.  So we got our blanket down on the grass, our bags and water- then they came on!  A HUGE mosh pit ensued and all our stuff went a flyin'!  That was MY intro to Rage  I saw them quite a few times after that and still listen to Renegades and Battle of Los Angeles.   "Born of a broken man, but not a broken man..."  They also have a cover of Cypress Hill's I Could Just Kill a Man, which is pretty darn cool.

I also saw Soundgarden so close, my hair blew a bit!  Man, Chris Cornell was gorgeous then.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Anna Begins

[poppyshake]

Your Grandpa's dog is in a book!!   That's better than anything any of us have achieved so far in life It's great usually when you hear bits and pieces about the people that came before .. but you only usually hear it from relatives so to have Grandpa mentioned in a book .. or his dog anyway which is just as good   is brilliant .. there he is immortalised in print for all time 

I wonder if I can get Molly to go further than the bottom of our garden and get into some sort of scrape or the other? .. however even if I did she wouldn't be called by her first name let alone her surname and anyway I don't know if any of my neighbours can write  Plus they don't know my surname .. unless they've been nosy when receiving our mail by mistake. Back in the old days .. there was community .. people knew each other. Oh .. I think it's lovely .. I wouldn't want to give the book back   Are there any more mentions of your family in the diaries?

 

Have I gone completely mad? I thought you'd read Jonasson's old man story? Possibly I dreamt it 

 

Glad you had an amazing time at llosaarirock  Happy days

[frankie]

Replying to the posts re: Ilosaarirock first.
 
 

I can TOTALLY see that about a Nirvana fan feeling like the mainstream-ness of Foo Fighters being too much.  I wouldn't consider myself a "fan" but I feel like you do about him being down to earth, decent guy, etc.

I think my main grudge is that when they released their first album, I don't think many people liked it or even knew about it. I don't remember any other person talking about it, when I bought the cassette and listened to it. None of my friends/acquaintances, that is. And the album was a difficult one to get into. I didn't like it the first time around, I only liked the singles I'd heard before, the rest of it was difficult for me. But I kept going and going and fell in love with it. I think it's very different from their later albums. 

 

The second album was a lot more easy to listen to, and while I liked it a lot (there are some really beautiful songs there!), it wasn't as special to me as the first album. And then a few years after that, everyone was suddenly listening to the band. They've had so many hits ever since then. I do like their singles but I guess at that point I was upset because I thought everyone's forgotten about Nirvana now and so has Grohl. But that's just a very personal, subjective opinion. Nirvana is an old band today, none of today's youffs listen to it, I don't think. There's a time for all bands and people move on

 

Krist Novoselic was busy around here, working on political reform and campaign finance reform (basically putting a cap on how much you can spend in an election from special interest groups).  I don't know now though, that was a while ago.

 

 

He sounds like a real stand up guy, good on him!

 

And Rage!  Where were they during Bush??  My friend and I constantly talk about this because they were so anti-establishment when it was Clinton- of all people- but then, Bush gets in TWICE and not one of them complains, speaks out, etc?   Kinda lets me down.
System of a Down I've never listened to much, basically they never had many hits here, maybe more in Southern California where they are from (google, a girls best friend) but I did hear a lot of them in Dublin, oddly.

 
That's a very interesting point about Bush and RATM! But they weren't making music at the time, were they? Do you think they should've made a comeback at that moment, because there was so much material Bush was unwittingly throwing out there?

 

That's so odd about SOAD not having had many hits where you live. They were big over here! Starting with the album Toxicity. I love Serj Tankian's voice, I was so annoyed when that other band member took over the vocals on a later album.   

 

Well I'm so glad you enjoyed it.  I think they're getting better and better as a live band, and their chemistry on-stage and with the crowd has come on by leaps and bounds since I first saw them.  Actually, I sort of like it when bands make mistakes, even complete train wrecks where they have to stop and start the song all over again (only seen that happen once, though).  Do you have the set list?  I'd love to know what they played

 Yes I suppose they've had more practice now so they've become really good! I don't mind bands making mistakes myself, but I just found it sort of funny and endearing when I saw that Mariusz was not happy

 

I don't have the setlist unfortunately, I googled for it a few days ago but didn't find one. I didn't want to interrupt the flow of listening to the gig by writing the names of the songs down. And there was one ballad I didn't recognize, it's from one of the albums I haven't yet listened to that many times. And I'm really crappy with song names these days! I'll have to listen to the latest album to remind myself which ones they played for sure. 

 

Re the Foo Fighters - I've never really understood the fuss.  A couple of good tracks but most of it does nothing for me.  But I can forgive Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins for their musical ordinariness cos they're both MASSIVE Rush fans.  Soundgarden, Audioslave and RATM, on the other hand, I love.  I've never seen RATM live, but seeing Audioslave play Killing in the Name is an experience I'll never forget - it was awesome being in the crowd for that 

 
 I've never understood the current fuss, either. I was fussed way earlier than anyone else! Haha everything has to do with Rush, doesn't it

 

 

We had an annual concert we used to go to once when we were younger, and one year, this band that was on first, called Rage Against the Machine.  No one had really heard them at this point.  So we got our blanket down on the grass, our bags and water- then they came on!  A HUGE mosh pit ensued and all our stuff went a flyin'!  That was MY intro to Rage. I saw them quite a few times after that and still listen to Renegades and Battle of Los Angeles.   "Born of a broken man, but not a broken man..."  They also have a cover of Cypress Hill's I Could Just Kill a Man, which is pretty darn cool.
I also saw Soundgarden so close, my hair blew a bit!  Man, Chris Cornell was gorgeous then.

 

 

That is so cool about the RATM concert! That's a memory you can't compete with

 

Chris was gorgeous back then, but I think he's still definitely got it

[frankie]

 Glad you had such a great time, frankie!!   Sounds absolutely super!  

 

Thanks pontalba, it was sweet and capital, just capital! I wish I could live it all again

 

I love that your family name and dog are immortalised in the book, Sari! To find out by reading the book, and then being able to share it with your family, must have been brilliant.  What sort of dog was Tessu?

 

I'm still dead chuffed about the whole thing! And like you said, I was lucky to have my aunts and uncle visiting so I could tell them about it, too. When I found out about Tessu first, I really wanted to text my Dad immediately about it, knowing he'd be amazed, and knowing he would tell his sisters and brother with whom he was fishing and picking berries, but then I thought, no, I want to wait till I can tell them in person, so I can see their reactions! =)

 

Tessu was a bit of a mix, but she had at least Karelian Bear Dog in her, which is quite apt because Karelian is Karjalainen in Finnish And it's the area in Finland where I'm from. I've taken a picture of the picture with my digital camera but I'm afraid it didn't make a very good picture, but I might post it on here later.

 

Here's a picture of a random Karelian Bear Dog I found on the internet:

 

 

 

 

 

Your Grandpa's dog is in a book!!  That's better than anything any of us have achieved so far in life. It's great usually when you hear bits and pieces about the people that came before .. but you only usually hear it from relatives so to have Grandpa mentioned in a book .. or his dog anyway which is just as good. is brilliant .. there he is immortalised in print for all time  

 

I know Tessu is more accomplished than me, she's in a book and I'm not, LOL! I wish I'd known her, I think I wasn't born before she passed or then at least I was so little that I don't remember her. Bless her! 

 

I really need to find a copy of my own to have and hold and admire! Grandpa would've been really pleased about the whole thing. 

 

I wonder if I can get Molly to go further than the bottom of our garden and get into some sort of scrape or the other? .. however even if I did she wouldn't be called by her first name let alone her surname and anyway I don't know if any of my neighbours can write. Plus they don't know my surname .. unless they've been nosy when receiving our mail by mistake. Back in the old days .. there was community .. people knew each other. Oh .. I think it's lovely .. I wouldn't want to give the book back. Are there any more mentions of your family in the diaries?

 

 You really need to get Molly going around in the neighborhood You should write a note in her collar, saying this is Molly and belongs to the lovely [poppyshake's last name, don't know if you want it published here] down the road, please feel free to add her in your books!

 

There was definitely more community feeling back in the day. But it also helps that Nurmes is a small town, we had maybe 11,000 inhabitants when I was a kid, but we've now gone under 10,000. The street I lived on, it is sort of 'separated' in two, because it goes across a hill, so it's broken in half by the Church Street at the top of the hill and then there are the two sections on each side of the hill. My street's name is Ridge Street in English. We have 7 houses on each side of the road on our part of Ridge Street. I didn't know the people on the house on top of the hill, we were the second house from the top (although we only lived on the top floor, there were two families living on the first floor), and then there were our neighbors further down the road, then there was the house where my Mum's parents lived, then there was the house where another doctor lived with his family (a safe road, having loads of doctors and relatives ), and then there was the red house that I know as the house where the optician lives, and that's the house where the doctor and the author of the book lived. My Dad's Dad and his step Mom used to live in the apartment downstairs from us at one point, but I was so little back then that I can't remember it. So basically I had all my grandparents on the same street, which I think is a bit unusual. And I used to play with the doctor's daughter (the doctor living next door to Mom's parents) when I was a kid, and we would sometimes play with this boy who lived across the street. And we would go sledding on the road, riding right over different people's lawns, and they were never bothered! I was a happy kid, and lucky to live on a hill, never had to walk far to go sledding, wohoo! 

 

I only read the first 19 pages of the book so I don't know if there are further mentions of my grandpa (one or the other!), but I'm definitely going to try and get my hands on a copy soon and read it =)

 

Edit: Kay! I just remembered the leaflet about Nurmes I sent you and you might actually see the doctor/author's house's pic on one of the pages. Let me check... Checked! Hehe, there it is on page 16! The two pictures on the bottom, on the left. The red house that has a sign saying 'OPTIKKO' (optician). That's the house where he lived with his family!  

 

 

Have I gone completely mad? I thought you'd read Jonasson's old man story? Possibly I dreamt it 

 

Oh poor love, you haven't gone mad!    I have read the book, but when I saw a copy of it at a charityshop sort of establishment that was run by the unemployed of Nurmes, and as it was cheap too, I had to get it. I also bought two skirts from there, so now you will know me as black skirt Sari, too, and not just jeans Sari

 

 

Glad you had an amazing time at llosaarirock  Happy days 

 

They were happy days, and I'm only saddened that they are over, but you know, you never appreciate them as much if they are always there. I swear, you would've loved the Portishead gig. I hope we can go together to see them sometime!  

Edited July 25, 2014 by frankie

[Karsa Orlong]

 

 Haha everything has to do with Rush, doesn't it

 

Don't tell me, tell Taylor Hawkins

Edited July 25, 2014 by Karsa Orlong

[frankie]

I think if I had a chance to talk to Taylor Hawkins, I would concentrate on other topics of discussion...  

[Karsa Orlong]

Me too - I'd tell him how rubbish his drumming is

[frankie]

Oi! You should be banned from the concerts, then! 

 

 

[Athena]

Frankie, I'm so glad you had a great time at the festival !

 

The story of your grandpa's dog being in the book.. that's so awesome !! Very exciting.

[frankie]

Frankie, I'm so glad you had a great time at the festival !

 

The story of your grandpa's dog being in the book.. that's so awesome !! Very exciting.

 

Thanks Athena! I should really try and post the picture of the dog on here but things have been hectic. Oh and I need to read the book at some point.. Maybe now when I still now there's a copy at my local library.

 

 

On a non-related note, completely off-topic. 

 

I'm moving!!!      Nope, not to Lahti, but Espoo. The second biggest city in the whole of Finland    It's next to Helsinki, only a 14 minute train ride away. I'm ecstatic! This is exactly the kind of thing I need in my life now and I'm just so lucky I got this opportunity. 

 

I met a good old friend last week in hometown and she told me about their struggle with their own apartment because they'd had to move to another city because of work, and how they've been thinking they need to find tenants. Well I started thinking about it.... And asked if Espoo is a rich town: if they could afford work practice people at libraries and even an apprenticeship. Don't know about the latter but turns out they do hire around 15 people per year to work at their libraries. I'm going to get in there, make my case and I'll be damned if they don't hire me eventually! And then I'll be the best employee ever and then they'll be mad not to let me go on on apprenticeship

 

Haven't found a flat mate yet, I'm looking into that at the moment. The flat is right next to this huge shopping mall and that's lucky, I can visit all the normal prize grocerystores there and keep my living costs to the normal. In Helsinki, you'd have to travel a lot to get to those places. The corner shops are ridiculously expensive! And the drugstore's there too and the library. I'm going to live right next to a library! And the train station! Wohoooo! 

 

Very, very excited!

Edited July 31, 2014 by frankie

[Chrissy]

That's great Frankie!   It sounds like a positive move in so many ways. Brilliant stuff.

[Athena]

This is very exciting news Frankie! I hope you have lots of fun in your new apartment . I hope you get to work in the library, that would be awesome. Good luck with the moving!

[frankie]

Thanks gals! Can you see my perpetual jazz hands and hips shaking and fist pumps? It's going to do me the world of good. Even if I don't get to do what I want. This is the kick in the butt I need And I'm going to try and make the most of it! 

[Athena]

That's a very healthy attitude to have .

[Devi]

Woohoo! So happy for your frankie! so happy and excited for you

 

This may come in handy for you too! I gave the same link to Athena for her move. Its tips on moving a heap of books.

 

http://bookriot.com/2014/07/21/8-tips-moving-ton-books/

Edited July 31, 2014 by Devi

[Janet]

Brilliant news on the move, Sari.  Yay!   

[frankie]

Thanks for the link Devi, I already read it although I should be washing windows... How typical is it, by the way, that the first time I wash the windows of this apartment is when I know I'm moving out soon

 

Thanks Jänet!      And you guys know, I'm just going to be a wreck with having to deal with my books. Should I be ruthless and do a culling or take them all with me? I've thought about taking some back to my parents for storage, but I don't know.... My cupboards there are full as it is, and I'm going to store my uni notes I can't part with in my room. I won't need them in Espoo but I just can't part with them. 

 

Edit: And I just know that you English speakers automatically pronounce it as 's-poo' I should teach you more about the Finnish pronunciation before moving...  

Edited July 31, 2014 by frankie

[Janet]

So are you going to tell us how we should pronounce it?! 

[frankie]

So are you going to tell us how we should pronounce it?! 

 

There's just no way I can think of that would make it very clear to you. You guys have aspiration (you add a bit of h) after p, we never do that. And the oo is like the oo in the word 'door' when you use RP (no r at the end). Es is your basic S.

 

So... S-p(no h!!)door

 

Make sense?

 

Edit: Go here and click on the listening button and listen

 

 

Edit: Don't go here because Emma the voice has aspiration on her p! 

 

Edit: Actually I like this one the best, as the voice is clearer than in the first. 

 

(What I hate the most is that when I talk in English, I automatically pronounce Helsinki the way foreigners would and not how it's pronounced in Finnish. And when I was talking to a British friend about Espoo, I accidentally called it 'S poo' myself ) 

Edited July 31, 2014 by frankie