On kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

by J. Karjalainen

Oli aika kuuma kesä tää
nyt on jo vähän viileempää
Tulee paljon omenaa
kohta mehua taas saa
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Vielä lienee lammet paikoillaan
täytyis vissiin lähtä katsomaan
Yhden vanhan virvelin
aamulla mä putsasin
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Eräs leikki traktoreillaan
se tykkää niistä aina vaan
Minä laulujani teen
putoo riimit paikoilleen
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Keväällä jälleen lähdetään
tämä Suomi kiertämään
Ehkä mennään Turkkuseen
kaadetaan viinaa kurkkuseen
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Mä tykkään tästä juuri näin
soitella kanssa ystäväin
San Francisco kuuskytyhdeksän
äkkiä kaiken ymmärrän
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Pilvet on kuin laivoja
ne taivaanrannassa odottaa
Kerran kotiin minut vie
tämä röpelöinen tie
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Lasissa viini vähenee
vaikka pyydän: älä mee
No vielä toiset ostetaan
suulle malja nostetaan
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

No vielä toiset ostetaan
suulle malja nostetaan
on kaikki niinkuin ennenkin

Kaikille suomalaisille ystäville.

Finally we're in the news for the right reasons

The Mexican government inaugurated a giant radio telescope. More from the Beeb.

Second Life in the FT

Funnily enough, after writing an entry about Second life yesterday, I found an article about it in today's issue of the FT. I don't think Alan Cane quite "gets it" with his metaphor that Second Life is just a more advanced way of current icon-based interfases, it seems to me over-simplistic. The most interesting thing about it in my opinion is that when you're interacting in an environment that looks closer to the real world, you will react in ways that are closer to the real world, and create social bonds that are closer to those of the real world. I may be wrong of course.

Useless technology

Useless technology, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

I'm usually a technology advocate, but this is stupid. I saw in a restaurant a plasma screen with video of a fireplace instead of a real fireplace. Is there any point?

Mexican league quarterfinal first leg: Chivas 2-0 Cruz Azul

Chivas seemed unstoppable last night, beating Cruz Azul at home at the Jalisco Stadium by 2-0. Bofo Bautista played a remarkable game, scoring one goal and setting up the other. I'll post a video as soon as it is online.

Update: The videos of the goals are online. The first video is here. The second is below.


Both are absolutely excellent. I hope my Chivas keep on playing as well.

Globalisation is...

listening to "La Bamba" being played and sung in Spanish by a guy with a marked Arab accent in the Brussels Metro...

Priceless!

You know you've been in Belgium too long when...

I saw this list at Genki David's blog. Much better than the list I had originally published.

And I haven't been here that long...

Star Wars in different languages

Saw a post at Jedifreac's blog about Star Wars in different languages. Hilarious!

Second Life

Second Life is a 3D virtual world. Just tried it and was absolutely amazed by its functionality (including a virtual economy), customisability, and the whole "feel" of it. We hear at the CWF about how are residents using this world to do things that they wouldn't be otherwise able to, even at work. I've tried not to use it too much because it is quite addictive.

Talking with a friend of mine about it he came to the conclusion that the danger of it (exposed in many cyberpunk novels before) is that people would use these kind of virtual worlds to escape reality. Whereas I'm sure that some will do exactly that, I believe most people will learn to live with it, as it is a tool to engage imagination and create something new, which in the physical world may not exist.

Could anybody with more experience on it share their insight?

Illya Kuriaki and the Valderramas

Another post in the Series of Rock en Español.

Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas was an Argentine duet that mix hip-hop, funk, rock and traditional Latin American rythms. They published 8 albums and enjoyed moderate success throughout the region, before separating in 2001. Some of their songs below:

Coolo (Leche, 1999)


Abarajame (Chaco, 1995)
Jennifer del Estero (Leche, 1999)

Romantic time in Leuven

Romantic time in Leuven, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Liked the trees and the couple in the background. I'm not sure they liked being photographed that much ;-) .

Chivas 4-0 Veracruz

In the second game of the play-off series, Chivas absolutely demolished Veracruz by 4-0. I'm a happy man. We're meeting Cruz Azul in the quarter finals. Review and pictures of the game at mediotiempo.com. I'll post a video as soon as somebody uploads it to YouTube.

Update: The video is here. I was amazed by the quality of the goals and goalkeeping. The game against Cruz Azul is tonight (wednesday 22nd). Let's see how it goes.

The Economist Mexico Survey

I read during the weekend the Economist Mexico Survey. If you follow the situation in the country the conclusions they reached won't surprise you very much.

• The economy hasn't collapsed, but is growing very slowly.
• The country needs structural reforms in order to grow.
• The informal part of the economy is unhealthily big, and the tax collection rates are abysmal.
• Mexico is still too dependent on oil, especially for its public finances.
• Security is a bigger concern than it should be.
• The new government should focus on improving its standing with the part of the population that doesn't share its programme.

I have to say, that it didn't make me happy, but could've been worse. If only the politicians read this...

Do you get your best ideas at 2 a.m.?

Most of the posts I wrote during the weekend were thought/dreamt in the period between 1-3 a.m. last friday. It was so bad that I had an idea, wrote it down, then another one, wrote it down, then another one and so on until, finally, I got too tired to go on. Does it happen to you?

As inspiration, I'll leave you with an ad-hoc video. Sleeping Awake by P.O.D. (from the Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack)