http://timo.herd.fi/index.php en timo@herd.fi Copyright 2010 Pivot Pivot - 1.40.4: 'Dreadwind' Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:38:54 +0200 60 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=94 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=94#comm play.com, and recently also from AdLibris).

Covering three of the five Nordic countries, I figured it would be a good idea to find something to read from each country. I was surprised to find out that one major characteristic that Finland, Iceland, Denmark, and Norway all share is a heavy, social depression; misery, ill luck, poverty, and general unhappiness run amok in the melancholic literature of each country. Sweden is an exception, as for some reason I'm yet to find a Swedish book that would carry the same sense of depression.

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The degree, nature, and source of the gloominess seems to vary from country to country. In Finland the depression is internal, built within the hearts of individuals, and it seems to be passed from a generation to another - inherited in the mothers milk, as the saying goes. The consequences of this misery are suffered alone - this is grimly manifested by the high suicide rates and rampant alcoholism - but it is regarded as something of an integral characterstic for a typical Finn, and is even celebrated in arts.

For Danes their dejection is less welcome, as they generally feel that by default Denmark should be a happy nation of happy citizen. However, as this evidently isn't true, the Danes find themselves in a state of chronical Hamletian downheartedness. For this they blame the society, because they feel that they have been let down by the government that has been put in place to ensure that the people living in Denmark don't need to face the hardships of life. Externally, this dejection is visible by frequent public demonstrations, and flippant attitude towards politics - expressed by for example Nihilistic People's Party with its slogan "it's all meaningless anyway so waste your vote on us" (it's hardly a surprise that all the NPP candidates for the regional council in 2009 are either students or unemployed, except for one nurse, and one who reported "idiot" as his occupation).

Icelanders feel - quite rightly, too - that everything bad that happens to them is due to the extremely unpredictable conditions on their turbulent, remote island, and this is what the Icelandic depression has its roots. As long as the forces of nature cannot be tamed, Iceland is doomed to the eternal cycle of first having high hopes, then working hard against the odds, and eventually failing miserably. This is very much the reason why Icelanders feel dejected about the future and don't have much fate in it, generally forgetting all about all necessary precautions when starting a new venture; why bother, when we're bound to fail anyway? The current economical crisis in Iceland is a perfect example of this: the Icelanders took heavy foreign loans to invest in companies all over the world, causing the three major banks to accumulate estimated debt of 50 billion euros. The party was over when the international financial crisis destroyed the Icelandic economy, and now they must once again begin anew.

In Norway the depression appears to be something of a cross between the Finnish inner gloominess, Icelandic fatalism, and Danish discomfort caused by social pressure. Noregians have until recently lived rather humbly in the mercy of the harsh natural conditions, with poverty not being a rare visitor. Back then the depression was met with optimism, with a happy-go-lucky attitude towards hardships. However, the recently discovered oil resources have dragged the nation from rags to riches, and the Norwegian people faced a dramatic change in their lifestyle. Having always lived in dejection, people have not (yet) found a way to enjoy their new wealth, and they descent into depression perhaps even more profound than before - often aided with alcohol.

Sweden is the odd one in the melancholic Nordic bunch. It seems impossible to find the depression gene in the the Swedish DNA, as the whole country seems to run on optimism, acceptance, and good humour. This uncharacteristic behaviour for a Nordic country has been fueled by prosperity and carefully constructed social democracy that ensured that everyone was pretty well off, accepted, and that the people felt no threat from the outside. However, things are changing in Sweden too, and it may not be long until we can add Sweden into the unhappy group of fellow Northerners; the poorly managed immigration has created pockets of unrest in several major cities. Especially in Malmö there have been several demonstrations against poor living conditions and increased welfare gap, and recently there have also been anti-demonstrations.

So there you have it: we're all miserable here in the north (except the Swedes for the time being), even if it's for different reasons.

To have glimpses of Nordic depression, I recommend the following viewing and/or reading:

Finland
Film: Lights in the Dusk (dir. Aki Kaurismäki), Black Ice (dir. Petri Kotwica)
Literature: The Red Line (Ilmari Kianto), The Home of the Dark Butterflies (Leena Lander)

Denmark
Literature: Borderliners (Peter Høeg), Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (Peter Høeg)

Iceland
Literature: Independent People (Halldór Laxness), Salka Valka (Halldór Laxness)

Norway
Film: Kitchen Stories (dir. Bent Hamer)
Literature: Hunger (Knut Hamsun)

Sweden
Film: Fucking Åmål (dir. Lukas Moodysson), Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman) ]]> 94@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:42:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=91 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=91#comm Some time ago I wrote about a rare sequel to the legendary Afrikan Tähti board game that we scored from an online auction. However, it's not the only game we have bought lately.

This time I will write about two great Viking board games that we have enjoyed a lot; Walhalla and Fjords.

The Vikings are coming!

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The first one is Walhalla, a game of Viking warriors raiding fjords, fighting, dying, and entering Valhalla.

The idea is to take over and hold areas of land in order to score points. However, it's also important to hold a balance between the Vikings deployed on the board, those in reserves waiting to raid some land, and those died valiantly in battle and thus resting in pieces (har har) in Valhalla. The game mechanics are otherwise pretty common, except for the battle; the outcome of a fight is decided by the defender! It is a vital decision, though, as it affects the number of men in Valhalla, which in turn is important for the value of the turn-end reinforcements.

Walhalla is a fun 3-4 player game. The only gripe I have with it is its unnecessarily complicated scoring system, which doesn't seem to become intuitive no matter how much I try to memorize it by heart.

On our trip to Helsinki last summer we popped in to Lautapelit.fi and in a random stab to darkness grabbed another Viking-themed game Fjords from a shelf. The theme, the low price, and the fact that it was a 2-player game made the decision for us.

It turned out to be a lucky buy. Fjords is a light, fast-paced cross between Carcassonne and Go, perfect for spending half an hour with. The game has two phases; in the first one the Viking settlers discover the new land tile by tile, setting farms as they go. In the second phase they make fields on the land. The winner is the one who has the biggest number of fields in the end. Surprisingly for a Viking game, it has no fighting of any kind, nor would it benefit from having it.

While the game is indeed too light-weight to ever be the main game of board gaming evenings, it serves perfectly as a filler, and as a time-killer while waiting for others to arrive. It's also splendid for nice, quiet one-on-one playing by the coffee table. ]]> 91@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:50:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=89 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=89#comm Cute, isn't he?

The Church Foreign Aid will transport him to those that need his help in surviving poverty. Maybe in Ruanda, maybe in Nepal, maybe in Afghanistan.

We think this kind of campaigns are a great way to share wealth. There are dozens of similar organizations all around the world; find the one nearest to you for example from here.

(Note: Of course our money doesn't go directly into purchasing a specific goat. It goes into a charity fund that is then used for purchasing livestock to poor families. More about it over here, for instance.) ]]> 89@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:39:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=85 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=85#comm Afrikan tähti (Star of Africa) is a legendary game, one that nearly every Finn knows. Designed by late Kari Mannerla in 1949 (at the age of 19), it has thus far sold 3,5 million copies (1,7 million outside Finland!) and is cherished in childhood memories all over the country. It has also been translated to 16 languages, and is still available in nearly all Finnish supermarkets and bookstores.

Why am I writing about this? Well, browsing an auction site, looking for a fun board game to play, we found a rare sequel!

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Afrikan tähti a fairly simple and straightforward game; the one who finds the fabulous Star of Africa diamond and returns it to either one of the starting points is the winner. The players earn money from various other gems they discover, but are also in danger to lose all their possessions to bandits. The rules of the game take 5 minutes to learn, and one game takes about half an hour (unless the diamond is very close to a starting point, in which case the game can be over in less than a minute).

Many reasons for the games success have been presented, ranging from the simplistic rules to the romantic view of the colonialistic era, and the truth is probably a combination of them all. The game still sells 30,000 copies a year, so whatever the reason for its success might be, it remains an integral part of Finnish cultural heritage, along with Nokia, rye bread, Fazer milk chocolate, and Father Christmas.

Sequels

Afrikan tähti received an official sequel in 2005, called Inkan aarre ("The Treasure of the Inca"), which is essentially the same game, but introduces a few new rules and takes place in South America.

However, in 2006, the coffee manufacturer Paulig hired the advertisement agency SEK & Grey to create a fun product to be given to the employees and the co-operative partners as a Christmas present. SEK & Gray, the very company that Afrikan tähti designer Kari Mannerla led for decades, came up with Discovery - The Real Coffee Adventure; a board game very similar to Afrikan tähti. It was never sold anywhere, and can be considered quite rare.

We found this game in an online auction. We didn't know anything about the game, and the purchase was based almost entirely on the low price (8 euros!) and the coffee theme. Luckily, the game turned out to be great, and after three full games it feels even better than the original!

In Discovery the players are also after a huge diamond (named "The Paulig Diamond"), but there are several differences to Afrikan tähti; the most obvious one is that the game board covers the entire world, not just one continent. Also, there is no money in the game; the currency used is coffee beans that can be found from the markers scattered around the world. Turning a marker in Afrikan tähti cost 300, but in Discovery you're granted the right to open the marker if you answer correctly to a multiple-choice quiz question (often coffee-themed). Occasionally instead of a question an action occurs.

The scale of the map, the quiz questions, and the overall atmosphere of Discovery lift it above its two spiritual prequels in my books. The charm of discovery that Afrikan tähti had is still there, but this time with less randomness and a more appeal for adults players. ]]> 85@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:53:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=78 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=78#comm this). Before the trip I downloaded a few games for it, to keep me entertained in that strange country I knew next to nothing about.

The time in Poland was awesome (in fact so awesome that I went back there a year later!), but I did find some time to try out the games, too. I was happing to find that I had made some excellent choices - and one of them turned out to be The Very Best Computer Game Ever Made!

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The games I had prepared for myself were:

Rogue

An excellent dungeon-dwelling RPG that started the enormous roguelike class of games. I had to pick this over its mightier follower Nethack, as my screen didn't show colours, and none were needed for Rogue. I was proud of actually finding the legendary amulet of Yendor, but never had the time to make the trip back out of the dungeon. Maybe one day..?

You can play Rogue online over here, or you can download the original from here or here.

Alter Ego

An extremely fun life simulator. I made a post about its online version some time ago.

Commander Keen, parts 1-3

Commander Keen, one of the best platformers, and everyone's favourite some 20 or so years ago! Evil Vorticons are planning to destroy the earth, and only 8-year old Billy Blaze, alias Commander Keen can save us. This series is a true classic!

You can download the first episode from here and purchase the rest from iD Software.

Pyro 2 - World Terrorism

THIS is The Very Best Computer Game Ever Made! It's phenomenal, it's astounding, it's gorgeous, and it's incredibly addictive! And it's damn controversial too; it's the worlds first and - as far as I know - only game in which you play a reckless pyroman, burning down famous buildings such as the Louvre Museum, the Congress Library, Kreml, Buckingham Palace, AND various famous people such as the queen of England!

Pyro 2 is a puzzle game at heart; your task is to run through the building, unrolling a ball of string (already lit from its end!) and dropping/spilling gas canisters all over the place, and to escape in time before the fire reaches the gas, exploding the place into a deadly inferno.

As you can see, the game is bloody ugly. Well, the graphics are really plain, but functional. It's the gameplay that shines, though; everything works at a 100% accuracy, making the game an absolute bliss to play!

You can download the game from here.

(Pyro 2 picture from Zer-un.) ]]> 78@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:02:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=73 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=73#comm

Hurrah! The 3rd season of the the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational TV series ever made has finally reached us! Judging from the first 4 episodes we've watched already, this is certainly the most hyper-active and bizarre season so far!

The region 2 DVD release is high-class, just like the previous seasons. The only grudge we have is the lack of Finnish subtitles (even though according to the box they should be in there!), but that's hardly a surprise, as the season 2 was never imported to Finland. ]]> 73@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:44:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=72 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=72#comm "The CIA has been encouraging the Hungarian people to rebel against their Soviet masters for over six years. They have also been supplying the freedom fighters with cash and weapons. It's October 23, 1956 and it's time to fight."

In Budapest Defenders your task is to defend the Hungarian headquarters from the invading Soviet forces. The highly limited resources need to be divided to build barricades and arm rebels, carefully constructing a defence network that the 30 increasingly massive waves of Russian troops cannot penetrate.

The plot of this actually fun and challenging game is set on historical context; the Hungarians did rebel against Soviet Union on October 23rd, 1956. However, less than two weeks later the rebellion was crushed. ]]> 72@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:38:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=71 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=71#comm Free Rice lets you play for food. It's essentially a simple quiz, but for every correct answer the United Nations World Food Program donates 20 grains of rice to the poor of the world. So far over 2 million people have been fed through the program.

This is a highly recommendable way to kill some time - but please keep in mind that it does not mean that you should stop giving real donations! ]]> 71@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:34:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=68 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=68#comm I guess everyone has at some point of their life seen a movie that they'veloved so much they would have wanted to share it with the rest of the world. For me that happened with Christiane F, and I ended up forcing various friends to watch it. However, I never came up with anything as ingenious as Ingrid who saw The Girl in the Cafe, fell in love with it, and sent the DVD on a tour around the world, hoping to gain the film as many viewers as possible. The concept is so awesome that it makes me kick myself for not thinking of it. The rules of the project are simple; you sign up, and when you recive the DVD you watch it, review it on your blog, and send it off to the next person. I went and signed up for it a couple of months ago, and the Girl did finally reach me last week.

The Girl in the Cafe is a romantic comedy with a serious message; every three seconds someone, somewhere dies due to extreme poverty, and it is possible to change it all by making a definite decision and committing to it. The romance is that of between a disillusioned, middle-aged civil servant Lawrence (Bill Nighy), and a young Gina (Kelly Macdonald) whom by chance he happens to meet at a cafeteria, and much of the film takes place at a G8 meeting location in Iceland.

It would be easy to blame the movie for oversimplifying the serious issue of extreme poverty; the film states that the choice to do so is down to 8 men - the leaders of the 8 wealthiest world nations. However, the major point in this film is that hiding behind the web of excuses and standard, inflexible processes is simply not enough. I am keen to agree on this; by cutting through the red tape it is possible to achieve more than going by the routine, accepting defeat and inefficiency. A better life may not be as simple to achieve as the film portrays, but it isn't as impossible as we are led to believe, either.

While agreeing with the issue raised in The Girl in the Cafe, I also enjoyed it as a film. The characters and dialogue were interesting and perfectly executed by the talented cast; especially Bill Nighy gives a great performance. The atmosphere in the movie can certainly perceived as cold by some, but personally I found it expressive and realistic, not entirely unlike the style of Finland's beloved Aki Kaurismäki. The camera catches emotion expressed in gestures, looks, and the scarce, yet witty dialogue. The only disturbing issue I have is with the long speeches towards the end of the movie, which unnecessarily feel rehearsed, but I respect their necessity in delivering the principal message of the film.

The Girl in the Cafe doesn't show what happens in the end, but it leaves the viewer wishing all the best for Lawrence and Gina, and for the poor of the world.

More about the project over at thegirlinthecafe.com. ]]> 68@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:25:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=67 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=67#comm Ingrid posted a list of new classic movies, as chosen by Entertainment Weekly. Discussion ensued, and of course the list was found inaccurate and hopelessly American-centric. The movies chosen seem to be almost exclusively Hollywood blockbusters.

Anyhow, this prompted me into choosing my list of brilliant, celebrated movies that are - for a reason or another - usually overlooked when creating top-100 lists.

1. Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
A touching story of teenage heroinists in the '70s Berlin. Brilliant acting, direction, cinematography, music, everything. This is also possibly the scariest movie I've seen - and they say the book is even more so.

2. Down by Law
Probably the best movie by Jim Jarmusch. A story of three men escaping a prison, filmed with vision, precision, and flawless grace. Minimalistic in execution, enormous in impact. Perfect.

3. 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days)
Set in the '80s Romania, "4, 3, 2" tells a gripping tale of two student girls and an illegal abortion. Strong acting and direction create impression that stays for good.

4. Człowiek z Marmuru & Człowiek z Żelaza (Man of Marble & Man of Steel)
Two movies by Andrzej Wajda set in the socialist era of Poland. The first film portrays the control the state had over human lives, and how nobody could be trusted. The second takes place during the Gdansk uprising, led by Lech Wałęsa. These two powerful movies are important historically, politically and cinematically.

5. La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher)
A story of a perversely strict piano teacher and her romantic student becomes a research of the meaning of love, and how it can be perceived so wrong. Vivid and strong.

6. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
An excellent adaptation of a superb novel. A story of hopeless love, romance and romanticism, and disconnection to life.

7. Pelísky (Cosy Dens)
A comedy of two neighbouring families living a socialist Czechoslovakian apartment block. A splendid, humorous take on life back then.

8. Salmer fra kjøkkenet (Kitchen Stories)
A deadpan comedy of a Swedish research of the kitchen routines of Norwegian single men, which grows into a warm story of friendship and the causes of loneliness.

9. Kauas pilvet karkaavat (Drifting Clouds)
A story of unemployment, love, and hope by Aki Kaurismäki. Dramatic, dry-witty, and positive film, in which less is more.

10. Die Große Stille (Into Great Silence)
Wow. An almost four hours long film about life of monks in the Grande Chartreuse, the head monastery of the reclusive Carthusian Order in France. Hardly anything happens; the monks go on with their daily lives in perfect silence. Spiritual, meditative, interesting, and extremely beautiful-- like a prayer. ]]> 67@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ default Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:03:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=53 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=53#comm 53@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ linkdump Wed, 07 May 2008 09:19:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=50 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=50#comm 50@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ linkdump Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:47:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=36 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=36#comm 36@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ linkdump Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:59:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=11 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=11#comm 11@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ linkdump Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:59:00 +0200 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=9 http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/entry.php?id=9#comm 9@http://timo.herd.fi/pivot/ linkdump Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:32:00 +0200