No practice

Bad week for yoga, I didn't get to go more than once... I hate the days I don't do yoga - it affects my sleep, how my body feels, and most definitely my mood. As it is, I've been feeling a bit flighty anyway and this just makes it worse. I wish I had the patience and the opportunity to practice at home.

Book worms

I've always wanted to start a book club. I love reading books and I love talking about them - but most I get to do is sometimes talk about the books we've both read with Dragon and it's a rare treat. After the British Science Fiction Association Awards shortlist was announced this year I've been mulling over the idea of getting some friends to read the books and do kind of a book club thing where we would discuss them. I sent an email to chosen subjects last week and was gutted that no one replied... but then yesterday when we were out eating with friends I kind of brought it up again - only to discover that half the people had not seen the email (The Company has very aggressive spam filters) and the other half had thought about replying to it later on. So today we're back on track and the book club is on!

The idea of reading all shortlisted books at once fell a bit short - we will be reading them one at the time, starting with Jon Courtenay Grimwood's 9Tail Fox. Very cool.

New me

I went to pick up my new glasses yesterday - here is a photo (and a smiling one for my mom). I also saw Dr. Parmar as my eye has started weeping again, and it's getting really annoying. There's still nothing visibly wrong with it, but I was prescribed tear drops every 3-4 hours and - hot towels. The idea behind the tear drops is that the eye might get wrong signals that the eye is dry and therefore increase the tear production, and this might help for that. Now the hot towels - I need to put them on my eye every morning and evening to apply some pressure... who knows what it'll do, but it feels damn nice.

In any case, I'll be wearing my new glasses for the next week, and I'll see Dr. Parmar again next Tuesday.

The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson

Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash was undoubtedly one of the sci-fi books of 90's, and personally I consider it to be maybe the best cyber punk book out there. However I burned my hands on Cryptonomicon few years after Snow Crash - one of the few books I've started but never finished... I know some people love it but I just couldn't keep up with the numerous storylines, timeliness and characters... My biggest disappointment probably was though that I was expecting it to be sci-fi which it isn't. Of course that my fault there - I like to read my books so that I know next to nothing about them in advance and it usually works... unfortunately not so in the case of Cryptonomicon.

In any case, it put me off Stephenson for... well, years. He does get a lot of praise though so I decided to give him a second chance and queued up The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer for my iPod which I find a perfect media for books I might (or I'm afraid I might) otherwise get tired of. The book is read by Jennifer Wiltsie and she is one of the best narrators I have come across so far - I was initially put of by a female narrator, but since the main character is actually a small girl it works very well. She really got into the characters and clearly "got" their internal logic and emotions - the scene where Miranda is trying to get Nell to leave her house because of the mortal danger the little girl doesn't (want to) understand must be one of the most intensive scenes I heard - and if I had been, say, driving a car I would have surely crashed as she really could make me forget about anything else.

The Diamond Age takes place in Snow Crash universe numerous years later, and even shares a minor character. Nation states are dead, replaced by tribes - the major ones being Han (Han Chinese), the Neo-Victorians (mainly Anglo-Saxons, but also others who identify with the culture), and Nippon (Japanese). In the world where nanotechnology can be used to make anything, the question is not so much what can be done with it - but what should, and anything hand-made is valued above all. Most of the book's events happen on mainland China - but it gets points from me for the major events in Vancouver, in fact a stone throws away from us in Stanley Park. The main character is a small girl called Nell who happens to come to possession of an interactive book meant for a Neo-Victorian small girl called Young Lady's Illustrated Primer that is intended to guide the girl through life and raise her beyond her glass ceiling. Back story includes some social commentary about the struggle of power between East and West, and follows some minor characters who are struggling to understand what's going on. Nell's story is very much one of survival against all odds - she comes from very poor conditions, with a single mother who doesn't want her children or the responsibility and her string aggressive boyfriends who use their fists to rule.

I get a big kick out of the world this novel takes place in. I love the sci-fi elements with the nanotechnology, and I really appreciate Stephenson's cultural knowledge and understanding when describing the Chinese characters (I wish Orson Scott Card had some of his finesse). But despite the sci-fi backdrop, it's most of all book about people. Nell (and as a lesser character, Miranda) must be one of the best female characters as written by a man and her story is truly captivating. The Primer has been written very cleverly into the the main story and although it at times feels like it's irrelevant - it never is in the end, and the stories are always fascinating. If I have one gripe about the book it's the ending that kind of just happens - but it can be argued that the issues raised can't really be solved and happy ending just wouldn't have been right. There are changes - but they rarely are exclusively either good or bad.

Well done, excellent book. Neil Stephenson is in my good books again.

Responsibility

Just when I was saying I don't want any responsibility at work, it drops to my lap. The boss' auntie unexpectedly passed away over the weekend and he's going to be spending the week with his family - which means that me and Don had to take care of all the load testing that was scheduled for this week. Only it's me that everyone comes to with questions and issues... And it doesn't feel entirely bad - it does come naturally to me and I am good at it.

But at the same time - I was immediately late leaving work, and there is stuff I need to do from home. So point proven.

Tear for Zimbabwe

Over the last few years I’ve been following the unfolding tragedy of Zimbabwe, where millions of people are facing starvation in a country that was just a few short years ago the breadbasket of Africa.

Life expectancy in Zimbabwe has collapsed to 30 years, AIDS runs rampant. Inflation has soared to 800% (expected to run into 1000% in a month), making Zimbabwean dollar all but worthless. The once-prosperous middle class of Zimbabwe is wiped out –once they were the economic pride of Africa, now they are paupers. To give you an idea what has happened to their wages and savings, consider that just a few years ago the exchange rate of the Zimbabwean dollar as 1 to 25 US dollars Today, the Zimbabwean government currently measures the Zimbabwean dollar at 99,210.00 to US$1, however the black market in the country trades at 210,000.00 to 1, which is accepted as the realistic rate. Of course that about doubles every week. Foetuses and babies are flushed down the toilets in Harare, political opponents are deported, votes rigged. The mills of Zimbabwe warn of immediate food crisis. Hell, even Coca Cola has run out in Zimbabwe since they can no longer afford foreign commodities, including syrup. In a word, a total collapse threatens the land that was just few years ago known as a “Paradise of Africa”.

And what does President Mugabe, the man in power for the last 25 years, do? He holds lavish birthday parties for himself, and distributes the occupied land to his political cronies. Though 82 years old, his vigorous training regime and cast-iron health show no signs of waning –who knows if he will live and rule for another 20 years?

The things started unravelling when Mugabe’s government seized the farms of Zimbabwe’s white minority. Now, 4000 people holding the large portion of the national wealth was of course neither fair nor just –the poor landless needed a slice of the pie as well –and indeed the farm owners agreed. Something had to be done. But Mugabe’s actions (based on violence and threats) were nothing but racism political populism –and it is ugly no matter who is the target, black or white –indeed, far more black people than whites suffer because of Mugabe’s policies. Mugabe’s greed for wealth and power has doomed over 12 million people into agonizing poverty and famine since he distributed the land to the people who do not produce anything.

I know how daunting it would be for me to go against such tyrant, but here is for hoping that the Zimbabweans will soon shed the yoke of this tyrant. They still have fertile land, platinum mines, coal, gold, copper, nickel, tin, and much of their infrastructure in place. There is still time, and Zimbabwe can be a paradise once again. Not as a divided nation of blacks and whites, rich and poor, but as Zimbabweans.

Spring in the air

It's again that time of the year. Yep, the pigeon hunt has started up again - so far there have been few couples scouting the suitable nesting sites, but no serious attempts yet. I hope it doesn't get as bad this time as last year, as I'm not going to be home all day and can't keep watch.

Weekend has been very peaceful. Here's another bird on the balcony. I continue playing with my new camera and I have a gorgeous husband... the winning combination. Jaana-Mari continues to be my inspiration but I still have some way to go.

Not in England anymore

I realized yesterday, while reading news from the BBC, that I'm not mentally in England anymore.

How to explain it... For a long time I had it all in my head, the roads, the shops, the people, they all were homely and familiar to me, more so than anything here. Yesterday I started reading about Gordon Brown's budget when it suddenly came to me that I didn't care, and that it didn't have any affect on me. While falling asleep last night half awake, half asleep, and I was leaving Portsmouth driving from M275 to M27 - something I used to do daily for over a year - and I couldn't remember what the road looked like. I was kind of startled by it: I remembered filling up on the petrol station in Portsmouth that I always used, remembered driving off to the motorway, but I had no recollection about what the junction looked like.

It's kinda sad. I still tell people when they ask how much I loved living in England - but I don't feel it anymore... something's gone.

Quiet life

I've been leading it lately. Not to say I'm not busy, I'm very busy with work and yoga four times a week - but in addition to that there's not much going on.

Work-wise I'm enjoying peace and quiet in our new digs at the second floor where it's just the QA department - I think everyone has been pleasantly surprised on how the new arrangement is working out. Not that we've put it to proper test yet, but whatever it will be it won't affect me as I don't deal with developers that much anymore. I'm actually really pleased with where my professional career is going, as I think automated testing gives me best of both worlds: I get to test which is my favourite, but I also get to write some code which is something I still quite enjoy.

I had also my quarterly review this week, in which I got a lot of praise which was nice. I'm somewhat perplexed what my manager wants out of me next - she kept saying that I need to take more responsibility which I didn't really get... I am already responsible for building, maintaining and running certain scripts which is as much responsibility as I'm going to get in the automation team. When I enquired after what she really meant she said that she wanted me "to do more work" which didn't sound that appealing - I do my eight hours, and neither do I have any desire to do more nor even get a more managerial position, but it's not technically even possible in the small automation team. So we'll see what'll come out of it... I'm quite happy where I am at the moment.

Tired

I did an awesome tripod headstand from Prasarita Padottanasana today.

Complications

I've been planning this yoga teacher training for a long time. It was something I asked specifically for when I accepted my current job - that I would be able to take the time off. First level was no problem as Sean who offered me the job initially was still my boss and granted me the vacation. I let my new manager know as soon as I knew the next dates for the levels 2 and 3 - and for a long time she didn't say yay or nay. I enquired after the vacation some time ago, and finally got an answer - she could give me the level 2 off in May, but 3rd level in July was still tentative.

And on Monday we were told that no vacations would be granted until August because of some extremely important projects coming in... I got away with my May holiday as I booked it early enough, but there are no exceptions and I wouldn't be able to take the time off in July. The problem is that the next time the studio will be doing another level 3 will be in January, the earliest - possibly not until next summer... and that's over a year from now. And that would be just devastating.

So I've spoken to my managers, and to Jason... and all hope is not lost yet. I won't be able to get any time off - but I might be able to work overtime to compensate for the week in training... maybe work few weekends beforehand, few hours in the mornings before the training starts. Jason promised that he might be able to arrange something, at least I could skip the otherwise mandatory classes that are part of the training - I practice with him daily anyway so it makes sense. I'm not looking forward to a month without weekends off, or working 12 hour days - but if that's the only way to get the teacher training done now and not in a year's time, then that's what it will have to be.

The Lighthouse by P. D. James

When I first started reading crime fiction as a kid, I of course started with the master Agatha Christie - and in many ways her books have remained for me as the blueprint of how crime fiction, books or TV, should be done. Murder mystery with complicated relationships, secrets and lies - and most of all clues, so that the reader has a possibility to solve the problem too. Unfortunately, they don't make them like they used to... as much as I love my contemporary favourites, it's never quite the same - at the moment especially sick perverted sexually motivated murders are very popular, and while they are initially shocking and all that, there's only so many you can read before they lose interest.

I mean, even P. D. James does it - her previous book Murder Room had a very modern sexual undertones. So I wasn't expecting the treat that I got with her latest, The Lighthouse. This book could have come straight from Christie's pen - it's an old fashioned murder mystery. It features a murder of an old unpleasant man on an isolated island full of people who had both the motive and the opportunity, and a clever investigato who has to find a way to uncover the secrets and solve the mystery! Perfect!

Execution was just perfect to a tee. I understand that crime fiction moves on, and the modern genre has many good sides the old one just wasn't capable of - but boy did it feel good to read a book like this, one more time.

Eye exam

My weird weeping eye lasted for about three weeks in total, and I realise I probably should have gone to the doctor at some point - but since it wasn't sore I kinda didn't bother, and it went away. It was time for my yearly eye checkup though, so booked it yesterday and today Dr. Parmar gave me a full exam. My eyes are in excellent condition and she couldn't see any reason for the weeping eye incident - so I guess I can forget about that one.

I've been mulling over what Jaana-Mari said about glasses, and I decided that it was time for me to get a new pair, too (look what you're doing, girl!). My old pair is, ahem, about nine years old now - although I haven't actually worn them regularly for about seven years... so maybe it's not too extravagant. I chose a pair of ultra-light rimless lenses that should be pretty damn fantastic - I'll report back when I get them, hopefully in the end of next week.

Cybernetic Dragon

Cybernetic arms are under development. I can already see prospective cyberpunks lining up to get a 100-times stronger arms. What's next?

St. Paddy's

It seems to be a custom at the office to celebrate different holidays - Halloween and Valentine's, and today St. Patrick's day. Everyone was asked to wear something green - but my only green clothes are yoga clothes except my hat and scarf and wear them everyday anyway. Now I can understand the "neutral" holidays - but St. Paddy's? I don't even know if we have any Irish in the office, and I just feel really phony "celebrating" holiday like this. Well, at least we got a free lunch and a movie out of it.

Difficult

Life has been a bit difficult lately.

I mean, it's of course all relative. I'm in a happy relationship with a wonderful man, I have a job that I like with people that I like, I have money and hobbies that I love.

But it all means nothing when a panic attack hits. Quite a few people have experienced a panic attack at one time or another, although many might not recognise it as such... sometimes people think that they're dying of a heart attack when it's happening for the first time. And for most people it happens once or twice and will never happen again. Those who have been there know what I'm going through, and those that haven't - well, I don't think there's any way to understand just how devastating it is.

When I was younger I used to have several panic attacks a day, but in the past few years it's only been maybe one a month. Which is probably as close I'll ever get to "a normal life" whatever that may be... and I've come to accept it and can deal with it.

But sometimes there are rough patches, like now, where panic attacks become - for no apparent reason - daily occurances again. These are the times when I'm so scared I'll fall back to my old habits, fall back to being scared and anxious, fall back to staying at home because it's easier than facing the world. When slightest little bumb on the road becomes an uncrossable mountain. From experience I know that this will pass... but there's still that voice in the back of my head whispering to me that maybe this time it won't... maybe this time it's here to stay.

Baby steps.

Feeling sorry for myself

Tahdon olla kuin lautasellinen parsaa jonka ylle valutetaan voisulaa

Cold and rainy, and I just can't get it together today. For some reason that J. Karjalainen song has been playing in my head so I went and bought some asparagus which we ate with butter, balsamic vinegar, lemon and salmon and prawns.

These moments

It happens, very rarely, that I come across something so heartbreakingly beautiful that I wish it would never end. The moments where you have to stop reading the book because you know if you continue it's going to end, and you can never read it again for the first time. And tonight, watching the conclusion to the magnificent Fullmetal Alchemist series, the movie Conqueror of Shamballa was one of those moments. Before seeing the movie I was able to put off the fact that the series was over because there was still the movie left, but from the first moments of the movie I knew it was going to be over very soon.

No other TV series, and very few books, have ever touched me the way Fullmetal Alchemist has.

Podcasts

I love listening to podcasts. It's so handy getting the files automatically loaded to iTunes, and then automatically put to my iPod when I sync it. So I'm going to share my top three podcasts just in case they interest our readers, and of course if you listen to podcasts please share your favorites.

Battlestar Galactica podcast. These are actually commentaries to the episodes so you can watch them with the episodes if you wish, but if you've just seen the episode they work as standalone too. They are made by Galactica's executive producer Ronald D. Moore and they are must for a hardcore Galactica fans. They don't contain spoilers, but offer fascinating insights to making of the series, and I think they are later on used as the commentary tracks on the DVDs. It's published weekly when Galactica is on.

Sci-fi Talk. It's Tony Tellado's internet-only sci-fi talk show - he interviews genre (sci-fi/fantasy/horror) people from current shows and movies. What I love about him is the fact that he's a true fan: he easily gets excited and always, always has nice things to say. So many fans these days are just total smarks, and while it can be entertaining it's so nice to hear someone say nice things for a change. I listen to pretty much all his podcasts, even when the movie or the series is unknown to me because Tony's got a lovely way of getting people to talk about something they love. He publishes about two to three podcasts a week, and some are sometimes older ones he's only later digitized.

From our own correspondent. I've got to recommend something from my favorite radio station in the world, BBC's Radio 4. From our own correspondent is a series of stories from BBC's correspondents around the world telling weird tales about weird countries. Podcast is published once a week and it lasts about 30 minutes - always educational and fascinating.

Dragon and Cloud

Picked up this marvellous Cloud Strife Play Art during our weekend trek. Gotta hand it to Square Enix, the attention to detail in their collectibles is breathtaking. Cloud is perhaps my favourite RPG hero of all time, and this figurine really does him justice. Buster sword could be a bit bigger, and the right shoulder joint could be little more flexible, but these are minor gripes, it is easily the most impressive Play Art figure I've ever seen. Thanks to kolibri for the photos.

This is what life is really about -TOYS!

Lay down your burdens...

We've just watched the season finale for Battlestar Galactica, and all I can say is wow. I know Ron Moore was really pissed off couple of weeks ago when spoilers came out (no spoilers on the link) and I kind of thought that he was getting upset for no reason - I mean, internet fans live on spoilers. But now that I've seen this episode I know exactly where he's coming from and I think the idiots spoiling others should be thrown out of the closest airlock. Galactica has managed to do something I think no other sci-fi series - frak, no other TV series has ever done... my hat's off for the balls they've got to do this. If it was Trek I would say they have something up their sleeve, but this being Galactica, I really believe that it's what you see is what you get.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card

And so I've come to the last existing book in Orson Scott Card's Ender series. Shadow of the Giant is much better than the previous Shadow Puppets, and when it was finished I cried for five minutes... I've come to love these characters and the ending was just very difficult to bear. Like previous two books, this one was very political - but finally the characters get the center stage and political situation provides the backdrop.

Giant is actually a really new book, only written last year, and at times you could definitely see the influence of the current situation reflected in the story - initially I was afraid Uncle Orson's unfortunate real life opinions would play too big of a part, but he resisted the temptation and went for something more original. He's got a bit stereotypical ideas of different cultures, almost to the point of them being "noble savages", but he's saved by the fact that people are the same everywhere and the key characters are still believable. What can I say - I loved the book mainly because of the emotional load, the way characters interacted. Card has said that he wants to write one more final book in the series, tying up the Ender and the Shadow sagas but I hope he doesn't wait too long before doing it - I'm dying to see how he ties up the final ends that were left hanging.

It's my Lensbaby!

I thought I'd hold out for longer than couple of months before succumbing to the lure of buying more photographic equipment... But when it's cheap and fun, why not? It's a Lensebaby 2.0, a lense that brings one area of photo in focus ("the sweet spot") surrounded by a graduate blur - and you can move the focus by bending the flexible tubing the lense is housed in. I fell in love with the effect and I especially loved the macro photos - so I went and bought myself the lense and the macro-kit, both extremely reasonably priced.

And shooting with this lense is so much fun!

Happiness is...

...rubber boots in the storm.

Couple of beautiful weeks were bound to be a mistake, and now we have a genuine storm in our hands. In this kind of weather I feel so smart wearing my genuine Marimekko rubber boots - not only do they keep my feet very snuggle and dry, but also they are an instant hit everywhere I go. They make my friends smile when they see me, and strangers on the street stop me to tell me they like them... I was still soaking wet when I got home as most of the rain was horizontal.

It was nice to come home - I was humming after a wonderful yoga class, and at home waiting for me was Dragon who had been cooking, but also a letter from Outi. I've been following Helmetti from the beginning, but it's only now I saw a piece of jewelry I just had to have, and it was waiting for me in the letterbox. I don't usually wear jewelry except my wedding rings, but I love this bracelet. And it's much more beautiful in reality than in photos, so delicate and pretty.

Office talk

In the office we're getting ever closer to moving our team down to the second floor, so the speculation about the new arrangements is hottening up. Most of the team is opposing the move (which is happening for, well, probably for political reasons) as it'll move us away from the development team - this is not an issue for me personally as I don't really need to deal with them but it's going to complicate things for some people.

But that's not an issue right now. We've been going down almost daily to see the progress the builders are making: first the carpets, then paint, then cubicles and yesterday they put in most of the desks. Today we were told to stay away as they were doing some electrical work with the lighting - so of course the debate about the last desks, the seating plan and the air conditioning was booming. And we resisted the temptation to sneak downstairs to have a look at the new lights, but I'm going down there first thing tomorrow morning and I know for sure I won't be the only one.

I'm happy. I'm getting a window seat, and I think it's most likely one of the best seats - it's peaceful and not cramped so I think I'll be just fine. But meanwhile we'll have another three days of speculation...

Nothing like it

I wasn't comfortable going to yoga for a week and a half after my wisdom tooth operation - and as happens to me, I find getting back to (any kind of) exercise after more than five days exceedingly difficult. I went to my first flow class after the pause on Thursday, and I remembered after five minutes why I love it so... the feeling of a stiff body getting more malleable, busy monkey brain calming down to the mantra of breath. Nothing like it.

Yoga has really changed my life - I've never in my life considered doing any kind of physical challenges before. Hell, I've never had a physical skill before... I've never been confident in anything like that. In many ways last October's 30 day yoga challenge was a turning point - I had a challenge that I wanted to do, a goal, and I proved myself I could do it.

And now I sometimes surprise myself. Today I signed up for Vancouver's Sun Run - the annual 10 km run held in April... I'm not going to run it (but walk), but am taking part - and the funny thing is, I really wanted to do this and as the company is sponsoring a team there was no reason to delay signing up. And it was only later on that I stopped to think - what has happened to me that looking for physical challenges has actually become pleasurable and desirable? It's a weird and wonderful feeling.

Tipping Dragon

After living in Canada for over a year, tipping the staff in cafeterias, restaurants and taxis has become a second nature to me. In my native Finland tips are virtually unknown, and all the transactions in restaurants and other service establishments are usually very impersonal, cold affairs where goods change hands for exact amount of money without smiles or tips. I’m not saying that there are no exceptions, but as a rule Finns are pretty reserved when it comes to service.

Thus when I made my latest trip back to Finland I was in for a culture shock. First time I ordered a coffee (yes, Vancouver has made me a coffee addict), I frantically looked for a cup or box of some description, desperate to tip the nice girl who made my coffee with smile. But no place for tips was to be found. The girl stood there with my coffee, and probably thought I was a lunatic as I turned my head to and fro like some crazed bird.

But it is not just a habit that drives me to tip the service staff. I have to say, I’ve become a believer in tipping here in North America. People smile at me, and I know that they are not making a great wage, so I think it is only fair that the tipping culture exists. Those who are good people persons tend to get better tips.

I wonder if this will ever change in Finland? Perhaps if tips became commonplace the eternal complaints about bad service in Finland would change, as there would be more of a motivation to reach out to the customers.

What to say...

Tomorrow I'll be meeting a colleague whose been on sick leave for few weeks because of what I suspect is a miscarriage. I have no idea what to say or do - is it acceptable to ask how she is, would she want to talk about it, would she want special attention or would she not want to mention it... and how can I find out which one is right. I'd be happy to help her, or leave her alone if that's what she wants... and the last thing I want to do is make things worse.

And yet, life goes on. I can't even imagine what she is going through.

Canadian fight night

Dragon had invited some of his friends over for tonight's UFC 58 fight event with the theme of USA vs. Canada. All the fights had an American facing Canadian, but (un)fortunately we only had Canadians as guests so the cheering was a bit one-sided.

I'm always a bit apprehensive hosting (or meeting) people I don't know - preceded by a lot of frantic cleaning and cooking and arranging classes in neat rows. Everyone was of course super-nice, and ate everything I put on the table for them - but for some reason every time we have someone over our booze collection grows even when there's drinking. Canadians are wonderful friendly warm people and so appreciative of hospitality... And everything always goes well.

And even when they lose 2-3 they are happy and optimistic (as long as it's not hockey, that is).

My first Olympic event

So I've now taken part in my first Olympic event. The flag arrived to Vancouver (albeit a replica, as the real one is going to China first) and was raised in a ceremony on Tuesday, and yesterday they lit up the Inuk Shuk statue that inspired the mascot and the symbol for the games. Now this statue just happens to be about hundred meters from our house, so I went along to the ceremony last night.

TV news said that there were thousands of people there, but I'd say it was thousand tops. The mayor was there, some aboriginals (although Inuk Shuk is actually an Inuit symbol - who are not really local people), drummers, kids singing O Canada... you know all those ceremonial things Canadians like. After the kids had finished singing they scattered all around and constant exited chatter started, so I could hardly hear the speeches - not that they were more than "oh it's so great" blurbs that you would expect. After the speeches the actually lighting started: this meant a strange kind of fire dance - there was a circle of fire and a lady with huge white angel wings who performed this very slow twirling dance to drumming. It lasted maybe ten minutes, and then the statue was lit up - they were playing for time and waiting for it to get properly dark I guess.

I'm slightly worried about the artistic direction the ceremonies are taking. The performance at the closing ceremonies was pretty bizarre and didn't say "Vancouver" in any way, it was more stereotypical Canadian stuff and I didn't really get it. I hope they get a clearer direction from now on and produce something exciting and innovative next that also reflects true Vancouver. Rest of my photos are on Flickr.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Although I'm a big fan of Philip K. Dick's, I've never actually read the book that inspired one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever, Blade Runner. And "inspired" is a good word to describe their relationship - they share same characters and loosely the same plot, but lot of the world and pretty much all of the details are different. Rick Deckard is still a bounty hunter after the runaway Nexus-6 androids and ends up pondering on philosophical questions about what makes a human and if androids have a right to live just as much as them.

However the question in Blade Runner is posed differently - in the movie androids (they are called replicants only in the movie) are in pretty much all ways same as humans. They have complicated emotions like empathy and by the end of the movie the viewer is pretty much ready to say they should granted the same rights as humans. Do Androids Dream... is more complicated - it's quite clear androids are not like humans, and are not capable of human emotions (the whole basis of the Voigt-Kampff emotion test) and will never do. But they are conscious and alive in their own way - and the comparison in the book is against animals (and to a point retarded post-war humans without human rights, called specials), not humans. After the latest World War pretty much all animals have died, and the existing ones are sold with high price tags to toting owners and are considered the most priced possessions.

But Dick really was light years ahead of his time. The point of the book is not the plot, but the numerous philosophical questions it raises about life, humanity and religion (to name a few). Dick's writing style is sometimes bizarre, and some of his ideas too - although this is not from the most weird end of his writings. He manages to create beautifully a whole world in the palm of his hand with only hints and without forcing the explanations, although characters have always been his weak point as they tend to be a bit two-dimensional. This story however it's so multi-layered and works in so many levels it's no wonder it's achieved such cult status.

Wonderful piece of writing.