Herodotos on bestiality
I’m browsing texts about Dionysos worship, and came across a piece where historian Herodotos writes about Egyptian sacrificial animals.
First:
“Moreover in my lifetime there happened in that district this marvel, that is to say a he-goat had intercourse with a woman publicly, and this was so done that all men might have evidence of it.”
Then, a couple of sentences later:
“Now to the other gods the Egyptians do not think it right to sacrifice swine; but to the Moon and to Dionysos alone at the same time and on the same full-moon they sacrifice swine, and then eat their flesh: and as to the reason why, when they abominate swine at all their other feasts, they sacrifice them at this, there is a story told by the Egyptians; and this story I know, but it is not a seemly one for me to tell.”
Public bestiality is okay, but the reason for sacrificing pigs is too horrible? What the hell?
Kalevala fans, unite!
I made a Facebook fan group for Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. I can’t believe there wasn’t one before. Join it!
I also tested out Wordlea and created an abridged version of Kalevala. The common words are bigger. I’d say this is pretty accurate. The central characters have the big words, then there’s lots of saying and speaking.
Year in Status
A fun Facebook app made a collage of the status updates I’ve had over the year. Quite a nice collection, excluding the fact that I also got married somewhere in there
Pohjola-filmi gets new website
Our production company Pohjola-filmi just opened its new website! The beautiful look is designed by Toni Uuttu.
We love the website, and are really excited because this Thursday we’re having a showing for media and friends (welcome), and on Nov 4th at the Kettupäivät festival we have the first public viewing of the film in Finland.
The website is at www.pohjolafilmi.fi

Toilet graffiti from Greenland
I haven’t yet posted any pics from our Greenland trip, but the last night we spent in a hostel… which had a toilet… which had a door… which had a picture scratched into it with a key. It’s probably the most brilliant graffiti I’ve ever seen.



But what is it?


Trailer for About Marriage
The first film from Pohjola-filmi is about to have it’s Finnish premiere. “About Marriage” is a romantic documentary that we originally made for our wedding. This “commercial version” will soon begin touring festivals. The trailer can be found here:
The Pohjola Wedding 8/22/2009
I got married this Saturday to my bride Elina Lindroos, and made her my wife Elina Pohjola. In a couple of hours we’ll be on our honeymoon in Denmark and Greenland, and can’t be reached via e-mail until September 10th.
Our wedding had a Kalevala theme, and was appropriately called The Pohjola Wedding. The color was purple. The amount (and quality) of congratulatory speeches surprised all the guests, not to mention ourselves. The ceremony itself happened on top of a hillfort by a judge and a shaman. We are really happy
Here’s a couple of photos (by Claus Raasted and Saara Malmila), more through these links:
http://www.clausraasted.dk/pohjolawedding
http://www.flickr.com/photos/henriblock/sets/72157622018650239/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaana-mari/sets/72157622129659180/






Resumé updated
I updated my English resumé, and decided to post it here on this blog, as well. Check it out!
A literary prize for Kadonneet kyyneleet
About a week ago I visited the city of Varkaus in Eastern Finland. As part of their week-long children’s culture festival, they awarded the prize for year’s best young people’s book to my novel Kadonneet kyyneleet.
The winner was chosen by a jury consisting of six 10 to 12-year-olds. They read seven children’s and young adults books, and chose their favorite. Many adults had called Kadonneet kyyneleet too difficult or too dark for young people, but kids proved them wrong!
Grown up literature is divided into entertainment like detective stories and romances on one hand, and quality literature on the other. But many seem to think that bulk literature is enough for kids. Fantasy series and horse books. Kadonneet kyyneleet strives to be quality literature for young people, and it’s simply fantastic that it’s recognized as such. This is the only award in Finland given to a young people’s book by the readers themselves.
The event was touching: an eight-year-old sang accompanied by a piano, a speech from representatives of the local cultural board and the sponsoring paper factory, then the child jury got on stage, and revealed the winner. Then I got up, and was given a fruit basket and said a few words myself.
The money (3500e) will come in handy since I try to combine the lives of an artist, an enterpreneur and a student, three venues not known for their great wages…


The philosophical Ikuisuuden laakso (“Valley of Eternity”) is Juhana Pettersson’s first roleplaying game. It is a tragic RPG set in the Antarctic, in which the players take on the roles of hero penguins living on the borders of penguin society. The life of a hero is not an easy one, even if they are penguins: she must sacrifice everything in her battle against skua gulls and leopard seals, but will always remain a stranger in the eyes of her fellows. The anthropomorphic animals are a cleansing, distancing element in Ikuisuuden laakso, but obviously they also provide comedy.
Itran kaupunki (“The City of Itra”) was originally published in Norwegian as Itras by, and is the first roleplaying game translated into Finnish from a language other than English. The game is set in a surrealistic 1920s city that is controlled from the mysterious Moon Tower, and whose streets are filled with the strangest of figures. Itran kaupunki draws from the tradition of roleplaying games, surrealism, futurism, and Norwegian children’s literature.