A few more pages... and page 7 with a new font (after friendly criticism - Vesa wanted to see it hand-lettered, but I just prefer to do it on PC...). I'm especially proud of the underwater scene on page 11. It was much easier and funnier to draw than I thought. It's a simple truth: the more you draw, the easier it gets. I'm so happy I'm doing this again!

          

Finally! I have mercilessly devoted my summer holidays to my dream: A 80 page "BD", a comic fantasy about the early 1920's. The place: An obscure city-state at the Adriatic Sea, a shiny holiday resort on the outside, a shrapnel of the Great War within. The people: An international mix of tourists from Paris and further away, priests with lots of secrets beneath their frocks, benevolent dictators and shifty journalists. The treasure: A golden bird.

Prego & s'il vous plaît!

                        

http://www.sr.se/malmo/tabla/

Haastatteluani P4:n Sisuradiossa (Etelä-Ruotsin paikallisohjelmat) voi kuunnella kl 18.30 tänä iltana. Klikkaa "webbradio" ja valitse P4 Malmö.

Ohjelmaa voi myös kuunnella myöhemmin osoitteesta
http://www.sr.se/sisuradio/sounds/alueet.htm

Valitse "Etelä-Ruotsi" ja "Tiistai".

På svenska:

Jag har fått äran att vara sommarpratare på den digitala kanalen Sisuradio på finlandssvenska 30/7. Jag kommer att prata om identitet, migration, tillhörighet och främlingskap med exempel ur min egen familjehistoria och min forskning, samtidigt som jag spelar lite mysig musik - svensk punk, tatarisk folk, finsk hårdrock! Programmet kan avlyssnas på SR:s sidor under en vecka efter sändningen.

The beauty that the title image of this blog celebrates
the beast that I still will dream darkly and softly about
the almighty princess Himitsu von Nobara-ken has left us.

She suddenly became very ill. My sister, who was visiting my mother at the time, called me yesterday morning. I decided to leave at once - I wanted to be there with Mitsu in her last moments. We knew what we had to do - nobody wanted to let her suffer in vain. A very nice vet came by today. Mitsu could rest safely in our arms.

I'm grateful for the moments I could spend with my family. I'm grateful for having Mitsu in my life for almost 12 years. I believe that it is death that makes life a miracle.

It is hard to believe that she is really gone, although I helped to carry her and bury her. The vet told us that sick dogs often try their best to cheer up their owners and put up their best face. Mitsu was always a very happy, energetic and enduring dog. She seldom showed a trace of pain. When she fell ill, we could see she was suffering - which meant that the pain must have been immense. Still, she waved her tail at us and wanted to be near us while we waited for the vet - small glimpses of how she was before. During her last minute, her strong heart kept beating for a long time.

I will miss the sound of her paws thumping. How gently she washed her paws, like a cat. I will miss her deep barks towards strangers and her growling "talk". Her sighs and how she rolled her eyes at us when we were acting silly. How she loved to be scratched on her tummy. How warm her tongue was, and how cold her nose. How lovely she smelled behind her soft ears. How she would demand more treats, simply by looking at us and looking at the cupboard, and how her round, earnest eyes were irresistible. How she would hit things with her paw!

This will take some time to handle, I fear. But i'm glad it happened this way. Mitsu didn't have to suffer too long, and she was with us all the time. Soon, beautiful flowers will grow from the grave that we dug for her. She will be a part of her beloved nature.

These are some Photoshop sketches for book or chapter covers belonging to my favourite daydream project, Tumulte Noir. I liked to play around with some suitable 1920-ish fonts and different art styles. Left, Falco in expressionist lighting. I'm not sure why he is holding the rosary that way. Maybe he is going to smite some Godless Bolsheviks with it? To the right, Mayann is shaking her stuff, putting the sin in syncopation. The orchestra is black, but the audience is white. The style is a tribute to the great prints of Paul Colin, and so is the title of the comic... "black thunder" hits Paris.





I was browsing the amazing artwork of Ross Campbell earlier. He (I just realized Ross can be a unisex name, so maybe he is a she - but does it really matter? I don't get p-o:d if somebody thinks I'm a man, and civilized languages don't differentiate between he and she anyway) clearly likes goth/punk girls with lots of piercings, but his artstyle is wonderfully fleshy without being static. S/he was writing about dreams, and seemed to dream about quite a few of his own characters, which I found to be very interesting indeed.

I have never dreamed about any of my own characters, except Falk (in his present incarnation, Fra Falco Peregrini). Not even Maia (Mayann), and she is supposed to be my main character. (Not even Myahkiznakh, and he is supposed to be my main sex symbol.) Oddly, I usually dream that I am Falco. I remember myself in those dreams as being very conscious of this as an act. I'm only playing a role, but I have to do it very smoothly and carefully. Maybe it says something about his personality, as I imagine it.

A few interesting links for today:

Lucia Nimcová is a Slovakian photographer, documenting everyday life in Eastern and Central Europe from many (un)usual perspectives. Czecho-Slovak women in their private homes, Austrians and Ukrainians mixing earthy naturalism and Christian imagery, East Germans in tattoos and polka-dot skirts. Ordinary people are some of the most amazing creatures. Nimcová is also editor of the photo site of CEE Photo Fund, a collection of portfolios of more or less unknown, mostly female photographers in Eastern and Central Europe, amateurs and professionals. Here are some of my quick picks:
Kaarel Nurk, Army, 2004 (Estonian boys in military service)
Alexandrija Ajdukovic, Wild Cats, 2002-2004 (Balkan ladies wearing wildcat patterns - rowr!)
Veronika Zapletalova, Summerhouses, 2004 (Colourful, imaginative and sometimes bizarre architecture)
... and much, much more!
(I found out about these sites through the latest issue of the Swedish feminist magazine Bang.)

Small notes:

A few days ago, the east German city of Leipzig celebrated its annual Wave-Gothic Fest. Around 20,000 participants arrived from around Europe, the Americas, Australia and Japan. More than 170 bands and artists hit the scene. According to enthusiastic German youth, the locals have grown to love this dark carnival since its start in 1992. That's what I love about Germans! The trendy parts of the world might scorn Goth for being "so 90's", but the Germans always stay true to the styles that they choose. (The same is true for country & western! Cowboy boots might be "out" in the fashion magazines, but one can always trust Germans to keep wearing them, as they've done since the 1980's!)

Speaking of Germany, one can't avoid the subject of the World Cup. I'll be cheering for Japan - for 3 heavy reasons:
1. Japanese men are cute.
2. The Japanese team's own aircraft is called "Samurai Blue 2006". That's so dorky that it's cute.
3. The team has a lucky mascot since 2002 - a miniature dachshund, named Rommel. Yes, you read that right. Rommel! (I wonder what the Germans think about that?) Myself, I think it's super kawaii. One more cute point for Japan!

Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Méziéres' long-running album series about the space agents Valérian and Laureline* is going to be an animated film - a French-Japanese co-production with a distinct anime flavour. Some clips can be viewed in Dargaud's Valérian blog.
I'm usually suspicious of Western productions trying to mimic Japanese style, but the new Valérian looks really hot! Laureline looks more like a typical adult anime girl, with a touch of Dana Scully (which isn't bad at all!). French and Italians have previously succeeded well in merging anime influences with traditional BD storytelling in the Corto Maltese animation project. There are millions of Valérian fans in the world, ready to get offended if any sacrilege is committed, but maybe they will pull this project through?

*) Also known as "Linda & Valentin" in Sweden and "Valerian & Veronique" in Germany (in Finland (see this excellent page for more info about the comic in Finnish and English), their names are true to the original French).

A cool Finnish guy has written some English-language essays about Lordi's overwhelming success in the Eurovision Song Contest. His research results include some interesting tidbits of information, as well as a convincing analysis of why a typical 1980's theatric hard rock band managed to win the voters' approval.

It is interesting how the bands' horrormovie-inspired masks have spread the idea that they are a "satanist" band. It's either sensationalism (as in this embarrassing, lazily edited article in The Guardian, a newspaper which I usually enjoy to read, but which I from now on will view with deep suspicion) or extreme narrow-mindedness - nothing in their lyrics or interviews hints of anything else than faithfulness to friendly humanism and basic Christian principles. The aforementioned Finn has also devoted an essay to this subject, where he proves that Lordi has found out a clever way to preach without being preachy!

As in the aforementioned article in The Guardian ("From the land of Sibelius, a song for Satan"), people nowadays are too busy to listen to others - they just take a quick look, mix in their prejudices, and presto, instant opinion. If the reality doesn't confirm this opinion, it's the reality's fault. This is typical of people who never had to question their own right to express their opinion - people who easily identify with the majority group anywhere, or are anxious to belong to a privileged group. These are the people who, when at school,  either fitted in effortlessly or tried their best to do it. As a result, they cannot understand outsiders, they only ridicule, pity or fear them.

In some societies, it is more acceptable to be "different", an outsider; there might even be traditional roles for them to fulfill in the society, as in the old agricultural society that used the be the norm in Scandinavia. Sure, the villagers would fear strangers and prefer to keep to themselves, but they had their own oddballs and "village idiots", travellers and seasonal workers, gypsies and wise old hags, who lived outside the community's rules but were somehow accepted when they played their roles well. My theory is that this old agricultural society's way of thinking is not so dead in Finland as it is in Sweden, a state that has been more intensively centralized for a longer period (being just the remaining trunk of the greater Swedish kingdom). When the state of Sweden was built and centralized around a state ideology in the centuries after Gustav Vasa, large parts of modern-day Finland was rural periphery, wilderness where the local communities followed their own traditions, quarreled, intermarried and traded with "foreign" neighbours, and provided hiding-places for people escaping the oppression and conformism of the centre. (Just a few examples: The Roma people of Finland are partly descended from Gypsies who were expelled under death-threats from the mainland of Sweden in the 1700's. The Finnish sauna used to be a common Scandinavian tradition, until it was prohibited during the 1700's - the custom of sauna baths survived in the peripheries of Finland and Norrland.)

So what am I aiming at? Well, since Finland's independence as a state is a quite modern phenomenon, the centralization of culture and thinking has not left very deep tracks in the minds of many Finns. Even the tough-lived nationalist ideology which was developed in the mid-1800's to prove that Finland could - and would - become independent, has been questioned so many times that the idea of a Finnish nation is based on constant self-doubt and internal struggle. In contrast, the Swedes have a very state-centred national identity which takes itself for granted so much that it erases all national pecularities - the Swedish way of life seems maybe not the best possible way of life, but nevertheless the best existing way of life (possibly with the exception of the USA, the only country which is allowed to be compared favourably to Sweden, but only in economic terms). Thus, the Swedes will continue to vote for conventionally pretty golden girls with a positive attitude, such as Carola (although the majority of them hardly agree with her idea of born-again Christian morals).

The Finns, in their darkest moments, could never see themselves as Carola. Finnish women are only allowed to be beautiful if they also sacrifice themselves tragically (as Aino in Kalevala) or develop a burlesque sense of humour (or become evil, as Tarja in Nightwish apparently -  or is she another Aino?). No wonder that the only female member of Lordi, rumoured to be a beautiful, long-haired blonde, doesn't mind wearing a latex death-mask, a tangled wig and reptile contact lenses. The conventional beauty is not highly valued in Finland. The Finnish Eurovision audience has seen one after another of them fail miserably (except Marion Rung, who came 6th in the 1970's). I only wonder why it took so long for Finns to realize that they simply cannot live up to an ephemeral image of "European ideal" as long as they don't believe in it, 100%. Why not try to send an act that they can believe in?

That act was Lordi. And there was something so sincere in their performance (because they clearly did their best, just look at the video for the song) both on and off stage, that the European audience was charmed. There have been protest acts before - generally, they haven't got so many votes. Lordi just came as Lordi, not as a protest act, but as they would do on a regular gig, giving everything for the fans. That was cool. It worked. I must admit, I felt kind of good seeing the bitchy, popular divas fail (school-age dream come true?!).

It seems that many, many people in Europe can identify with the oddball outsider, the monster with a heart of gold. These are not the types who write for prestigious newspapers or preach from the pulpit how other people should live their lives. Those types underestimate their audience, thinking that they can attract more readers and followers by judging the book by its cover, or rather, the monster by his horns. Those types try to control the peasant inside the European. But today's peasants can read and write (or so I hope!). So take a look at Lordi's texts and think about it. I'm not a Christian, and Lordi can't make me become one (although I must say it was the best try yet, at least during my adult life!). But their tale proves so much delightful and embarrassing things about our self-proclaimed moral and informational authorities, it tickles me pink. Monster-piggy pink!

For the first time in my life, I voted in the Eurovision Song Contest. And it maybe made a difference.
Lordi has won.

All "true" schlager fans are up in arms. While Sweden generously gave Finland 12 points, many people on Aftonbladet's discussion forum are upset about the fact that the contest isn't about "true" schlager melodies anymore. Welcome to the 21st century, folks. The contest has rules, and as long as you stick to them, you can do what the heck you want. When Latvia won a couple of years ago, there was similar whining about them being popular just because of their stage show, not because the song was anything special. And we've seen tango, rap, reggae, country & western and other different styles in the contest before. There is no reason to do the same old thing over and over again. I love 1960's French chansons, but I don't want to hear the same Abba copies regurgigated every year. That's exactly what Carola's "Invincible" was. A good show, but it has been done before. Dancing the Charleston would have been more innovative. If the schlager artists won't develop their style and explore new ideas, the impulses have to come from outside.

Another favourite whining subject has always been that countries vote for their neighbours. In the case of Russia, this was glaringly obvious. But hey, the Finns have used this as an excuse for not winning for the last 40 years or so - for the entire history of the contest - they don't have so many neighbours in Europe, although some faithful ones always give them points no matter how shitty the song is, like Sweden (and Israel!). So it's great to see that they could break the spell and take home the trophy.

As for the fact that many (if not most!) of the votes that they got were protest votes against the ESC - protest is good! As long as the voting is public and at least pretends to be democratic (rich people and tech-savvy people have ways to vote more often, of course) you will get protest votes. Some people on the discussion forum called for the return of the jury system. Well, even the jurors used to vote for their neighbours, if anyone thought otherwise... And the public interest would drop, because it would become just another fossilized award festival. After all, that's why people sit and watch the goddamn farce for 3 hours straight - to make fun of the contestants, complain about the voting and gloat over the winners and losers...

And everyone is invited.

I'm being more serious about it in my history blog.