I Want to Rock and Roll...

I want to rock and roll all night,
And party every day.

-KISS
Last night, Emily and I wanted to go to Onnela, a disco in downtown Oulu. I soon discovered that, on Friday and Saturday nights, one must be 22 years of age to gain entry to that club. So...

Last night, Emily and I went to 45 Special, a local rock club in downtown Oulu. We biked 6 km downtown at 10pm with the hopes of making the "free before 11pm" entrance. Well, we were wrong. For some reason, on weekends, one cannot enter for free before 11. One must pay 5 euros. We did and entered. We went over to the stairs on the right to go down to the rock room. Roped off. Upstairs? Roped off. Ask the bartender. Dance floors open at 11. We buy a drink and sit down to chat for half an hour.

Once opened, we venture go downstairs to the rock room. We are the first people inside. We stay here for around an hour just chatting and listening to good rock music. We then decide to go upstairs to a room with a little more...pep. Everyone is dancing provocatively to awful hip-hop music. Emily and I begin dancing with some French people we met (the guy danced like he was on some kind of drugs) and Emanuel, my German friend. Alexandre, the French guy, was actually the first person dancing and that got everyone rolling. The non-stop Hip-Hop music went on for about an hour while we danced and had a good time. We eventually grew wary of this music and decided to venture back downstairs.

Downstairs, people were now gathering around and dancing. The music here was better. Queen, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, etc. We had a lot of fun dancing here and the French people eventually came down to join us and we had a blast. We eventually left at around 1:30am and stopped at an all-night burger kiosk for sandwiches and fries before biking back in the rain and cold, arriving back to campus at about 2:45am. I showered and was in bed by 3.

Good times!

All for now.

d

A Reading Rainbow...

Butterfly in the sky,
I can go twice as high,
Take a look, it's in a book,
A reading rainbow;

I can go anywhere,
Friends to know and ways to grow,
A reading rainbow;

I can be anything,
Take a look, it's in a book,
A reading rainbow.

-PBS' Reading Rainbow

I've decided to start writing about what I am currently reading, as I have become something of a reading nut since taking a speed-reading course two summers ago.

First, I'll briefly mention the books that I have already read this semester in Finland.



1. Dry: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs.

I started reading this sequel to Running with Scissors (the film of which comes out in the US this month) on the plane to New York on my way to Oulu. The book is a very funny and moving account of Burroughs' fight with alcoholism--from after-work drunkenness at his advertising firm to a crash-and-burn free-fall through a dark world of drugs, sex, and alcohol to a year after a successful stay in rehab. I will warn those of you with dainty minds: the book is definately R-rated. Beware!






2. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.

I read the first part of the Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger, this summer at the beach in just over a day. This second installment (in a series of 7) is much better than the first. It is a novel of moderate length and I read it very quickly. King published it in the 1980's, but the 7th and final book was not finished until just about a year ago. A departure for King, this book is blends fantasy and thriller to create a fascinating web-like story that kept me excited throughout.





3. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell.

This non-fiction book examines the Tipping Point theory of epidemics. It explains how any number of epidemics can spread--a disease, a fashion trend, a television show, important news, crime levels, etc. It was much more interesting than I had anticipated and was a very pleasant and quick read. If anyone ever needs to know how to spread an idea quickly, you should check this book out.





4. Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire.

I did not read this book. I cheated. I listened to this book, read by the author, on my iPod. I found it used at Ed McKay's used books in Raleigh over the summer and thought it would be fun. It took for...e...ver. More than 20 hours. There were times when I wished I could just hurry it up and read the blasted thing. Maguire's reading, however, if wonderful. He adds characteristic voices to his readings which brings a lot of flavor to the book. This book, the sequel to the best-selling sensation Wicked, was not nearly as good as the first book. I didn't expect it to be. It was a good book, but not a wonderful book. It lacks some of the heart and emotional pull of the first, but I understand that this book is geared in a different emotional direction, as it focuses on a different character (the Wicked Witch, I'm fairly sure you all know, is deceased). A satisfying ending wraps up a book that is fairly interesting but lacks a certain something. That something--I feel--is that something which makes one care about the characters. I didn't care about any of these characters to any great extent. Even the main character only mildly received any of my concern. Still, Maguire--as always--weaves a beautiful story filled with fantasy and mystery. I can guarantee, however, that this will not become a Tony-winning Broadway musical.


Those are the only books that I have completed at this point. The book I'm currently reading, A Primate's Memoir, and the book I'm currently listening to, Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down, will be reported on upon their completion. I will also be reporting on any movies that I go see, as I did with The Devil Wears Prada.

That's all for now. Hei hei!

d