I found from my archives some collages I made last year but got to scan only now for the pHinnMilk Comics site (as usual, not for children):
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/marquisdedadazen.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/11-33.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/haluansieluni.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/pornotamperei.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/prophecy.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/superlipstick.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/aileenwuornos.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/abusestartsathome.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/glowofcrime.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/happyday.html
http://www.phinnweb.org/phinnmilk/comics/2003/lindatelevangelista.html
Thursday, August 26, 2004
On Anger And Being Pressure-Cooked
I've earlier expressed here how much I'm into Birdy's net diary/blog. Here are some excerpts of Birdy's recent net column on anger, freely translated from Finnish. I think she hits the nail on the head here, on the feelings of anger and how society sees it better to suppress them the best it can. There's a lot of latent violence in this society; a lot of people who live from day to day like being constantly pressure-cooked. Showing one's anger or aggression is not encouraged in most social situations, which is all good to maintain society's day-to-day consistence, but those feelings considered negative seem to be only swept away under the carpet, making the occasional outbursts of violence even worse. The ancient Greek used to hold as their maxim "Know thyself"; and one's dark side is also something we have to deal with, perhaps even more often than we realise. A lot of anger is childish, of course; undergoings of the feelings of hurt egos, but there is also anger that is justified: in the face of unfair social situations and one's being subjected power games; in the face of oppression and unequality.
"Being angry does not make anyone a Satanic hound of darkness or a destructive psychopath. Instead, the people who deny their own feelings of anger make me scared. When that soup keeps brewing and growing inside a high pressure kettle, one becomes a walking time bomb."
"An angry person is angry. The one who denies one's anger can't accept the feelings of anger in him/herself, not to talk about the other person's anger: an angry person is to an anger-denier a mad and destructive being. Being angry is demonised. An angry person is seen nearly as a monster, whereas one's own angry behaviour is seen as something of a Mother Theresa or a Dalai Lama. Ms. Jekyll feels like she's encountering Ms. Hyde."
"How can a child learn to handle the feelings of anger and express those in a correct way, if s/he doesn't have any healthy example to follow? How is the well-being of a person in a society, where any anger should be suppressed and kept under wraps?"
"Being angry is energetic and normal, and how to control it is an important skill. Being angry protects and destroys, depending exactly on how well one can handle it. Denying it won't improve one's skills to handle it. The passive aggression is the worst bane of human relationships: brooding, keeping silent, stealthy retort, 'forgetting', and other funny ways to vent out that hatred that can't be expressed openly. Passive aggression is also one's rising above, from which position one can handle one's angry neighbour like a little kid who has pooped on the floor -- at same time reinforcing one's own 'goodness', which is in reality merely arrogance."
"For many people conflict or being angry is like a plague, best avoided. Either sacrifing oneself with ongoing concessions (which causes the martyr syndrome and bitterness) or rising above, in other words avoiding." One should "understand that the opposite of love is not being angry but being indifferent".
"Being angry does not make anyone a Satanic hound of darkness or a destructive psychopath. Instead, the people who deny their own feelings of anger make me scared. When that soup keeps brewing and growing inside a high pressure kettle, one becomes a walking time bomb."
"An angry person is angry. The one who denies one's anger can't accept the feelings of anger in him/herself, not to talk about the other person's anger: an angry person is to an anger-denier a mad and destructive being. Being angry is demonised. An angry person is seen nearly as a monster, whereas one's own angry behaviour is seen as something of a Mother Theresa or a Dalai Lama. Ms. Jekyll feels like she's encountering Ms. Hyde."
"How can a child learn to handle the feelings of anger and express those in a correct way, if s/he doesn't have any healthy example to follow? How is the well-being of a person in a society, where any anger should be suppressed and kept under wraps?"
"Being angry is energetic and normal, and how to control it is an important skill. Being angry protects and destroys, depending exactly on how well one can handle it. Denying it won't improve one's skills to handle it. The passive aggression is the worst bane of human relationships: brooding, keeping silent, stealthy retort, 'forgetting', and other funny ways to vent out that hatred that can't be expressed openly. Passive aggression is also one's rising above, from which position one can handle one's angry neighbour like a little kid who has pooped on the floor -- at same time reinforcing one's own 'goodness', which is in reality merely arrogance."
"For many people conflict or being angry is like a plague, best avoided. Either sacrifing oneself with ongoing concessions (which causes the martyr syndrome and bitterness) or rising above, in other words avoiding." One should "understand that the opposite of love is not being angry but being indifferent".
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Stagnation
There's a sense of overall stagnation in the air, just everywhere I look. Or maybe it's just me. It seems I'm somehow out of touch with most of the things. I'm too tired to amuse myself with the cheap thrills my so called peers occupy their times with. All these artists and musicians (I'm not going to mention any names here); little self-centered, narcissistic cartoon characters, whose little worlds revolve around their own little navels they consider their precious Axis Mundi. And am I just all the same? No, I'm not searching new friends with a talk like this. Often I wonder if these people just secretly loathe me, but playing a smooth, nice guy with a permanent smile glued on my face is just not me. I'm awkward, moody, reticent, nervous and sweat a lot. I smell secret age discrimination. No sweet young thing or a golden boy charming everyone. Narcissism is a disease, and my own special brand of that is not just better or worse than the one I see in those people. They talk smooth and sweet like a bunch of new era Mephistos, but how can I be sure they are not just talking with forked tongues; ready to stab me in the back when the right occasion arises?
Perhaps I'm just paranoid, a control freak who's afraid I'm kicked out of their little sandboxes, cast out from their little games. Perhaps I'm only reflecting my own fears and frustations on them. So, what's the point in playing the game? Ego is a burden.
And talking about stagnation, I think the whole music scene is undergoing a period of one. They still recycle 20-25 year old genres and styles, and it's the biggest thing that's happening in the alternative music now. White, pale middle-class Fenno-Ugric kids in Finland are happy with their shallow, empty, washed-out domestic hiphop sounds, think they're black gangstas living in American inner-city ghettos or wear dreadlocks and try to toast in Finnish about the virtues of eating your vegetables; girls want to be like those Afro-American soul goddesses they see on MTV and do R&B dance routines around their handbags in their expensive sleeveless tops and stretch jeans. The experimental scene has disappeared up in its own rear, gazing intently on their laptops like some crystal balls and miking up their own buttholes for some new interesting acoustics.
What is there for me to do except to wait? Buried in my concrete bunker which sees no light of day; reading, writing, thinking, sleeping, waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Perhaps I'm just paranoid, a control freak who's afraid I'm kicked out of their little sandboxes, cast out from their little games. Perhaps I'm only reflecting my own fears and frustations on them. So, what's the point in playing the game? Ego is a burden.
And talking about stagnation, I think the whole music scene is undergoing a period of one. They still recycle 20-25 year old genres and styles, and it's the biggest thing that's happening in the alternative music now. White, pale middle-class Fenno-Ugric kids in Finland are happy with their shallow, empty, washed-out domestic hiphop sounds, think they're black gangstas living in American inner-city ghettos or wear dreadlocks and try to toast in Finnish about the virtues of eating your vegetables; girls want to be like those Afro-American soul goddesses they see on MTV and do R&B dance routines around their handbags in their expensive sleeveless tops and stretch jeans. The experimental scene has disappeared up in its own rear, gazing intently on their laptops like some crystal balls and miking up their own buttholes for some new interesting acoustics.
What is there for me to do except to wait? Buried in my concrete bunker which sees no light of day; reading, writing, thinking, sleeping, waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Of Psychopathological Cult Leaders
What makes one person to have "charisma" and the other person not? Why will some people gather blind followers around them? And what about the dark side of these charming manipulators? I have known some people like these myself. I try not to be like these people, but sometimes there's a grim suspicion...
From http://www.fwselijah.com/psychopa.htm:
1. Glibness/Superficial charm
Glibness is a hallmark of psychopaths. They are able to use language effortlessly to beguile, confuse, and convince. They are captivating storytellers. They exude self-confidence and are able to spin a web that intrigues others and pulls them into the psychopath's life. Most of all, they are persuasive. Frequently they have the capacity to destroy their critics verbally or disarm them emotionally.
2. Manipulative and Conning
Cult leaders do not recognize the individuality or rights of others, which makes all self-serving behaviors permissible. The hallmark of the psychopath is the psychopathic maneuver; which is essentially interpersonal manipulation "based on charm. The manipulator appears to be helpful, charming, even ingratiating or seductive, but is covertly hostile, domineering....[The victim] is perceived as an aggressor, competitor, or merely as an instrument to be used....The manipulation inevitably becomes the end-all and is no longer qualified by the reality principle." In other words, there are no checks on the psychopath's behavior--anything goes. The Psychopath divides the world into suckers, sinners, and himself. He discharges powerful feelings of terror and rage by dominating and humiliating his victims. He is particularly successful when, through an overlay of charm, he makes an ally of his victim--a process sometimes described as emotional vampirism or emotional terrorism. Examples of this type of manipulation are plentiful in the literature of Jonestown and other cultic groups. It is especially prevalent in the one-on-one cultic relationship, where there is direct involvement with the manipulator.
3. Grandiose Sense of Self
The cult leader enjoys tremendous feelings of entitlement. He believes everything is owed to him as a right. Preoccupied with his own fantasies, he must always be the center of attention. He presents himself as the "Ultimate One" enlightened, a vehicle of God, a genius, the leader of humankind, and sometimes even the most humble of humble. He has an insatiable need for adulation and attendance. His grandiosity may also be a defense against inner emptiness, depression, and a sense of insignificance. Paranoia often accompanies the grandiosity, reinforcing the isolation of the group and the need for protection against a perceived hostile environment. In this way, he creates an us-versus-them mentality.
4. Pathological Lying
Psychopaths lie coolly and easily, even when it is obvious they are being untruthful. It is almost impossible for them to be consistently truthful about either a major or minor issue. They lie for no apparent reason, even when it would seem easier and safer to tell the truth. This is sometimes called "crazy lying." Confronting their lies may provoke an unpredictably incense rage or simply a Buddha-like smile.
Another form of lying common among cult leaders is known as pseudologica fantastica, an extension of pathological lying. Leaders tend to create a complex belief system, often about their own powers and abilities, in which they themselves sometimes get caught up. "It is often difficult to determine whether the lies are an actual delusional distortion of reality or are expressed with the conscious or unconscious intent to deceive. These manipulators are rarely original thinkers. Plagiarists and thieves, they seldom credit the true originators of ideas, often co-opting authorship. They are extremely convincing, forceful in the expression of their views, and talented at passing lie detector tests. For them, objective truth does not exist. The only "truth" is whatever will best achieve the outcome that meets their needs. This type of opportunism is very difficult to understand for those who are not psychopaths. For this reason, followers are more apt to invent or go along with all kinds of explanations and rationales for apparent inconsistencies in behavior "I know my guru must have had a good reason for doing this." "He did it because he loves me even though it hurts."
5. Lack of Remorse, Shame, or Guilt
At the core of the psychopath is a deep-seated rage which is split off (i.e, psychologically separated from the rest of the self) and repressed. Some researchers theorize that this is caused by feeling abandoned in infancy or early childhood. Whatever the emotional or psychological source, psychopaths see those around them as objects, targets, or opportunities, not as people. They do not have friends, they have victims and accomplices-and the latter frequently end as victims. For psychopaths, the ends always justify the means. Thus there is no place for feelings of remorse, shame, or guilt. Cult leaders feel justified in all their actions since they consider themselves the ultimate moral arbiter. Nothing gets in their way.
6. Shallow Emotions
While they may display outbursts of emotion, more often than not they are putting on a calculated response to obtain a certain result. They rarely reveal a range of emotions, and what is seen is superficial at best, pretended at worst. Positive feelings of warmth, joy, love, and compassion are more feigned than experienced. They are unmoved by things that would upset the normal person, while outraged by insignificant matters. They are bystanders to the emotional life of others, perhaps envious and scornful of feelings they cannot have or understand. In the end, psychopaths are cold, with shallow emotions, living in a dark world of their own.
Hiding behind the "mask of sanity," the cult leader exposes feelings only insofar as they serve an ulterior motive. He can witness or order acts of utter brutality without experiencing a shred of emotion. He casts himself in a role of total control, which he plays to the hilt. What is most promised in cults--peace, joy, enlightenment, love, and security are goals that are forever out of reach of the leader, and thus also the followers. Since the leader is not genuine, neither are his promises
7. Incapacity for Love
As the "living embodiment of God's love," the leader is tragically flawed in being unable to either give or receive love. Love substitutes are given instead. A typical example might be the guru's claim that his illness or misfortune (otherwise inconsistent with his enlightened state) is caused by the depth of his compassion for his followers, whereby he takes on their negative karma. Not only are devotees supposed to accept this as proof of his love but also are expected to feel guilt for their failings! It becomes impossible for members to disprove this claim once they have accepted the beliefs of the group.
The leader's tremendous need to be loved is accompanyied by an equally strong disbelief in the love offered him by his followers; hence, the often unspeakably cruel and harsh testing of his devotees. Unconditional surrender is an absolute requirement. In one cult, for example, the mother of two small children was made to tell them nightly that she loved her leader more than them. Later, as a test of her devotion, she was asked to give up custody of her children in order to be allowed to stay with her leader. The guru's love is never tested; it must be accepted at face value.
8. Need for Stimulation
Thrill-seeking behaviors, often skirting the letter or spirit of the law, are common among psychopaths. Such behavior is sometimes justified as preparation for martyrdom "I know I don't have long to live; therefore my time on this earth must be lived to the fullest." "Surely even I am entitled to have fun or sin a little." This type of behavior becomes more frequent as the leader deteriorates emotionally and psychologically--a common occurrence.
Cult leaders live on the edge, constantly testing the beliefs of their followers, often with increasingly bizarre behaviors, punishments, and rules. Other mechanisms of stimulation come in the form of unexpected, seemingly spontaneous outbursts, which usually take the form of verbal abuse and sometimes physical punishment. The psychopath has a cool indifference to things around him, yet his icy coldness can quicky turn into rage, vented on those around him.
9. Callousness/lack of empathy
Psychopaths readily take advantage of others, expressing utter contempt for anyone else's feelings. Someone in distress is not important to them. Although intelligent, perceptive, and quite good at sizing people up, they make no real connections with others. They use their "people skills" to exploit, abuse, and wield power.
Psychopaths are unable to empathize with the pain of their victims. Meanwhile, part of the victims' denial system is the inability to believe that someone they love so much could consciously and callously hurt them. It therefore becomes easier to rationalize the leader's behavior as necessary for the general or individual "good." The alternative for the devotee would be to face the sudden and overwhelming awareness of being victimized, deceived, used. Such a realization would wound the person's deepest sense of self, so as a means of self-protection the person denies the abuse. When and if the devotee becomes aware of the exploitation, it feels as though a tremendous evil has been done, a spiritual rape.
10. Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Like small children, many psychopaths have difficulty regulating their emotions. Adults who have temper tantrums are frightening to be around. Rage and abuse, alternating with token expressions of love and approval, produce an addictive cycle for both abuser and abused, as well as create a sense of hopelessness in the latter. This dynamic has also been recognized in relation to domestic abuse and the battering of women. The cult leader acts out with some regularity--often privately, sometimes publicly--usually to the embarrassment and dismay of his followers and other observers. He may act out sexually, aggressively, or criminally, frequently with rage. Who could possibly control someone who believes himself to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and entitled to every wish, someone who has no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for the impact on those around him? Generally this aberrant behavior is a well-kept secret, known only to a few disciples. The others only see perfection. These tendencies are related to the psychopath's need for stimulation and inability to tolerate frustration, anxiety, and depression. Often a leader's inconsistent behavior needs to be rationalized by either the leader or the follower in order to maintain internal consistency. It is often regarded as divinely inspired and further separates the empowered from the powerless.
11. Early Behavior Problems/juvenile delinquency
Psychopaths frequently have a history of behavioral and academic difficulties. They often "get by" academically, conning other students and teachers. Encounters with juvenile authorities are frequent. Equally prevalent are difficulties in peer relationships and developing and keeping friends, marked control problems, and other aberrant behaviors such as stealing, fire setting, and cruelty to others.
12. Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about the consequences of their behavior, psychopaths leave behind them the wreckage of others' lives and dreams. They may be totally oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they inflict on others, something which they regard as neither their problem nor their responsibility.
Psychopaths rarely accept blame for their failures or mistakes. Scape goating is common, blaming followers, those outside the group, a member's family, the government, Satan--anyone and everyone but the leader. The blaming may follow a ritualized procedure such as a trial, "hot seat" denunciation, or public confession (either one-on-one or in front of the group). Blame is a powerful reinforcer of passivity and obedience, producing guilt, shame, terror, and conformity in the followers.
13. Promiscuous Sexual behavior/infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, polygamy, rape, and sexual acting out of all sorts are frequently practiced by cult leaders. Conversely, there is often stringent sexual control of the followers through such tactics as enforced celibacy, arranged marriages, forced breakups and divorces, removal of children from their parents, forced abortions or mandated births. For psychopaths, sex is primarily a control and power issue.
Along with this behavior comes vast irresponsibility not only for the followers' emotions but also for their lives. In one cult, for example, multiple sexual relations were encouraged even while one of the top leaders was known to be HIV positive. This kind of negligence toward others is not uncommon in the psychopath's world.
Marital fidelity is rare in the psychopath's life. There are usually countless reports of extramarital affairs and sexual predation upon adult and child members of both sexes. The sexual behavior of the leader may be kept hidden from all but the inner circle or may be part of accepted group sexual practices. In any case, due to the power imbalance between leader and followers, sexual contact is never truly consensual and is likely to have damaging consequences for the follower.
14. Lack of realistic life plan/parasitic lifestyle
The psychopath tends to move around a lot, making countless efforts at "starting over while seeking out Fertile new ground to exploit. One day he may appear as a rock musician, the next a messiah; one day a used car salesman, the next the founder of a mass self-transformation program; one day a college professor, the next the new "Lenin" bringing revolution to America.
The flip side of this erratic life planning is the all-encompassing promise for the future that the cult leader makes to his followers. Many groups claim as their goal world domination or salvation at the Apocalypse. The leader is the first to proclaim the utopian nature of the group, which is usually simply another justification for irrational behavior and stringent controls.
The leader's sense of entitlement is often demonstrated by the contrast between his luxurious lifestyle and the impoverishment of his followers. Most cult leaders arc supported by gifts and donations from their followers, who may be pressured to turn over much of their income and worldly possessions to the group. Slavery, enforced prostitution, and a variety of illegal acts for the benefit of the leader are common in a cult milieu. This type of exploitation aptly demonstrates Lifton's third point of idealization from below and exploitation from above.
Psychopaths also tend to be preoccupied with their own health while remaining totally indifferent to the suffering of others. They may complain of being "burned out" due to the burden of "caring for" their followers, sometimes stating they do not have long to live, instilling fear and guilt in their devotees and encouraging further servitude. they are highly sensitive to their own pain and tend to be hypochondriacs, which often conflicts with their public image of superhuman self-control and healing abilities.
According to them, the illnesses they don't get are due to their powers, while the ones they do get are caused by their "compassion" in taking on their disciples' karma or solving the group's problems. This of course is another guru trick.
15. Criminal or entrepreneurial versatility
Cult leaders change their image and that of the group as needed to avoid prosecution and litigation, to increase income, and to recruit a range of members. Cult leaders have an innate ability to attract followers who have the skills and connections that the leaders lack. The longevity of the group is dependent on the willingness of leadership to adapt as needed and preserve the group. Frequently, when illegal or immoral activities are exposed to the public, the cult leader will relocate, sometimes taking followers with him. He will keep a low profile, only to resurface later with a new name, a new front group, and perhaps a new twist on the scam.
See also:
Without Conscience
From http://www.fwselijah.com/psychopa.htm:
1. Glibness/Superficial charm
Glibness is a hallmark of psychopaths. They are able to use language effortlessly to beguile, confuse, and convince. They are captivating storytellers. They exude self-confidence and are able to spin a web that intrigues others and pulls them into the psychopath's life. Most of all, they are persuasive. Frequently they have the capacity to destroy their critics verbally or disarm them emotionally.
2. Manipulative and Conning
Cult leaders do not recognize the individuality or rights of others, which makes all self-serving behaviors permissible. The hallmark of the psychopath is the psychopathic maneuver; which is essentially interpersonal manipulation "based on charm. The manipulator appears to be helpful, charming, even ingratiating or seductive, but is covertly hostile, domineering....[The victim] is perceived as an aggressor, competitor, or merely as an instrument to be used....The manipulation inevitably becomes the end-all and is no longer qualified by the reality principle." In other words, there are no checks on the psychopath's behavior--anything goes. The Psychopath divides the world into suckers, sinners, and himself. He discharges powerful feelings of terror and rage by dominating and humiliating his victims. He is particularly successful when, through an overlay of charm, he makes an ally of his victim--a process sometimes described as emotional vampirism or emotional terrorism. Examples of this type of manipulation are plentiful in the literature of Jonestown and other cultic groups. It is especially prevalent in the one-on-one cultic relationship, where there is direct involvement with the manipulator.
3. Grandiose Sense of Self
The cult leader enjoys tremendous feelings of entitlement. He believes everything is owed to him as a right. Preoccupied with his own fantasies, he must always be the center of attention. He presents himself as the "Ultimate One" enlightened, a vehicle of God, a genius, the leader of humankind, and sometimes even the most humble of humble. He has an insatiable need for adulation and attendance. His grandiosity may also be a defense against inner emptiness, depression, and a sense of insignificance. Paranoia often accompanies the grandiosity, reinforcing the isolation of the group and the need for protection against a perceived hostile environment. In this way, he creates an us-versus-them mentality.
4. Pathological Lying
Psychopaths lie coolly and easily, even when it is obvious they are being untruthful. It is almost impossible for them to be consistently truthful about either a major or minor issue. They lie for no apparent reason, even when it would seem easier and safer to tell the truth. This is sometimes called "crazy lying." Confronting their lies may provoke an unpredictably incense rage or simply a Buddha-like smile.
Another form of lying common among cult leaders is known as pseudologica fantastica, an extension of pathological lying. Leaders tend to create a complex belief system, often about their own powers and abilities, in which they themselves sometimes get caught up. "It is often difficult to determine whether the lies are an actual delusional distortion of reality or are expressed with the conscious or unconscious intent to deceive. These manipulators are rarely original thinkers. Plagiarists and thieves, they seldom credit the true originators of ideas, often co-opting authorship. They are extremely convincing, forceful in the expression of their views, and talented at passing lie detector tests. For them, objective truth does not exist. The only "truth" is whatever will best achieve the outcome that meets their needs. This type of opportunism is very difficult to understand for those who are not psychopaths. For this reason, followers are more apt to invent or go along with all kinds of explanations and rationales for apparent inconsistencies in behavior "I know my guru must have had a good reason for doing this." "He did it because he loves me even though it hurts."
5. Lack of Remorse, Shame, or Guilt
At the core of the psychopath is a deep-seated rage which is split off (i.e, psychologically separated from the rest of the self) and repressed. Some researchers theorize that this is caused by feeling abandoned in infancy or early childhood. Whatever the emotional or psychological source, psychopaths see those around them as objects, targets, or opportunities, not as people. They do not have friends, they have victims and accomplices-and the latter frequently end as victims. For psychopaths, the ends always justify the means. Thus there is no place for feelings of remorse, shame, or guilt. Cult leaders feel justified in all their actions since they consider themselves the ultimate moral arbiter. Nothing gets in their way.
6. Shallow Emotions
While they may display outbursts of emotion, more often than not they are putting on a calculated response to obtain a certain result. They rarely reveal a range of emotions, and what is seen is superficial at best, pretended at worst. Positive feelings of warmth, joy, love, and compassion are more feigned than experienced. They are unmoved by things that would upset the normal person, while outraged by insignificant matters. They are bystanders to the emotional life of others, perhaps envious and scornful of feelings they cannot have or understand. In the end, psychopaths are cold, with shallow emotions, living in a dark world of their own.
Hiding behind the "mask of sanity," the cult leader exposes feelings only insofar as they serve an ulterior motive. He can witness or order acts of utter brutality without experiencing a shred of emotion. He casts himself in a role of total control, which he plays to the hilt. What is most promised in cults--peace, joy, enlightenment, love, and security are goals that are forever out of reach of the leader, and thus also the followers. Since the leader is not genuine, neither are his promises
7. Incapacity for Love
As the "living embodiment of God's love," the leader is tragically flawed in being unable to either give or receive love. Love substitutes are given instead. A typical example might be the guru's claim that his illness or misfortune (otherwise inconsistent with his enlightened state) is caused by the depth of his compassion for his followers, whereby he takes on their negative karma. Not only are devotees supposed to accept this as proof of his love but also are expected to feel guilt for their failings! It becomes impossible for members to disprove this claim once they have accepted the beliefs of the group.
The leader's tremendous need to be loved is accompanyied by an equally strong disbelief in the love offered him by his followers; hence, the often unspeakably cruel and harsh testing of his devotees. Unconditional surrender is an absolute requirement. In one cult, for example, the mother of two small children was made to tell them nightly that she loved her leader more than them. Later, as a test of her devotion, she was asked to give up custody of her children in order to be allowed to stay with her leader. The guru's love is never tested; it must be accepted at face value.
8. Need for Stimulation
Thrill-seeking behaviors, often skirting the letter or spirit of the law, are common among psychopaths. Such behavior is sometimes justified as preparation for martyrdom "I know I don't have long to live; therefore my time on this earth must be lived to the fullest." "Surely even I am entitled to have fun or sin a little." This type of behavior becomes more frequent as the leader deteriorates emotionally and psychologically--a common occurrence.
Cult leaders live on the edge, constantly testing the beliefs of their followers, often with increasingly bizarre behaviors, punishments, and rules. Other mechanisms of stimulation come in the form of unexpected, seemingly spontaneous outbursts, which usually take the form of verbal abuse and sometimes physical punishment. The psychopath has a cool indifference to things around him, yet his icy coldness can quicky turn into rage, vented on those around him.
9. Callousness/lack of empathy
Psychopaths readily take advantage of others, expressing utter contempt for anyone else's feelings. Someone in distress is not important to them. Although intelligent, perceptive, and quite good at sizing people up, they make no real connections with others. They use their "people skills" to exploit, abuse, and wield power.
Psychopaths are unable to empathize with the pain of their victims. Meanwhile, part of the victims' denial system is the inability to believe that someone they love so much could consciously and callously hurt them. It therefore becomes easier to rationalize the leader's behavior as necessary for the general or individual "good." The alternative for the devotee would be to face the sudden and overwhelming awareness of being victimized, deceived, used. Such a realization would wound the person's deepest sense of self, so as a means of self-protection the person denies the abuse. When and if the devotee becomes aware of the exploitation, it feels as though a tremendous evil has been done, a spiritual rape.
10. Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Like small children, many psychopaths have difficulty regulating their emotions. Adults who have temper tantrums are frightening to be around. Rage and abuse, alternating with token expressions of love and approval, produce an addictive cycle for both abuser and abused, as well as create a sense of hopelessness in the latter. This dynamic has also been recognized in relation to domestic abuse and the battering of women. The cult leader acts out with some regularity--often privately, sometimes publicly--usually to the embarrassment and dismay of his followers and other observers. He may act out sexually, aggressively, or criminally, frequently with rage. Who could possibly control someone who believes himself to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and entitled to every wish, someone who has no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for the impact on those around him? Generally this aberrant behavior is a well-kept secret, known only to a few disciples. The others only see perfection. These tendencies are related to the psychopath's need for stimulation and inability to tolerate frustration, anxiety, and depression. Often a leader's inconsistent behavior needs to be rationalized by either the leader or the follower in order to maintain internal consistency. It is often regarded as divinely inspired and further separates the empowered from the powerless.
11. Early Behavior Problems/juvenile delinquency
Psychopaths frequently have a history of behavioral and academic difficulties. They often "get by" academically, conning other students and teachers. Encounters with juvenile authorities are frequent. Equally prevalent are difficulties in peer relationships and developing and keeping friends, marked control problems, and other aberrant behaviors such as stealing, fire setting, and cruelty to others.
12. Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about the consequences of their behavior, psychopaths leave behind them the wreckage of others' lives and dreams. They may be totally oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they inflict on others, something which they regard as neither their problem nor their responsibility.
Psychopaths rarely accept blame for their failures or mistakes. Scape goating is common, blaming followers, those outside the group, a member's family, the government, Satan--anyone and everyone but the leader. The blaming may follow a ritualized procedure such as a trial, "hot seat" denunciation, or public confession (either one-on-one or in front of the group). Blame is a powerful reinforcer of passivity and obedience, producing guilt, shame, terror, and conformity in the followers.
13. Promiscuous Sexual behavior/infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, polygamy, rape, and sexual acting out of all sorts are frequently practiced by cult leaders. Conversely, there is often stringent sexual control of the followers through such tactics as enforced celibacy, arranged marriages, forced breakups and divorces, removal of children from their parents, forced abortions or mandated births. For psychopaths, sex is primarily a control and power issue.
Along with this behavior comes vast irresponsibility not only for the followers' emotions but also for their lives. In one cult, for example, multiple sexual relations were encouraged even while one of the top leaders was known to be HIV positive. This kind of negligence toward others is not uncommon in the psychopath's world.
Marital fidelity is rare in the psychopath's life. There are usually countless reports of extramarital affairs and sexual predation upon adult and child members of both sexes. The sexual behavior of the leader may be kept hidden from all but the inner circle or may be part of accepted group sexual practices. In any case, due to the power imbalance between leader and followers, sexual contact is never truly consensual and is likely to have damaging consequences for the follower.
14. Lack of realistic life plan/parasitic lifestyle
The psychopath tends to move around a lot, making countless efforts at "starting over while seeking out Fertile new ground to exploit. One day he may appear as a rock musician, the next a messiah; one day a used car salesman, the next the founder of a mass self-transformation program; one day a college professor, the next the new "Lenin" bringing revolution to America.
The flip side of this erratic life planning is the all-encompassing promise for the future that the cult leader makes to his followers. Many groups claim as their goal world domination or salvation at the Apocalypse. The leader is the first to proclaim the utopian nature of the group, which is usually simply another justification for irrational behavior and stringent controls.
The leader's sense of entitlement is often demonstrated by the contrast between his luxurious lifestyle and the impoverishment of his followers. Most cult leaders arc supported by gifts and donations from their followers, who may be pressured to turn over much of their income and worldly possessions to the group. Slavery, enforced prostitution, and a variety of illegal acts for the benefit of the leader are common in a cult milieu. This type of exploitation aptly demonstrates Lifton's third point of idealization from below and exploitation from above.
Psychopaths also tend to be preoccupied with their own health while remaining totally indifferent to the suffering of others. They may complain of being "burned out" due to the burden of "caring for" their followers, sometimes stating they do not have long to live, instilling fear and guilt in their devotees and encouraging further servitude. they are highly sensitive to their own pain and tend to be hypochondriacs, which often conflicts with their public image of superhuman self-control and healing abilities.
According to them, the illnesses they don't get are due to their powers, while the ones they do get are caused by their "compassion" in taking on their disciples' karma or solving the group's problems. This of course is another guru trick.
15. Criminal or entrepreneurial versatility
Cult leaders change their image and that of the group as needed to avoid prosecution and litigation, to increase income, and to recruit a range of members. Cult leaders have an innate ability to attract followers who have the skills and connections that the leaders lack. The longevity of the group is dependent on the willingness of leadership to adapt as needed and preserve the group. Frequently, when illegal or immoral activities are exposed to the public, the cult leader will relocate, sometimes taking followers with him. He will keep a low profile, only to resurface later with a new name, a new front group, and perhaps a new twist on the scam.
See also:
Without Conscience
Saturday, August 21, 2004
VH-1 UK All-Time Worst No.1s
VH-1 UK All-Time Worst No.1s
1 - Cliff Richard 'Millennium Prayer'
2 - Mr Blobby 'Mr Blobby'
3 - Teletubbies 'Teletubbies Say Eh-oh!'
4 - Aqua 'Barbie Girl'
5 - Eamon 'F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)'
6 - Las Ketchup 'The Ketchup Song (Asereje)'
7 - Blazin' Squad 'Crossroads'
8 - Bob The Builder 'Can We Fix It'
9 - Frankee 'F.U.R.B (F U Right Back)'
10 - Peter Andre 'Mysterious Girl'
11 - Gareth Gates 'Unchained Melody'
12 - Will Young & Gareth Gates 'The Long And Winding Road / Suspicious Minds'
13 - Joe Dolce Music Theatre 'Shuddap You Face'
14 - DJ Otzi 'Hey Baby'
15 - Afroman 'Because I Got High'
16 - Will Young 'Light My Fire'
17 - Mariah Carey & Westlife 'Against All Odds'
18 - Bombalurina 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'
19 - DJ Casper 'Cha Cha Slide'
20 - Busted 'Who's David'
21 - Manchester United 1994 Football Squad 'Come On You Reds'
22 - St Winifred's School Choir 'There's No-one Quite Like Grandma'
23 - Hear'Say 'Pure And Simple'
24 - Vanilla Ice 'Ice Ice Baby'
25 - Vengaboys 'We're Going To Ibiza'
26 - Hanson 'Mmmbop'
27 - Michelle McManus 'All This Time'
28 - Whigfield 'Saturday Night'
29 - Spitting Image 'The Chicken Song'
30 - B*Witched 'C'est La Vie'
31 - Billie 'Because We Want To'
32 - Chris de Burgh 'The Lady In Red'
33 - Kylie Minogue I Should Be So Lucky'
34 - Baz Luhrmann 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)'
35 - McFly 'Five Colours In Her Hair'
36 - Vengaboys 'Boom Boom Boom Boom'
37 - 2 Unlimited 'No Limit'
38 - Sam & Mark 'With A Little Help From My Friends /
Measure Of A Man'
39 - So Solid Crew '21 Seconds'
40 - Cliff Richard 'Mistletoe & Wine'
41 - The Firm 'Star Trekkin'
42 - Gary Barlow 'Forever Love'
43 - Geri Halliwell 'It's Raining Men'
44 - A1 'Take On Me'
45 - Mr Oizo 'Flat Beat'
46 - Bob The Builder 'Mambo No 5'
47 - Eiffel 65 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)'
48 - Five and Queen 'We Will Rock You'
49 - Girls Aloud 'Sound Of The Underground'
50 - Nick Berry 'Every Loser Wins'
51 - Rednex 'Cotton Eye Joe'
52 - Spice Girls 'Holler'
53 - Steps Tragedy'
54 - Aqua 'Doctor Jones'
55 - Glenn Medeiros 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You'
56 - Doop 'Doop'
57 - Geri Halliwell 'Bag It Up'
58 - Robson Green & Jerome Flynn 'Unchained Melody'
59 - Babylon Zoo 'Spaceman'
60 - Lionel Richie 'Hello'
61 - A1 'Same Old Brand New You'
62 - Simpsons 'Do The Bartman'
63 - LMC V U2 'Take Me To The Clouds Above'
64 - Take That featuring Lulu 'Relight my Fire'
65 - Chef 'Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You)'
66 - Cliff Richard 'Saviour's Day'
67 - DJ Pied Piper 'Do You Really Like It'
68 - Europe 'The Final Countdown'
69 - Gina G 'Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit'
70 - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan 'Especially For
You'
71 - Barbra Streisand 'Woman In Love'
72 - Color Me Badd 'I Wanna Sex You Up'
73 - Hale & Pace 'The Stonk'
74 - Martine McCutcheon 'Perfect Moment'
75 - Goombay Dance Band 'Seven Tears'
76 - Shaggy 'Oh Carolina'
77 - Tight Fit 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'
78 - Billie 'Girlfriend'
79 - Bluebells 'Young At Heart'
80 - Emma Bunton 'What Took You So Long'
81 - Nena '99 Red Balloons'
82 - Right Said Fred 'Deeply Dippy'
83 - Steps 'Stomp'
84 - Wamdue Project 'King Of My Castle'
85 - Ace Of Base 'All That She Wants'
86 - David Bowie & Mick Jagger 'Dancing in the Streets'
87 - Enya 'Orinoco Flow'
88 - New Kids On The Block 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)'
89 - Outhere Brothers 'Boom Boom Boom'
90 - O1ide & Neutrino 'Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)'
91 - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder 'Ebony And Ivory'
92 - Spacedust 'Gym & Tonic'
93 - B*Witched 'Blame It On The Weatherman'
94 - Bucks Fizz 'Making Your Mind Up'
95 - Cliff Richard & The Young Ones 'Living Doll'
96 - Falco 'Rock Me Amadeus'
97 - B*Witched 'Rollercoaster'
98 - Tiffany 'I Think We're Alone Now'
99 - Jason Donovan 'Too Many Broken Hearts'
100 - Hear'Say 'The Way To Your Love'
1 - Cliff Richard 'Millennium Prayer'
2 - Mr Blobby 'Mr Blobby'
3 - Teletubbies 'Teletubbies Say Eh-oh!'
4 - Aqua 'Barbie Girl'
5 - Eamon 'F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)'
6 - Las Ketchup 'The Ketchup Song (Asereje)'
7 - Blazin' Squad 'Crossroads'
8 - Bob The Builder 'Can We Fix It'
9 - Frankee 'F.U.R.B (F U Right Back)'
10 - Peter Andre 'Mysterious Girl'
11 - Gareth Gates 'Unchained Melody'
12 - Will Young & Gareth Gates 'The Long And Winding Road / Suspicious Minds'
13 - Joe Dolce Music Theatre 'Shuddap You Face'
14 - DJ Otzi 'Hey Baby'
15 - Afroman 'Because I Got High'
16 - Will Young 'Light My Fire'
17 - Mariah Carey & Westlife 'Against All Odds'
18 - Bombalurina 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'
19 - DJ Casper 'Cha Cha Slide'
20 - Busted 'Who's David'
21 - Manchester United 1994 Football Squad 'Come On You Reds'
22 - St Winifred's School Choir 'There's No-one Quite Like Grandma'
23 - Hear'Say 'Pure And Simple'
24 - Vanilla Ice 'Ice Ice Baby'
25 - Vengaboys 'We're Going To Ibiza'
26 - Hanson 'Mmmbop'
27 - Michelle McManus 'All This Time'
28 - Whigfield 'Saturday Night'
29 - Spitting Image 'The Chicken Song'
30 - B*Witched 'C'est La Vie'
31 - Billie 'Because We Want To'
32 - Chris de Burgh 'The Lady In Red'
33 - Kylie Minogue I Should Be So Lucky'
34 - Baz Luhrmann 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)'
35 - McFly 'Five Colours In Her Hair'
36 - Vengaboys 'Boom Boom Boom Boom'
37 - 2 Unlimited 'No Limit'
38 - Sam & Mark 'With A Little Help From My Friends /
Measure Of A Man'
39 - So Solid Crew '21 Seconds'
40 - Cliff Richard 'Mistletoe & Wine'
41 - The Firm 'Star Trekkin'
42 - Gary Barlow 'Forever Love'
43 - Geri Halliwell 'It's Raining Men'
44 - A1 'Take On Me'
45 - Mr Oizo 'Flat Beat'
46 - Bob The Builder 'Mambo No 5'
47 - Eiffel 65 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)'
48 - Five and Queen 'We Will Rock You'
49 - Girls Aloud 'Sound Of The Underground'
50 - Nick Berry 'Every Loser Wins'
51 - Rednex 'Cotton Eye Joe'
52 - Spice Girls 'Holler'
53 - Steps Tragedy'
54 - Aqua 'Doctor Jones'
55 - Glenn Medeiros 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You'
56 - Doop 'Doop'
57 - Geri Halliwell 'Bag It Up'
58 - Robson Green & Jerome Flynn 'Unchained Melody'
59 - Babylon Zoo 'Spaceman'
60 - Lionel Richie 'Hello'
61 - A1 'Same Old Brand New You'
62 - Simpsons 'Do The Bartman'
63 - LMC V U2 'Take Me To The Clouds Above'
64 - Take That featuring Lulu 'Relight my Fire'
65 - Chef 'Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You)'
66 - Cliff Richard 'Saviour's Day'
67 - DJ Pied Piper 'Do You Really Like It'
68 - Europe 'The Final Countdown'
69 - Gina G 'Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit'
70 - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan 'Especially For
You'
71 - Barbra Streisand 'Woman In Love'
72 - Color Me Badd 'I Wanna Sex You Up'
73 - Hale & Pace 'The Stonk'
74 - Martine McCutcheon 'Perfect Moment'
75 - Goombay Dance Band 'Seven Tears'
76 - Shaggy 'Oh Carolina'
77 - Tight Fit 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'
78 - Billie 'Girlfriend'
79 - Bluebells 'Young At Heart'
80 - Emma Bunton 'What Took You So Long'
81 - Nena '99 Red Balloons'
82 - Right Said Fred 'Deeply Dippy'
83 - Steps 'Stomp'
84 - Wamdue Project 'King Of My Castle'
85 - Ace Of Base 'All That She Wants'
86 - David Bowie & Mick Jagger 'Dancing in the Streets'
87 - Enya 'Orinoco Flow'
88 - New Kids On The Block 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)'
89 - Outhere Brothers 'Boom Boom Boom'
90 - O1ide & Neutrino 'Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)'
91 - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder 'Ebony And Ivory'
92 - Spacedust 'Gym & Tonic'
93 - B*Witched 'Blame It On The Weatherman'
94 - Bucks Fizz 'Making Your Mind Up'
95 - Cliff Richard & The Young Ones 'Living Doll'
96 - Falco 'Rock Me Amadeus'
97 - B*Witched 'Rollercoaster'
98 - Tiffany 'I Think We're Alone Now'
99 - Jason Donovan 'Too Many Broken Hearts'
100 - Hear'Say 'The Way To Your Love'
Friday, August 20, 2004
Culture Is The New Politics
"Since politics have left the realm of visions by becoming a management of economics, culture has to replace politics by taking its visionary spirit. That's why art is so important today. Artists have to take the responsibility to change unified minds and to give them back a visionary feeling of politics in the original sense: the matter of the singular citizen in correspondence to society's interest. Culture is not luxury, culture is the new politics in opposition to pure economics."
- Felix Kubin in his interview to The Wire magazine, September 2004
- Felix Kubin in his interview to The Wire magazine, September 2004
Friday, August 13, 2004
Jori Hulkkonen On The State Of Club Culture
Jori Hulkkonen starts as a new columnist for the Nyt weekend supplement of Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily newspaper in Finland. Here is his first column.
For non-Finnish readers, it's about the stagnation of club culture: Jori argues that the people who used to be club regulars have reached their middle-ages and would rather stay home with their own families than go clubbing any more, and "for the new generation hiphop, r&b and the so called new coming of rock music are more fascinating that the club circus run by the thirty-somethings".
I think this is quite symptomatic for this age: we have reached an era that could be called "post-techno" or "post-rave"; it seems that there is no more similar culture of rave/techno/clubs that was prevalent about ten or fifteen years ago. There does exist some sort of new generation of ravers/clubbers with their popular genres of "kiksu"/"polkka" (= as trance variants are called in Finland), but for me that culture is just a pale shadow or a sort of bloodless re-tread of what it used to be in the early-to-mid-90s. And it's true that young kids in Finland are probably more interested these days in hiphop, r&b or Jamaica sounds (reggae/dancehall), or even retro styles of funk and soul.
Probably much more interesting things in electronic music are happening elsewhere, in what could be called "post-techno" (IDM-glitch-noise-minimal-experimental-illbient-postlounge-lowercase sound-etc., even "post-rock" variants -- new music becoming influenced by the yesteryear experimentations -- different new mutations of electro & techno and so on. And how about drum'n'bass?) But the 90s type rave/techno culture of "PLUR", "Peace, Love & Pancakes"/Love Parade/Mayday, etc. is dead and gone when we have reached the year of 2004; killed by commerciality, drugs peddlers, thieving magpie media having found new interests like new rock bands recycling old styles, and of course pure boredom; and something else is busy taking their place now.
For non-Finnish readers, it's about the stagnation of club culture: Jori argues that the people who used to be club regulars have reached their middle-ages and would rather stay home with their own families than go clubbing any more, and "for the new generation hiphop, r&b and the so called new coming of rock music are more fascinating that the club circus run by the thirty-somethings".
I think this is quite symptomatic for this age: we have reached an era that could be called "post-techno" or "post-rave"; it seems that there is no more similar culture of rave/techno/clubs that was prevalent about ten or fifteen years ago. There does exist some sort of new generation of ravers/clubbers with their popular genres of "kiksu"/"polkka" (= as trance variants are called in Finland), but for me that culture is just a pale shadow or a sort of bloodless re-tread of what it used to be in the early-to-mid-90s. And it's true that young kids in Finland are probably more interested these days in hiphop, r&b or Jamaica sounds (reggae/dancehall), or even retro styles of funk and soul.
Probably much more interesting things in electronic music are happening elsewhere, in what could be called "post-techno" (IDM-glitch-noise-minimal-experimental-illbient-postlounge-lowercase sound-etc., even "post-rock" variants -- new music becoming influenced by the yesteryear experimentations -- different new mutations of electro & techno and so on. And how about drum'n'bass?) But the 90s type rave/techno culture of "PLUR", "Peace, Love & Pancakes"/Love Parade/Mayday, etc. is dead and gone when we have reached the year of 2004; killed by commerciality, drugs peddlers, thieving magpie media having found new interests like new rock bands recycling old styles, and of course pure boredom; and something else is busy taking their place now.
Labels:
clubs,
Finnish culture,
Jori Hulkkonen,
rave culture
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
In The Meanwhile
I don't have much to write to this blog these days, so if you're interested in what else I'm up to, check out pHinnWeb's own mailing list for my latest rumbles:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phinnweb/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phinnweb/
Monday, July 26, 2004
Slavic Walkmen does Underground Disco
It's my birthday today. So does time pass by, we'll get a bit older, and blaah blaah. I'm not that much into celebrating since there's not much to celebrate. Just trying to take it easy. A day like another day; no cause for things like nostalgia or melancholy or sadness of getting old (I've had some miserable birthdays in my past, so I'm always a bit afraid of this particular day).
So, last Saturday I was DJing at a party called "Slavic Walkmen does Underground Disco party" at Klubi. They had a nice foam machine on the outdoors terrace ejuculating all over. Very cute, like some 60s psychedelic freak-out party. There were these huge puffs of foam floating all over people. One of my favourite episodes of Space: 1999, called 'Space Brain', had a similar scene; astronauts cavorting in the middle of this huge foam, in fact part of the brain of this weird gossamer-like space organism. It seemed like the whole town was going to be drowned in foam before too long. It was getting near midnight and I was slowly getting drunk and waiting for my turn to play. It sounded to me like the guest stars Janne and El Allu were playing quite a lot 70ish "Love Boat" style of disco. Cheese galore. There was one of these freaks prancing around, a guy with a jacket and a blonde-dyed crop. First he did some threatening-looking shadow-boxing with his friends, then he took off all his clothes, and jumped up to the DJ stage to strut his, erm, thing. Unnecessary to say, the guy was thrown out before he was able to do his male stripper routine to the full. I also heard that the same person had been pissing on the ladies' room sink before that. On Friday night night the same guy hurled a can of sangria over one of the performers' laptop at Swäg. Well, it's the spirit of underground, isn't it? Gotta love these freaks.
I had to admit I was a bit at loss with this evening, so I had to do my best with the little disco-orientated music I've got in my collection. My old favourite, the early-90s rave classic, Jaydee's hypnotic Hammond jam 'Plastic Dreams', went really well with the 2004 audience too, even in its full 10 minutes length. At the end of night these shapelessly foam-covered half-naked bodies were dancing around on stage just in front of DJ desk, but it was a bit too testosterone-filled to my own tastes and in fact more like some Francis Bacon painting than any beautiful Ibiza dream (one person's dream can be other person's nightmare). And our little blonde gonzoid friend managed to make reappearance somehow, though gladly stayed away from yours truly (after the Vaasa heckler experience last winter I'm more than ready to forget my pacifist principles with these people). But what the heck, it was all in the name of good clean fun. Perhaps I expected myself more drillbient, scary and distorted sonic attacks from Slavic Walkmen and less glam baila baila, but that's probably for some other occasion. Thanks to Aleks and Ville for setting this up, and everyone who were there.
p(H)laylist 240704
Dead Or Alive: You Spin Me Around Like A Record
Sly and the Family Stone: Dance To The Music (Disco mix)
S'Express: Theme From S'Express
Sylvester: Be With You
Parallax Corporation: Lift-Off
I-f: Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass
Adult.: Nausea (Mega-Blend)
Dave Clarke feat. Chicks on Speed: What Was Her Name? (LFO mix)
Jaydee: Plastic Dreams
---
Cerrone: Supernature
Prince: Dirty Mind
Joyrex: Popcorn
So, last Saturday I was DJing at a party called "Slavic Walkmen does Underground Disco party" at Klubi. They had a nice foam machine on the outdoors terrace ejuculating all over. Very cute, like some 60s psychedelic freak-out party. There were these huge puffs of foam floating all over people. One of my favourite episodes of Space: 1999, called 'Space Brain', had a similar scene; astronauts cavorting in the middle of this huge foam, in fact part of the brain of this weird gossamer-like space organism. It seemed like the whole town was going to be drowned in foam before too long. It was getting near midnight and I was slowly getting drunk and waiting for my turn to play. It sounded to me like the guest stars Janne and El Allu were playing quite a lot 70ish "Love Boat" style of disco. Cheese galore. There was one of these freaks prancing around, a guy with a jacket and a blonde-dyed crop. First he did some threatening-looking shadow-boxing with his friends, then he took off all his clothes, and jumped up to the DJ stage to strut his, erm, thing. Unnecessary to say, the guy was thrown out before he was able to do his male stripper routine to the full. I also heard that the same person had been pissing on the ladies' room sink before that. On Friday night night the same guy hurled a can of sangria over one of the performers' laptop at Swäg. Well, it's the spirit of underground, isn't it? Gotta love these freaks.
I had to admit I was a bit at loss with this evening, so I had to do my best with the little disco-orientated music I've got in my collection. My old favourite, the early-90s rave classic, Jaydee's hypnotic Hammond jam 'Plastic Dreams', went really well with the 2004 audience too, even in its full 10 minutes length. At the end of night these shapelessly foam-covered half-naked bodies were dancing around on stage just in front of DJ desk, but it was a bit too testosterone-filled to my own tastes and in fact more like some Francis Bacon painting than any beautiful Ibiza dream (one person's dream can be other person's nightmare). And our little blonde gonzoid friend managed to make reappearance somehow, though gladly stayed away from yours truly (after the Vaasa heckler experience last winter I'm more than ready to forget my pacifist principles with these people). But what the heck, it was all in the name of good clean fun. Perhaps I expected myself more drillbient, scary and distorted sonic attacks from Slavic Walkmen and less glam baila baila, but that's probably for some other occasion. Thanks to Aleks and Ville for setting this up, and everyone who were there.
p(H)laylist 240704
Dead Or Alive: You Spin Me Around Like A Record
Sly and the Family Stone: Dance To The Music (Disco mix)
S'Express: Theme From S'Express
Sylvester: Be With You
Parallax Corporation: Lift-Off
I-f: Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass
Adult.: Nausea (Mega-Blend)
Dave Clarke feat. Chicks on Speed: What Was Her Name? (LFO mix)
Jaydee: Plastic Dreams
---
Cerrone: Supernature
Prince: Dirty Mind
Joyrex: Popcorn
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Summertime Flu And Great Expectations
Great, thanks to that class reunion night, I got cold and been now suffering from flu all this week. In the middle of warmest summertime, how else. I've been trying to rest: I've got my DJ gig at Swäg on Friday, then the Underground Disco event with Slavic Walkmen on Saturday, so I've got to be OK by then; not to let my fans down. Ha ha ha. The 7th of August I'll go to Turku to play at Uuden Musiikin Festivaali. So, DJ-wise it's been busier for me than usually. I wonder if I can take this pace, but on the other hand I've got no choices: I'm still officially unemployed and I've got to try to "establish myself" the best I can with my music activities. Because It's hard for me to think that I should do an ordinary nine-to-five job, especially now when I'm getting older. The idea just devastates me. I don't think I'm that lazy, but I'm quite a lot either-or person: either I have to be 100% motivated to what I'm doing, or then I'm not motivated at all. I've done these wage jobs and I just couldn't take it. I became lazy and irresponsible. I had no spark for it. It makes life hard for you sometimes, I know. My dream: to be able to earn some sort of living with pHinnWeb/music/related activities. It's quite ironic, isn't it? That you have to work so hard just to avoid ordinary jobs, avoid being just like everyone else; being drowned by your tedious everyday existence of work, family, children...
I'm some sort of example of the guilt created by Protestant work ethics. I bear constant guilt of the fact that my university studies didn't go anywhere, that everyone was expecting great things from me, but I just couldn't do it. Because that was not how life worked out for me; there were too many personal and family mess-ups, tons of guilt, depression, shame; all in one vicious circle. My redemption was music and my Website. I had to leave all those people and their expectations behind, and it wasn't that easy. It still isn't. I compare my life to tightrope-walking. As long I just keep on going and doing my own thing, it's going to be alright and fine, but if I look down and start to think about the abyss beneath me, there's a chance that I will fall. I lead a strange, unreal life; I know having to face the reality of other people would crush me. So I just have to cope with what I've got. Keep on praying (I speak metaphorically here of course since I'm not that religious person; a sort of agnostic, I guess) and believing in my Guardian Angel (ditto).
Besides having cold, my stomach has been upside down for over a month now. I have to take crap a couple of times a day, and it often comes out nearly liquid, like diarrhea. I guess drinking bucket-loads of coffee for years and eating all sorts of unhealthy crap has done it (plus all psychosomatic hardships I've been through, I guess): my guts are fucked. Sorry if this is disgusting for you, but does anyone read these ramblings anyway...?
I'm some sort of example of the guilt created by Protestant work ethics. I bear constant guilt of the fact that my university studies didn't go anywhere, that everyone was expecting great things from me, but I just couldn't do it. Because that was not how life worked out for me; there were too many personal and family mess-ups, tons of guilt, depression, shame; all in one vicious circle. My redemption was music and my Website. I had to leave all those people and their expectations behind, and it wasn't that easy. It still isn't. I compare my life to tightrope-walking. As long I just keep on going and doing my own thing, it's going to be alright and fine, but if I look down and start to think about the abyss beneath me, there's a chance that I will fall. I lead a strange, unreal life; I know having to face the reality of other people would crush me. So I just have to cope with what I've got. Keep on praying (I speak metaphorically here of course since I'm not that religious person; a sort of agnostic, I guess) and believing in my Guardian Angel (ditto).
Besides having cold, my stomach has been upside down for over a month now. I have to take crap a couple of times a day, and it often comes out nearly liquid, like diarrhea. I guess drinking bucket-loads of coffee for years and eating all sorts of unhealthy crap has done it (plus all psychosomatic hardships I've been through, I guess): my guts are fucked. Sorry if this is disgusting for you, but does anyone read these ramblings anyway...?
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
True And False Blended Together
"He was dignity distorted, bravery become knavery, sanctimoniousness masking sin. He was a mirror, jeering at the subject it reflected. Yet so muted were the jeers, so delicate the inaccuracies of delineation, that they evaded detection. True and false were blended together. The false was merely an extended shadow of the true."
- Jim Thompson: A Swell Looking Babe
- Jim Thompson: A Swell Looking Babe
Class Reunion
"They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
[...]
When they've tortured and scared you for 20 odd years
then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function, you're so full of fear"
- John Lennon: 'Working Class Hero'
Last Saturday I had a class reunion meeting with the people I spent nine years of my formative years with, at the Haihara Primary School and at the Kaukajärvi Upper Level Comperehensive School (Junior High School); both schools adjunct in the same building smack in the middle of Kaukajärvi, a suburb of Tampere where I grew up. Nine years, from the age of seven to that of fifteen. You can guess for me this meeting was an emotionally charged one, though I managed to keep it at bay, under my (more or less) businesslike shell.
To be honest, back in the time when it all ended after nine years of basic schooling and three additional years at the Hervanta High School, I was more than happy to get out of the grindmill. And the period I spent later on at the university was basically nothing more than returning to school: don't think for yourself, follow orders, submit to the self-serving idiots who run the system, be nothing. I bless every day out of the school, out of any sort of educational system.
That early phase of life was for me filled with shame, confusion, ignorance, loneliness; the feelings of being constantly misunderstood, miscast, mistreated. And now I was back with these people I shared the awkward years with. The same people who used to mock me and give me a hard time, but whom I also managed to treat like a bastard from time to time. Children can be cruel to each other since they're not yet hindered by the constraints of having been conditioned into the rules of the so called civilization; into socialization and other crap like that. In other words, children have not yet learned how to mask their despisal and scorn under the safe armour of politeness and superficial courtesy like adults do.
Not to talk about the teachers. I can't help it but that's one profession I've got it hard to feel too much sympathy for. I'm aware of the fact that many teachers do important work but still have it hard and don't receive the respect or financial reward that ought to be their due, but still, I've had such a hard time in the hands of these people that often it's difficult for me to care for the hardships teachers and other professional educators have to go through. I've had my share of petty tyrants who did their best to terrorize the children -- though during our worst puberty years it also was vice versa -- or teachers who were just plain incompetent. I am not going to mention any names here, but it was inevitable this meeting would also bring up these sore memories. It disgusts me and makes me furious to think how some of these same people were, and are, considered the very pillars of society: children can't do much to fight back. It starts to sound like "We don't need no education" in Pink Floyd's The Wall, doesn't it? Probably the dislike of teachers and the school system is an archetypal experience.
Anyway, I went to this reunion knowing I had to meet up with my past. And I had to whet my curiosity; it can't be denied that often I've been thinking of whatever happened to these people, how they grew up, what became of them. Well, my curiosity was satisfied: most of them were now married, with children, having jobs, running their own businesses, some of them living abroad. Some had lost hair and gained weight. Some looked older than their age, some younger. Some of them wore signs of hard-lived life on their faces. The girls I used to have a fleeting adolescent crush with were still cute, bar a wrinkle or two around the eyes. There were some sad and tragic stories of our contemporaries who had passed by prematurely, some by their own hand -- and less sad stories of new ones being born: these people I remember as kids having children of their own. I felt like a freak, the odd one out: but not exactly in a bad way. In fact, I was happy I had found my own niche too, not copying or replicating anyone else's life.
It was not that bad in the end; it was really nice to meet these people after so much time had passed by, but I don't claim I wouldn't have felt uneasy about the whole thing. I felt uneasy as hell, as you would feel around people who once made you feel clumsy, stupid, ugly, embarrassed, out of place. All that needling and picking on; the mocking words still ringing in one's ears after all these years. And how much pain you managed to cause yourself? Some people you once really hated but now had to be cool and polite with, like nothing had ever happened. Thinking they were only dumb and immature children then -- just like yourself. You can forgive but can you forget?
My class reunion images
More:
My maths anxiety
Kaukajärvi
More Kaukajärvi images
They hate you if you're clever and despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
[...]
When they've tortured and scared you for 20 odd years
then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function, you're so full of fear"
- John Lennon: 'Working Class Hero'
Last Saturday I had a class reunion meeting with the people I spent nine years of my formative years with, at the Haihara Primary School and at the Kaukajärvi Upper Level Comperehensive School (Junior High School); both schools adjunct in the same building smack in the middle of Kaukajärvi, a suburb of Tampere where I grew up. Nine years, from the age of seven to that of fifteen. You can guess for me this meeting was an emotionally charged one, though I managed to keep it at bay, under my (more or less) businesslike shell.
To be honest, back in the time when it all ended after nine years of basic schooling and three additional years at the Hervanta High School, I was more than happy to get out of the grindmill. And the period I spent later on at the university was basically nothing more than returning to school: don't think for yourself, follow orders, submit to the self-serving idiots who run the system, be nothing. I bless every day out of the school, out of any sort of educational system.
That early phase of life was for me filled with shame, confusion, ignorance, loneliness; the feelings of being constantly misunderstood, miscast, mistreated. And now I was back with these people I shared the awkward years with. The same people who used to mock me and give me a hard time, but whom I also managed to treat like a bastard from time to time. Children can be cruel to each other since they're not yet hindered by the constraints of having been conditioned into the rules of the so called civilization; into socialization and other crap like that. In other words, children have not yet learned how to mask their despisal and scorn under the safe armour of politeness and superficial courtesy like adults do.
Not to talk about the teachers. I can't help it but that's one profession I've got it hard to feel too much sympathy for. I'm aware of the fact that many teachers do important work but still have it hard and don't receive the respect or financial reward that ought to be their due, but still, I've had such a hard time in the hands of these people that often it's difficult for me to care for the hardships teachers and other professional educators have to go through. I've had my share of petty tyrants who did their best to terrorize the children -- though during our worst puberty years it also was vice versa -- or teachers who were just plain incompetent. I am not going to mention any names here, but it was inevitable this meeting would also bring up these sore memories. It disgusts me and makes me furious to think how some of these same people were, and are, considered the very pillars of society: children can't do much to fight back. It starts to sound like "We don't need no education" in Pink Floyd's The Wall, doesn't it? Probably the dislike of teachers and the school system is an archetypal experience.
Anyway, I went to this reunion knowing I had to meet up with my past. And I had to whet my curiosity; it can't be denied that often I've been thinking of whatever happened to these people, how they grew up, what became of them. Well, my curiosity was satisfied: most of them were now married, with children, having jobs, running their own businesses, some of them living abroad. Some had lost hair and gained weight. Some looked older than their age, some younger. Some of them wore signs of hard-lived life on their faces. The girls I used to have a fleeting adolescent crush with were still cute, bar a wrinkle or two around the eyes. There were some sad and tragic stories of our contemporaries who had passed by prematurely, some by their own hand -- and less sad stories of new ones being born: these people I remember as kids having children of their own. I felt like a freak, the odd one out: but not exactly in a bad way. In fact, I was happy I had found my own niche too, not copying or replicating anyone else's life.
It was not that bad in the end; it was really nice to meet these people after so much time had passed by, but I don't claim I wouldn't have felt uneasy about the whole thing. I felt uneasy as hell, as you would feel around people who once made you feel clumsy, stupid, ugly, embarrassed, out of place. All that needling and picking on; the mocking words still ringing in one's ears after all these years. And how much pain you managed to cause yourself? Some people you once really hated but now had to be cool and polite with, like nothing had ever happened. Thinking they were only dumb and immature children then -- just like yourself. You can forgive but can you forget?
My class reunion images
More:
My maths anxiety
Kaukajärvi
More Kaukajärvi images
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Friday, July 16, 2004
The Fear of Weakness
Those people who are most concerned with weakness or one showing any signs of weakness; those with any sort of pseudo-Nietzschean "superman" trappings; those who openly despise the people they consider "weak" -- I think deep inside they're themselves the ones who are the most fragile. It's a typical paradox of the Taoist nature: every phenomenon contains its exact opposite. Because there is nothing more fearsome to the one admiring strength and force than to admit one's own weakness, the horrifying idea that one might after all be vulnerable and mere mortal -- just like the rest.
Nazis are the best example here: they idealized strength, physical force and the aesthetic beauty of their so called superior Aryan race, and their greatest despisal and fear was directed towards those who were deemed "inferior" in their fallacious viewpoints: those of non-Aryan, non-Nordic, non-white peoples; those races or human types who were "ugly" or even physically deformed; i.e., who did not meet their narrowly defined aesthetic ideals, or simply those who were "weak". But how were the greatest leaders of the Nazis themselves? Not exactly the perfect specimen of the physically superior master race themselves: look any time at the photographs of Himmler, Göring, Göbbels or even Hitler himself. Weak jaws, pointed noses, men small in stature, skinny or over-weight. Grotesque small men with oversized neuroses turning into delusions of grandeur; weak little men whose greatest fear was weakness itself. Schizoid daydreamers and psychopathological utopists dreaming of the muscular and handsome "men of action". Nazi Germany was basically a Tom of Finland type of homoerotic masturbation fantasy; an adolescent superhero power fantasy that couldn't last. Instead of Superman (a comics character created by two Jewish schoolboys!) it was just a little kid in tights and cape jumping off the window before his parents could stop him, actually thinking he could fly. The outcome of this thoughtless game: millions of dead or crippled for life physically and mentally; half the world in ruins.
The other side of the totalitarian coin: the Soviet Communism. Enter the Stakhanovian Worker Superhero of Socialist Realism. The same muscular worker/soldier heroism, the strong jaw pointing upwards and fierce eyes gazing fearlessly into the shining future of the forthcoming utopia. But there was not to be any Utopia, only a dying Dystopia.
And now over half a century has passed, and what is left is only the Capitalist Dream. The dream of endless growth, increasing profits and returns with no end in sight. The Homo Economicus is the Superman of our own days. Welfare state and social security are for the weak only; nothing that our "self-made" neo-liberalist Supermen and Superwomen would need. The prevailing myth of our time is that of a self-made millionaire/billionaire. Lifestyles of the rich and famous. It would be all too easy to predict the eventual collapse of capitalism, in the way they did away with fascism and communism. The system that will lose its dynamism and ability to renew, regenerate itself will only lead to entropy. The strong will have nightmares every night of their own weakness creeping up to them. "And the meek shall inherit the Earth."
Nazis are the best example here: they idealized strength, physical force and the aesthetic beauty of their so called superior Aryan race, and their greatest despisal and fear was directed towards those who were deemed "inferior" in their fallacious viewpoints: those of non-Aryan, non-Nordic, non-white peoples; those races or human types who were "ugly" or even physically deformed; i.e., who did not meet their narrowly defined aesthetic ideals, or simply those who were "weak". But how were the greatest leaders of the Nazis themselves? Not exactly the perfect specimen of the physically superior master race themselves: look any time at the photographs of Himmler, Göring, Göbbels or even Hitler himself. Weak jaws, pointed noses, men small in stature, skinny or over-weight. Grotesque small men with oversized neuroses turning into delusions of grandeur; weak little men whose greatest fear was weakness itself. Schizoid daydreamers and psychopathological utopists dreaming of the muscular and handsome "men of action". Nazi Germany was basically a Tom of Finland type of homoerotic masturbation fantasy; an adolescent superhero power fantasy that couldn't last. Instead of Superman (a comics character created by two Jewish schoolboys!) it was just a little kid in tights and cape jumping off the window before his parents could stop him, actually thinking he could fly. The outcome of this thoughtless game: millions of dead or crippled for life physically and mentally; half the world in ruins.
The other side of the totalitarian coin: the Soviet Communism. Enter the Stakhanovian Worker Superhero of Socialist Realism. The same muscular worker/soldier heroism, the strong jaw pointing upwards and fierce eyes gazing fearlessly into the shining future of the forthcoming utopia. But there was not to be any Utopia, only a dying Dystopia.
And now over half a century has passed, and what is left is only the Capitalist Dream. The dream of endless growth, increasing profits and returns with no end in sight. The Homo Economicus is the Superman of our own days. Welfare state and social security are for the weak only; nothing that our "self-made" neo-liberalist Supermen and Superwomen would need. The prevailing myth of our time is that of a self-made millionaire/billionaire. Lifestyles of the rich and famous. It would be all too easy to predict the eventual collapse of capitalism, in the way they did away with fascism and communism. The system that will lose its dynamism and ability to renew, regenerate itself will only lead to entropy. The strong will have nightmares every night of their own weakness creeping up to them. "And the meek shall inherit the Earth."
Savage Night
"I was through, wasted up. I wasn't living; I was just going through the motions.
Life is remembering, I guess. If you've lost interest, if everything is that same shade of grey, the kind you see when you look into light with your eyes closed, if nothing seems worth storing away, either as bad or good, reward or retribution, then you may keep going for a while. And you don't remember.
[...]
I snapped out of it then, and came back to life. You have to at a time like that whether you want or not."
Jim Thompson: Savage Night
Life is remembering, I guess. If you've lost interest, if everything is that same shade of grey, the kind you see when you look into light with your eyes closed, if nothing seems worth storing away, either as bad or good, reward or retribution, then you may keep going for a while. And you don't remember.
[...]
I snapped out of it then, and came back to life. You have to at a time like that whether you want or not."
Jim Thompson: Savage Night
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Lapua
On Tuesday we paid a visit with my brother to our grandfather, who lives in Lapua. Lapua is a small town (pop. approximately 13,000) situated in the region of Southern Pohjanmaa (Ostrobothnia is the ancient Latin name for the region). I was born in Lapua myself, though I have lived in Tampere since I was one year old, after my father came to study at the University of Tampere.
The town of Lapua, despite its small size, plays quite a part in Finnish history. Locals are deeply religious, conservative and patriotic Protestants, and the town was the place where the fiercely anti-Communist, right-wing "Lapuan Liike" movement was born in the 1930s, headed by one Vihtori Kosola. Other well-known Lapua natives are, among all, Finnish ex-Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki (who had to resign in the stir of controversy in an affair called "Iraqgate"), the notorious artist Teemu Mäki (still best known from his art video where he slaughtered a living cat), and the actor Esko Nikkari, also familiar from Aki Kaurismäki's films. It's obvious Lapua is known for people who like to make ripples. Lapua is also the home for the world-famous Lapua Ammunition Factory. In 1976 there was an explosion at the factory that took the lives of 40 people. From Pohjanmaa there was a large immigrant movement to America in the nineteenth century (when the great starvation years took place) and early twentieth century, so I have some distant relatives also in the New World.
Despite the bold reputation of Pohjanmaa people, my grandfather Aarne Rautio is a kind and modest man; even a saint-like person if I've ever known one. I feel guilty that I don't visit him as often as I should, especially now when he became a widower in 2001. My grandmother Helvi Rautio was the strong-willed matriach of our family. She was from the Finnish region of Savo and was married during the war to my grandfather. The relocation from Savo to Pohjanmaa did not take place without any friction. In Finland there's some tribal mistrust between people of different provinces and regions, and for example, the people of Savo are often especially maligned as being crooked and self-serving people, though dynamic, humorous and playful too. And the Pohjanmaa people are considered very proud, bold, straightforward, patriotic, conservative, with a lot of entrepreneur spirit -- and stiff.
Before she died, my grandmother often told me her hard-time stories about how she was mistreated in the Rautio family in the 1940s and 50s, by her mother-in-law et al. I think those experiences made my grandmother a bit hardened and bitter person, though she and my grandfather always treated me like a little prince. When I was a child, I spent many summers and holidays with my grandparents in Lapua and they grew very fond of and attached to me. They lived in a house in the middle of forest of Rautakorpi, and it was all quite secluded. There were rarely any visitors, and I spent a lot alone with my own games, reading books and watching their small black and white TV that got its power from a car accumulator: they didn't have any electricity and used gas for cooking and to light up the place. Now it feels very idyllic, but I often wonder if all that seclusion didn't have some effect at least of me becoming more a loner type than a socializing one. Nevertheless, those are my memories, things that were to make me what I am now.
It is said that the notorious puukkojunkkari ("knife fighter") Antti Rannanjärvi would also bear some relation to our family. Puukkojunkkarit, or Häjyt, were a bunch of rogues who terrorized the Pohjanmaa region in the 19th century. Especially restless was the decade of the 1850s. Antti Rannanjärvi's best known associate was a man called Antti Isotalo. Nowadays these people have become similar "folk heroes" in Finland as the outlaws in the Wild West of America are now considered.
Antti Rannanjärvi & Antti Isotalo, the original gangstas
Isotalon Antti ja Rannanjärvi
ne jutteli kaharen kesken:
:;: Tapa sinä Kauhavan ruma vallesmanni,
niin minä nain sen komian lesken. :;:
Isotalon Antti oli ensimmäänen
ja Rannanjärvi oli toinen
:;: Pukkilan Jaska se Kauhavalla,
oli kolmas samanmoinen. :;:
Sitten on piru, sanoi Rannanjärvi
jos minä miestä pelkään
:;: Tervaspampulla kuonon päälle,
ja teräksellä selkään. :;:
Vaasan veri ei vapise
eikä Kauhavan rauta ruostu
:;: niskasta kiinni ja puukkolla selkähän
jonsei muutoin suostu :;:
Ensin portahat särjettiin
ja sitten vasta muuri,
:;: Isoo-Antti se erellä meni,
joka joukosta oli suurin. :;:
Ei saa laulaa Rannanjärvestä,
Rannanjärvi on kuollu.
:;: Rannanjärven hauralle,
on marmorikivi tuotu. :;:
The town of Lapua, despite its small size, plays quite a part in Finnish history. Locals are deeply religious, conservative and patriotic Protestants, and the town was the place where the fiercely anti-Communist, right-wing "Lapuan Liike" movement was born in the 1930s, headed by one Vihtori Kosola. Other well-known Lapua natives are, among all, Finnish ex-Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki (who had to resign in the stir of controversy in an affair called "Iraqgate"), the notorious artist Teemu Mäki (still best known from his art video where he slaughtered a living cat), and the actor Esko Nikkari, also familiar from Aki Kaurismäki's films. It's obvious Lapua is known for people who like to make ripples. Lapua is also the home for the world-famous Lapua Ammunition Factory. In 1976 there was an explosion at the factory that took the lives of 40 people. From Pohjanmaa there was a large immigrant movement to America in the nineteenth century (when the great starvation years took place) and early twentieth century, so I have some distant relatives also in the New World.
Despite the bold reputation of Pohjanmaa people, my grandfather Aarne Rautio is a kind and modest man; even a saint-like person if I've ever known one. I feel guilty that I don't visit him as often as I should, especially now when he became a widower in 2001. My grandmother Helvi Rautio was the strong-willed matriach of our family. She was from the Finnish region of Savo and was married during the war to my grandfather. The relocation from Savo to Pohjanmaa did not take place without any friction. In Finland there's some tribal mistrust between people of different provinces and regions, and for example, the people of Savo are often especially maligned as being crooked and self-serving people, though dynamic, humorous and playful too. And the Pohjanmaa people are considered very proud, bold, straightforward, patriotic, conservative, with a lot of entrepreneur spirit -- and stiff.
Before she died, my grandmother often told me her hard-time stories about how she was mistreated in the Rautio family in the 1940s and 50s, by her mother-in-law et al. I think those experiences made my grandmother a bit hardened and bitter person, though she and my grandfather always treated me like a little prince. When I was a child, I spent many summers and holidays with my grandparents in Lapua and they grew very fond of and attached to me. They lived in a house in the middle of forest of Rautakorpi, and it was all quite secluded. There were rarely any visitors, and I spent a lot alone with my own games, reading books and watching their small black and white TV that got its power from a car accumulator: they didn't have any electricity and used gas for cooking and to light up the place. Now it feels very idyllic, but I often wonder if all that seclusion didn't have some effect at least of me becoming more a loner type than a socializing one. Nevertheless, those are my memories, things that were to make me what I am now.
It is said that the notorious puukkojunkkari ("knife fighter") Antti Rannanjärvi would also bear some relation to our family. Puukkojunkkarit, or Häjyt, were a bunch of rogues who terrorized the Pohjanmaa region in the 19th century. Especially restless was the decade of the 1850s. Antti Rannanjärvi's best known associate was a man called Antti Isotalo. Nowadays these people have become similar "folk heroes" in Finland as the outlaws in the Wild West of America are now considered.
Antti Rannanjärvi & Antti Isotalo, the original gangstas
Isotalon Antti ja Rannanjärvi
ne jutteli kaharen kesken:
:;: Tapa sinä Kauhavan ruma vallesmanni,
niin minä nain sen komian lesken. :;:
Isotalon Antti oli ensimmäänen
ja Rannanjärvi oli toinen
:;: Pukkilan Jaska se Kauhavalla,
oli kolmas samanmoinen. :;:
Sitten on piru, sanoi Rannanjärvi
jos minä miestä pelkään
:;: Tervaspampulla kuonon päälle,
ja teräksellä selkään. :;:
Vaasan veri ei vapise
eikä Kauhavan rauta ruostu
:;: niskasta kiinni ja puukkolla selkähän
jonsei muutoin suostu :;:
Ensin portahat särjettiin
ja sitten vasta muuri,
:;: Isoo-Antti se erellä meni,
joka joukosta oli suurin. :;:
Ei saa laulaa Rannanjärvestä,
Rannanjärvi on kuollu.
:;: Rannanjärven hauralle,
on marmorikivi tuotu. :;:
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Lavatanssit
10 July 2004,
Lavatanssit, Nokia, Finland
Lavatanssit was an electronic music event and barbeque party taking place at a sports lodge in the middle of forest near the town of Nokia. Driving there, we picked up two Dutch hitch-hikers, who wanted to see Nokia, so they could tell at home that they had been there. They were duly explained that the town of Nokia these days doesn't have anything to do with the famous international mobile phone manufacturer, although the original Nokia industries (car tyres, televisions and rubber boots!) started there. Instead, the Dutch guys were invited to this party. I don't know what they made of it: it was raining nearly all the time and the place in the woods was quite murky. But crazy young Finns seemed to enjoy themselves. The sports lodge "main arena" was indoors, and Sami Koivikko and Virta performed there. In a kind of outdoors tent of transparent plastic I played a sort of "Best of pHinn" set of electro, etc., while killing off mosquitos. An interesting experience.
Images from Lavatanssit:
1
2
3
4
5
pHinn playlist:
Cybotron: Techno City
Octagon Man: Vidd
Double Dutch: ?
Pan sonic: Kierto
New York City Survivors: Sirkkeli
Freddy Fresh: ?
John Carpenter: Assault On Precinct 13 - Main Theme
Drexciya: You Don't Know
Front 242: Commandomix
Terence Fixmer: Warm
Club Telex Noise Ensemble: CTNE (Andrew Duke's Halifax to Montreal mix)
I-f: Shadow of a Clown
(Imatran Voima?)
Underground Resistance: Electronic Warfare (Voc)
Kraftwerk: Numbers
Aux 88: Electro/Techno (Microknox edit)
Model 500: Time Space Transmat
Adonis: No Way Back
Herbie Hancock: Rockit
DJ Nasty: Closet Freak
(Imatran Voima?)
Dexter: Intruder
Tackhead: Mind at the End of Tether
?: Beethoven Street Symphony(?)
Lavatanssit, Nokia, Finland
Lavatanssit was an electronic music event and barbeque party taking place at a sports lodge in the middle of forest near the town of Nokia. Driving there, we picked up two Dutch hitch-hikers, who wanted to see Nokia, so they could tell at home that they had been there. They were duly explained that the town of Nokia these days doesn't have anything to do with the famous international mobile phone manufacturer, although the original Nokia industries (car tyres, televisions and rubber boots!) started there. Instead, the Dutch guys were invited to this party. I don't know what they made of it: it was raining nearly all the time and the place in the woods was quite murky. But crazy young Finns seemed to enjoy themselves. The sports lodge "main arena" was indoors, and Sami Koivikko and Virta performed there. In a kind of outdoors tent of transparent plastic I played a sort of "Best of pHinn" set of electro, etc., while killing off mosquitos. An interesting experience.
Images from Lavatanssit:
1
2
3
4
5
pHinn playlist:
Cybotron: Techno City
Octagon Man: Vidd
Double Dutch: ?
Pan sonic: Kierto
New York City Survivors: Sirkkeli
Freddy Fresh: ?
John Carpenter: Assault On Precinct 13 - Main Theme
Drexciya: You Don't Know
Front 242: Commandomix
Terence Fixmer: Warm
Club Telex Noise Ensemble: CTNE (Andrew Duke's Halifax to Montreal mix)
I-f: Shadow of a Clown
(Imatran Voima?)
Underground Resistance: Electronic Warfare (Voc)
Kraftwerk: Numbers
Aux 88: Electro/Techno (Microknox edit)
Model 500: Time Space Transmat
Adonis: No Way Back
Herbie Hancock: Rockit
DJ Nasty: Closet Freak
(Imatran Voima?)
Dexter: Intruder
Tackhead: Mind at the End of Tether
?: Beethoven Street Symphony(?)
Wang Lei
Wang Lei (CHINA), Oreia, Toiminto, DJ Aleks, DJ Art Barfuncle, DJ pHinn
8 July 2004, Mental Alaska @ Telakka, Tampere, Finland
The night was started by the set of Oreia. Smooth melodic ambient/IDM soundscapes with a touch of soul/funky keyboard licks. Then Toiminto played another of his excellent sets of disturbed beats and sounds combined with suave electronic-ah; "the sound of 2004" as the DJ Slave To The Beat put it. Both these local guys need a recording contract now. I mean it.
In the meanwhile, the James Hetfield-lookalike Art Barfuncle (aka Arttu P.) played from vinyls some of the most disturbed DJ sounds I've ever heard. Twisted V/Vmish acid polka from outer space. Or something.
The main performer, Wang Lei, then hit the jackpot. I've heard his album containing some tasty dub sounds combined to samples of Chinese music, but it didn't prepare me for this that was one of the most energetic sets I've ever heard. Press info compared Mr. Wang's music to Autechre and Prefuse 73, but I think those descriptions were a bit misleading, since this music putting together dub, breakbeats, drum'n'bass and even a taste of acid was clearly made for dancing, not just nodding off to in your bedroom. Wang Lei moved behind his gear and Sherman Filter Bank fluently like Bruce Lee, Shaolin monk or a dancer from Beijing's opera or a master Chinese chef. The relentless, head-banging rhythms created a mystical, tribal ritual; this clearly would have required a dancefloor which a venue like Telakka couldn't provide, since the rhythm just swept one along. Some people danced, nevertheless. Alongside Pan sonic at Tampere Biennale, the best live act I've seen this year, hands down.
pHinn's playlist 080704:
James: Jam J (Sabres of Paradise mix)
Max Romeo & The Upsetters: One Step Forward
The Orb: Towers of Dub
---
Perrey & Kingsley: One Note Samba
Dean Elliot: Lonesome Road
DAT Politics: The Way
A. Alpha & Citizen Omega: Toinen loppuunpaluu
Porter Ricks: Redundance 6
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: Nasal Retentive Calliope Music
Noise Production: Somewhere In Germany (excerpt)
Joe Meek & The Blue Men: March of the Dribcots
Raymond Scott: Bufferin (Original)
Team Doyobi: You Have The Power
Martin Denny: Quiet Village
Señor Coconut Y Su Conjunto: Showroom Dummies
Schneider TM vs. Kpt. Michi.Gan: The Light 3000
Aphex Twin: Bike Pump Meets Bucket
The Sabres of Paradise: Bubble & Slide (Nightmares On Wax mix)
Bandulu: Agent Jah
8 July 2004, Mental Alaska @ Telakka, Tampere, Finland
The night was started by the set of Oreia. Smooth melodic ambient/IDM soundscapes with a touch of soul/funky keyboard licks. Then Toiminto played another of his excellent sets of disturbed beats and sounds combined with suave electronic-ah; "the sound of 2004" as the DJ Slave To The Beat put it. Both these local guys need a recording contract now. I mean it.
In the meanwhile, the James Hetfield-lookalike Art Barfuncle (aka Arttu P.) played from vinyls some of the most disturbed DJ sounds I've ever heard. Twisted V/Vmish acid polka from outer space. Or something.
The main performer, Wang Lei, then hit the jackpot. I've heard his album containing some tasty dub sounds combined to samples of Chinese music, but it didn't prepare me for this that was one of the most energetic sets I've ever heard. Press info compared Mr. Wang's music to Autechre and Prefuse 73, but I think those descriptions were a bit misleading, since this music putting together dub, breakbeats, drum'n'bass and even a taste of acid was clearly made for dancing, not just nodding off to in your bedroom. Wang Lei moved behind his gear and Sherman Filter Bank fluently like Bruce Lee, Shaolin monk or a dancer from Beijing's opera or a master Chinese chef. The relentless, head-banging rhythms created a mystical, tribal ritual; this clearly would have required a dancefloor which a venue like Telakka couldn't provide, since the rhythm just swept one along. Some people danced, nevertheless. Alongside Pan sonic at Tampere Biennale, the best live act I've seen this year, hands down.
pHinn's playlist 080704:
James: Jam J (Sabres of Paradise mix)
Max Romeo & The Upsetters: One Step Forward
The Orb: Towers of Dub
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Perrey & Kingsley: One Note Samba
Dean Elliot: Lonesome Road
DAT Politics: The Way
A. Alpha & Citizen Omega: Toinen loppuunpaluu
Porter Ricks: Redundance 6
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: Nasal Retentive Calliope Music
Noise Production: Somewhere In Germany (excerpt)
Joe Meek & The Blue Men: March of the Dribcots
Raymond Scott: Bufferin (Original)
Team Doyobi: You Have The Power
Martin Denny: Quiet Village
Señor Coconut Y Su Conjunto: Showroom Dummies
Schneider TM vs. Kpt. Michi.Gan: The Light 3000
Aphex Twin: Bike Pump Meets Bucket
The Sabres of Paradise: Bubble & Slide (Nightmares On Wax mix)
Bandulu: Agent Jah
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