yay!!!

the daily show & the colbert report are back from vacation!!!

i missed them last week. and then this morning, the video wouldn't load. }:P but, tonight, it did! yay!! i was hoping to be able to watch bones & burn notice as well, but they're not available in my area (imagine me saying this in a very snotty voice). bones isn't available outside the u.s. & burn notice "isn't available in my area". thankfully, comedy central isn't so restricting & i can still watch my two most favorite shows (after "xena", of course, but that's no longer airing anyways, so whatever). i can also watch clips from demitri martin's new show "important things", of which i'm looking forward to seeing full episodes when i get back....i'll have a lot of tv-viewing catching up to do....

in lieu of being able to watch my shows during breakfast & dinner (i like to watch tv while i eat), i was watching clips on comedy central & eddie izzard was mentioned. he's my favorite comedian &, suddenly, i remembered "youtube"; i can probably find video of eddie izzard on youtube. and i did, but after a week, i've basically gone through all his comedy clips that are posted & all that's basically left are interviews. i actually got to see him when he came to portland last year. it wasn't as funny as his specials i've seen, but part of that was i couldn't hear his jokes above the crowd laughing around me....i also thought it was rather ironic, 'cause i had brought my Bible w/ me to catch up on my reading before the show started & he's athiest (either during the "stripped" tour or just before it, he decided God doesn't exist) & alot of his acts challenge Biblical principles/stories. and i kept thinking: that's not how the story goes (e.g. 2 of every animal went on the ark)...and, he wasn't all trannied out either. just jeans, shirt, & tuxedo jacket (i don't think he was even wearing make-up).

anywho, on to current events. the weather is getting warmer for the most part - it's still freakin' cold. the ice covered sidewalks are much less prevalent - almost non-existant - as w/ the streets. the footpath i take from the bus to the gym actually has pavement surfacing in areas. although, it still snows from time to time (like last night), but it doesn't change the landscape that much. it just covers the dirty snow & icy parts w/ a clean, white glaze & slightly more traction (although, that "traction" can be deceiving - it makes me smile when someone else slips, not that they're slipping, but that i'm not the only one). the sun was out most of the day today & was melting the ice/snow off the buildings.

john from church said he'd get me a key on sat., so i can go & practice whenever i want/need. we've moved on to choral & solo vocal pieces in finnish music class. one of the primary vocal composers, toivo kuula's work is generally melancholic. and the instructor noted that finns tend to be very melancholy, quiet, don't talk much, think deep thoughts, & live in their own little worlds. hmm...sound like anyone you know? ha!...it's not my fault, it's just my genes....hehe

i met lucio linhares on mon. (he's the m-1 team finland fighter who recommended i train @ espoon kehähait). nice guy, & i can't wait to actually take one of his classes....his flight arrived late on mon., so he couldn't teach then; he didn't teach last night & i sparred w/ outi during his mma class tonight. (i could have gone to his bjj class tonight, but i'm sick, my rib cage hurts, & i'm cramping.) i'll be sparring w/ outi again tomorrow (she kicks my ass every which way from sun., but it's still fun), so i want to make sure i feel up to that.

yesterday, i did a search online to see if i can find any "retailers" of traditional finnish costumes ('cause my mom wants one) & found a couple of sources. one is an online source (http://kauppa.vuorelma.net/PublishedService?pageID=3&action=view&groupID=1132&OpenGroups=1132 - if you're interested in looking at the different styles, etc.) where the cheapest costume was 235e for the materials; ready-made it's 740e. it's based in lahti & i can't tell if there's a physical shop as well (if i'm going to have assemble it, i need to make sure there are instructions i can understand that come w/ the material). the reason why the costumes are so expensive are explained in a forum posting i found (same place i found both costume sources):

People make them themselves because the amount of handwork is immense, and the prices of ready made are high. Check that vuorelma.net, for example the Tuuteri dress costs 3200 € ready, and 650 € for materials only. A huge difference. The prices are what they are because EVERYTHING is hand made, wool materials are weaved by hand in looms, laces are crocheted, embroidery is all done by hand, colours come from nature, and so on. On the left hand side there is a list of different dresses, just click them. There you can also see the differences between ready dresses and do-it-yourself material packages. The materials are in the package, you don´t have to start weaving.

the other source is a store downtown where a member of a swedish chorale purchased her costume. of course, since it's a swedish chorale, the costumes @ this shop may be swedish & not finnish. on the same forum, there was a suggestion to contact the kalevala women's association along w/ a link to their website where i found a couple of addresses associated w/ them. i hope to check these places out tomorrow.