The Fire and the Rose

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Through the unknown remembered gate

When the last of earth left to discover

Is that which was the beginning;

At the source of the longest river

The voice of the hidden waterfall

And the children in the apple-tree

Not known, because not looked for

But heard, half-heard, in the stillness

Between two waves of the sea.

Quick now, here, now, always -

A condition of complete simplicity

(Costing not less than everything)

And all shall be well and

All manner of thing shall be well

When the tongues of flames are in-folded

Into the crowned knot of fire

And the fire and the rose are one.

This is the end of Little Gidding, the fourth and final poem of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. I had not read T.S. Eliot before, something that may be thought strange - or then not. He is of course one of the most influential figures in 20th century literature, but on the other hand, while school students in the English-speaking world would be likely to have some of the English literature greats, including Eliot, in their English classes, in Finnish schools the emphasis is on native writers (as in the German-speaking world on German authors, in France on French authors and so on). But I picked up Four Quartets at the library some time ago, motivated by hearing a radio adaptation of the Michael Hastings play Tom and Viv, about T.S. Eliot and his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood (the radio play itself I listened to out of a very shallow motivation: because it had Benedict Cumberbatch as Eliot - the man's got a voice you know). I went to the library to get any T.S. Eliot in original language and happened to find Four Quartets.

Now that I have read it, I find I HAVE to read T.S. Eliot and especially the Four Quartets. His poetry is not easy, but I feel I have to read it. Not because of his position in 20th century literature, but because of a kind of a hunger for the words. I don't necessarily need to read studies which explain all the references or which offer theories and explanations. More I want to read again and again,  all in one or one poem or part of a poem at a time, to marvel at and follow the language and find my own meaning in the poems - or perhaps not, never entirely. Perhaps in part they will remain a mystery to be marveled and wondered about. Who knows, and I'm not sure it matters. I put in an order for an edition of Four Quartets to have it at hand whenever I want, and I suspect it will be something I will return to again and again. Never have I been more happy about how good my English is.

MERRY CHRISTMAS OR HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Old and Beautiful

This is my father's mother's Singer sewing machine, made in 1935 in Scotland. It's still in excellent condition and fully functional. A beautiful item, isn't it? 

It's an example of the fact that in times past utility tools were cherished items that were kept well and mended if they broke. They were valued and valuable possessions. As such, the tools were manufactured to last - and they were frequently made not only functional but also beautiful to behold, like this sewing machine. This was before the mass production of consumer products eradicated that way of thinking. Now it frequently feels like products are made to last only until the warranty expires, and if they do last longer, they already feel hopelessly antiquitated - and this is frequently true with things like computers because technological development is so fast. Don't get me wrong, I don't yearn for some "good old times" when everything was supposed to be better. I quite like digital cameras, smart phones, laptops and the WWW. But I often feel it's a shame that the mentality which produced items like this sewing machine seems to be gone now.

In fact, it often feels like in the modern consumer society "good citizen" means  only A) a good tax-payer and B) a good consumer. You should make sure to choose a field of study that gives you qualifications for a well-paid job and you should graduate quickly, in order to start benefiting the state in the form of the taxes you pay. If you indeed have a well-paid job, your responsibility is to consume for the wealth of the fatherland. 

And the advertising industry does its best to keep people consuming and to increase consumption. Anyone who thinks the role of advertising is simply to inform customers of the availability and pricing of products they already know they need is a simpleton. If that was the case, why are children often specially targeted? Children are the easiest to influence, so if you get them hooked to your products, chances are good that they'll stay as loyal consumers. My brother mentioned an especially bad example: the hugely popular, Japanese pokemon stuff. The pokemon cartoons on TV actually have a ditty which directly tells the listeners that they have to obtain the entire range of merchandise. And if ads were simply to inform customers, why would they keep bringing out new products and items accompanied with advertising campaigns which use imagery that is designed to make the products as appealing as possible? Apple started selling the iPad in Finland a couple of weeks ago, and the advertising really annoyed me. The morning's paper was full of full-page ads by stores that sell the thing, all calling it 'unbelievable' and 'incredible' and 'revolutionary'. You could almost think that they were trying to brainwash you to believe that you actually need it!

I'm not for banning consumption. If you've got money, it's your business how you spend it. But I do think there's something not so slightly wrong in the overly emphasized consumption mentality. As always, it's particularly visible before Christmas when you can't escape ads basically telling you that you have to get our products or your Christmas will be a complete failure. I think there are many people who actually buy into it, whether or not they can afford it. It's especially true with the new, expensive gadgets. iPads, smart phones, playstation 3's and so on fill Christmas wish lists, and parents, wives, husbands and relatives feel obliged to buy them so that they are not worse than all those other people who surely have them. Many actually can't afford the things and buy on credit or with one of these 'buy now, pay after 12 months' plans (why, that almost feels like you don't have to pay at all!), and consequently are in debt after Christmas.

Christmas rant over. Hope everyone has lovely holidays, however you spend them!

My unfortunate bike

...or "A Lesson in Laziness"

The thing is, the bike storage of my building is rather small. I don't know why. Maybe biking wasn't as popular in the 60s when the house was built as it is now. There used to be space in it, but then more residents bought bikes or more keen bikers moved in, one or the other. Now you have to watch out for someone to take his/her bike out before you can get yours in. I always meant to watch out for that... until the other morning I found my bicycle submerged. It's chained to the bike rack underneath the snow, too. Teaches me about being lazy, eh? The snow has reached about half a meter (1 and 2/3 ft.) and it's expected to snow some more tonight. Maybe people in Lapland will soon start travelling to Helsinki to experience proper winter!

(More) Winterly greetings

Snow's so pretty in its whiteness. I have to admit, though, that in my opinion winter isn't the most interesting season photographically. Pretty as it is, it gets a bit boring when it stays for months and months. Eventually you grow weary of taking pictures that feature snow in some form or fashion. I shall have to try and use my imagination to come up with new things.

So, I have sent the application for the research position in my old university. Fingers crossed on that. Otherwise, I've fairly satisfied with my activity this year. I have one article definite in an upcoming conference book that is supposed to be in print in early 2011. Otherwise I have sent two articles for review in different major journals of the field. I should be hearing on one of them in January, regarding the other I don't know. Of course, I'll be rather glad if one of them gets accepted. ;-) But it's not easy. It's worth a try though because IF you get published, one such article is worth several in small publications.

And now, another round of Pet Shop Boys I think. I don't know where I suddenly got the urge to listen to their 80's hits. Sure, I'm an 80s kid and Pet Shop Boys are one of those bands that made up the soundtrack of the decade. But I have never owned any of their records nor did I listen to them actively as a kid. Obviously I know the biggest hits. West End Girl, Suburbia, It's A Sin, and so on. Who doesn't? Maybe it's creeping nostalgy now that I'm in my 30s? :-) Nah, they're fantastic pop songs, there's something about them that the modern pop list hits lack. 

Let's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight

In suburbia...

La la la la