Death and joy

News on the world front

The news about Jokela reached us here yesterday afternoon. It is very hard to imagine something like that happening in Finland: children shoot each other in the States, where the gun-friendly atmosphere of the pioneer times still hasn’t been rooted out, but not in safe happy Finland. It’s sad to think of all these people who left to work and school yesterday morning, probably crumbling about getting up so early, picking up their books and tying their shoelaces and then never coming home. It is sad – and grotesque – that all of this was on the net to see, before it ever happened.

I can understand that the boy felt cut off from the world, but I’ve never understood why these people always feel the need to take others out with them. To finally get some attention? To become immortal through the notorious fame? Because they lack empathy to the degree that their world is the only one there is and so it doesn’t matter what happens to other people? Because of the deep-rooted jealousy of seeing others continue their lives, when their own is no longer meaningful?

I hope this creates discussion. Real discussion and not just the politic “isn’t that awful, someone should have done something” discussion. Of why we are the nation with the third-highest gun ownership in the world. Of why is it so easy to get guns. But first and foremost why is it that people get pushed to the margins; so far to the margins that they no longer feel they are part of humanity.

News on the personal front

When others lie dying or are tortured, others continue their lives. So it has always been and so it will presumably always be. There are such horrors going on in this world every day that no-one could remain sane if they concentrated on them. And so, when others mourned, I had a wonderful evening. I saw Subway to Sally and rocked the evening away.

The support band – Coppelius – was also good and proved that concerts are not only about music. The visual elements of the show are also extremely important. Especially when the music is less familiar and gaining the approval of the audience therefore harder.

The concert was great, the show well thought out, the music fabulous and I sang along the best I could. The venue was small, but that did not matter. There were again quite a lot of people alone there, also women. And so I have decided that I’m definitely going to continue this in Finland. Tavastia, here I come. Of course I’m not saying no to company either, but few people seem to share my taste in music. Viikate and Kotiteollisuus for example are on my list to see.