DEKADENT - DISSIDENT DREAM

DEKADENT

Slovenian metal scene is something I have not been writing about yet. Well, I am slightly ashamed to admit that I know and listen to more foreign metal and alter bands than those from my native country. Why is it so? I am not an expert at all but I would dare to say Slovenian metal scene is not that developed. But I guess it is... rising. And I hope it will rise high one day. All the way to Wacken!

However, there is one Slovenian band that has made me quite crazy these days. Perhaps it is slight patriotism I feel, too, but still. Better late then never. I am excited.

DEKADENT is the name. The main tag for them would be BLACK METAL; yet such tags can be far too limited. For me, their music goes beyond. Atmospheric black metal, symphonic, progressive, if you still like to get some tags. Every now and then, Dekadent reminds me on Austrian band Summoning. Yet this music really feels unique. Beyond the tags. Lyrics are both English and Slovenian; hei, yes, Slovenian sounds great.

Okay. I won't write more as the band's homepage provides information as well as good reviews. So I recommend with all my metal-patriotistic enthusiasm to listen their debut MANIFESTATION OF SEASONAL BLEEDING. Their second album will be released in autumn 2007. And yes, as you can see, there is some music above.

The song Dissident Dream is in English, but it is among my favorites. Beware those crescendos... The video you can observe has also been taken to this year's Venice Biennial. Just take your time - I guess it is worth to pay attention.

SEVEN

Seven is a special number. It can be found in fairy tales, there are seven deadly sins, seven holy virtues, in Nanbudo we have seven forces, and so on. I was given an assignment by Alcessa. Quite a task. I was listed among seven bloggers that have to divulge SEVEN RANDOM TRUTHS about themselves. Some of my truths, I guess, have already been revealed. Either intentionally or by chance. Now I will try to write my seven down... will here appear sins, forces, magic? Well, let's see what comes out...

ONE

I am individualistic, even reclusive. I have been such as far as I can remember. Lonesome wolf. Well, I am an only child after all. Sometimes, I face problems in communication. I do not know how to open myself or how to approach people. I can even choose very wrong approach. I do not trust others easily. Finally, I can appear cold and distant, despite the fire burns beneath my surface and I just do not know how to show it. There are a few people only I can really attach on. I have a few friends, but they mean something to me. Also, I have not been in love that often. Yet when I emotionally attach, the grip and the passion hold strong. Too strong, perhaps.

TWO

I love travelling. Individualistic and reclusive as I am, I have done most of my trips alone. Ireland, Iceland, Finland. Very interesting one was Iceland in 2003. It is true that I stayed there with my Icelandic hosts, but I did a round trip through the country completely alone. I will never forget how I got lost in the midst of sharp lava field. Close to the place called Dimmu Borgir. And I found my way back well, as you can see.

THREE

Writing is my main expression, my art, my love. I read Hamlet at the age of 12. I wrote my first play at the age of 15. Romantic tragedy in verse inspired with Byron's poetry, with the lay Parisina. My first more serious and also published play I wrote at the age of 17. All in all, I write much better than I talk. I can write much more than I tell. In writing, I can be extremely extroverted and personal.

FOUR

I did not drink alco until the beginning of last year. The first real thing I drunk was Salmiakki Koskenkorva; black and truly Finnish vodka I brought from that land. Latter, I carried on with some sweet cocktails, rum or malibu coke. The taste is what I like, and it makes me a bit more relaxed: that's all. I still cannot stand neither wine nor beer. And I have never been seriously drunk so far; just slightly.

FIVE

Mornings are something I do not like. I am not a morning person for sure as I have problems with getting up, no matter when I go to sleep. Night is my time. I can stay awake long into the night, I enjoy the peace and quiet.

SIX

Metal music and metal subculture is something I got into quite late, in my early twenties. Before metal, I have already been listening alternative things; mainly rock. Very peculiar detail about me is, perhaps, that I was listening to classics when my friends were into Nirvana and Guns N'Roses. I never watched MTV as we did not have the programme at home. But metal and alternative have become the closest to me. Within metal, I like languages other than English. Norwegian can sound really sexy. Otherwise I put a lot of stress on good lyrics.

SEVEN

My style. Indeed, good theme. Very casual. Undergroundish. My colours are black, red and olive-green; yet black would be the leading. It calms me down, somehow. Well, if I put on olive-green, my eyes glow a bit more as they are also olive-green... I do not wear make-up often: I prefer natural look. I do not have earrings, but I have always liked silver rings. I have two very dear to me - both I bought myself. One with a black stone is from Iceland, the other represents a bear and it comes from Finland. Info for Alcessa: I wanted to get a ring with the moose - but it was too expencive for me. Some time ago, I have been wearing the famous One Ring as a devoted Tolkien's fan. Nope, I did not vanish. Now it rests in my chambers. For metal events and evenings, my style becomes a bit more feminine; I would wear corsets and skirts.

Now I suppose I have to encourage another seven to reveal their random truths. Well, if they feel like. Yet I will choose only the bloggers from my list; except Alcessa, of course. It won't be seven, but nevertheless. Thus, I give the torch to:

Aelfsciene (invited only)

Brahmakamal

Nárëlaimë

Oceanborn (invited only)

KORPIKLAANI - TERVASKANTO

It is Midsummer tomorrow. Thus, here is this jolly song from the band Korpiklaani. New song from their latest album. Funny video it is, but I like this band a lot.
Perhaps, I will see them live again this summer. I will be dancing! And I wish you, my friends and fellow bloggers - to be happy. :)

TOO HOT FOR TEARS

Too hot it is. I am used to train Nanbudo in hot weather, though. During the seminar in Spain, for instance. Yet there is fresh breeze on the beach, and after the training, one puts kimono down - and goes to swim.

Today in dojo, there was water pouring down my cheeks as crazy. At one point, I did not know eithere there are tears or sweat running down my face.

I guess it was both.

THE WORLD OF BERGMAN

What can I write about INGMAR BERGMAN. For all of those that perhaps have not heard his name yet, he is one of the key film directors of the past century. One among the greatest, too. Born in Uppsala, Sweden, on 14 July 1918. I won't copy many bio-facts as these can be easily found; it is a part of Nordic, more precisely, Swedish cinematography we will talk about. Second, the reason why I want to write on Bergman is the fact that I have started to follow a retrospective of his works. It will go on for some time, every Sunday evening on our national TV. Anyway, I remember I was drawn into the world of Ingmar Bergman during my studies. Now when I am a few years older, I feel it even stronger.

The film causing this post is THE SEVENTH SEAL - DET SJUNDE INSEGLET from 1957. Quick synopsis from Movie Masterworks: A Knight and his squire are home from the crusades. Black Death is sweeping their country. As they approach home, Death appears to the knight and tells him it is his time. The knight challenges Death to a chess game for his life. The Knight and Death play as the cultural turmoil envelopes the people around them as they try, in different ways, to deal with the upheaval the plague has caused.

The film thus reveals a medieval plot with carefully built medieval iconography. I would say this world is constructed so carefully, that every single element supports the other. Great script, living in full images. The feeling of the overall catastrophe, constant presence of Death himself, develops macabre atmosphere. So gothic. Yet there is also joy and richness of the moment. Lovely youth and life, underlined with the beauty of actress Bibi Andersson. It is the world that mirrors heritage of AUGUST STRINDBERG and his dreamplays, Swedish playwritgh I also like a lot. Symbolistic heritage. Reality is constantly touching the world beyond: reality is becoming the world beyond itself.

There is also one theme following Bergman again has reminded me about. I will open it here just briefly. The simplicity of great artwork. The simplicity that is, I think, not so easy to achieve. It takes time and effort. Full simplicity it is. Simple that is perfect. No spectacle, just a few elements. Carefully chosen light. In general, I like such artworks. Simple, yet so full. I remember seeing an exhibition of Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala. There was a photo, how Wirkkala studied a handle for a white cup. Simple handle. All of those variations seemed pretty much the same. Nonsense, one could say. But the final product captured the full simplicity. Less that is much more. And this is also the path I am trying to follow as a writer.

More images from The Seventh Seal as well as more on Ingmar Bergman and his works can be found here.

SNOW IN SWEDEN

This news and the photo I have just found in Finnish newspaper HELSINGIN SANOMAT online. I was quite surprised. Well, it is June, summer is about to start within a week. Here, we have extremely hot and damp weather. Sharp sun and all that heaviness. But I am not sure such snow is totally normal summer event either; despite it is North we talk about. What is going on with this climate, eh? Now I translate the news from Finnish...

Today, on Thursday, it was snowing heavily in Mid-Sweden. Just a few days earlier in the region there was 30 degrees heat. In Härjedalen close to Norwegian border it has fallen about ten centimeters of snow, and the temperature has dropped close to zero. Also in the south region snow has piled up into many centies.

MURAKAMI'S WHISPER

Some time ago, I went to the bookshop. In the window I saw a book by HARUKI MURAKAMI; I have already been writing about this beloved writer of mine. Well, the book that attracted my attention was KAFKA ON THE SHORE.

So I bought this paperback edition in English as there is no Slovene translation yet and I cannot read Japanese. It was even the last copy in the bookshop. But then I have had some other and more study-like books to read. Thus, my dear new Murakami is still waiting patiently to be read. Nevertheless my curiosity has forced me to do some occasional peeks. Now please do not laugh as I did when checking out original title - Kafka in Japanese is called Kafuka.

Recently, I again opened Kafka on the Shore. The book happened to open at the page 212. There was the thought you can find enclosed within the following lines. How strange coincidence. These words were exactly what I needed to hear at that particular time. And I still find some comfort in them at this moment.

This is why I so like Haruki Murakami.

In everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can't go forward any more. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. This is how we survive.

GHOSTS OF THE CITY

Her city has become too full of memories. There are places memories have stuck on. As ghosts memories dwell on those spots. Places in her own city she would not visit again. Spots she avoids to pass by. Yet she has to, sometimes, as there is no other way or option. Then, the ghosts awake and start to invade her as she passes by. Thus, she tries to rush, she does not look around at those spots. The ghosts spread melancholy anyway; still she cannot avoid them.

She has noticed those ghosts years ago. But it was fine with her. Just a sting in her hart it was, nothing more, when she passed the places by. She got used to small stings in her hart; perhaps she did not even feel them no longer. Nevertheless it happened so that one day, there was just too many of those places. Events, connected to those places were just too important for her. Events, people, faces, things like that. Stalking her, whispering her, looking her quietly from thin air, repeating actions again and again. Too many ghosts.

To go. To move herself. Yes, she has to do it. She has to leave her home town, too full of memories. Start a new life somewhere away. No memories; of course some will follow her, but they might not be that strong anymore. Just some small stings from one distant place she would not care about. Eventually, she will forget. Ghosts will disappear.

Her new city. With no intimate history. She can visit all the bars, she can eat in all restaurants, she can go wherever she wants. Life moves on. Yet at one point... and this is what bothers her. At one point, things will start to change again. Memories will start to pile; she knows that more than well. First, there will be small stings only. But later... stings will grow. Into ghosts. Again. New ghosts of the new city.

Would she run away again? Away from her new city, away from her new life, away from those new ghosts that might appear. How many cities would she thus leave behind? What can she do, eh?

Some memories within intimate history are indeed too hard to deal with. An overall change might help. New events might fill the void with unknown joy. Old ghosts might transform into more pleasant images. Those new possible ghosts she might be even able to fight with much more courage.

It is her inner growth that will transform the ghosts. Here, anywhere. For sure, there is always herself she cannot escape from.

BLOGRES 2007

Yesterday, there was BLOGRES 2007 going on in Ljubljana. First International congress of bloggers in Slovenia. Yep, bloggers. There were lots of them, around 200, and Kaneli was among the crowd, too. On this not-the-best (but the only) photo I have taken, is a hall the congress took place in.

First of all, we were given green bags and, if we were lady-bloggers, similar green T-shirts. Then, the congress started. It was on from 9:30 until 19:00. Several shorter lectures followed by discussions. Lecturers from Norway, France, Serbia and our native land. Lectures were general enough to be suitable for a wide range of audience. We were given some useful law-advices, too. There were also workshops, but I agreed to go to sauna with my friend later in the evening - so I skipped the workshops. However, since I am artsy-theory kind of boring girl, I would be delighted to hear deeper analyses of the phenomena. You know, serious theories, underlined with postmodernistic philosophy. And for my alternative/punky taste, the congress seemed just slightly too... commercial. Of course we bloggers are consumers of computer market; thus, we are a good marketing target for all sorts of corporations. Blogging in general is a part of popular culture...

Nevertheless, I am glad blogging phenomena is being observed in such way. The participation was free for active bloggers - this was very good. And we bloggers were indeed given some useful practical information. I have heard some stuff that I would like to hear more about it in the future. Also, I have my own theory on blogging: but I won't reveal it. At least not yet. So, I will rather share just a bit of things I have written down during the lectures. I have chosen three of them as it might help to improve our blogosphere.

Eirik Solheim - Blogging and social media

Communication strategy for bloggers: OPEN, HONEST, DIRECT, PERSONAL, LISTEN, CONVERSATION

Well, this is something Kaneli agrees with.

Nicolas Fermont - Blog as a business opportunity

Simple and focused, demonstrate passion, show authority, be consistent, don't be insular- be linky, know your audience, produce the content that people love, add comments, get smarter by listening what people tell you.

And some business - sell merchandise with the blog's brand.

Sure I like to get smarter with the things my readers tell me. Yet merchandise is something I am not going to do... and I do not tend to become very populistic author either. I am narcissistic and egotistic blogger - as the following note confirms.

Katja Vukčevič - Profile of Slovene bloggers

In this lecture, I really liked the term that blogging is cultivated narcissism. And that blogging is a creation of a public person who is me in in my private life as well. Very private becomes very public. Very private is very public. Yep, there seems to be a bit of exibicionist dwelling in each blogger - and yes, there seems to be a bit of a voyeur in each of our readers.

Blog on, people! ;)

NANBUDO NATURE

Last week, the club organized NANBUDO SEMINAR IN THE NATURE. For the third year the place was Rakov Škocjan. Our dojo became tall green grass on the bank of river Rak. I was happy to attend the seminar and to enjoy the trainings outdoors. The place was again so magical. Fairytale landscape. There really is very special energy. All things I like the most together at one spot: waters and forests. However, here are a few photos I have managed to take. They might not seem special to you; yet these images mean a lot to me.

Birches, dear birches

Mirror-water

Old Lady