Processed beats.

Before I say a thing, I must apologize for the horrible, horrible picture quality - there was no way for me to drag my huge sized SLR to the other side of Finland just for a) other drunken people to steal it or b) it to break into 1000 pieces. So instead I brought my Canon Ixus along - it's basically a 4-year-old piece of shit and refused to work most of the time but at least I wouldn't have even shed a tear in case something had happened to it. The good thing is that I did get pictures of some kind at least - and, thadadada, video clips! Hurray for shitty pocket cameras!

However, before I get into the amazing weekend of Provinssi Rock, I just gotta show you this:

Guess who got to see Metallica with Maija on monday! Ha! Ha! Ha! Frankly speaking, I had to squeeze all of my remaining energy and voice together in order to not get a heart attack and stay alive throughout the concert since I hadn't slept in the past 4 days or so - but somehow I managed to survive, the gig was unbelievably great and definitely got the blood flowing again inside of my veins. Just as good as what it was in 2007. Superrr.

As for Provinssi Rock Fest in Seinäjoki - yes, I did make it there after all, for the love for pain killers - what can I say? 4 days filled with nothing but non-stop music, booze, sun (+ occasional rain that was, in fact, refreshing) and great, great, GREAT people. Made new friends, hung out with some old ones, stayed awake until 6am partying, slept until noon, woke up, drank beer for breakfast, drank beer for lunch, drank beer just for the heck of it. Anything better than that? Don't think so. It was my third Provinssi Rock and sixth festival in total - and definitely not the last one!

Here's the list of the gigs that I managed to see over the weekend:

Placebo

the Ting Tings

Volbeat

Baddies

VETO

Supergrass

Editors

the Crash

Emiliana Torrini

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

I'd waited 5 years to see Placebo live - all worth it. Couldn't help but burst in tears as they played Special K, Bitter End and Follow the Cops Back Home. Sure there were songs that I'd been waiting for them to play but in the end they didn't, such as Twenty Years, but still, the gig left me breathless. Quite literally.

Also VETO, Editors, Baddies and the Ting Tings gave me chills - I just let the music and the rhythm take control of me. Such great gigs, all of the ones that I saw, actually. I danced and sang so much that my throat and feet are still sore, really. 

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME! THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"

On sunday night, after Nick Cave's performance, it was time for us to pack things up and head back home to Helsinki. The fact that we didn't have a car to get us home turned out to be a slight problem since the trains were fully booked and Jade had run out of money - in the end she managed to get a ride all the way to the south and, as for myself, I got to squeeze into a train car filled with hundreds of tired yet happy people. Didn't get home until 3am and goshhhhI can't even describe the feeling of how good it felt to get to sleep in my very own bed after 3 nights spent inside of a leaking tent. 4 days was just long enough time for me to start missing home. Still, the journey was worth every single bruise and every single minute.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Rock'n'roll train, smoker car & drunken karaoke:

Tomorrow evening after work it'll be time for me to pack up my stuff again and drive all the way to Tuomas's summer cottage for the weekend with a group of awesome friends to celebrate mid summer. I haven't even recovered yet from the previous weekend but the following one should be a lot of fun as well and I can't wait. In case you don't hear from me within a couple of weeks I've probably died from either alcohol poisoning or lack of sleep.

Like eating glass.

I hate hate hate being sick. Especially now that it had to happen only a couple of days before Provinssi Rock festival which I've been waiting for all spring long. Had to cancel the only few work shifts I would've had this week and right now I'm feeling mostly desperation towards the upcoming weekend - having problems with the weather, accommodation, money and transportation. Seems almost as if I shouldn't go. However, the ticket cost me 95 euros, the band list is pretty rad, the people going there are awesome and, most importantly, I'm really in need of some fun after such a slow-paced start of the summer. Not saying it's been bad, it's been all good and fun, but I just haven't had a chance to do a lot besides work, chilling and occasional clubbing. I need some variety for a change. As for the weather, what can I say, it's been cold, rainy and unnecessarily typical for the most part, I heard it was even snowing somewhere in Finland the other day. Where did the summer go?!

Anyhows, I've had a few chances to enjoy some decent heat as well. Yesterday, after spending a lazy yet fun weekend with no proper sleep (which is probably one of the reasons for why these stupid symptoms of this stupid flu had to occur), I felt like a zombie all day long so some friends came over to cheer me up. We prepared some Italian lunch, dragged my kitchen table out to the balcony and spent a few hours eating, laughing at some old photo albums and kicking back.

Right now I don't think I could feel any more frustrated than what I do.

I just want to get better for thursday and get things taken care of in order to be able to enjoy next weekend to the very fullest.

Start of something new.

Graduation last week, what can I say. Worth the wait, everything went great, I was happy. Even the weather was perfect which rarely happens here in Finland and made the day even more special. I really couldn't get any sleep the night before, I was too excited to even close my eyes for a moment - and yet I was all awake already an hour before I had to get up.

The official graduation part itself went all good, I didn't end up falling or making a fool of myself as I'd been afraid of. I even got a freaking diploma for getting such high scores at Swedish marticulation exam - yeah, I know, I definitely wasn't the only one being all "WHAT"?! I guess I hadn't done that badly at school after all.

After the official part - or whatever you want to call it - we rushed to the place that our personal party for family and close friends was held at. The Casino was at the perfect spot on the coast, close to where we used to live at and my parents had had their wedding dinner at the very same place 20 years back - so it was kinda natural for us to end up renting that specific restaurant. And the choice couldn't have been better. 60 or so guests, some of whom I hadn't seen in years, everybody had a great time and enjoyed the day for sure.

All the pictures are taken by Sakari Röyskö.

Later on, after all that all day long lasting well-behaving, I was craving for a party - so we met up with some friends at a park, had a few drinks at Bar Colorado and ended up going to Redrum and partying till the dawn - a prefect end for the day. The feeling I had was indescribable, even strangers came to me on the streets to congratulate me for wearing the hat and finishing school. Made me feel unbelievably happy about everything. Thank you so much to all of you who were involved in any way that day, it really meant a lot to me.

Now that I officially have the white graduation hat on my head, it's finally starting to get to me that I'm really done with all the responsibilities for now. For just as long as I wish, I'll be able to do whatever I want with my life. That also means that the day I'll leave to travel around the world is drawing closer - less than two months to go! Wow. But before starting the final countdown, though, there will be whole a lot of things for me to do, including enjoying my summer in Finland - and being wonderfully carefree for once in my life. No worries, no stress, just the sweet taste of freedom, starting with ProvinssiRock festival next thursday. To put it simply, life is pretty damn awesome.