Friday, March 31, 2006

Santa Claus seen in Kallio again.

Here's an update on the entry about my Santa Claus sighting last week: yesterday evening while we were walking home from the Kriton Studios with Giacomo, we saw Santa again. He was wearing the same all red jogging outfit as last time, only this time he seemed to be sober. The beard was there too and it was actually Giacomo who recognized Santa, even if he had only read about him in my blog entry.

It seems that the old merry dude lives around on the notorious Vaasankatu in the Harju district of Kallio, Helsinki. Sörnäinen, where the dude in red was first seen trying to score some chinese food, is basically around the corner from there.

And If anyone happens to be coming to Helsinki, drop me a message and I can arrange a combined pub crawl and Santa Claus-hunting trip in da hood in Kallio. Some of Helsinki's most original and hardcore drinking dens are located right there on Vaasankatu. There's been shootings and stabbings there, so no beginners or Erasmus students, please.

Hot Licks, baby!


Hot Licks, baby!
Originally uploaded by Kriton Visuals.
Yeah, there's been some action in the studio during the last days, we have been working on some Kriton boys' stuff and the forthcoming Interflug EP. As a proof, I just wanted to share this nice photo with you. It's Mr. Alppila rocking out with his trusty very old Hofner hollow-body electric guitar. That lovely guitar has been featured in nearly all of our tracks so far.

Then a word on the Google Ad thing. After approximately 48 hours of having the ad link up there, it has been clicked 30 times and I have earned, now wait for it, 1.17 US dollars. Great, thanks for everyone who contributed, free money and all that, unfortunately I need to earn hundred dollars before Google will actually pay me anything. At this pace I will see any money around the Christmas time, I suppose.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Kriton High School Bangers first CD!

Yes, people. It's official now. Hennessy da copymachine hustla has provided us with the cover prints for To Live And Die In M.I. promo CD-R's.

The CD includes the original cruising classic "To Live And Die In M.I." plus a blend with "Georgia" (if you don't know you betta ask somebody!!) plus the instrumental. And the covers are hot. you know why? I made them, fool!

Some CD's will be out in some stores to get (for free!) but if you really really really want it, just let us know...

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Click that damn GoogleAd!


Shrooms grow in the city
Originally uploaded by Kriton Visuals.
Yeah, today I finally got that Google AdSense Ad working up there above and I also added and extra Google search window at the bottom of the page.

So now you can click on the ad there above and buy some crazy 'ish, like at the moment for example some conference services, if you just happen to feel like organizing an international summit of something here in Helsinki. And every click of your mouse earns me (at least theoretically) money! Go click, please! I promise that all the money made out of that will be invested, unadulterated, in financing the official Kriton Records site.

And thanks to everyone for comments on my Jopo entry, you made it into an official record of this blog so far. And I would love to get one of those absolutely lovely-looking Graziellas that Giacomo pointed to us. I really wish I could read Italian. I mean, a translation with the Babelfish makes it sound really interesting: "On brilliant plan of Rinaldo Donzelli, the Teodoro Carnielli di Vittorio Veneto introduces in that year an absolute novi?ta Graziella, an elegant collapsible bicycle destined rivoluzionare for beyond vent' years the world of the two wheels. Supported from an intelligent advertising campaign, the Graziella immediately meets the favors of a wide one wraps of customers for that one its refined image, favorite also from musicalit?el the its kind and harmonious name."


EDIT!

The Adsense is not there anymore, as you can probaby see. We did some re-arranging of the blog template, sorry.

Monday, March 27, 2006

My Jopo Mobil


My Jopo
Originally uploaded by Kriton Visuals.

Another (and arguably much better than getting your sneakers dirty) thing about the spring is that it becomes possible to ride a bicycle again. Bicycle, in my opinion, is by far the best vehicle in the city, it's an healthy and ecological option, it costs nothing riding your bike and you are not tied to the timetables of public traffic and so on. However, it is not only about how convenient cycling is, but you need to also keep an eye on the bike you are riding. In modern world life is all about moving from place A to place B. For this reason I do believe that your vehicle is ultimately an extension of yourself. So basically what you are riding tells something about your personality.

So, I have decided to write something about my trusty old Jopo -bicycle and what it is about. Everyone in Finland knows Jopo -bikes because between 1964 and 1975 Helkama company manufactured over 250 000 of them in their factory in Hanko in southwestern Finland. They also manufactured fridges and other stuff but Jopos were always their #1 product. The name Jopo stands for an abbreviation of 'JOkaisen POlkupyörä', meaning 'EVerybody's BIcycle', and in a this size country basically everyone and their grandmother had one of those. The design of the bike stayed almost the same until the manufacturing stopped in 1970s and today the classic Jopo design is considered a modern Finnish industrial design classic. 

Of course there were several models besides the standard one, there was an official orange mailman version used by all the mailmen of The Post of Finland, there was Jopo Rodeo, an extra rare chopper-style model, small kiddie-size Jopo called 'Joponen' and larger-sized Iso Jopo, a foldable Jopo Mobil, a Jopomatic with gears and a super rare early bmx-style Jopo Cross. They even had sports training model for the gym

The main selling point was that they were affordable, good quality, durable and good to ride. Then of course Jopos became somewhat trendy some years ago and soon after that Helkama company who now owned the brand name released a modernized new Jopo, which, just like the new VW Beetle, sucks. On the other hand it has never been difficult to find an old Jopo in Finland even if people are nowadays trying to ask for really outrageous prices for them.

Anyhow, riding my Jopo (pictured above), which is by the way the foldable Jopo Mobil with two secret Torpedo Automatic gears hidden in the pedal system, is of course a nostalgic retro-thing from my childhood when I had a green kiddie-sized Joponen (pic below) and Jopos were generally all over the place.


But it is also about paying respect to something particularly Finnish, a reminder of the industrial past and tradition which does not really exist anymore. And I still think that Jopos look cool.

A small update here: my pink-ish Jopo pictured above is actually Jopo Mobil from 1974. Someone is auctioning an excatly similar one, altough in much better condition than mine, in huuto.net -auction site for a crazy price; there. 

Sunday, March 26, 2006

This is why I hate the spring...

Whoo! Spring has finally arrived in Helsinki, sun is shining and everybody is happy and all that, but: with the chaging season you also get all the new nuisances associated with the new season. Look at the photo, my dirty Stan Smiths. This really is why I hate early spring.

I love my sneakers but it's next to impossible to keep your shoes clean and nice when all the snow melting and streets are wet and dirty. Horrible. And even if I wanted to, I cannot be like Missy Elliot who apparently uses her sneakers only once, to keep 'em fresh, you know.

If you are into sneakers and want to know what styles all the 'cool' Helsinki people sport, look here. There is an interesting sneaker discussion thread on Lifesaver records' discussion board, where people are posting a pictures of the sneakers they are wearing on that particular day. And yeah, I started it myself way back in December.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Giant chicken!

I went to a book store to hang out and to read the magazines for free today but maybe I should not have done that. I mean, I met a giant chicken there. It is the time of the bird flu and all that... And I saw also a black guy with dreadlocks walking on a rope and dressed as Superman but the photo I took is unfortunately really bad quality.

But then there are some good news and some bad news from the Kriton Music front: The crazy success (!?) of Kriton Radio Blog has completely taken us by surprise, which is nice of course but then, as a consequence of that we have already exceeded our bandwidth this month, which sucks. Obviously we need to start making some money in order to finance the site. So I had to start by getting one of those Google Ads on there above on the page. Damn. Please click it...

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Interflug flies again.


Interflug strumming away
Originally uploaded by Kriton Music.
Time for more news from the studio front. Recording of Interflug's long-planned and anticipated EP was finally begun tonight at Kriton lounge in Alppila. We laid down some tracks with nice and mellow sounds.

If you just can't wait for the stuff we are working on, you can listen to an earlier acoustic version of a song called 'LCD Soundsystem are playing in my house' from Interflug right now by clicking here.

The plan is to record four songs, three of which will be Giacomo's original tunes and one will be a cover song, but not just any old cover, it will be a very special secret classic track by world's most kick-ass rocking uber-homo-erotic Norvegian denim-wearing & drug-hoovering band. Guess what band? No, not Burzum...

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Helsinki Style Y'all!

In keeping with our theme of fresh urban vibes and 'tings from Helsinki, please check out the photo. There is an interesting 'chic vintage and antique clothing store' (ie. Salvation Army thrift store) on the same block where I work in Sörnäinen. Today I was really amazed by their window display when I walked home from work in the afternoon.

The style they are pushing on us consumers is so bold and dope! I really felt like going to do some slalom skiing, in '87.

Another interesting thing about that place is that our most internationally famous movie director Aki Kaurismäki filmed some scenes of his film 'Mies vailla menneisyyttä' on location in that shop and the main character of the film works there in the film. If you click on the photo, you will get to my photo directory in Flickr.com and see some other snaps of that place.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Alppila rocks the spot!


DJ Alppila
Originally uploaded by Kriton Music.
This just came in:

Our boy dj Alppila does his thing tomorrow night in Kuudes Linja, the latest Helsinki hotspot. And it’s uptown, baby! He promised to play new hiphop, the latest dirty south bangers and some Dipset! too.

---------
WED 22.3.2006

* * * Kuudes Linja * * *
Hämeentie 13, Helsinki. 9 PM – …

INDIEDISCO!

Hell's Kitchen DJs & DJ Alppila

Keeping the kids on the floor!
indierock-elektro-punk-soul-hiphop!

Free entry.
---------
aight...

Drunken Santa Claus loves chinese food.

I saw a pretty funny thing today. I was sitting in my office and I heard some really loud shouting down on the street outside my office. Well, that's nothing unusual around the hood in Sörnäinen where I work. A friend of my girlfriend's who has been living on that street for some time now, calls it 'The Street Fight' because she says she feels like walking in a real life version the classic 'Street Fighter' arcade game every time she leaves her flat because of all drunkies and junkies hanging out there 24/7.

Anyway, when I went to the window to see who was, in words of the Wu-Tang Clan, 'bringing the ruckus', and I saw this old guy with a big beard and dressed all in red, kinda like Santa Claus actually, shouting there and he was very obviously completely drunk. This was around ten o'clock in the morning, mind you. There's a cheap and crappy chinese restaurant there and after shouting at some streetwalkers the guy headed towards the door of the restaurant. Now this where it got really funny. He was so drunk that he actually collided with the wall next to the door twice before managing to haul his fat ass inside. The picture above is the moment of his first attempt to enter when he hit the wall.

After he finally got in, I waited for moment for him to be thrown out head first but nothing happened so I guess he was welcome there to the enjoy the 7.50 € all-you-can-eat buffet just like anyone else. Good for him.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Better have a pass when you cross that bridge!


Brooklyn
Originally uploaded by Kriton Music.

I was just recently informed that our friends in New York City, a couple, let's just call them A & D for the sake of covenience, have moved to a new flat over there in Brooklyn. Their new pad in somewhere along the mighty Flatbush Avenue so fuggedabout the Williamsburg and all the boring trendies over there. The view on the photo is out of their balcony, I am waiting for invitation to a nice summer time BBQ... I wanna congratulate them and to wish everything good for their new home.

And then:
"Brooklyn don't run we run shit
Roll up and just bum rush shit
We don't play that out in B.K not at all..."

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Stig Dogg!


Stigg Dogg!
Originally uploaded by Kriton Music.
Here's Stig Dogg on stage at the Kovalevy club at UMO Jazz House last night. Watch out for the wigga, Stig is da man! if you wanna hear his mad flava, go to Kriton Radio Blog and listen to the track 'Aineita' (that's 'Substances' as in 'substance abuser' to those of you not able to understand our bizarre language). Produced by DJ PP and it's a fine example of the fresh stuff that's been coming up recently here in Helsinki.

Edit: I had misspelled Stig's name with two Gs in my posting but now it's corrected. On the other hand he is a Gangsta so an extra G in his name probably didn't hurt anyone.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Skeletor Dancing to the Kriton Beat

Last night was another hott! night at Kriton Music's basement studio/lounge as our posse was working extra hard on some new 'ish for Spazz out. The results of the session will be posted later but even Skeletor was dancing to the Kriton beat!

Oh, and I simpy cannot stop hyping our Kriton Radio Blog. The selection just keeps getting stronger every hour! My special love goes to The Veronicas '4ever', those grrrls rock! And yeah, I am not ashamed to admit it, I even like that Kelly Clarkson song, 'Since You Been Gone', which sounds very much like The Veronicas track...

But for a slightly different vibe, check out the mad E-40 track, it is hot too. Any track, and I mean ANY, which samples The Digable Planets just cannot go wrong! Personally I think that Digable Planets were the embodiment of everything that was good about hip hop during the early to mid 1990s 'golden era'. Check out the incredible Blowout Comb -album if you don't trust me. Respect.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The Best Gay Sauna in Finland


vogue gay sauna
Originally uploaded by Omega_Helsinki.
So, we made sort of a promise to talk about Gay Clubs. I guess technically Vogue Sauna in Vallila, Helsinki, is not a club but who cares? Like Salt & Pepa said, 'Let's Talk About Love...'.

I dare to say that Vogue Sauna is the best bathing establishment for men who like company of other men in Helsinki and even in whole Finland. Why? I have never been in there and, good Lord, I don't even intend to ever go there. My claim is just based on the fact that at the moment it is the only Gay Sauna in Finland. Sure, there are bars and clubs with dark rooms and what not in Helsinki but sauna has a special place in Finnish culture so it is a special thing. Whatever, I have no idea what goes on there and I am not sure if I even want to know but by looking at their website, it seems that there is terrace over-looking the neighborhood, room with a fireplace to grill some sausages after the sauna with the boys, a special dark room and a bar and so on. And if you go their website, even the background music of the site is lovely. Nice!

It also happens to be in my neighborhood in Vallila and I just discovered it last sunday. The interesting thing is that my hood is not known to be a gay hotspot of any kind, it is just a residential neighborhood, not that far away from city centre and it used to be kind of traditional working class neighborhood. Anyhow, I save the discussion on Vallila for a later entry but just I want to warmly welcome Vogue Sauna and it's customers here. Cheers!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Spirit of the Kriton Radio


060315_200316
Originally uploaded by Omega_Helsinki.
Right on! As reported yesterday, Mr. Alppila has been working hard trying to set up our own Kriton Radio Blog. Just like with all the nerd-stuff, there were some complications, but it finally works. Alppila is a Wizard!


There are already tracks from several Kriton Music recording artists; Kriton High School Bangers, Wheelspinnas, jzZi, Alppila & Hennessy. Click on dat link there and listen to the hotness. We will be adding more stuff there as we go along.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Narrow tie and things to talk about


060311_235339
Originally uploaded by Omega_Helsinki.
I have no idea who that dude is but he was in my camera as well after last saturday night. He had a really nice Frankie Goes To Hollywood -style super narrow tie on. It was silk, not leather, unfortunately, but I remember he claimed that he also had another made out of leather in his collection.


Then Alppila, who has been struggling to install a radio blog channel on the Kriton Music site all night tonight, reminded me of the things that should be perhaps discussed here in the future:

-Dipset
-Caribbean music
-Texas Music
-Gay Clubs
-Dirty south music
-People who send us crap demos
-Crap demos, that people send us
-Why they cancelled Freaks & Geeks
-Why the internet is so passé

The #2


060312_010211
Originally uploaded by Omega_Helsinki.
So far not that much has been happening since yesterday but I just wanted to post that picture. I found it on my mobile phone camera's memorycard on sunday and I am quite sure it is the Bikini Wax DJ team, Aleksi and Maria rocking the Radio Helsinki club last saturday with their rather eclectic disco selection. We had fun, the rest is kinda hazy.

Monday, March 13, 2006

The #1



All right, here we go, our very first post. We'll be blogging here about lots of cool stuff, news and other 'ish. The main thing will obviously be the record label but here will be other stuff too.

The label web-site still a bit under construction but our man Alppila is working on it. Anyhow, you can already check out the Kriton Music at http://www.kriton.biz and the very first track from Kriton High School Bangers, the very first artist on Kriton Recs.

"To Live and Die in M.I." is available there as a taster of what is coming out on the first proper release sometime soon. The world domination is just around the corner.

Later on there will be more stuff for you to download and listen to from more artists. Hennessy, Alppila, jzZi, Wheelspinnas, Interflug, Höhensohne, Drutgod and Spazz Out are all working super hard to put together new tracks and once they drop, it will be da bomb, ya'all!