Monday, March 05, 2007

The Lauttasaari Clan Is Nuthin' to F**k Wit


Our academic friend had some nice incidents this morning (read below), but they all seemed to fit the particular place of Helsinki. My last saturday night had some elements that did not fit in their place.

I live in Lauttasaari, which is the equivalent of Staten Island NYC or such. I mean it's a reeeeaally quiet suburb on an island near the centre of Helsinki. Most of it's habitants are elderly people or families, not exactly a real favela in my opinion. A place where sex and drugs and rockn'roll a frowned upon.

Well, last saturday me and the misses had a pleasant nite out, some dining and cinematographic experiences. Once we were returning home we were passed by one, two, three, four, five or more cop cars. We kept joking that they could give us a ride home once they were heading about the same way. Ten minutes later we got home to find out that these cars had actually surrounded our house. According to the paper, there were 14 police units on the scene and the officer in charge tried to deny our access home. Apparently some guy had fired his handgun several times just a few meters from our building. The cop was reluctant to give me any more info on the subject, but it was pretty clear that there was some real threat - I mean I have never seen that many coppers on the Island.

After some discussion the nice officer let us enter our building and we could could carry on analyzing the situation from our living room.

I must say that the cops handled the situation well, they got the bad guy and so on. But the local C.S.I. -team was sloppy. I didn't see any proper crime scene investigation what so ever. Where is Gil Grissom when you need him.

My Monday Morning in Three Episodes


Ok, here we go. I feel the need to tell about how my Monday morning started today. I am doing this by recounting three episodes of life in my hood, Vallila and Sörnäinen districts of northeastern inner city of Helsinki. Everything happened within less than one hours' time.

1.) After having my morning coffee I kiss my baby girl and my baby-momma goodbye and leave my house around ten o'clock to go to work at the university downtown. I take a tram #7 but the first people I meet at the tram stop are this junkie couple in their thirties. They look kinda ok, except that their fashion sense is stuck on 1993 and they are all skinny and pale and trembling , quiet and spaced-out, and they have that creepy Skeletor look with dark eyes deep in their sockers etc. on them. I hope they were on their way to the needle exchange place in Hakaniemi, for their own good. Nothing so special about seeing junkies out & about on the streets of Kallio/Sörnäinen/Vallila but somehow this set the mood of the morning for me.

2.) Before going to work I visit the local Post Office in Kurvi, Sörnäinen to drop off a effect pedal I just sold on rather succesfully on Ebay but at the counter I realize that I left my wallet home and I need to go back home. There was also a freaky looking super-pale, skinny and dirty Heavy Metal dude in black leather outfit hanging around in the post office. He looked like he is planning a hold-up, or something. I head back home.

When I got back in to the tram #7 at my stop the second time to get back to the Post Office, there is another young couple sitting in the back. They look kinda normal, except for the fact that the dude is packing, and very openly too, a good old Missisippi Corn Cob pipe with a seriously heavy load of hashish & tobacco mixture. When they get off, I see the dude lighting the hash pipe immediately. I also see them heading off to the direction of the municipal Bailiff's Office.

3.) Next, when I finally get out of the Post Office the second time after sending the pedal, I see the old guy in red winter coat, as pictured above. He is trying to get over the Hämeentie, a big street with busy fast traffic, but he is so wasted that he cannot stand up, let alone walk. He falls down, rolls on the muddy street, tries to get up, his feet don't carry him, and he falls down again, rolls almost on to the tram tracks and finally ends up just sitting on the ground. I am scared that will get run over by a tram or a buss and I actually call the cops to come pick him up. The police sound very bored on the phone. Then someone helps the old guy a bit and drags his ass away from the car lane and the cops arrive pretty soon. I take my tram and go to work.

Friday, March 02, 2007

This is why we're hot!


Good news for all Mims fans. His "This Is Why I'm Hot" single went from last weeks 32 nd position straight to number one. And I'm talking Billboard charts here, baby!

We here at Kriton Music know who's the man, and who's gonna rule the charts. That's why we've had a remix version of Mims' chart topper for a quite some time already. The og beat is awesome, but we wanted to make one with some twanging guitars and fat bass. Check it out by downloading your copy from here!

Spend it like Beckham


According to Sky TV Victoria Beckham and her ball chasing metro sexual hubby are one of the worst enemies of mama earth. This couple has been chosen as the most unecological celebrities, for they have spent their cheese, gouda and kraft in the most unethical way for the terra.

It was reported that The Posh Posse..
- has 15 cars
- is looking for their 5th house at the moment
- released 15 000 kg of carbondioxide to air last year alone

So what. I guess there are much worse celebrities in the world than this. I mean 15 cars… That’s nothing compared to real playaz, I bet Jay Z has bought 15 cars to his mom alone…

Thursday, March 01, 2007

I likeee.... guitars!


I like electric guitars, a lot. So do I like this like 12 times or what? I am not sure but it really looks great. Pity that I have always hated stratocasters as the most boring guitar there is. Anyhow, the 12-neck Stratocaster in the picture is apparently functional too. It's built by Japanese contemporary artist Yoshihiko Satoh, who had been building other cool stuff too, click here and check this out too

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Britney please!



I was just checking out some yellow newspapers' web sites to catch up on what's going on in the world after being on holiday last week and all the news about Britney are just getting too much.

Cutting the hair and getting a tattoo, yeah, but then ‘the alleged suicide attempt’ by throwing herself onto a coming car, running away from rehab several times, attacking a paparazzi’s car with an umbrealla (see pic above) and claims of being hooked on cocaine, E’s and Xanax. I mean, who knows which of these news is true but whatever. Can we get the old nice Britney back, please?

Friday, February 23, 2007

Anna Who?



The Idols (same format as American Idol, but without the "American" in the name obviously) is still a big phenomenon here in Finland. Over 920.000 people watched the semifinals last friday on the telly. That's over 20 % over the adult population, mon... Most of the finalists are heavy/hardrock singers, which kinda sucks, but hey, this is the land of Lordi and Nightwish. However I guess there is one rivaling talent who could very well be the winning horse. This view is based solely on Youtube's ability to engage masses behind this young girl.

Let's get into more detail. Since last friday her tv performance has been viewed over 140.000 times, that's like a lot of watching in 5 days. That vid is in the top-50 of the most viewed videos. Her two videos have been viewed over 300.000 times altogether. That's more than the metal competitors. Which is nice.

But the funniest thing are the comments on the video. Peeps are arguing on 2 themes

1) Is this gal better / worse than the sisters and brothers on the American Idol
2) Are all americans american idiots and war making and Bush lovin' criminals

It's pretty funny stuff.

But who is Anna?

Drugs are bad, mmmkayyy?


Yes they indeed are. Especially bad if you're a magazine editor in Finland. 'Cause you can't write about them.

Well maybe you can, if you remember to point out that everybody who ever tries drugs, will die because of that.

To put it short, the publisher of a certain free paper (to which at least two Kriton family memebers are actually writing for) decided to take back the every single copy of the latest issue. An issue that had already distributed around city. And then take another printing of the whole paper without this following drug-related story.

So this following piece really has nothing to offer you if you dont understand finnish. But here it is for all you drug loving finns out there anyway: the infamous V-lehden Huumejuttu!

*************

"Se tuntuu niin hyvältä"

Huumeiden viihdekäyttö on suomalaisen juhlimisen arkea.

JOKAINEN 80- ja 90-luvuilla koulunsa käynyt oppi, että huumeet tuhoavat elämän. Diilerit väijyvät koulujen porteilla ja antavat ensimmäisen annoksen ilmaiseksi. Kokeilija jää koukkuun ja muuttuu neulalla itseään piikittäväksi narkomaaniksi, joka tekee rikoksia, jotta pystyy jatkamaan huumeiden käyttöä.

Seurakuntatädit maalasivat uhkakuvia siitä, kuinka pilvenpolttoa kokeileva nuori päätyy helvetin esikartanoon. Jokaisella addiktilla on se ensimmäinen kerta, varoitettiin. Kannabiksesta edetään kovempiin aineisiin, jotka tappavat. Ja huumeisiin kajonnut on väistämättä tekemisissä järjestäytyneen rikollisuuden kanssa.

Meille tehtiin erittäin selväksi, että huumeet ovat yhteiskunnan vihollinen numero yksi.

Huumeista aineina ei kerrottu juuri mitään. Kukaan ei oikein tiennyt, mitä ne ovat, mutta niitä opittiin pelkäämään ja vihaamaan.



Kun huumeidenvastaista propagandaa täyteen ahdettu nuori alkoi käydä bileissä ja kohdata huumeiden käyttöä, hän oli ymmällään. Käyttäjät näyttivät ihan tavallisilta nuorilta. Ekstaasia popsivat tai pilveä polttavat tyypit eivät tehneetkään kuolemaa. He eivät varastelleet autoja tai ryöstelleet kioskeja. Kun aineiden vaikutus lakkasi, he eivät lähteneet kartoittamaan kotikaupungin heroiinitarjontaa.

Eivätkö huumeet olleetkaan niin vaarallisia kuin koulussa kerrottiin?

Vuodesta 1997 huumekulttuureja tutkinut, aiheesta pro gradu -tutkielman ja väitöskirjan kirjoittanut valtiotieteiden tohtori Mikko Salasuo hymähtää vastatessaan.

- Ne eivät varmasti ole niin vaarallisia kuin aikoinaan on peloteltu. Suurin ongelma muodostuikin siitä, että huumeet maalattiin hirvittävän vaarallisiksi, aivan fataaleiksi. Kun nuori tajusi, että asiat eivät olleetkaan kuten hänelle oli kerrottu, kaikki niiden oikeistakin riskeistä ja haitoista opittu työnnettiin syrjään.

Niin. Huumeissa todella piilee vakavia riskejä. Miksi haittoja tarvitsee suurennella?

Vaikka valistus on viimeisen kymmenen vuoden aikana järkevöitynyt, huumeet ovat edelleen tabu. Käyttötuomio voi jättää elinikäisen leiman tavalliseen, hauskanpidosta nauttivaan nuoreen. "Huumausainerikollinen" ei kuulosta hyvältä.

Puolitutuille ei uskalleta mainita, että ei oltu pelkän viinan voimalla liikenteessä, kun viikonloppuna nähtiin. Yritykset testaavat työntekijöitään, jotta julkisivu säilyy puhtoisena - "meidän palkkalistoilla ei narkkareita roiku".



Kaikesta huolimatta huumeista on tullut olennainen osa juhlimiskulttuuria myös turvallisessa pohjolassa. Yökerhojen vessoissa valkoiset viivat katoavat sieraimiin putkelle rullatun 50 euron setelin läpi. Ympyrässä seisoskeleva trendikkäisiin vaatteisiin sonnustautunut porukka polttaa puistossa oudonmallista savuketta, joka haisee makealle. Juuri ostetun asunnon tupareissa juodaan ehkä yksi tai kaksi olutta. Ennen kuin lähdetään ulos bilettämään, huitaistaan pillerit huiviin.

Huumeiden viihdekäyttäjät tuntevat käyttämiensä huumeiden vaikutukset ja riskit. He ovat tavallisia työssäkäyviä suomalaisia, pääosin nuoria aikuisia.

- Viihdekäyttäjien periaatteena on, että käyttö on satunnaista eikä aiheuta fyysisiä, psyykkisiä tai taloudellisia ongelmia. Aineet ovat yleensä mietoja ja käyttö liittyy juhlimiseen. Suonensisäinen käyttö on täysin poissuljettu vaihtoehto, Salasuo sanoo.

Hänen mukaansa suonensisäinen käyttö luokitellaan ongelmakäytöksi. Suomessa suurin osa ongelmakäytöstä tapahtuu suoneen piikitettävällä amfetamiinilla, kun muualla Euroopassa "ykkösaine" on heroiini.

Suonensisäinen käyttö aiheuttaa fyysisen riippuvuuden, jonka hallitseminen tuottaa vaikeuksia. Lopettaminen on hankalaa, sillä aineeseen tottunut keho vaatii sitä lisää. Nimenomaan suonensisäinen käyttö voi johtaa pelättyyn huumehelvettiin, jossa elämä pyörii vain aineiden käytön ympärillä.

Suonensisäiseen käyttöön ajautuu vain harva huumeiden kokeilija. Toisin kuin meille on opetettu, huumeiden käyttö voi myös pysyä hallinnassa.

Mauno, 26,

on ammatiltaan peruskoulun opettaja.

- Yläasteella oli huumevalistusta ja vaikka se oli yhtä pelottelua, näin sen läpi jo silloin. Tajusin, että kannabis on varmaan siisti juttu ja sitä täytyy kokeilla, hän naurahtaa.

Hän poltti pilveä ensimmäisen kerran 16-vuotiaana. Sen jälkeen hän on kokeillut myös ekstaasia, amfetamiinia, sieniä ja LSD:tä.

- Essoja olen ottanut puolenkymmentä kertaa, mutta niistä minulle tulee seuraavana päivänä paha krapula. Spiidiä kokeillessani luulin, että tulen hulluksi. Olo oli aivan liian stimuloitu, se ei sovi minulle. LSD-tripillä jumituin sisätilaan ja alkoi ahdistaa. En voinut nukkua ja sälekaihtimet näyttivät partaveitsenteriltä. Ei ollut siistiä.

- En kuitenkaan kadu yhtään huumekokeilua. Kaikista olen oppinut jotain. Jos ei muuta, niin tiedänpä ainakin mistä puhutaan.



Kokeilujensa jälkeen Maunolla ei ole ollut hinkua käyttää edellä mainitsemiaan huumeita uudelleen. Se on periaatepäätös, sillä ne ovat synteettisiä ja hän haluaa pysyä luonnollisissa päihteissä. Synteettisiä huumeita hankkiessa ei aina tiedä, mitä saa.

- Poltan pilveä nykyään ehkä kerran parissa viikossa. Pössyttelen kotioloissa, ihan rentoutuakseni. Sieniä saatan syödä kaksi kolme kertaa vuodessa, jos niitä on saatavilla. Viimeksi söin niitä Jenkeissä, ja oli niin pirun hauskaa. Pilven yhdistäminen seksuaaliseen kanssakäymiseen on aina yhtä juhlaa.

Onko huumeiden käyttö ikinä vaikuttanut normaaliin arkeen?

- Ei mihinkään velvollisuuksiin. Poltin pari vuotta päivittäin pilveä, ja silloin huomasin itsessäni siitä johtuvia oireita. Unohtelin asioita, koska lähimuisti kärsi. Silloin ymmärsin, että polttamista täytyy vähentää ja teinkin sen. En kokenut olevani huumekoukussa. Elimistö vaan varoitteli, että vähennä. Täytyy tuntea itsensä, siinä kaikki.

Aikooko Mauno sitten lopettaa huumeiden käytön joskus?

- Miksi lopettaisin? Asiaa täytyy punnita uudelleen, jos elämään tulee suuria muutoksia kuten perhettä tai muuta. Tällä hetkellä lopettamiseen ei ole tarvetta eikä syytä, varsinkaan näin vähäisellä käytöllä.

Heikki, 29,

huoltaa työkseen hissejä. Hän poltti pilveä ensimmäisen kerran 16-vuotiaana kaverin luona. Sittemmin hän on kokeillut kokaiinia, ekstaasia, amfetamiinia, oopiumjohdannaisia pillereitä sekä sieniä.

- Nykyään käytän huumeita ehkä kolme, neljä kertaa vuodessa, yleensä essoja tai kokkelia. Niistä tulee paras olo, molemmat toimivat aina. Käytän ainoastaan bilettäessä, eli viina on aina mukana kuvioissa.

Muutama vuosi sitten Heikki käytti huumeita useamminkin.

- Välillä tuntui, että psyyke pettää. Tosin se saattoi kyllä johtua liiallisesta alkoholin käytöstäkin.

Hän ei pitänyt eri päihteiden haittavaikutuksista, joten hän yksinkertaisesti vähensi niiden - alkoholinkin - käyttöä.

- Sellainen on itsestä kiinni, käyttöä voi todellakin vähentää omalla päätöksellä.



Heikki käyttää kuitenkin synteettisiä, viihdekäyttäjien keskuudessa kovina pidettyjä huumeita. Hän tietää, että niihin liittyy riskejä mutta käyttää silti.

- Niistä tulee niin vitun hyvä olo. Känni ei aina tunnu hyvälle. Silloin tällöin kaipaa lisäkicksejä. Tiedän kuitenkin, etteivät ne ole kovin terveellisiä pitkällä tähtäimellä, joten pidän käytön kurissa.

Eikö niistä ikinä tule huonoja kokemuksia?

- Psykedeeliset huumeet eivät sovi minulle. Testasin sieniä, ja se oli melkoinen trippi: tunsin olevani välillä 15 metriä, välillä 15 senttiä pitkä. Menin baarin nurkkaan istumaan ja tuijotin seinää. Se oli hieman liikaa, en halua sitä enää, hän puistelee päätään vaivaantuneesti hymyillen.

Tunteeko Heikki ikinä minkäänlaista riippuvuutta?

- En ikinä. Essoista tulee kyllä helvetin hyvät fiilikset, ymmärrän jos joku jää koukkuun siihen oloon. Huumeiden kanssa täytyy pitää tiukka itsekuri.

Elina, 25,

on koulutukseltaan kokki. Elina poltti kannabista ensimmäisen kerran 17-vuotiaana.

- Olin kuullut siitä ja kiinnostus heräsi. Kokeilin heti, kun sitä oli tarjolla.

Hän polttaa pilveä useamman kerran viikossa, jos siihen on mahdollisuus. Yleensä hän ostaa sitä kavereiltaan, jotka kasvattavat kotona.

- Siitä tulee hyvä olo, sen vaikutuksen alaisena on kiva hääräillä kotioloissa. Se toimii hyvänä relaksanttina, jos on stressiä tai kiireitä.

Elina ei käytä huumeita bilettämiseen.

- Kannabis passivoi minua, eli suu menee kiinni seurassa, eikä se ole kivaa. Siksi poltankin yleensä kotona. Kylvyssä polttelu on parasta.



On erittäin epätodennäköistä, että kannabikseen kehittyy fyysinen riippuvuus, mutta Elina myöntää kärsineensä psyykkisestä riippuvuudesta.

- Poltin päivittäin muutama vuosi sitten. Kun vähensin, oli aluksi hankalaa päästä normaaliin unirytmiin, kun ennen nukkumaan menoa ei polttanutkaan savuja.

Porttiteoria, jonka mukaan yhden huumeen kokeilu johtaa kovempiin aineisiin, on Elinasta "täyttä paskaa".

- Minua ei kiinnosta enää kokeilla mitään muita huumeita. Siihen ei liity mitään pelkoa, en vain tarvitse sellaista pään sekoittamista.

Hänen ystäväpiirissään on useiden eri huumeiden viihdekäyttäjiä.

- Minulle on aivan sama, mitä ihmiset käyttävät, kunhan elämä ei pyöri vain huumeiden ja huumeihmisten ympärillä. Sosiaaliset suhteet täytyy pystyä säilyttämään ja velvollisuudet pitää hoitaa.

Kaikki eivät siihen pysty.

- Tunsin kaksi heroiinia käyttävää tyyppiä. Toinen on mullan alla ja toisesta ei ole kuulunut kolmeen vuoteen mitään.

Välittääkö hän, kuka hänen omasta käytöstään tietää?

- Välitän. Työ- ja opiskelukavereille en puhu asiasta, ellen tiedä heidän olevan samalla aaltopituudella. Vanhemmille haluaisin kertoa, mutta he eivät ymmärtäisi. He ajattelisivat huumekoukkua saman tien, koska eivät tiedä asiasta mitään. Heille huume on huume.

Paavo, 34,

on it-alan yrittäjä. Hän vietti vuoden vaihto-oppilaana Yhdysvalloissa 17-vuotiaana.

- Olin aivan kauhuissani, kun näin koulukavereiden polttavan pilveä. Suomalainen huumepropaganda oli tehnyt tehtävänsä, hän nauraa.

- Jonkin aikaa seurailin muiden toimia. Kun tajusin, että tyypit eivät kuolleetkaan tai alkaneet ryöstellä viinakauppoja, halusin itsekin kokeilla.

Hän kokeili myös LSD:tä, kokaiinia, ekstaasia ja amfetamiinitabletteja. Kaikki ovat jääneet kokeiluiksi.

- Sanoisin, että kokeilen huumeita vieläkin silloin tällöin. Voi tietysti kysyä, missä menee kokeilun raja. Viime kerrasta on tällä hetkellä puoli vuotta.

Paavo käyttää huumeita useimmiten ulkomailla.

- Reissuilla tulee silloin tällöin otettua ekstaasia ja kokaiinia, kerran pari vuodessa. Suomessa en viitsi niiden kanssa pelleillä, tulee liikaa ikävyyksiä jos jää kiinni. En tosin kieltäydy, jos niitä sattuu kohdalle.

Suomessa yleisintä huumausainetta, kannabista, Paavo ei käytä ollenkaan.

- Huumeiden käyttö liittyy kohdallani aina sosiaalisiin tilanteisiin, joissa pidetään hauskaa. Pilvestä tulee väsynyt ja laiska olo. Jumittaminen jossain kämpässä toljottaen Pink Floydin The Wallia videolta ei nappaa.



Parhaasta huumekokemuksesta on jo aikaa.

- Edellisestä LSD-tripistä on 18 vuotta, mutta muistan vieläkin elävästi kuinka hauskaa oli.

Paavo pohtii, että hän on saattanut jo lopettaa käyttönsä, muttei tiedä sitä vielä. Hän ei ole koskaan tuntenut riippuvuutta mihinkään aineeseen eikä suunnittele käyttöään. Mikä hänet saa käyttämään huumeita aika ajoin?

- Se on vaan niin saatanan hienoa. Miksi jotkut juovat itsensä känniin? Päihteitähän ne kaikki ovat, niillä haetaan hyvää fiilistä. Paitsi että viinasta menee enemmän sekaisin kuin yhdestäkään huumeesta, jota olen kokeillut.

Mies korostaa kohtuutta ja itsensä tuntemista huumeita käytettäessä.

- Kaikkien aineiden kanssa olen ensin tarkkaillut, kuinka ne vaikuttavat muihin. Nuorena kaverit imppasivat ja näin mitä se tekee. En koskaan impannut.



Kaikki edellä esitellyt ihmiset ovat tavallisia veronmaksajia. He käyttävät huumeita satunnaisesti, mutta eivät anna niiden vaikuttaa normaaliin elämäänsä. Rahat huumeisin he saavat töistä, eikä kukaan tunne olevansa rikollinen, sillä käytöllään he vahingoittavat vain itseään.

Porttiteoriaan heistä ei usko yksikään, vaikka jokaisen huumekokeilut ovat alkaneet kannabiksella. Miksi uskoisivat, hehän ovat itse eläviä esimerkkejä siitä, että huumeita voi käyttää silloin tällöin ja pitää elämänsä raiteillaan. Kun tuntee huumeet ja niiden vaarat, tietää pelisäännöt. Itsekuri pitää erossa ongelmista.

Mutta miksi asia on niin, että nämä ihmiset menettäisivät työnsä ja saisivat elinikäisen ristin kantaakseen, jos he esiintyisivät tässä jutussa omilla nimillään? Miksi huumeisiin liitetään edelleen kaikki yhteiskunnan paha?

- Yhteiskunta tarvitsee aina vihollisen, jota käyttää syntipukkina. Huumeet on helppo demonisoida: ne eivät ole kukaan, niillä ei ole nimeä, ne ovat hämärämiesten tuomia, aiheuttavat kummallisia oireita eikä kukaan oikein tunne niitä. Niitä on helppo syyttää ongelmista, jotka eivät edes oikeasti liity niihin. Kukaan ei uskalla puolustaa niitä, sanoo tutkija Mikko Salasuo.

Aivan. Huumeet ovat huumeita, kannabiksesta heroiiniin, ja poliitikko tekee poliittisen itsemurhan asettuessaan muulle kuin jyrkän vastustamisen linjalle. Salasuo viittaa Markus Draken tapaukseen, jossa kansanedustajaehdokas kannatti mietojen huumeiden laillistamista. Media ja poliittiset vastustajat syöksyivät oitis huumeidenvastaiseen populismiin ja Draken peli oli pelattu.

Drake tosin ilmaisi kantansa turhankin radikaalisti polttamalla jointtia Vihreiden vaalikopilla.

Samanlainen haloo nousi, kun toinen vihreiden kansanedustaja, Rosa Meriläinen, tunnusti polttaneensa pilveä kansanedustajakauden aikana. Olisi vain kannattanut pitää turpa kiinni.

Salasuo siteeraa tunnettuja päihdetutkijoita Nils Christieta ja Kjetil Bruunia: "Huumeet ovat vaarallisimmillaan politiikassa."



Huumeet ovat pohjimmiltaan aineita, jotka saavat aikaan erilaisia reaktioita ihmisissä. Kannabista, amfetamiinia, opiaatteja ja ekstaasia on käytetty paljon lääkinnällisiin tarkoituksiin. Salasuon mukaan löytyy paljon dokumentaatiota siitä, kuinka Yhdysvaltain ilmavoimien pilottien keskittymiskykyä parannetaan amfetamiinijohdannaisilla valmisteilla. Morfiini on yleinen kipulääke. Suomeen saatiin juuri ensimmäinen kannabiksen lääkekäyttäjä. Brittiarmeija kokeili toisen maailmansodan aikana, olisiko LSD:stä hyötyä sodankäynnissä. Salasuo kertoo, että ekstaasia on käytetty lääkkeenä terapiayhteyksissä vielä 1980-luvulla.

Lista on pitkä.

Huumeet voi siis nähdä eräänlaisina lääkeaineina, joissa on havaittu vapaa-ajanviettoon soveltuvia sivuvaikutuksia. Miksi ne ovat sitten kiellettyjä, kun niitä ei käytetä lääketieteellisiin tarkoituksiin tai sotatoimiin?

- Perimmäisenä ajatuksena on vallankäyttö. Valtaapitävät ovat nähneet, että kansalaiset eivät pysty hallitsemaan tällaista nautinnonhankintaa ja se on päätetty kieltää. Kiinnostavaa asian kehityksessä onkin, että niin kauan kuin jokin aine liittyy ylempiin sosiaaliluokkiin ja pysyy lääketieteen kehyksissä, se on hyväksyttyä. Kun siitä tulee tavallisten ihmisten omaan nautintoon liittyvää, se kriminalisoidaan, Salasuo sanoo.

Suomessa myös huumausaineiden käyttö, ei ainoastaan hallussapito, välittäminen tai salakuljetus, on rangaistavaa. Tästä päätettiin eduskunnassa vuonna 1972 heittämällä kolikkoa, kun äänet menivät tasan. Siitä lähtien huumausaineen käyttörikoksesta on tuomittu niin kannabiksen polttajat kuin heroiinin piikittäjätkin. Saman rikosnimikkeen alla.

Monday, February 19, 2007

To Baldly Go Where No (Wo)Man Has Gone Before.


In the series of past pop princesses gone sad and weird, Britney is number one at the moment. A few marriages/divorces, almost dropping a baby, public flashing, constant drunk and disorderly have kept her in the headlines for some time now. And now she went Sigourney Weaver and cut a true Sinead O'Connor. What's up with that??

I bet Paris ain't gonna be sipping Cris with her that often after this stunt. I mean, sporting the "12 year old catholic school boy" -look ain't that hot, at least in the world of bling and fame.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Badgers are cool


Sometimes it's a good idea to rest your mind and stare at stuff. If tv seems too challenging for your limited capabilities then simple animations work pretty well for this purpose. Check out my new little friends made by an anonymous Flash Gordon: badgers.

'Shrooms are bad, mmmmmmkayyyy.

Friday, February 09, 2007

This is how I spent my Friday afternoon


Being a white collar salaryman during daytime it is a nice to have changes in the daily routines. Today my highlight was the assembling of some nice Ikea furniture to store my office supplies in. So, some real men’s work for change.

I had a strict goal: my colleagues had done this in a hour, so I had to beat them or at least be as fast as them. I have assembled a lot of Ikea stuff in my time, some my own and some of friends. And I have always hated it. I mean, you don’t actually need tools, which a so cool to use, especially power tools. And the material is often so weak that if you don’t read the instructions (RTFM!) you will bend and break some parts, that’s fi jeezy.

So here is a short photo collage of the process, it took me exactly 59 minutes, so I beat the 1 hour limit. I guess now I’ve earned that Cobra beer I had during the lunch.

Last Of The Famous International Playmates


R.I.P. Anna Nicole Smith.

Despite being one of the weirdest and most f*ed-up american celebrities of the last decades, XL Playboy Playmate and cash money widow Anna Nicole Smith seemed always really really sad and unhappy. Even when she was having fun. And she was having fun a lot lot, if you consider drinking cheap cham while popping pills as fun.

I mean - did you ever watch her reality? She was just so out there it was amusing, entertaining and heartbreaking at the same time. I dont think it's even possible to have a life THAT full of unhappiness and misery. So that marriage with the 100-year old dude who died away was obviously a scam to get the dough. But to have your 20-year old son die a couple of days after the birth of your baby girl? And then pass away 5 months later. C'mon, even the Melrose Place writers would've scraped the hell out of that plot line as being far too unrealistic.

So even if 39 is REALLY young, the death was kinda no surprise. Still, my heart goes out to that 5 month old baby girl of hers. She's gonna have one fuc'd up life with her not-confirmed-father and the Hollywood paparazzi vulture set hanging around her.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man


In deed he is. The CEO of hip hop, mr Carter, is known for his large variety of businesses. He's obviously the co-founder of the Rock-A-Fella empire and part owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets and Armadale Vodka, co-brand director of Budweiser / Anheuser-Busch to name a few. Lately he's been the spokesman for Hewlett-Packard notebook computers and Yukon Denali SUV by GM.

To top this all, he has now made a deal with Coke to re-design the new cherry coke can with his Rocawear posse. And much like the Bud Select ads, a Jay-Z song will serve as the soundtrack for this sweet sweet cherry treat.

So he is a business in deed, but when will he cross the line when this all seems ridicilous? I mean, owning businesses and making business is another story, but being a mannequin may not seem so cool after seeing one's face all around on ordinary products and ad campaigns.

And Jigga's effect may already be wearing out - even with his influence late in the year, Bud Select's shipments were down about 8% last year

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

AdSense Goes Gay



We have been blogging about those AdSense –ads on our page before but now is maybe the time to bring this up again – even if this is strictly against the rules and nondisclosure contract of AdSense. But since AdSense earns us only about 10 U.S. cents a week, of which we still haven’t see a single penny actually, I don’t really care if they kick us out of the program.

But yeah, it seems that the gay music-themed entry from last week has been registered by AdSense as well. They are offering all of you these interesting sites:

Are People Born Gay?
Learn more with 100s of expert pros & cons in a nonpartisan format
www.BornGayProCon.org


Gay Travel in Alaska
Alaska Trips for Adventurous Gay & Lesbian Travelers. Sign Up Today!
OutInAlaska.com


But to balance things back a bit we also seem to have a link to a very interesting German web-store, Yo! T.H.U.G.:

Makaveli Branded Store
the one and only official clothing line of Tupac Amaru Shakur
www.makaveli-store.com


No, but wait, wasn't Tupac on that list too?

Thursday, February 01, 2007

"You guys know of a lot more Gay Bands than I do."



From http://lovegodsway.org/

“One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents should keep careful watch over their children's listening habits, especially in this Internet Age of MP3 piracy.”

“Bands to watch out for:” (and I am only listing the best ones here, check the site for a longer list)

* Marilyn Manson (dark gay)
* Morrissey (?questionable?)
* Ted Nugent (loincloth)
* DMX
* The Grateful Dead (AIDS)
* Elton John (really gay)
* Jay-Z
* Barry Manilow

How gay are there artists? For Elton John this makes sense as he is really a homosexual and makes it very obvious too, and maybe Barry Manilow’s music could be considered as being ‘gay’, if you are Cartman from the South Park.

And then they write like this:

“In Our effort to keep this list up to date we'd appreciate your help. If you know of a band that is Gay or propogating a Gay message please email us so we can update. Donnie is handling this his email is: donniedavies@gmail.com. The response is overwhelming. You guys know of a lot more Gay Bands than I do. I can't keep up. Hopefully soon we'll have it so you can add them by yourself.”

Monday, January 29, 2007

On profits and margins of music industry.



The Global music industry trade body said a few weeks ago that:

”Global online music sales nearly doubled in 2006 to about $2 billion, or 10 percent of all sales, but failed to compensate for an overall decline in sales of CDs”.

The fact that online is the fastest growing sales channel is no news, everybody knows that CD is taking its’ last breaths. CD may not die next year, but the signs are clear, like we have blogged here before. But instead what is not so well known is the fact that the record companies must be making better profit distributing music via web than the oldskool way. I mean, take a look at the value chain. In the offline world they had to pay billions for manufacturing, storing, logistics, and resale costs. To simplify a bit: in the online world the webstore is the only player between the record company and the customer, am I right? And once the record company is the webstore, you're actually getting your music straight with no middle men. Ok, the real problem seems to be that the volumes of (legal) online music are still quite low, but hey, that side of the industry is still young.

They keep whining that the total sales are declining, but they don’t admit that their business is actually getting healthier and better once they move online. If you have any info on this matter, I’d like to know. e.g. what is the estimated profit margin on cd’s vs. online music, let me know.

There is one more dark cloud hanging over record companies: albums might be a thing of the past soon. It could easily be all about singles, peeps don't wanna pay for songs they don't wanna listen to. What comes around comes around, the big industry was based on singles and if was only in the 60's when albums became a standard.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Brooklyn Brewskis Spotted!



Finally. It was last summer when we first reported about Koff's promise to start importing Brooklyn Lager into Finland, but despite the marketing blurb, no Brooklyn's finest brewskis were to be found anywhere at all around here.

But now, today, I found 'em. So I can now report that yeah, they do exist. In the Alko (the state monopoly liquor store chain, yeah, we still have that upon us) of the Arabia shopping mall, hidden away on the top self between all those wierd Druid-brewed beers from Belgium. And it's damn expensive too, one bottle is about 5 times the price of any local lagers. But who cares?

Thursday, January 25, 2007

You finally know you are starting to get old when:


You finally know you are starting to get old when:

Bands you used to love start doing re-union & comeback tours.

1.) Diamond Dave, who’s had his share of trials & tribulations during his career for sure, is going to back together with Van Halen for summer of 40 concerts. After 20 years of being on a solo career. I always reallyreallyreally hated Sammy Hagar so that’s cool in a way, but there’s more:

That strangely your-dad-like-looking-beardy-wierdy Michael Anthony is not playing bass in VH anymore but instead Eddie Van Halen’s 15-year old son Wolfgang will be on the bass. ‘Scuse me? And wasn’t Wolfgang actually also the name of Eddie’s guitar somewhere along the way? I am too disgusted to look that up now but who cares.

2.) I am not sure if this is even worse or not but apparently Zack de la Rocha is going back together with Rage Against The Machine for some gigs, or at least for the Coachella festival.

Audioslave sucked from beginning so it’s good if that stops them from existing but didn’t Zach leave RATM for some hard-core political agenda against commercial everything etc.? So what’s up with he joining them again? You ran out of money (and your political agenda) or what, dude?

EDIT!

Apparently Audioslave broke up today, February 16th! Hooray! But wait, does this mean that Soundgarden will reunite?



Bringing the rappers together to spread the universal message of Jah


Being both a reggae fanatic and a hip hop bedroom DJ I have a sweet tooth for rap-reggae colloborations. So I was also really into Game’s ”It’s Okay (One blood)” that featured Junior Reid. Mr. Reid has been doing his stuff for a long time, he made his first single in the 70’s and a few records with Black Uhuru in the 80’s to drop some facts. And we hip hop heads remember that the Staten Island posse Wu-Tang sampled him a few years ago on the song “One Blood Under The W".

All you true Game fans know this by now, but I only recently found out that there is a new remix version of the song out. And not just a remix, it’s the longest remix in the history of hip hop: the total running time is almost 12 minutes. It features a long list of players from all around the States: Jim Jones, Snoop,Nas,TI, Fat Joe,Lil Wayne, NORE, Jadakiss, Styles P, Fabolous, Juelz, Rick Ross, Twista, Kurupt, Daz, WC, E-40, Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Young Dro, Clipse & Ja Rule…. Whooah.

Get yours while you can

Monday, January 22, 2007

Ain't No Other Man But Gordon. Blue Ink & All...

Here’s just a quick Holla! for Kriton’s Number #1 fan and MySpace-friend Gordon Thomas from Canada.

A super huge shout out goes to our man for keeping the party rocking with Kriton tunes!

But psst, dude... Be careful with that blue felt marker or whatever it is you are using ‘cos I think some it has found a way into your cheek somehow? Or could be blue lipstick from some of the ladieeez?

I sure hope it's the latter option.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

"Bandwidth Limit Exceeded"


Oh yeah, it wasn't probably a good idea to post mixtapes into the Kriton.biz site after all. Who was to say it's gonna be so friggin' popular. I thought only my mommy's gonna download it. So the site's down right now. Hope to get it working in a few weeks still... And we'll get a new home for the amazing Hennessy mixtape "Pull Up Di Henny!". Watch this space.

Stay fresh!

ps. That disturbing-ass pic up there is another one of those shots from the upcoming Kriton video "Scared Money".

pps. BTW, The site is down now, so you cant get the music. If you should need Kriton mp3's, hit us up on our myspace site, myspace.com/kritonhigh , we'll send you the goods.

*************
UPDATE: WE'RE BACK LIKE COOKED CRACK!!!!
thanks to our fresh-like-damn service providers, kriton.biz is online again. More bandwidth = more happiness! Go there!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Even more free Kriton material out now!


Here come the hotsteppers! Hennessy has selected and mixed the biggest danchehall anthems and tunes that rocked the Kriton boat last year. It's all done live on two turntables and a lot of gunshots and foghorns guarantee a real banging experience. The mixtape's called "Pull Up Di Henny" and here's the best part... you can easily download it here for free. And if you like it too much, you could order the cd from us or donate a few bucks using the paypal shitstem on this page.

Timbaland and the 40 thieves


How should one react to this?

Basically this nerd blames Timbaland for stealing his nerdy amiga-tune. C'mon, the beat ain't that original and it could just be a coincidence. And if it's true, so what. Hip hop has always been about sampling and this poor guy's tune ain't the first one sacrificed on the altar of music biz.

Monday, January 15, 2007

I Know What You Bought Last Summer


You know the feeling when you realize that your latest shopping binge went overboard and your Visa’s screaming for vengeance like Ozzy in his prime. And you start going through your receipts and price tags from your shopping bags and pockets to figure out what kind of junk you have actually purchased in the last few months/weeks/days/hours.

If you can even remotely relate to the scenario described, you can get the idea how I felt after I came across this tag in the photo above. It’s from a t-shirt i got for my son last summer. I can’t recall the precise location where this item was for sale, but it was during our road trip to Stockholm Sweden. Satans barn?? WTF?? For all you who don’t speak swedish, Satans barn means ”Satan’s baby or kid”.

So, was this intended as an omen? Is this t-shirt designed for Satan’s baby only or even worse... Was this tag actually taken from Lucifers kiddo? How did I really spend my summer vacation? Have I actually met Devil’s descendent a few months ago without knowing it? Or was my offspring mistaken for the future ruler of Beelzebub’s Palace?. The t-shirt did have a large skull on it, so I should avoid any garments resembling a dead skeleton in the future..

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

E.T.’s choice


All nerds know that there have been rumours about this, but now it’s true. This is the thing that E.T. or Alf would grab, if they needed to dial 555-outer space and listen to Bowie's Starman while doing it. The new Apple iPhone seems to be the gadget of all gadgets. Check here how Stevie praises the thingy
I won’t get into too much detail (yuh know, phone+ipod+netbrowser), but the touchscreen seems to be the clue, a true knockout IMO: the phone has only one real button. iPhone ain't ready for 3G yet, but we are waiting.

And to top this all, Job's entourage released Apple TV earlier this week.It is a set top box that connects your home computers to your TV wirelessly via Wlan. Downside for this gadget is its pretty steep price

What gets me excited about this company is both their interest in state of the art design combined with good usability and their ability to deliver the goods – not many disappointments here. Ok, I kinda hate iTunes and the monopoly they have created around it, but that’s another story.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Daily Dose of Environmental Consciousness: China in 2020

Here’s your daily dose of environmental consciousness, think about this for a moment, please.

According to China Daily newspaper China is in dire danger of drowning in its own waste if the the general development of the economy and urbanization keeps going on at the rate it does now, and you don’t really need to be a psychic or a fortune-teller in order to predict the future of China. Yes, it will go on like that.

According to the calculations/predictions, in 2020 China will produce close to 400 million tons of garbage. This equals the amount of waste that was produced the whole world in the year 1997. It is also predicted that in 2020 860 million Chinese will be living cities. This will put an enormous strain on the waste management of the cities. Currently only about 50% of the garbage produced can be recycled and/or post-processed in a environmentally friendly way while the rest is just dumped and piled up like in the photo above.

So the Blade Runner/William Gibson/Judge Dredd –style of highly urbanized dystopian vision of the Mega-Cities is coming true, maybe sooner than we thought? Then again, if you look at the positive side of things, there will be endless business opportunities to be explored in the Chinese waste managment business. Time to invest in some stocks now?

Monday, January 08, 2007

Buddha-In-A-Box for only $25

I was just browsing through the weekly newsletter of TurntableLab and look what I found, another cool yet completely useless plastic noise-making thing Made In China, which I simply need to have! (FIY: NYC-based TurntableLab is the best web-store for records, selected pop-culture and design books, Lomo Cameras, t-shirts/hats/bags, music producing equipment, dj-gear and other cool stuff in the world, period.)

Fm3: Buddha Machine

“This little soundbox has quickly achieved cult classic status in the electronic music community. A fellow record store dude told me that they moved a couple thousand over the holidays (Brian Eno bought 8!). The creators, FM3, are the duo of Christiaan Virant and Chinese keyboardist and computer musician Zhang Jian, both based in Beijing. Their simple box plays 8 ambient loops (buddhist type tones to melodic guitar) and fits in the size of your palm. It includes a built-in speaker, a headphone output, volume control, and a switch that rotates the loops. Plug in your headphones and veg out, or put it by your desk for stress relief. Available in 6 different colors (shipped randomly). Comes in kitschy Chinese packaging too.”

You can use Google and find tons of rave reviews of of the thing and it only costs $25.00. AND look at the blueprint above, there IS a Buddha inside it…



Sunday, January 07, 2007

Kriton video madness and other things



Happy noo year homies. And the new year has been happy for us. Already!

Okay, while Jzzi & Hennessy are getting busy telling you about craploads of really "important" things going on in the world today, i have tried to take on the postion of telling you what's going on with the kriton household. At least every now & then. And now stuff is going on.

This year has started off really well: the shooting of the first ever Kriton High School Bangers music video already started on friday the 5th of january. The video for our horror crunk anthem "Scared Money" is being produced, directed and photographed by the mighty Fiilin.com. I won't spoil too much now, but i'll give you that the video will be gloomy, creepy, psychedelic and somewhat disturbing. David Lynch meets Disney animation meets Chris Cunningham. Just look at this teaser photo from last friday's sessions and imagine the rest. We'll keep you posted about the video when it's coming up! In a youtube near you...

Also we might wanna spoil some other things going on at the Camp Kritón recently. Here's a few hints: brand new Hennessy track, 1st ever Kriton mixtape/mixshow, 1st ever Kriton Beat cd, new Kriton promo cd, rap colloborations, future production colloborations. Other stuff i can't remember right now. Loads of stuff!

2007 and the Kriton is coming on strong.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Buy Whitney's Gear! No, not that gear....

This news is stolen from the mighty Music Thing Blog but I just could not resist:

We, who all love Whitney Houston like I do, all know about her trials, tribulations and troubles with cocaine, crack rock and Bobby Brown , her teeth and hair falling off and so on. Well, now also the tax office is after her and as consequence she is forced to auction off lot of her old live equipment and stage show props.

The auction is being held in New Jersey next Monday and I must say that there is a lot of weird stuff UTILIZED BY WORLD FAMOUS RECORDING ARTIST WHITNEY HOUSTON for sale there!

Besides a lot of “designer stage wear” (mostly Dolce & Gabbana, btw), there is a pile of old Roland keyboards, a Hammond, Bobby Brown music awards (mostly for cassette tape sales), "1 Aroma Steam Personal Sauna, in two flight cases", "'Whitney's Throne' Chair", a Lucite Grand Piano with no legs, and many old Akai samplers. Maybe there is a crack pipe hiding somewhere there as well?

But really, how sad. Let’s make fun of her now that she is still alive but she is gone we will all feel bad everytime when we listen to “I Will Always Love You”, “ I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and especially my all-time Whitney favorite, “My Love Is Your Love”.


Friday, December 22, 2006

I Dream Of Eclectic Sheep, free mp3s again



Free music is good, especially when it’s good. So, again in keeping with the spirit of giving and the holiday season, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa etc., here’s another downloadable gift for free (and it's 100% legit) mp3s for yo’all. It’s the new album from a great Finnish band, Treeball.

Sure, we know some the guys in the band but besides them being really good, what we also have in common is the philosophy of giving our music away for free. You shouldn't have to pay for it, unless you like it and want to pay for it. Which reminds me, if you want to donate some money for us, please feel free to do so by sending any amount/currency you want to us via www.Paypal.com on our official email: kritonmusic@gmail.com. Thanks!

But get their album, if you are into Indie Pop, that is. But who is not into Indie Pop every once in a while? Listen to it with your eggnog, mistletoes, menorah, Xmas-tree and whatever assorted accessories you might need during the Christmas.

Treeball: I Dream of Eclectic Sheep

Treeball release their second album of 2006, I Dream Of Eclectic Sheep. 10 new songs featuring material written by Nick Triani, Astrid Swan, Janne Lehtinen & Michael McDonald. All ten tracks are available as a free download below with a copy of the cover for you to print.

Razz Dat!


Now, if you want to loose completely mindlessly some of your employers’ time while waiting for the holidays to begin, go play with this thing.

It’s Razz Mixer, kind of a online recording device where you can record your own stupid... hmmm, well basically anything. Do a rap or tell a joke, make a political speech or just upload your favorite track and fart into the mic and play with the stupid sound effects provided in the mixer. In fact, I cannot think of anything stupider than that. But what’s even better, in theory you can win 250 USD while doing it.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Don't say it, put it on a T-Shirt


Last nite I watched BET Hip Hop awards, which is like the Oscars for hip hop: a lot of great artists, no real surprises and a lot of bullshit said on stage.

But they were all there, and all the biggest anthems got played. The hottest moments were in my opinion (not particulary in this order):

1) Luda's performance as a response to Nas. Quite satirical, humorous. Read the T-Shirt. It's a powerful media.

2) Game's performance of "One Blood" that ended in a boring speech about beefs. That he respects Jigga and Fitty. Yadada. Even Jay-Z himself fell asleep during these words.

3) Busta's speech after receiving the "best live perfomer" award or something like that. He pretty straightforwardly dissed a lot of these new cats who just stand on the stage holding their groins.

4) Almost all artists had hoodies with shiny blingy things on them. What's up wit that? Rappers shop nowadays at H&M's?

5) Lil Wayne was really hyped and jumped around a lot, even after his set

6) Dipset soooo ain't about singing. Jim Jones couln't find a note if he ran over it on a H3

7) Chamillionaire seemed like really a humble guy, a bit lost on the stage.

And the track of the year was.... "it's going down" by Young joc.

Damn, girl! Watch out for those Flames....


Yo’all know about this already fo ‘sho but I just want to express my deep feelings for Lost’s lovely Kate AKA Evangeline Lily, who house just burned down in Hawaii. Damn!

And this piece of news fits just perfectly in with the vibe of destruction and general f**ked-up:ness that has been going on with Kriton Records’ official website www.kriton.biz recently.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Kriton crash!


Old news for those who have tried to check our site (www.kriton.biz) and bad news for those who are looking into visiting: kriton.biz is down again. We hope to get it fixed it in a couple of days.

Still reminding you to go there asap when it's back on: the Collie Buddz remix "Come Around" (a.k.a. When The Kriton Come Around...) is up for downloading!! watch this space, we'll tell you when to go!

**************
#UPDATE # 21.12.2006

WE ARE BACK ON! I REPEAT: WE ARE BACK ON!
Yes, Kriton.biz is working again.
Now go there and download that crazy sucker called "When Kriton Come Around".
It is sooooo worth it.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Stig will hold 'em



We the Kriton Bwoyz have been diggin' Stig Dogg since the day one and two. Stig is the man. And now he's got a brand new vid out, with a trendy poker theme. Check this new piece of artwork out, there are some porn star cameos and such, so pay attention...

We always appreciate the silly overuse on bubbly. Those who can, do it.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Very Special Blends AKA free mp3s! Go get 'em!


When we started this blog some months back we promised that Kriton Music is above all 'an independent 100% free record label', remember?

Well, in order to keep that promise, every once in a while we need to deliver, which we have done along the way fo' sho, but right now and in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season and all that, I want to remind all of you that we have a very special extra secret Kriton-webpage decicated to
Some Very Special Blends.

So click that fat motha and go NOW there and fill up all yo' hard drives, iPods and whatnot & enjoy!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Doctor's Order: Cannabis is Go! in Finland.


Right on! This is good news from today’s newspaper. Or is it really?

The right to use medicinal cannabis in pain relief has been granted for the first time in Finland. A man who hurt his back and neck seriously in an car accident and who has been forced to take different opiate-based pain killers take continuously for four years was given prescription for one year to use medicinal cannabis. Obviously the side-effects of taking medicinal grade morphine or heroin or other hardcore-opiate derivatives for four years were judged to be bit heavy for anyone.

The man had to appeal for court and the decision in his favor took 1.5 years to go through. It is also strictly for one year with no promise of continuation after that.

So basically he can have his weed in order to help him kick the morphine-habit and then after a year he is forced to go directly back to using it again. Is cannabis really so dangerous that it is officially better to use morphine instead, or what?

And since this is the first case in Finland, where is he going to score his weed and/or hash? I am sure local pharmacies do not carry cannabis products since importing any kind of cannabis product into Finland is a serious crime carrying penalties of up to several years in prison. This applies to pharmacists too. Maybe he has to grow his own, which of course is strictly illegal too. In fact it is currently illegal to even have seeds, ceramic pots or any other similar things that could be considered as equipment and accessories to be intended to be used in producing cannabis in any form.

Or maybe now it’s time for someone to form the first Finnish cannabis buyers’ club?

But seriously, this case just shows once again how conservative, backwards and hypocrite Finland really is.

NEWSFLASH! NEWSFLASH! NEWSFLASH!

Ok, turns out that the local pharmacist, who also happened to be the person who helped and supported the dude in pain with the court case against The Man, got a special license to order a one-year-supply of official dutch medicinal weed from aDutch state controlled ganja-provider...

Monday, December 11, 2006

Kobe beef and Pata Negra, por favor


When it comes to food, I sometimes like being elitistic. I may not be the ultimate connoisseur of the culinaristic brotherhood extraordinaire, but I’m known to enjoy the good things in life once in a while. What I’m reporting here is not suitable for hard core vegans, so they might consider clicking this instead. However this story is a story of one of the most happiest animals in the machinery of western and oriental food industry.

Last friday I had the priviledge to enjoy both Pata Negra and Kobe beef on the same plate. Pata Negra may not be such a rare treat, it’s just probably the best kind of Spanish ham (jamón serrano) that comes from Iberia. The point of this delicacy is that this type of ham comes from black Iberian pigs, who roam freely in the groves of cork oak and their diet consists mainly of sweet and dandy acorns.

Kobe beef is a bit of the same thing, but still a lot more. First of all, the Kobe beef is flown especially from Japan . That’s elitistic to begin with, right? The Kobe beef comes from a breed of cattle called Wagyu, and the guys over there have been selectively breeding for this marbling grade for centuries. What makes Kobe such a tasty form of meat comes from a few facts:

• The cattle receives several massages during the day
• During the massage they are rinsed with beer and/or sake
• They are massaged by hand
• They are also fed with beer/sake
• After a hard day someone actually sings lullabies to the cattle, so that they fall asleep relaxed.

The point of this kind of nurture is that these animals are supposedly happy until the bitter end and and therefore have no stress.

Was it worth it? Very often really rare dishes taste not too good or not at least as well as they should after you have paid a small fortune on them. But both Pata Negra and Kobe beef were pretty goddamn delicious and they were as smooth as you could expect.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

I became a Fonero today. A what?


* Hi jzZi !
* You are the # 184XXX member of the FON Community, and you're alien.

It's on now. I read about it in a newspaper today and I am already one of them. 'A Fonero'. Here's the deal: There is a Spanish company: www.fon.com and they have a special deal for you if you live in Finland. When you register at the site they will send you a free WI-FI router, 'La Fonera', completely free of charge, apparently. But by signing up, you promise to hook it up with your Internet-connection and share it with all the other 'Foneros'. This will also mean that once you join the community and share yours, you get also the right to use other Foneros' WI-FI connections for free all over the world.

This sounds so cool, at least in theory. I share my WI-FI connection for anyone at range from my home anyway, no passwords, no nothing. Since I pay my montly fee and about 95% of all time I am not using it, and even if I am, then what? If you cannot afford your own internet connection (about 20 euros a month at the cheapest) then go ahead and use mine. I am cool with it.

I have had this idea for a long time, if everyone would share their WI-FI internet connections with everyone, the world would be a happy place, the global village would come true and all that hippy 'ish. But really, why not? Of course your and my ISP makes this forbidden in the contract they make you sign with them, they are only in it for the money for sure, but currently the Finnish Bureau for Consumer Protection states that this clause in the contract is an empty one. There is absolute no law against you sharing your internet with others.

But back to the La Fonera. I am excited, yet skeptical. Surely there must be 'a dog buried under it' as the old Finnish saying goes. I will keep you posted on what happens next.

"Special Offer for La Fonera for free (shipping cost and sales tax included)

This Special Offer is valid until 24-12-2006 date 24:00 hour and limited to 15.000 units and users that register or are already registered as Foneros. This Offer is limited to one router per user and shipping address. You will not be eligible for this Offer if you have previously purchased a subsidised La Fonera at www.fon.com.

Once FON has confirmation that you have registered as a member of our Community, we will send you the La Fonera for free (shipping costs and sales tax are included). Once you have received your La Fonera, your will be required to install the La Fonera and maintain it activated within the FON Community. If for any reason you are not able to do so, we ask that you kindly pass the La Fonera onto a friend who wants to share WiFi as a Fonero."

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Wii will Wii will hurt you!


Yes it will. And that's why Nintendo is now worried about FAK's, their primary customer segment. Nintendo has the new Wii console out that is controlled by the Wii controller. The controller has a motion sensor kinda thing, that responds to real life movements (!) so that basically you could play tennis games by waving your hand or wrist. I haven't tried this, so this is what I guess the gadget does.

But here's the funny part: now there a a lot of reported incidents where these remotes have slipped from the greasy palms of some passionate wii-banging-kids causing serious damage to their environment. Check out the instructions before you go breaking your mommy's precious china or daddy's rare collection of german beer glasses in the heat of the game. I think all real computer nerds can say this aloud: Thou shall not mix real life with artificial life. Kids can't handle it.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Kriton Boys Come Around



As previously mentioned, The Chiton boys have been really busy lately. Busy making beats, busy sampling drums, busy learning to play sitar sounds through synths and busy just parenting in general. In the midst of this process they still had time to sit down and celebrate the forthcoming holiday season. So last weekend they locked themselves into the Alppilounge recording studios, packed the place with luxury snacks: Star shaped ginger bread, VSOP Cognac, hot juice, ever trendy Vodka and tasty liquers + some other stuff too (Thanks for this goes to Marky Mark – not the funky bunch. Dude, we loves U). Besides the obvious obesity and fratboy party shout outs they managed to work all night and complete their latest remix. This time they had to go from India to the West Indies to get the tasty elements they needed.

So here it is, Collie Buddz’s Come Around remixed by the Boyz Take a bite and pass it on the left hand side.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Drugs are bad, mmmmkay?



Ok, this is another videoflick that I'm posting here this week, but this material is hilarious. It's a vast source for Quasimoto kind of spoken samples.

Let's this be a warning to all you kids. Stay away from drugs of all kind. Drugs are baaaaad, mmmmmkay?

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Emo kids gone friggin' cuckoo and dancing to embrace their insanity and appearing pretty goofy while doing it and therefore not proving their point



I hope my own offspring will not end up like these brats. It's a weird phenomenon, try searching for "knuck if you buck" on Youtube. OMG.

Hindustani dubstep, I presume?


After last night’s recording session I became obsessed with playing sitar.I have tried a large variety of string instruments from cellos to 12 string acoustics and from banjos to bloody balalaicas. But sitars I haven’t layed my hands on yet, dayammn! I should get one from e-bay, I guess. Those babies rrrr hott!

So yesterday we once again experimented with old synths, digging out weird sounds. We were really hyped once we found a sound titled "Cryton", but it was a biiiig disappointment, no hotness was found there. But a feeling of great expectations soon arrived trumpeting the joy of life as we found the sitar sound. So we cranked the amps up and tried to to emulate the vibes from Alppila’s wicked Bollywood type-o-samples on his MPC. Nothing too original here I guess to begin with, but try to imagine this mixed with

- 1.5 litres of new reggae accapellas about sensi
- a large bowl of unwashed and dirty grimey subsynths
- 3 spoonfuls of Justin Timberlake kinda synth arpeggios
- 2 teaspoons of live electric bass
- Finely chopped themes from classic Indie rock songs
- 3 medium pieces of strongly echoed ItaloWestern-like guitars
- Mad echoes and dub delays to your taste

And you will once again get the point of being a Kriton. It is an organization of madness. But it’s all good, aint’t it?

And to make this blog accurate, Jzzi could point out the make and the model of the synth we used. Fi dem nerds out dere.

/ہندوستانی

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

A Guy Called ?uest




Last saturday I had the pleasure of meeting Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson from The Roots, when he stopped by in Helsinki to play a dj gig.

I know ?uest is a huge friggin icon for many of you jazzy hippie nu-soul type cats (the type of people who actually might use the term "cat" when referring to a male). And although The Roots is not always exactly my cup of tea (still, the new album is mad NICE!) still I must admit that ?uest is an incredibly talented and prolific musician and producer. All that blah blah yada yada, we all know that stuff. Musically, the man is near genius.

But the big news here is... This dude was one of the friendliest, nicest, sincerest and most outspoken people ive met in the music bizness. No ego trippin, no putting other artists down, no ass-kissin, no dissing, no pre-written biography answers type bullcrap. The guy was actually making conversation

People say that his dj gig wasn't maybe the hottest thing since sliced pizza (i didn't go since it was too late, too Kallio and i was too beat). But even if it had been crazy wicked, i wouldn't even regret not going. The interview was just enough for me. ?uest confivinced me that musos can be decent humans too. Which sometimes seems to escape me.

And also: he was one of the biggest dudes I've seen in all my life. I mean XXXXXL-large.

Friday, November 17, 2006

For the Love of Sneakers. Price 1800 U.S. Dollars



Hi, my name is jzZi and I am an Ebay-a-holic. But whatever, but there is so much cool stuff there.

Hennessy was blogging here about sneakers some time ago and yeah, I love ‘em too. I have scored more than my share of sneakers from eBay but just look at this Ebay-deal: apparently some people love & cherish rubbery kicks more than others.

The auction ended last weekend but lord, 1800 dollars sure is a lot of money to pay for a cardboard boxful of nostalgia from 1985. Especially when the same seller is auctioning a pair of similar original Air Jordan One's, currently for only USD 11.50.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

It's a dirty Yob, but someone's gotta do it.

Being a young person in the windy island of the Britons must be hard nowadays. First they banned you from football games if you had a registered history of rioting in these matches. You wuz surely a dangerous hooligan. Then they didn’t let you in certain pubs/bars/clubs if you happened to wear a Burberry cap. You wuz a friggin Chav. Now they have you under heavy surveillance if you wear a hoodie, you must be a goddamn Yob!. And being a Yob, means that you are most definitely suffering from ASBO, you little rascal!

We’ve come a long way from the 90’s lad culture, which was amusing, but pretty positive in most aspects. A bit of degrading of women, some overuse of alcohol and some stupid behaviour, that’s all.

But are these chavs and yobs really such a danger to average tea-and-biscuit-posse , or is this just a new fad of the media in the UK. You should check out Macintyre’s Big Sting. and make up your own mind…

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

What's wrong with this picture


Posing is an artform. And people are divided into three types when it comes to posing. First there are those who can pose and those who can’t. And then there are people who can’t but who have talented people helping them to look cool anyway.

Glam Rock is all about posing, and nowadays a lot of northern kids wanna play in some sort of glam band. This is a problem when they can’t pose and don’t have the right people who could make them look cool still. Let’s take a a look at this pic above. And I must say I have nothing against this band (the name of the group shall remain unmentioned), it’s the record company who should have paid a bit more attention and a few more euros on the stylist/AD.

Let’s start from the left. This guy’s pretty ok, he’s got the ripped clothing, a Lolita-like chewing gum and all. And he’s a bit like Nikki Sixx. Or maybe Awa from Lordi. Or one of the younger sisters of Tik Tak. I guess all teen girls and sugar daddys wanna take him home and rub him the right way.

But the trouble begins with the singer (the upfront guy must be the singer,’cos he’s… well.. upfront, like singers usually like to be situated). His only desire is to be like Sid Vicious, but the innocence from his face just deletes all viciousness from 15 meters around him. And the body posture… That’s a classic “I farted/I have crapped my pants”-pose. And it seems that there is a pile of something beneath him already.

And my favourite couple are these ”playas” on the right. First of all the hat-guy propably goes running back to the university to study more mathematics once he sees this picture with him wearing make-up for the first and last time. And he should give that hat back to his professor on the way.

The guy on the right either has a wig or then all that hair has been photoshopped afterwards, I can’t tell. Quite confusing indeed. And the guy with the hat actually seems to be holding this guys' balls. What’s up with that? Can’t hold your own balls? All I have in this world is my balls and my buddy’s balls an my word???

A few more hours in front of the mirror, a few more evenings watching Hanoi Rocks videos and a professional stylist. That’s all it takes kids. Honestly.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Snowed in, rollin' on 22’s


Today it finally came here, the illest time of the year. For people with cars this means that you have to put chrome rims to the basement and replace them with something more suitable for winter conditions.

Good news for wealthy Scandinavians is that Nokian has finally a new winter tire that fits even 22 inch rims. The new Hakkapeliitta 5 SUV’s are a necessity if your want to take your Hummer out for a ride to hunt for reindeer or such.

But if you listen to rap lyrics, 22’s are nowadays nothing to brag with, real players go for 24's or 26’s or like the realest n****s would roll with 28’s.


You see me rollin'...