The Academic Bookstore in Helsinki

Now, you may know that I think books are overrated. I like books, certainly, and am likely to spend a fair bit of time in bookshops, but the same applies to homeware stores and cafes. However, there is one bookstore, the mother of them all, that I could live in (also because it has a cafe). The few occasions I have the chance to visit leave me with a little bit more hope and thrill about the world.

What's in a name, Severus Kalkaros?

I've just read Pollomuhku ja Posityyhtynen, written by the Finnish translator of the Harry Potter books Jaana Kapari-Jatta. In it Kapari-Jatta talks about the process of translating the novels, the complexities of finding suitable translations for Rowling's neologisms, decisions about which names to translate and hoping that a particular judgement call on a translation doesn't destroy crucial hints or plot developments in subsequent books.

Krótki pomyślenie o filmie

I'm thinking about European cinema: the texts, the makers, the markets and so on. And I think I've come up with the film that best represents all of European cinema. Are you ready?


Carry on Godard! I Know What You Did Last Year in Marienbad... With Monika.

Now all I need is for someone to make it.