Eppu – Page 3 – Co-Geeking

Quotes: Online, I Can Be in My Head and with Interesting People

June 18, 2025February 16, 2025EppuLeave a comment

In an older article about disclosure when writing online, author Roxane Gay includes the following explanation of what being an introvert online means for her:

“For me, one of the biggest draws of the Internet has always been how I can be alone and yet find connection with other people. I am an introvert. I can fake extroversion, but it is exhausting. I prefer quiet, even when I am happily around other people. I spend an inordinate amount of time in my head. Online, I can be in my head and with interesting people. I can be alone but feel less lonely.”

A fantastic explanation—which, of course, means that it lines up with my experience of the world, heh heh. 🙂

I’m sure if you’re reading this you know that in general introverts do not hate people—that would be misanthropy—nor do they fear social encounters—that’s shyness. (Well, of course they can, but it’s not baked into every introvert.) It seems there’s now more understanding in general that introversion is about social energy, and that introverts recharge by being alone.

I’ve come to realize that alone time is just a part of how my introversion manifests itself. I feel enormously better, for example, if my home is in a corner instead of the middle. Text-based communication is better than voice. Listening before leaping is a better strategy at meetings or gatherings. And sometimes, when I want to be around people but don’t have the energy to actually engage, it’s enough to hang out in a library or a less-busy corner of a mall, or go out to eat, or spend time browsing in a brick-and-mortar store.

Life is so much easier when you know what makes yourself tick. 🙂

Gay, Roxane. “The Danger of Disclosure.” Creative Nonfiction 49, https://creativenonfiction.org/writing/the-danger-of-disclosure/

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Living Vicariously Through Social Media: Red Lights in the Vatican

May 21, 2025May 10, 2025Eppu1 Comment

In his work, video director, photographer, and art director Aishy plays with color and light. One of his most striking projects is the Red Lights: Vatican series. Interior views from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City become striking and very different from their everyday state.

Aishy’s work is often described as having a sci-fi or cyberpunk flair. However, what his Vatican photos remind me of is how ancient Mediterranean statues and buildings in their original state were not the bland off-white or grey we currently know, but vibrantly painted.

Instagram Aishy St Peters Basilica Vault

And to get back to the cyberpunk idea: wouldn’t it be more interesting—or at the very least less ubiquitous—if your next dystopia were not visually mostly black or grey, but eyeball-bustingly garish in color? Surely that could also be quite dystopic, right?

There are some specific examples I can think of. The throne room in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, for starters, looks magnificently arresting. I’m just a little tired of red (or the combination of red and black). Sure, it’s a strong color often linked to strong emotions, but it tends to be overused. How about orange instead, like the Las Vegas of Blade Runner 2049? Or in Jupiter Ascending? Perhaps purple, turquoise, or chartreuse?

Just tone down the use of those ever-present blacks and greys, thanks.

(As a sidenote, the ancestry festival in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker delighted me for its happy colors, even if the planet itself was another desert.)

Images by Aishy via Instagram: Dome. Vaulted ceiling.

The Visual Inspiration occasional feature pulls the unusual from our world to inspire design, story-telling, and worldbuilding. If stuff like this already exists, what else could we imagine?

Tonight: Eurovision Galore for Finnish Fans

May 17, 2025May 17, 2025Eppu3 Comments

Eurovision 2025 is a very exciting year for Finnish fans—we have not just our official representative, Erika Vikman, but as a bonus, the Finnish comedy group KAJ represents Sweden. Finland probably never has been as invested in following the winning odds—because KAJ’s song is so Finnish through and through, it really feels like we do have two representatives!

Reddit Eurovision Finns Watching Odds Like

In addition to the two acts, I was surprised to find that Finns have had their fingers in other countries’ Eurovision pies, too: besides Erika Vikman’s stage show, designer Ari Levelä has participated in creating the visuals for Austria and Cyprus, and Estonia’s song Espresso Macchiato is co-written and produced by Finnish songwriter Johannes Naukkarinen. It is indeed a very exciting Eurovision year for Finland!

The grand finale takes place late tonight, 22.00 / 10 p.m. our time, and it’s going to run at least four hours. (Gosh, I almost have a headache from the mere thought of staying up that late!)

I’m really torn. I really hope KAJ wins, because Bara bada bastu is so joyful, cozy, and sweet, exactly what the world needs right now. But only if KAJ guys get to keep their quirkiness, happiness, and wholesomeness, because it’s part of their charm, and you can’t do that if you’re sleep deprived and exhausted and harangued by media and fans alike. Plus, it would give Sweden their 8th Eurovision win, pushing them ahead of Ireland (both have seven wins ATM), which as a Nordic person I would LOVE.

At the same time, though, Erika Vikman’s win would be stupendous—it would be the second time Finland wins, the first win for a female solo artist from Finland, and a win for female empowerment. It’s a catchy song with a great beat at the end, and a challenging tune (i.e., meant for a skilled singer). Apparently, after Thursday’s second semifinal there’s been a surge of interest; some have even wondered whether she might really turn out to be this year’s dark horse.

Moreover, Erika’s is an act where a grown-up woman dresses and sings how she wants, instead of a serving of bare female flesh centered around stereotypical male sexual desire (i.e., a slip of a girl decked up in barely-there sparkly cover-ups furiously gyrating and tossing her hair). (*cough* Cyprus 2018, Cyprus 2019, Cyprus 2021 *cough*) Acts are acts, sure, but like KAJ’s, Erika’s seems to contain a certain amount of authenticity that people respond to.

Ohwell. In the end, I suspect I’ll just be overjoyed that Finland has two such strong contenders this year. Following Käärijä’s second place in 2023, recent years have been exceedingly good from the point of view of Finnish Eurovision fans, and that’s not something to sneeze at. 🙂

As a cherry on top, all of the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland) AND all of the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) qualified for the grand final. All at the same time, for the first time. Yay for us smaller countries in the north! 🙂

Reddit Eurovision 2025 All Nordics Baltics Cropped

Images: Odds screencap via WaterNeedsYou on Reddit Eurovision. All Nordics and Baltics via Henroriro_XIV on Reddit Eurovision (cropped).

An occasional feature on music and sound-related notions.

Murderbot Inside Look Clip and Cast Tease

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025EppuLeave a comment

Murderbot the tv adaptation releases today with the first two episodes! Woot!

There’s a 2-minute inside look clip with some new footage…

Murderbot — An Inside Look | Apple TV+ by Apple TV on YouTube

…and a 15-minute cast tease:

Alexander Skarsgård and cast of Murderbot TEASE what to expect from All Systems Red adaptation by Radio Times on YouTube

I haven’t yet seen the latter; I’m saving it for just the right time. (It’s Eurovision week, and as Finland entirely and utterly unofficially has two representatives this year, I have more incentive to stay up wayyy past my usual bedtime three nights this week. I’m almost too old for this shit, but not yet!)

~~Despite digging, I haven’t been able to find exactly when the episodes become available~~. keydekyie on Tumblr very kindly reminded the world that Apple lists the next day as the air date to avoid confusion due to different time zones, so the first episodes actually dropped on Thursday at 9 p.m. EST.

Woot! Although in Finnish time, that’s 4 a.m., which is definitely not the easiest of viewing times. (It’s been a long while since being 7 hours ahead of EST felt this hard.) OTOH, it means we could see each new episode over breakfast… That’s an intriguing thought…! Anyway, we *still* need to decide whether we want to see one episode a week, or whether we’ll wait till the end to binge it all at once.

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A New Version of Pride and Prejudice Is in Preproduction

May 9, 2025April 27, 2025Eppu1 Comment

Ooh! A new version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is in the works!

Netflix is producing the 6-episode adaptation. Author Dolly Alderton will adapt and Euros Lyn direct. Of the cast so far announced are Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet—which will be a fantastic performance, I’m sure—plus Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy.

At this writing the new P&P series is only in preproduction, so lots of unknowns remain, including release date. According to Netflix, production is slated to start in the UK this year, but that’s all so far.

Wow, I’ve been wanting another Jane Austen adaptation for a while, so this is great! Not necessarily P&P, though, it’s been done so many times, but I’ll take it. 🙂

As I said, I firmly believe Colman will be great, and I seem to remember good things about Corrin (Princess Diana in The Crown and Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine). Lowden, however, is completely new to me; I have no idea what kind of an actor he might be.

Another complete unknown to me is writer Dolly Alderton. However, I’ve seen the work of director Euros Lyn in Doctor Who and Torchwood as well as Broadchurch and Sherlock (the latter with Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch). Broadchurch, especially, was fantastic, and he and Colman worked together in that.

Very promising! Looking forward to hearing more about this adaptation.

Images via IMDB, mashup by Eppu Jensen: Olivia Colman. Emma Corrin. Jack Lowden.

Quotes: We Are None of Us One Thing Alone and Unchanging

May 7, 2025December 8, 2024Eppu1 Comment

Every now and then you read snippets where an overused truism is poked and prodded in a way that nudges something loose.

“His features, his gestures, his long black braid: All these had become as familiar to me as if I had known them my entire life long, yet I had first encountered him only a few days ago. I did not understand it. Was this what kinship meant? A sense, deep in your bones, that the person next to you is part of you? Inextricable from what you are? That you could not be who you are without their existence as part of the architecture of your very self?

“We are none of us one thing alone and unchanging. We are not static, or at rest. Just as a city or a prince’s court or a lineage is many people in one, so is a person many people within one, always unfinished and always like a river’s current flowing onward ever changing toward the ocean that is greater than all things combined. You cannot step into the same river twice.”

– Catherine in Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

I remember being kinda stunned one time, years ago now, when talking to a coworker and she said she never re-reads books. I find that unfathomable, to be honest. It’s a bit like never eating the same food twice.

Strictly speaking, of course, the two examples are different, since repeatedly cooking the same dishes makes the kind of pragmatic sense that re-reading does not and cannot offer. But if you eat your favorite foods more than once, why wouldn’t you read your favorite books more than once? It’s so exhilarating to gain a deeper or a wider understanding of a work or phenomenon you think you thoroughly know already, because you have changed.

Elliott, Kate. Cold Magic. London: Orbit, 2010, p. 384-385.

Image by Eppu Jensen

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Murderbot Trailer, Clip, and Images

April 25, 2025May 10, 2025Eppu

Earlier this month, Vanity Fair published a picture-heavy first-look feature on the upcoming Murderbot adaptation.

The article is definitely worth a look, especially since (at this writing) it has more photos than IMDB. Way more. And they look great! I mashed up some of them into a collage, below, mostly for my own enjoyment:

(Some are also available for download at the Apple TV+ Press website.)

We still don’t see much of the company or Corporation Rim even in these first look photos, but it looks dark and imposing (top left in my mashup). I assume the other spaces with orange accents are either the Preservation Aux habitat down on the planet or their hopper, or (less likely) the DeltFall survey habitat.

Readers of Murderbot books know that Preservation is everything Corporation Rim isn’t when it comes to human rights and comfort, and it’s fantastic how the set design has implied that with a paler, more cheerful color scheme and with plants (bottom right in my mashup). Looks like some of them are edible, but some look decidedly decorative.

A tidbit that’s definitely not from the first Murderbot book is revealed by the first look article: “One of the funniest sequences in the series involves […] a human indentured servant who has been alone too long in the reaches of space and makes the mistake of trying to seduce the uninterested security unit.”

Err. Hm. I could see why they’d want to include the scene (as a further hint of how SecUnits in general work), but mostly I can’t see how it could add more than confuse. We’ll have to wait for the series to dissect it further.

There is also a trailer…

Murderbot — Official Trailer | Apple TV+ by Apple TV on YouTube

…and a very short clip (content note: a large, exposed wound):

Murderbot — Premieres May 16 on Apple TV+ #Murderbot by Apple TV on YouTube

The clip doesn’t reveal much, just that Murderbot doesn’t have a bellybutton or nipples.

But the trailer!

(Confession: My very first thought was ‘Murderbot has a stupid voice’—sorry, Alexander—followed by ‘but I’m sure I’ll get over it’.)

The writing team has included Murderbot’s favorite show The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. For real: we’ll actually get to see some of the show, and it looks fabulous! And what a cast—according to Vanity Fair, Sanctuary Moon stars John Cho, Jack McBrayer, Clark Gregg, and DeWanda Wise.

Also, they’ve kept Murderbot’s inner dialogue—woot!—and the Preservation team looks and feels absolutely bang on. They even have colorful rugs on their mission! Plants and rugs lugged along on a planetary survey—if that doesn’t tell you anything about Preservation’s attitude towards life in general, I don’t know what will.

I’m ridiculously excited about the Murderbot series. (I had to force myself to go back and delete a whole bunch of exclamation marks from this post, if you can believe it!) I really, truly hope it’ll be good, and no-one’s marketing-directored it to death. So far it’s looking promising!

Images by Apple TV+ via Vanity Fair

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The Fascinating Art of Fridgescaping

April 23, 2025November 3, 2024Eppu

Have you heard of fridgescaping? The phenomenon apparently started on TikTok, and in a nutshell comes from “landscaping” your fridge.

Sounds like some people got into it during the covid lockdowns. There are various approaches to decorating the inside of your refrigerator, and ways to organize are, of course, as varied as the creators.

Some are more pragmatic, others kinda outlandish. There is practical with pastels, like Samantha Klein (samswhurld) prefers…

Instagram Samantha Klein Freshly Cleaned

…or rustic and earthy, as for instance the styling by Amira Youssef (dusk2illdawn):

Instagram Amira Youssef Fridge Organization

Others favor bright and colorful arrangements, like Tânia Lourenço (homganize):

All of the above are still mainstream. Lynzi Judish (lynziliving) takes fridgescaping to another level. Hers designs are very pretty, lushly styled, and themed. There is, for instance, a Beetlejuice…

…and a Hobbit project:

If you prefer, you can see Judish’s Hobbit fridgescape as a video. She’s also posted photos of a fall-themed project (with a cute squirrel mug) and a Bridgerton fridgescape. (Ha! There’s a hastag #fridgerton! 😀 )

The themed fridges are, I admit, kinda fun.

However: I have A LOT of questions! I’m not on Instagram or TikTok, and plan not to begin just to do a bit of research. But, like—

I see a lot of snack-type produce. Where do the fridgescapers store their actual food? Food food, the cooked food? (Surely they do cook warm meals…?) Or leftovers?
Are the containers food safe? Please tell me they all are!
Are they ruining the books or photos or decorative boxes placed in the fridge?
Why does everything need to be decanted? (Yes, I know why—it’s the look. However, all those themed empty containers are just more clutter to store elsewhere and more $$$ down the drain.)
How do they keep re-arranging their fridges without wasting an inordinate amount of energy?

Also: While I do enjoy a (thoughtfully) decorated space, for me, function has to come first. It absolutely must; I cannot live otherwise. I have to have a home that works; if it looks good, too, that’s great! But I must be able to use things I need when I need them, not after five minutes of digging or setup. (Which is also why I must have a dedicated sewing room with the machine on a table, ready to go at a moment’s notice.) If a space or area isn’t useable, it’s a source of frustration for me, which isn’t worth it, especially not for everyday functions like the fridge.

(Apparently, the scaping fad is spreading: there is now also talk about pantryscaping, deskscaping, and doorscaping. Good grief—it feels almost like another (insert-your-term-here)core is on the loose!)

Verdict: there’s something appealing in the idea, but ultimately it’s not for me. You should do you, though. 🙂

Images: Freshly cleaned & stocked by Samantha Klein on Instagram. Fridge organization by Amira Youssef on Instagram. Greens and yellows by Tânia Lourenço on Instagram. Beetlejuice and Hobbit by Lynzi Judish on Instagram.

In Here highlights interesting spaces created by our fellow geeks all over the world.

Bara Bada Bastu: Cultural References

April 17, 2025May 16, 2025Eppu2 Comments

Erik provided an introduction to Bara bada bastu, the Swedish contender for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.

(A super-short recap of his post: the song Bara bada bastu, ‘Just having a sauna’, despite representing Sweden, is in fact performed by the Finnish comedy group KAJ. As a result of KAJ’s popularity, Swedes and Finns are finding a new spirit of Eurovision togetherness, and it has also brought some international recognition to the little-known Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.)

Here, as a companion post, is a listing of cultural references in KAJs song and in the performance.

I’m pulling some of this from my own experience growing up in Finland, but others from online commentary, or my Swedish-Finnish friends’ stories. This list is, therefore, likely not to be complete. Additions are very welcome!

(Note: I will be referring to the official ESC music video of Bara bada bastu, so you may want to have a look at that, or perhaps this lyrics video with their local Vörå Swedish dialect in addition to Finnish and English translations. If you’re completely new to sauna, you can look at my introduction to sauna bathing.)

KAJ—which rhymes with the English word guy—is made up of Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård, who all originally hail from Vörå, Ostrobothnia, Finland. The idea behind the song is to gently poke fun at how Swedes view Finns and our culture. Here we go! 🙂

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