The Final Page -

Epilogue

Venlala has left the Love Boat and returned to the shore.

Many of my work colleagues are talented artists. The Love Float was intended to be published in our collaborative comic book project. Little did we know back then that 2009 would bring unexpected and difficult changes that would eventually affect all the people involved in the project.The book never happened, but this story survived.

It all began a year ago, when I received a one-liner email from my friend Cathy: “This wasn’t your doing, was it?”

The mysterious Brighton Lego Man was all over the news: BBC, Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sun, Flickr and Youtube:

The story of the lonely floating Lego man started to live in my head. It had to be told, it had to be drawn.

This story is dedicated to

Cathy: You asked – this is what happened the night before.

My Sulake colleagues – especially Juha, who only has three days left: What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

Thank You!

Last night I joined the Xmas party of my hobbit kin Defenders of the Shire. I did! And here’s the proof

First there was the feast outside the Kinship house, Opale is playing lute:

Preparing for the group photo – I am the ginger one in the front row. I made the classic mistake of choosing the same party dress with Jordetta

All stay still…

…and catch fire. Weird things do happen in hobbit parties.

Nothing on earth could come between them…

was probably shopping for Lego Pirates Advent Calendar today as well. He’s taller than I thought. And no, I didn’t have heart to wake him up.^^

P.S. Finnish shops are finally allowed to be open on Sundays. About time!

This one arrives couple of days late. This is due to the random bug my nephew Oiva passed me last Sunday in his 7th birthday bash. Last year he gave me an eye infection to both eyes. Gotta love them kids’ birthdays.

Luckily, next Sunday I might get my revenge and pass the bug on, when my god-daughter Kaisa also turns seven. I asked her mum what I should get as a present. Katariina (my cousin) replied:

Do NOT under any circumstances bring any small animal toys, anything to do with princesses, any pink items or cute fluffy toys.

I guess raising three daughters leads to a parental pink overdose.

Last week when was lying in bed with the cold, so I made a big cup of tea, buried myself on the couch and went to see what Piippola villagers in  have been up to.

I’m talking about Animal Crossing, City Folk, the computer game that has a never ending storyline, days and seasons passing in real time. A character moves to a town and begins to live like a villager: house mortgage need to get paid, harvest gathered and friends visited. Activities and events take place same time they happen in real life and there is not an ultimate goal. Life is what one makes of it.

Season had changed, but the villagers are still adorable nutters. Here is a selection of screenshots of what happened.

Baabara was standing outside her house – way past her bedtime. She told me her key fell in the river (even though I am sure they throw it there on purpose).  I fished for over an an hour. When I finally found it and rushed it back to her, she thanked me:

Next I bumped to Merry, a new cat in town. She was wearing a pink daisy shirt and carrying a watering can, so  I expected her to talk about furry things. But the looks are deceiving in Piippola. Her first words to me:

Derwin is my favourite character, an insecure nerd house full of fossils and junk. He approached me sweating the huge drops of anxiety. Big boys had been bullying him again:

It is absolutely ok to talk about vulcans, I told him. Relieved, he went back home  and I continued to look for Harry, the bully. I put on a hockey mask and bun wig to look more intimidating. Finally I found him, an old hippo with  no fashion sense and who mostly comes out at night:

Hmm, seems like he has adapted the word himself. Great, no problem there.

I was happy to see that Buck was sporting DS9 Julian Bashir uniform I had designed. And boy, was he feeling frisky in it:

I have to admit the shirt looks great on him.

Next one out and about was Twiggy, who seemed to have a great night. The canary bird chick seems to have lost all his marbles. Note that it’s not even full moon yet:

Before I finished the game for the night, I bumped to Baabara again, who commented my new style:

Six mad villagers. Piippola nights out, of course I am excited

I saw Crippled Black Phoenix last night in Nosturi – the best gig I have been to in a long time. That’s why this page still needs some more work

It’s Mario!

Venla, 35, Helsinki. Venla is a big Star Wars -fan but I guess she has difficulties choosing which side to be on.

Planet Fun Fun -exhibition is starting its last weekend in Kerava Art Museum, there’s still time to see it! The museum is open from noon to 6 PM. Ball-point pen tattoos are made all day long on Sunday.
You can reach the museum by local train to Savio station (K-train on weekdays and N-train on the weekend).

Check out the Flickr page for all the tattoos Tero has made so far.