Bear's Monthly Mayhem - October 2023!
Archived from BearWiseman.com
Autumn is well underway now, though it’s been a bit strange here. We’ve had a record-breakingly warm September, which meant that the birch trees still had all of their leaves in October, which is quite rare. Paying attention to the weather is pretty anxiety-inducing these days though, for obvious reasons. It’s quite strange to see that a lot of things haven’t died before the cold snap set in, so rather than a lot of cutting down of dead things in the fall, it seems like there will be a much bigger cleanup in the spring.
Easily the most memorable part of this month was October 7th, when I invited people out. I don’t talk about this a lot because it left a rather bad scar on me, but when I turned 30, no one* really showed up for my birthday (*one person showed up on time and another person showed up later in the evening) and I’ve never really recovered from that. It was a milestone year and everyone didn’t come just because it was a Tuesday. It’s a reasonable excuse, but when everyone you know says the same “sorry I work the next day” and won’t even come out for dinner with you… it really makes you feel like no one in the world cares or thinks you’re worth celebrating. So you can imagine how therapeutic it was to have about 20 or so people show up over the course of the afternoon. I hope no one is reading this and feeling neglected for not being invited, as I did very distinctly invite people that I don’t normally hang out with. I limited my invites to people I’ve either met in the last 2-3 years or people that I feel like I have known forever but haven’t spent enough time with over the years. It certainly replenishes a person’s self-worth after such a devastating blow.
However, October wasn’t just that. I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, which has proven to be really fun. I maintain that characters are more important than story, because episodes in the first two seasons have been pretty heavily hit-or-miss, but the characters are likeable and fun. I can see why Denise Crosby left due to lack of development of her character though. It’s true what they say, that the show really starts to hit its stride once they reach season 3. I haven’t ever watched any Star Trek before, so this has been really interesting. I had no idea it was so much fun (or so horny)!
Then there was game night and Pihka Is My Name had a live show, so I had to check that out too! It’s been nice to get my partner out and about every once in a while. There were three other artists playing that night and, among them, was Jekaterina X, who was also hosting, and she had a great voice and was quite fun to watch. Pihka Is My Name, on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic and I highly suggest you check out the live report. I know they’re playing again in November and I’ll definitely try to go because I had such a good time, though I would hope to see them in a more danceable venue sooner rather than later!
We then kicked up to Tampere on the 27th to check out the press day/pre-listening/pre-viewing of the Belzebubs “360 Hexperience,” which should be coming out… soon! Once again, a person simply must shout-out JP Ahonen at every possible opportunity for being the nicest person in the world and for also making sure that we were invited, and also for just pushing the limits of tech and the cool shit out in the universe. Go show him some love and give him some support, because he’s an awesome dude!
Also, Machinae Supremacy had a local tour this month, and their regular guest vocalist, Ingeborg Ekeland (as a day job, she’s an opera singer in Norway) also came, so it’s always nice to see all of these folks! MaSu’ve released a new single as well, which makes live shows even more exciting. Unfortunately, my partner and I were both having a bit of an icky day, so vibes were a bit off for the show and we left pretty shortly after, even if I would’ve liked to stay and say hello to everyone. The live report from that will likely be up early in November.
On that note, Merta was opening for them and I have a whole lot of wires crossed in my brain that is making me aggressively fall in love with these guys. I’m not sure if that’s healthy or not for me in this state, but I’m approaching it slowly. The first wire is crossed because Ember Falls and Merta were playing shows together a few years back and now Ember Falls have called it quits and there’s a hole in my heart where they were. Then, I met the singer and bassist when I was selling merch for Arion back in April and they were rather fun… but the thing is, their singer is a blonde kid from Kerava with tattoos on his neck, which reminds me of a big kid from Kerava with tattoos on his face that I love very deeply and is no longer with me. Juhis very much has a Riku (on a good day) vibe to him, which makes me just… like him, instinctively. Now, most recently, Juhis and Kalle (that bassist) remembered me at the MaSu show and I know that’s kind of a nothing thing, but… not for me, considering how few bands make any effort to ever remember me. I’ve asked if they’d like me to sell merch for them while opening for Battle Beast in January and they said yes, so that should be fun. I hope to get to know them a little bit better… perhaps all the pain and grief the metal scene has caused me can at least provide useful information for others.
Also-also, my friend Andre visited from Canada for a few days. Actually, he was on vacation in Greece, but decided to pop by for a few days while he was in the neighborhood. Andre and I have been friends since we met on a Naruto fan message board when we were 18, but we didn’t like the much younger, very immature, frankly crazy little girls who populated the group, so we bailed and became friends IRL instead, still going strong almost 20 years later! We had a walk around the neighborhood (which they seem to be deforesting, much to my deep displeasure), had a day in town with karaoke, and then managed to arrange a game of Mörk Borg for his final day, so it was a busy (but very fun) few days!
I was finally able to release the really fun episode of Gathering of Geeks with John Sprocket (John Mondelli) of The Cog Is Dead, and then followed this up by having a really fun and interesting talk with Andy Gillion (formerly of Mors Principium Est fame) about geek cultures and its crossovers! That episode, however, will have to wait for December, because November will feature another unusual guest, whom I recorded with on the 31st. That should hopefully give me a little break for the rest of the year, because I’ve still got 4+ guests lined up for next year as well, including one potential guest who I’m REALLY excited to have (hint: I went to see one of his shows in September)! Stay tuned and stay geeky 8)
GATHERING OF GEEKS (S01E13) ft. The Cog Is Dead
MUSIC REVIEW: Within Temptation - Bleed Out
MUSIC REVIEW: Dyecrest - Once I Had a Heart
MUSIC REVIEW: GG Caravan - Instrumental
MUSIC REVIEW: Mors Subita - Origin of Fire
PRE-LISTENING: Belzebubs 360 Hexperience
VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Children of Morta
VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Octopath Traveler II