The Last Cigarette…(?)

That cigarette in the picture above is the last (?) cigarette I’m smoking. Well, smoked. At 11pm on December 28th, 2007. I’ve changed the posting time and date backwards to the moment I threw that cigarette away, just so I’d have a timestamp to remember this possibly successful endeavour.

This is not a patronizing post on the harms of smoking and why smoking is bad for you. It is bad for you, everyone and everyone’s uncle knows this. Every single smoker has thought about quitting at one point or another, so I’ll leave that at what it is: a personal choice and issue.

My quitting started a year ago with a New Year’s resolution. Yeah, those never work. I know, I’ve tried it. Going cold turkey just like that didn’t work for me the first time ’round. Allowing the thought to simmer and marinate for a year helped. Smoking not being allowed in bars etcetera as of this last June helped. (The idea was my girlfriend’s, and she’s in this with me…)

Whatever your reasons may be for quitting or not quitting smoking, I have something to boggle your mind on: Statistics.

I started smoking on my Saturday, April 28, 2001 (my 18th birthday) and quit on Friday, December 28, 2007.

That’s 2436 days, if you count the start date and the end date.
Or 6 years, 8 months, 1 day.
Or 348 weeks.
Or 58,464 hours.
Or 3,507,840 minutes.
Or 210,470,400 seconds.

So, for the sake of argument let’s call it a pack smoked a day. A pack has between 10 and 30 cigarettes, so we’ll average it at 20 cigarettes per pack.

That’s 48,720 cigarettes.

That’s a lot of cigarettes.

Let’s talk money then, shall we? I once calculated that every cigarette, depending on the price and size of the pack of cigarettes (and a few other factors), a single cigarette in the Western world costs in the ballpark of 0.20€, give or take.

That’s 9744 euros.

That’s a lot of money.

Alrighty, there’s my rationalisations on the matter. I shall now go to sleep with unavoidable anticipation of the next few days, the days which’ll be the worst. Jolly good.

Good night!

Videos: Miniature Pool

Here’s a small barrage of videos of a few friends and I playing miniature pool at a bar. If the post is a pain in the you know what to load, you can view the videos on HellCast TV, or on a separate playlist on YouTube.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Poll: What Movie Would You Want To Play As A Video Game?

What movie would you want to play as a video game? Well made, of course, by the right people.

There’s a trend of making comic books into movies into video games right now (TMNT, Spiderman, Batman, X-Men, etc…), making classic movies into games with differing success (The Godfather, Scarface, etc…), and games into movies (Resident Evil, etc…) There are several movies which I’d love to play as a video game, to interact with the movie itself.

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
I can already imagine it: an epic journey, true to the storyline of the movie, where your choices of illegal substances make or break your advancement in the game. (Rockstar, here’s your next assignment!)

Horror Movies
I’m not a big fan of horror movies, but there really aren’t any games which really scare you. Doom 3 was a scary game, but it’s not horror. Think ‘Halloween’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Scream’, etc… Ok, that last one was a little bit of a joke, but I’d be interesting, wouldn’t it?

Now that the newest generation of consoles are out (XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, Wii), the movie world could be very accurately portrayed on a gaming platform. It’s realistically possible now!

So, what movie would you want to interact with in the form of a video game? What movie would you love to see made into a video game? Your answers in the comments section below, please!

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What’s On Your RSS Feed Reader?

I’m a news junkie. I “need” to follow the news everyday. Because of this, the discovery of RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds was a godsent for me.

RSS feeds are the easiest way to stay up to date with a large number of news sites, websites and blogs. There are numerous different feed readers available, ranging from being on your desktop, your internet browser, or your mobile device. Personally, I use Google Reader on my mobile phone.

Right now, I’m subscribed to 138 different feeds (a few more a week), from humor to politics to gadgets to personal blogs to the latest in the mobile industry, which I read more or less daily.

Even though I have a quaint 5 people who are subscribed to the RSS feed of this blog, I’m obviously looking for more readers, or rather followers. If you haven’t subscribed to being up to date, DO SO NOW!

So, if you happen to read this post, what’s in your feed reader? What are you subscribed to? What are your favourite blogs or news feeds? Let me know in the comments section below this post.

If you’re not subscribed to the RSS feed of this blog (and why aren’t you already?), please do so by clicking on the “Subscribe in a reader” or enter the address http://feeds.feedburner.com/janihelle/ into your RSS reader of choice, be it Google Reader, Bloglines, Newsgator, or many of the numerous RSS feed readers available. Mashable has a great list of everything you need in the way of RSS feeds and readers.

So, what’s in YOUR feed reader?

Exploring Alternative Forms Of Entertainment [NSFW]

IMPORTANT: If you’re the type to get offended easily, or have no sense of humor, DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO!

This video is somewhat questionable, possibly offensive, and definitely Not Safe For Work. Viewer beware. You have been warned.

Regardless of the content, you can hear the laughter in the background, so you’ll get an idea of what kind of a mindset you should have while watching the video. Pretty much the same situation here as with a previous video I posted, Alternative Theories of 9/11. Well, alcohol and the same bar… Good/bad combination, depending on how you view it… =)

(For more information and a disclaimer, see the beginning and end text in the video…)

For a higher definition video, click the thumbnail to the left.

My Other Projects: Existential Questions, Budapest City Guide, and Helsinki City Guide

I’m really an overambitious person… I work full-time, yet I now write five different blogs, as well as administering quite a few groups on Facebook. Oh, and a forum for the Existential Questions blog…

Allow me a minute or two to run through my side projects which I operate in addition to my personal blog at http://janihelle.wordpress.com and my Political Science/Stupidity blog at http://hellipsis.wordpress.com.

My most ambitious project has to be Existential Questions. Over a few beers I got a great idea for a Facebook group and a blog, as well as a forum and a web TV channel in the works.
The whole idea is to collect a database of responses to life’s questions, such as What Is The Meaning Of Life? and Are We Alone In The Universe?, as well as debating about more controversial issues such as Abortion and Creation vs Evolution.
If you’re interested, you can find the blog at http://existentialquestions.wordpress.com. Don’t forget about the Forum, the Facebook group, or the Existential TV channel!

My two newest projects are only a few days old. Somewhat similar to Existential Questions, these two are attempts at Travel Guide 2.0. As the web moves towards being more and more user-generated, most travel guides are still dragging their feet.

With this in mind, I have started the Budapest City Guide and the Helsinki City Guide, two cities close to my heart.

The whole premise is that you can spend years in one city and never learn about all the cool places to go, see and experience. Traditional travel guides only go so far as to mention that these places exist. People who actually spend time there will always know better. That is the key point with these groups/blogs. Anyone who reads this and has been to, lived in or wanted to visit Budapest or Helsinki could gain from these guides. All it takes is for you, the reader, to share your experiences! Please visit the blogs at http://budapestcityguide.wordpress.com and http://helsinkicityguide.wordpress.com and don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feeds for each site! If you’re on Facebook, don’t forget to check out and join the Budapest City Guide group and the Helsinki City Guide group!

I’ll leave you with a few slogans for these projects:
Do You Exist?

What Are YOUR Favourite Things About Budapest?

What Are YOUR Favourite Things About Helsinki?

Consumer Etiquette Update Coming Soon!

I’m desperately trying to find the time to update the Consumer Etiquette piece I wrote a few weeks ago. There are plenty of points and so on which I forgot in sound one, a few of which I was reminded by in an email I received form a reader. (Thank you Julaina!)
I’ll be posting the updates in the coming week (working an extra long week so we’ll have to see where the extra time will come from…)

To stay up to date, please subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog at http://feeds.feedburner.com/janihelle or with a subscription to receive updates via email, the link to which can be found on the right hand panel of this page.

If Begging Is Illegal In Finland, Why The [censored] Are There Beggars On The Street?

I guess the headline really says it all. Thing is, Finland is a country of permits. You need a permit for pretty much everything. Ok, that’s a slight overstatement. You do need a permit to own a TV and actually watch Finnish channels on it (otherwise they confiscate your TV… And even with the permit you’re only paying for two government paid channels that rarely have anything worth watching on…). The permits I’m talking about with this post are for all street-related situations when you’re trying to make money, or get money from people who pass by. You sell hot dogs at a busy pedestrian corner in Helsinki? You need a permit. You planning on playing you violin to the tune of The Godfather? You need a permit. You going to sell roses to people who pass by you? You need a permit. Begging? Well, you need a permit, but you most definitely aren’t going to get one.

I don’t know what the fine for begging or getting money off pedestrians is. Nevertheless, I find it very annoying to have to deal with beggars in Helsinki. I’ve gone through that in countries such as Thailand, Greece and Hungary.

Honestly, I don’t know what more annoying, a person begging on the street or the dimwits who actually give then money. There’re also legal beggars on the street in Helsinki right now, as the Finnish Red Cross has volunteers out on the streets collecting money for “Hunger Day”. In walking around Helsinki yesterday, I saw people trying to collect money for the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and UNICEF. You know the type, the ones who’ll bounce at you and ask you for a moment of you time (and 10euros a month for a year, after which EVERY SINGLE CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN YOUR COUNTRY will be calling you to got your support (read: money). Sure they’re just volunteers (possibly for a good cause), but still, I’m not going to give my money to someone who comes at me on the street, begging for money. (I might offend some people here, but fuck the whales, and fuck the panda’s.) The one and only thing that I’ve donated money for was 70euros which I have to the Red Cross Catastrophe Fund, right after the tsunami had hit south-eastern Asia. I’ve lived in Thailand for 2.5 years and I’ve spent a week or so in Phuket, so I can picture the devastation that the tsunami had on the place. Seeing your hotel under 9 feet of water kinda hits you hard…

All the foundations I just mentioned above have all the right to be asking pedestrians for monetary support. They have the permits. The 5 people I saw yesterday on the streets of Helsinki, they don’t have permits, mainly because they’re just standing or kneeling at some street corner with an outstretched, cupped hand. Only one of them had a sign, the guy in the picture above, which said, incorrectly spelled, “I’m Hungry”. The only female beggar I saw had a crutch and her right foot bent inwards. (the second time I saw her yesterday, she had her LEFT foot bent inwards…) [Thank you Michael for pointing out my typo...]

I’m always tempted to steal the coin cup from the beggars who’re “crippled”, just to see if they’ll run after me. If they do, they’re faking it and I should call the cops. If they don’t, they might be in character or really crippled, in which case I’ll return the money cup and should call the police… Never done it though, except when I’ve had to deal with beggars in my place of work. It seems the police are more willing and likely come if you’re calling from work than from the street.

Have you ever experienced begging on your city’s streets? Any obvious scams?

Video: Taiteiden Yö / A Night Of The Arts In Helsinki

Taiteiden Yö (A Night Of The Arts) is an annual celebration of sorts in Helsinki, Finland, celebrating many different forms of, well, art. And culture.

Naturally, as with all festivities in Finland, it’s also another (good) excuse to drink, especially so for underage teenagers who’d just started school a few weeks earlier.

The events and venues which are featured in the video are only a fraction of what’s going on in Helsinki on that very night. There are poem recitals, book readings, art galleries and shows, literary debates, statues, even a drag show. And much, much more. This year people got to vote on which movies would be shown, projected onto a large wall of a building right in the heart of the city. The main movie of the night, which began at 2am? Gone With The Wind. You could watch the movie under heatlamps and blankets, and then take the first morning bus home!

If the embedded player above doesn’t work for you, click here to view the video in higher definition on Twango, or view the video on HellCast TV.

As has been the case recently with my videos, the music is by Rudiger Lippert.

Where Were You On September 11th, 2001?

September 11th, 2001 is our generation’s D-Day or Pearl Harbor, to name a few, a catastrophic event which is remembered by asking people where they were when it happened.

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. In remembering the event, I’m asking all readers a simple question: “Where were you on September 11th, 2001?

Jump over to my politically themed blog, Hellipsis, where I originally asked the question, and leave your answer/story in the comments section!