Customer service

Telcom operators are not that famous for customer service. The lead is now held by TeliaSonera. I asked them why I can no longer (after changing my phone) use their fax service.

After four weeks of waiting I suddenly received the following answer:

Liittymältänne on puuttunut Fax Vastaajan web-hallintaominaisuus. Nyt ominaisuus on kytketty, jotta pääsette hallinoimaan palvelua internet-käyttöliittymässä.

In English: “Your account has missed the web-control feature for Fax. Now this feature has been activated so you can control the service through an internet interface.”

In other words: Our service is fucked up. Yes, it does not work. I gave you some more access to the fucked up system. Maybe you can figure it all out. We don’t care anymore.

Some afterthoughts

Some clips from Chicago Tribune’s coverage:

A Michigan man who collapsed during Sunday’s heat-shortened LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon has died, authorities said… At around 12:10 p.m., near the 20-mile marker at Halsted Street and Cermak Avenues, a Chicago firefighter announced over a public address system: “Attention runners, the marathon has been canceled. You can stop running, now.” … Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said 302 runners were hospitalized with what he described as heat-related conditions… It was the hottest day in the 30-year history of Chicago’s marathon.

Totally separate issue is the interesting sociological fact that well over 95% of marathon runners were fit, white americans. These are the people you see on TV but not that much on the streets, except on events like this…

Postcard from Hanoi

Went to see Hanoi Rocks last night in Tavastia Club. There was something legendary in the event. The first time I went to see a concert there was in early 1997 and it was Andy’s act of the day – Briard revisited. That time Andy did a full bottle of Jack Daniels on stage. Last night it was just a few beers. If you add that the band played technically well and the stuff from the new album Street Poetry is pretty good (has been my iPod’s top playlist for a week now), it was overall a great show.



It looked very good and energetic…

Cutting it quick

Bought the latest WASP disc Dominator. Pretty good stuff. Blackie Lawless is an interesting artist since he has created a bunch of very different records. Some of them are brilliant, others close to crap.

The first couple of albums in the 1980s were great rockers of the time. Then he made one of the best concept albums ever, Crimson Idol, in 1992. After that, his career went down big way. Crappy CDs one after another. Next concept album failed (1995), 1980-copycats failed as well (1997, 1999, 2001 – the last one being the best of these). Then, out of the blue, in 2002 he made a quick album that ended up being on par with Crimson Idol. Dying for the World is a concept album based on 9/11 that simply delivers. After Dying, again a major process in creating a two-disc concept projet called Neon God. Total failure that came out in 2005. Now, in 2007, another quickie is out. Kind of following to Dying, Dominator does not quite reach its level but comes close.

This made me think how much it matters to cut it quick if you want to deliver something truly creative. Be it a novel, tune, or flick, it often pays to cut it quick. Just to get the spirit on record. And it also makes sense to cut the whole stuff quick, not just first chapter, track or scene.

Pump up the sound

Another type of post. Back in the 90s in my first running career I used to select the top song / album of the month. These days I don’t have time to browse new artists with such a frequency. Besides, my back catalogue is just too huge. This 8GB iPod is already almost full.

Back to biz. The album awards for the first 6 months of 2007 go to:

(1) Kingston Wall: II. Fresh, well-produced sound, which doesn’t sound dated. An album I could have on a lone island. Tops We Cannot Move, Istwan, I Feel Love & Shine On Me. Super stuff for the long runs. Pablo noted he had the guys jamming in his studio after a gig, with tapes running. Yes, those tapes are now lost.

(2) Metallica: …And Justice for All… One of these great rediscoveries. An aged dry martini. Only last week I was firing One for the mile set. When Hetfield finishes singing after “left me with life in hell!!!…” it’s 5.21 and 3.20/km. In other words, the mile should be done.