2014

Sun, Feb 23

<19:40 EEST> Came home this morning about 8:44 from a private rave where I'd been invited to DJ. One very exciting and inspiring night on many levels, including my first time as a semi-proper DJ. Guess this was to be expected at some point after my years of managing playlists at theatre parties, so I wanted to make this special by installing Mixxx for proper song changes and the occasional beatmatching.

I had also planned a rather hardcore selection for the somewhat tongue@cheek "rave" theme, but naturally I ended up playing something a little lighter/funkier and the odd anthem. After all, it is what the people asked for, but most of my lesser known choices also turned out nice, and the atmosphere was generally open.

Besides a few more experienced DJs, there were a couple of impressive live events. Putkikatiska played free jazz reminiscent of RinneRadio, and Mr. K composed complex beats on the fly on his iPad.

This was also yet another party night I hugely enjoyed with just a splash of alcoholic drinks. Of course, having a "job" to do is one reason to stand out, but the night was not generally very drunkardly, following the original rave spirit.

As for the DJing experience, I am now doubly certain that song selection is the key, and few people really care about the technicalities of smooth song changes. Beatmatching is great fun when the original tempos are sufficiently close, but matching by style and atmosphere is often far more interesting.

Mon, Feb 3

<18:58 EEST> An epic™ week(end)? of theatre is over, centred around Työväen näyttämöpäivät at Mikkeli. As JYT was participating with Makeen laakson lukio, there had been a few warmup sessions and shows, along with my ongoing performances at Miilu, so it has been a hectic couple of weeks — along with advanced studies in math. The festive mood continued at least until today afternoon with an extra matiné of Pidä rakkautes, where I play a minor character with a drinking habit :-P

It was a great mix of excitement and accomplishment to set up the show at a somewhat bigger stage with proper sound tech, especially after so many years after my previous theatre festivals. The intense social goings-on was another change from my usual lifestyle, but it turned out very nice. Recalling my past few events of hanging out semi-actively, I felt ease in blending in with all the usual theatrical fun and games, such as drunken ping-pong (with stationary or rotating players) and getting soaked in a playpen.

With the past experience, I had allocated plenty of time for R&R and only booked tickets for two full shows. Both of them managed to blow my mind in completely different ways: the documentary Oikeusjuttu from Kajaanin harrastajateatteri, and the meticulously hilarious Öbaut seitsemän veljestä by Irti.

Now it is the usual, somewhat sad afterglow of mixed feelings: I love these people and this trade, and I want to focus on these arts full-time. On the other hand, you can take my math symbols from the cold, dead skin of my arms. Plus, there is my introversion which can be an issue in heavier productions, and I honestly feel I can get much more done in quiet and lone enterprises. As a musician and a theatre guy I'm relatively amateurish, while my combination of math, physics and programming skills has produced some real bleeding edge gems. Then there is all the grunt work, particularly in outdoor productions. Nevertheless, it is nice to keep a balanced mix of interests. Math being just one of them, but the university schedule of lectures and supervisions keeps things a notch more serious.