My Winter Storm Is Coming

I’m simply blown away by Tarja (pronounced TAR-ya) Turunen’s single I Walk Alone (warning: highly addictive) from her upcoming album My Winter Storm. For years, Tarja was the lead vocalist of Nightwish, an iconic Finnish band which you can easily put in both Gothic and symphony metal.

Two years ago this month Tarja and the rest of the band parted ways. I don’t want to take sides in this debacle, but Tuomas was a coward for making the ordeal public (read his “open letter”). I guess it worked out for the better for everyone involved because Tarja is back and kicking more butt than ever!

Meanwhile, Nightwish found a replacement for the lead singer (Anette Olzon) and released a new album (Dark Passion Play) in September. Watch the single Amaranth via YouTubistan and don’t pay attention to the lame lyrics. :)

My guess is people will compare Anette and Tarja for years to come because there’s simply no one to fully replace the latter. I think the Pippi Longstocking From Hell label is unfair because Anette is very talented. She just has a different style and aura—less dramatic, more mainstream. For example, compare Amaranth or Bye Bye Beautiful to Sleeping Sun and Nemo. Different stage presense, if you will.

I can’t wait for the official release of My Winter Storm!

I really wish you had a separate RSS feed for your book reviews and other stuff unrelated to ASP.NET. I'd love to keep following all your ASP.NET related stuff but all these book reviews and such are meaningless to me.

You are kinda misleading your visitors, considering the title of the site (and the RSS feed) is ASP.NET resources. It's your site, and as a result you may do what you wish. But, when I get an updated feed from your site and it's a book review, I get a little annoyed.

Best regards...

Hi there, Josh! A separate feed won't be coming, I can tell you this much. I've seen several people try it only to revert to a single feed.

I'm still a web developer, with the same focus, so I don't have any plans to change "signage". I see too many of them that read like a grab-bag of programming keywords and slogans, but I can never figure out what their blog authors really strand for. If you have something valuable to say, make a stand! :)

I've also noticed that I can't bear reading blogs that drone about technology and technology only. As I grow older :), I realize more and more that software development is a social thing, and I find it interesting to see a person behind each blog. I have a lot of blogs in my aggregator whose authors are developers and designers, but blog less about technology and more about... well, everything else. It matters to them, and I appreciate seeing their interests.

This is about the best way I can summarize where I stand. ;)

"I find it interesting to see a person behind each blog ... I appreciate seeing their interests. "

That's a very good point. I never thought about it like that.

Best regards...

Actually, I was pondering lately whether to separate personal stuff into a separate forum (perhaps facebook). I decided not to because:

1. It's a pain in the butt for me. I'd rather just have single diary to maintain.
2. I think tagging is enough for readers to filter posts (although I don't see tags on your posts...?).
3. Like you, I think it's good to see the other side of geeks.

Nightwish are playing London soon. I considered going to see them just to rub it in my bro's face (who absolutely loves them). I gotta ask, what is the deal with the ridiculously gorgeous Finnish vocalists?

LOL! I know! What *is* their deal? :)

After I posted my previous comment to Josh, I thought of something. I've learned that the worst thing a blogger can do is try to please everybody.

In life, as in business, when you appeal to everybody, you appeal to nobody. The please-all disposition is a sure road to mediocrity. Blogging spread like wildfire because people had a chance to express their real selves---a slap in the face of the neutered mainstream media.

I also figured, once my company starts hiring, the list of accolades would be the last thing I'll look at. I don't want to end up with a bunch of narrow-minded coding zombies with no social skills. After all, that's the opposite of the proverbial team player.

Of course, there needs to be quality technical content, but don't be afraid to express yourself.

Pippi Longstocking From Hell? That sounds *awesome* :)