Jane's Father in his woods

_7055578.JPG, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Rukkilill

Rukkilill, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

The cornflower is national flower of Estonia.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflower

"In folklore, cornflowers were worn by young men in love; if the flower faded too quickly, it was taken as a sign that the man's love was unrequited.[3]

In herbalism a decoction of cornflower is effective in treating conjunctivitis, and as a wash for tired eyes.[4]

The Blue Cornflower has been the national flower of Estonia since 1968 and symbolizes daily bread to Estonians. It is also the symbol of the Estonian political party, Rahvaliit, the Finnish political party, National Coalition Party, and the Swedish political party, Liberal People's Party. The Cornflower is also often seen as an inspiration for the romantic symbol of the Blue Flower.

The Blue Cornflower was the favourite flower of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Because of its ties to royalty, authors such as Theodor Fontane have used it, often sarcastically, to comment the social and political climate of the time.


The Crayola company manufactures a color of crayon called Cornflower."

Tallinna Olümpiapurjespordikeskus

f1, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Tallinn hosted the Olympic Sailing Event in 1980

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_at_the_1980_Summer_Olympics

Early Spring 2007 Tatari Street

07042006, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Oo Tatari Street of the mind..

space_syntax_in_progress

space_syntax_in_progress, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

i took some cool classes on urban spaces at EKA ( http://artun.ee )

urban awareness

m1.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

this form of activism cannot be found in ireland.

Waiting for a meeting room at Skype

skype_meet, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

from the left: DC (Italian), AB (Moroccan), MK (Estonian).

Good people. Good Heads.

Skype BBQ

KL and Rando, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

KL & RM.

Skype Summer 2007

26072007084, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

most inspiring space i have ever worked in.

my dwelling for a year

tatar3, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

magic tatari street. thanks urmas L.

Levist V

h1.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

I owe ye 400eeks. i will be back. .. jah-jah. thanks dave murphy, k, h, m, k, z, s, s, m, p, .

The use of internet technologies in Ireland and Estonia

I am often asked “what is Estonia like?”. I usually respond with references to; the enchanting landscape, economic model and the magical strength of the Estonian Language.

If the questioner has a passing interest in a subject such as connectivity as social infrastructure, I might refer to ubiquity of WiFi.

Today I came across a release from Eurostat; Internet access and e-skills in the EU27 in 2007

The difference between adoption rates of technologies in Ireland and Estonia is revealing.

Here are the results for ie, ee and EU27. Draw your own conclusions:

Internet activities carried out, % of all individuals, 2007 Estonia EU 27 Ireland Use search engine 61 57 55 Send mail with attachment 59 50 47 Use Anti-Virus SW 23 30 16 download and install software 26 27 15 Use newsgroup or forum 43 24 12 Use VoIP 28 15 8 Use P2P 22 13 6 Create web pages 18 10 6

In the interests of research and debate I have uploaded all the data from Eurostat here

By looking at the very last table in the link above “Percentage of individuals who have carried out 5 or 6 of the Internet related activities” and taking only the results for “Percentage of individuals who used Internet, ever” then we encounter a rather remarkable picture of the degree of use of technology in Ireland and Estonia. These two societies are at opposite ends of the scale:

Ireland: 5 % (the lowest of the EU27)
Estonia: 41% (the highest of the EU27)

Kiipsaar Lighthouse

_9134649, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

After Pinchbeck performance

set-up2.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

shaun pinchbeck gave a performance last saturday at polymer

see here for details of a workshop on Max and Jitter: http://www.plektrum.ee/festival/?page_id=32

this is on the programme of the coming Plektrum Festival:

http://festival.plektrum.ee/

"Plektrum – The Festival of Visual Sound" is the main platform for audio-visual media culture in Tallinn – the capital of Estonia. Taking place this September for the 5th time, it showcases events that range from eclectic avant-garde music parties and forward thinking VJ-performances to media-art happenings and exciting hands-on workshops. The main aim of the festival is to bridge new technologies with the innovative ideas baking in the creative minds that lay scattered across different disciplines. By urging, promoting and sustaining the popularization and development of new media, Plektrum shapes the cultural landscape of the 21st century that will distinguish Tallinn as the European Capital of Culture in 2011. We hereby invite you join us in Tallinn for an unforgettable experience of Visual Sound!"

Skype Canteen

skype_canteen, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

This is where I had lunch for the last year.

On the bus from Latvia to Estonia

est1, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

I spent a day in Riga after flying there from Zurich. I checked out the Riga History museum. It covers a similar range of history as the Tallinn City museum.

I should add that in Riga I did not visit the museum dedicated to period of Soviet occupation of Latvia:

The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940 - 1991

Here is the website for the Estonian Museum of Occupations

morning coffee and wifi

11s, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

I will *miss* the the democratic provision of wireless connectivity that I have enjoyed in Estonia.

I am quite confident in saying that Ireland lags behind Estonia by at least five years in this regard. Not to mention iVoting.

Learn more about iVoting in Estonia here:

http://www.tehnokratt.net/2006/10/27#a33462

and here:

http://www.vvk.ee/engindex.html#0003

flowers on tartu mnt

a6.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

entering my final month in estonia

test post from my n70

hello world

Streaming-Media: Net-Demonstration Training

I should make an effort and go to this::


Subject: [Foorum] Streaming-Media: Net-Demonstration Training

Meediakunstnike Ühing annab taas teada:

What: Workshop "Streaming-Media: Net-Demonstration Training"
Who: by Simon B. Haefele ( sonance.artistic.network. )
When: 6th of June 18:00h
Where: Media Artist Union - Tallinn - Polymere Culture Factory

Hereby we would like to invite the artist and activists of Estonia to
attend a streaming media workshop at the MARTU office.

Simon B. Haefele will introduce you to the open source possibilities
of sending live audio and video material via internet over the globe.
At the same day there will be Net-Demonstration Tests in
Belgrade, Nairobi, Venice, Vienna and Barcelona.

In the workshop you will learn the very practical technics of
using a Linux-LIVE-Boot CD in order to stream your event.
By the use of little equipment you are able to easily spread your
word, live, give comments to events and make contact with
wider a{c/t}ivist networks.

cu there
Binsh 4 the sonance.artistic.network team.

http://enter.sonance.net/
http://martu.org/
http://www.urbanistika.ee/

Ubu Roi at Haapsalu

Ubu Roi, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Jarry in Estonian, how cool!

-

"King Ubu" by Alfred Jarry is a world-famous play the premiere of which in Paris in 1896 ended with a scandal. Many regard this as the beginning of modern theatre and art. The play is produced in Estonia for the first time. In the words of the directors
Tiit Ojasoo and Ene-Liis Semper, this is a rock-opus where musician (and author of musical design) Chalice has been offered the lead. The other protagonist is Marika Vaarik. The rest of the cast include Tambet Tuisk, Mirtel Pohla, Gert Raudsep, Jaak Prints, Kristjan Sarv etc.

"King Ubu" tells the story of an ordinary man Ubu who intrigues his way to the throne of Poland. Intoxicated with power he launches an attack against Russia. He is egged on by his faithful Mother Ubu. The play is both crazy and funny and constructed loosely enough to enable to treat it in different keys. This time the directors decided to try out the musical version. "The production is going to be quite jolly and will have a social message as well,” said Ojasoo in an interview.

The play will run in summer 2007. Performances take place near Haapsaluon Kiltsi airfield in two mighty hangars, which enables to operate regardless of the weather. The location is described by the directors as ‘romantic’.

Stage design by Ene-Liis Semper, who also produced sets for NO99
previous open-air performance "Seven Samurais" in the abandoned swimming pools in Kadriorg Park.

Tickets available at Piletimaailm, Piletilevi
and NO99 ticket office. Tickets also on sale at Fra Mare and Laine spas. Discount tickets for five friends!"

http://www.no99.ee/en/kavas/?event_id=14

from a former soviet base

ba8.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Lahemaa

10.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Walked Viitna > Palmse > Vatku > Vihasoo > Loksa (24.5 KM)

Cycled Loksa > Suurpea > Vinistu > Turbuneeme > Loksa (~ 18KM)

see www.lahemaa.ee/

Recent Events in Estonia

Edward Lucas has written a good piece on the recent events Estonia and has given permission to repost the text. Here it is:

( Original http://edwardlucas.blogspot.com/2007/05/estonia-twists-in-wind.html )

Estonia Twists in the Wind

I am not just worried. I am cross.

First I am cross that the Russians think they can blockade any country's embassy like this. I remember our vigil for Politkovskaya--it had to be across the street from the Russian embassy in London in order not to get on their nerves. Russia always insists on the most pedantic interpretation of the Vienna convention when its diplomats (and "embassy officials") get caught drunk driving, shoplifting etc. But when they want to throw their weight around--against a country that has already suffered so hugely at their hands in the past--then they ignore all the rules and just go ahead.

I am cross at the Estonian government too. I asked Ansip when he was in London--a couple of months ago--"Are you really sure you want to do this? You have no diplomatic support abroad; it is incredibly divisive at home." He blathered on about extremists, public order etc. I asked him "Can you name one politician in any other country who has come out in public support for moving the statue". He couldn't name one.

What makes me so angry is that these nitwits take Estonia's hardwon reputation for granted, rather like the decadent children of first-generation immigrants do with their parents' hard-earned fortunes. Do he and his colleagues have any idea how long it took to persuade people that Estonia was a proper country? That the language and citizenship laws were justified? That the economic boom was real (and not just "smuggling")? That NATO and EU membership was justified? And because of all that credibility in the bank, he feels he can go and squander it, just to get a few extra votes for his ex-komsomoltsy.

I am cross with parts of the Estonian media for their casual treatment of another asset built up so painfully over 15 years: harmony between people of different backgrounds. The "honest" coverage, implying that the "Russians" have shown themselves in their true colours, as habitual looters and hooligans, is outrageous.

I am cross with Savisaar for exploiting the riots in one way, and cross with his opponents for trying to make him the scapegoat for the whole thing. I can see a danger that Estonia becomes another Poland, leading with its chin in fights it can't win, alienating its friends and delighting Russia.

Should Ansip resign? Probably. I like the guy personally, but this is a disaster. What stays my hand is the feeling that if the bronze soldier hadn't been the provocation, the Russians would have found another one. The way things are now with the Kremlin, it was only a matter of time before the storm broke.

I am cross with the the looters, of course. The Estonians have treated the Soviet-era migrants with incredible generosity, restraint and patience. What an outrageous way to behave! I am cross with the local Russian-language press, which as far as I have seen has failed to publish pictures of the looting. I am cross with the Russian elite in Estonia which has not condemned the riots.

I am cross that when there is so much going on that is really important, both in the region and the world, everyone is wasting so much time about what is in the end just a rather bad statue.

I am really, really, cross with the feeble response from the EU and NATO. Why the **** can't the EU ambassadors come round to the Estonians and show some solidarity. I bet if you had 24 ambassadorial limos pushing their way through the crowd of Putin-jugend the police would take a bit more action. Why not call all 24 Russian ambassadors in the other EU capitals in to receive an identical protest? And do the same in the other G-7 countries. Talking of which, Russia's membership of the G8 and Council of Europe should surely be on the line now.

With the exception of Estonia's president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who has said and done all the right things, this is a story of grotesque self-indulgence, mixed with appalling moral cowardice.

Who will put Humpty-Dumpty together again?

Two pieces from this week's Economist, with similar thoughts in a more measured form, will follow later today.

house

hp6.jpg, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Linnahall

lh8, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

http://www.linnahall.ee/

TRANSLOCAL EXPRESS

i am going to this:

>>> press release >>>

TRANSLOCAL EXPRESS

Date: February 16, 2007, 1 p.m.
Venue: Academic Library, Rävala 10, Tallinn, Estonia

A discussion about the institutional, political and social aspects of
current practices of cultural collaboration in the world of contemporary
art.

The main intention of Translocal Express is to investigate how are the
current debates in relation with the transition from national identity
politics to transnational identity discourse affecting the cultural
landscape in relatively small national communities. Translocal Express is
exploring the changing role of art institutions, as well as artists and
independent curators in the situation where contemporary art practices are
becoming more and more decentralized and extraterritorial, yet the
political and cultural institutions remain to be bound to a certain
territory. From this perspective, Translocal Express offers examples for
debate in- and outside of the disputable but still operative global-local
dichotomy, by discussing alternative ways for production, representation
and perception of contemporary art in the working methods of contemporary
institutional spaces as well as independent cultural practices.

Speakers: Annie Fletcher, independent curator, Amsterdam; Anders Härm,
curator at Art Hall Tallinn; Kestutis Kuizinas, director of CAC,
Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius; Marita Muukkonen, project coordinator for
FRAME, Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Helsinki.

Translocal Express is the first of three events in the Public Preparation
series, the public preparation phase for the upcoming Biennale of Young
Artists in October 2007 in Tallinn. Public Preparation project is a
sequence of informal get-togethers which at the same time constitutes the
publicly visible preparation process of the Biennale as well as the course
of preparing and educating the public for the Biennale.

The seminar language is English.

Entrance is free, but registration is very much appreciated:
translocalexpress(a)gmail.com

The time schedule and abstracts are published at
www.biennaleofyoungartists.org.


Translocal Express is kindly supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment, and
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Estonia.

veebruar

tables1, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

This is what the inside of my flat feels like.

Balti Jaam

rm5, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Sub Martin Parr, I know.. She was really annoyed with me taking the shot and made it clear that I should fuck right off. I respect that.

cp3

cp3, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Narva mantee. (photoshopped: levels and curves)

f10

f10, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

f12

f12, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

f2

f2, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Tallinn Skyline from Pirita

seenel

seenel, originally uploaded by Marja2.

The Estonian for 'silk' is siid

The Estonian for 'spider' is ämblik

Thanks MK, for the use of image. Kes annab, sii om kuningas

Mustjõe kõrtsitalu

tools2, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Taken at a wonderful place called Mustjõe kõrtsitalu

See http://www.mustjoe.ee/

The Estonian for 'roof' is katus

The Estonian for 'shoe' is king

The Estonian for 'plough' is ader

Freedom

PA093005e1, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

The Teletorn described below was one of the focal points during Estonia's re-assertion of independence in 1991. Here is a nice anecdote which demonstrates the practicality of the Estonian mentality rather well:

"There is also the widespread story of a handful of radio operators who, in 1991, were willing to lose their lives to protect the free media of the reborn Republic of Estonia. They placed a matchbox between the elevator's door and frame in such a manner that the elevator wouldn't work - this forced the Soviet troops to climb every one of the approx. 1000 steps up into the tower."

The Estonian for 'freedom' is vabadus

The Estonian for 'ingenuity' is leidlikkus

Teletorn

PA092954a, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

The Teletorn : Tallinn TV Tower. Begun in 1975 completed in 1980, it stands 314 metres high. I imagine that during the Soviet period it was used for far more than than just transmitting TV signals and have no doubt that it would have been a strategic target for NATO forces should hostilities have commenced. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallinn_TV_Tower

The Estonian for 'concrete' is betoon

The Estonian for 'tower' is torn

Mushrooms in Early October

PA092953a, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

The act of collecting mushrooms seems to have strong cultural significance in Estonia.

The Estonian for 'mushroom' is seen

The Estonian for 'autumn' is sügis

sinimustvalge

P9242933, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

During the Soviet occupation of Estonia, people were sent to the gulag for being in possession of this symbol of cultural and linguistic independence.

The Estonian for 'blue' is sinine

The Estonian for 'black' is must

The Estonian for 'white' is valge

see the wikipedia entry

walk15

walk15, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

On Liivalaia St.

The Estonian for 'kitten' is kassipoeg

The Estonian for 'leaf' is leht

on Toompuiestee

walk6, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

mid Spetember, a fierce bright Sunday afternoon.

The Estonian for 'tree' is puu.

The Estonian for 'shadow' is vari ( poolpimedus - 'halflight' )

Just enough and nothing more

Viljandi_3, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

Supplies for the hearth stacked for the coming Estonia winter.

The Estonian for 'firewood' is küttepuud

The Estonian for 'winter' is talv

Folk Will Never Die

Viljandi_10, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

We recently went to Pärimusmuusika Lõikuspidu (Harvest Music Festival) at Vijandi, the capital of the Estonian folk music scene. This town of 20,000 inhibit ants plays host to the biggest folk music festival in Estonia every summer, the Pärimusmuusika Festivali in July.

I caught three concerts and a great jam session late on the Saturday night including the beautifully melodic Vägilased who got the crowd doing some wonderfully intricate harvest dances.

The Estonian for 'music' is muusika

( helitöö and noodid are nice words too meaning 'composition' and 'notes')

The Estonian for 'a dance' is tants

Tiki Lounge

P9242863, originally uploaded by raycrowley.

taken by the lake in Viljandi, late september 2006

The Estonian for 'lake' is järv

The Estonian for 'shore' is kallas