EarCave re-release of I Don't Have To Cry

I was positively surprised by Andrew Morgans decision to re-release my and Maryn E. Coote's 1984 single "I Don't Have To Cry". He did switch the song on the b-side for "Vision of Estonia" from the same year.
Trying to remember the production notes of this vinyl.. It was recorded at a rented home-studio in Stockholm. We did rent (with the generous help from our manager at that time Harry Kask R.I.P.) a small Fostex 8 track studio rack, consisting of the multitrack, mixer, two compressors, a spring reverb and an equalizer..
We used the Oberheim DX drum-machine. We couldn't locate a DMX or afford a Linn.. Keys were played on a Yamaha DX 9 - again, we couln't get the DX 7..
Maryn played all keyboards, I did the drum programming, bass (a Fender Mustang) and the vocoder ( Syntovox 222 ).. I did the engineering aswell. Maryn plays also the flute on the B-side. We had help on the guitar part.
An interesting addition was the Roland SDE 1000 delay, that we rigged up along with the Yamaha CS 10 mono synth to do some primitive sampling effects..
Anyway, I hope this single gets back to the dancefloors where it has always belonged. You can buy the single at: http://earcave.mybisi.com/product/uq001

Borreleoos ehk Lyme ei ole lihtne haigus

Olen kaua hoogu võtnud sellel teemal kirjutada. Nüüd Merimetsa haiglas ravil olles on tekkinud aega mõtteid sorteerida.

Sel suvel sain lõpuks kinnitatud puukborreleoosi diagnoosi. Kaks aastat kannatusi ja põhjuste otsimist, ränki diagnoose ja korduvaid haiglavisiite. Mul vedas. Mu kehale ilmusid korraga meditsiinikeeles ERYTHEMA MIGRANS, ehk puugisõõrikud. Leidsin ühe sarnase pildi netist. Puuk oli mul viimati eelmisel sajandil...

Need sõõrikud viisid mind uuesti arstide juurde ja tegin uued analüüsid. Seekord positiivsed. Nüüd avanes võimalus saada adekvaatset ravi õigele haigusele.

Võiksin siin juba raamatu kirjutada, aga blogis on vaja ruumi kokku hoida. Võtan kokku mõned vähem tuntud faktid puukborreleoosi kohta.

* Rohkem kui pooltel nakatunutest ei ilmu nahale löövet (ERYTHEMA MIGRANS)
* Sümptomiteta nakkus võib välja lüüa aastaid hiljem.
* Tavaline (Elisa) vereproov võib olla ka nakatunul negatiivne. Ainult vereproov ei ole piisavalt kindel diagnoosimeetod.
* Lyme ehk borreleoos võib esile kutsuda enam kui 300 haigusega sarnaseid sümptomeid, tihti üritatakse ravida valet haigust.
* Ravi võib olla väga pikaajaline, kuni mitu aastat.

Panin linkidesse väga hea kokkuvõtliku info borreleoosi kohta. Kui keegi omab sarnaseid kogemusi, palun kirjutage. Kui oleksin olnud paremini informeeritud, oleksin praegu juba terve. Nüüd olen kaotanud kaks aastat tervist ja pole veel selge kaua paranemine aega võtab.

Citipark kasutab sobimatuid ärivõtteid!

Juhtusin üle hulga aja külastama Tallinna Lõunakeskuse ärikeskust. Poest tulles näeme abikaasaga parkimiskontrolöri meile trahvikviitungit kirjutamas. Küsimuse peale mille eest, näidati meile väga väikses kribukirjas infotahvleid, kus on tõepoolest kirjas: parkimine tasuta 1,5 t parkimiskellaga. Trahv tingimuste rikkumise eest 500 krooni.

Üritasime kontrolöri veenda, et olgugi, ilma kellata, aga olime poes vaid pool tundi. Irvitav kontrolör kordas aga lauset: mina teen vaid oma tööd. Siis sai asi selgeks: milleks kehtestada parkimistasu, kui iga tund leiab mõne vähese tähelepanuga parkija, kellele saab korraga 500 krooni leppetrahvi välja kirjutada. Nii teenib ju palju rohkem.

Olge ettevaatlikud Lõunakeskust külastades - see võib teile väga kalliks maksma minna.

Miks ma ei ole ärimees.

Teatud mõtted settivad kaua ja osad tegemised tuleb enne läbi seedida kui neile lõplikku hinnangut anda saab.

Täna, olles Vormsi vallavanema tööd pea viis kuud teinud on enam vähem õige aeg mõlgutada, miks on kõik nii nagu nad täna on.






Miks ma oma äridega ei õnnestunud?

Olen suhteliselt varajasest noorusest pidanud väikeettevõtlust endale sobivaks elustiiliks ja tagasi Eesti vabariigis üritasin mitmes kohas kätt proovida. Eestis 50 dollariga maandudes ei olnud ei vanu ülikoolisõpru ega endisi parteikaaslasi, sestap on olnud minu liikumised seotud väikeste ettevõtmistega.



Milal ma aru sain, et ei ole tegelikult ärimees?

Minu viimane äri-ettevõtmine oli väga kurioosne, täna vaadatult vist suht sarnane paljude teiste saatusega. Olin kolinud peale lahutust vana-aegsesse puumajja ja tegelenud seal ühistu esimehena elanike mobiliseerimisega päästmaks vana maja samas seda säästes.

Üks minu tuttav muusikamaailmast oli müümas sarnast hoonet Tallinnas Paldiski maanteel ja pakkus seda mulle arendada kuna ta ka soovis vana arhitektuuri säilimist. Pidasime läbirääkimisi ja otsisin endale ka ehitaja, kelle buumiaegset päris head tööd olin oma tuttavate juures märganud ja kes aitas osaliselt ka oma kodumaja remondis kaasa lüüa.



Eelistasin võtta oma riske teadlikult ja taotlesin pangast eraisiku laenu, et siis selle finantseerimisega maja korda teha. Majas elas ka neli sundüürnikku, kes vajasid uut pinda. Pank pakkus siiski välja ärilaenu tingimusel, et võtan ehitaja oma firmasse partneriks. Näiliselt võtsime võrdse riski ja pantisime nii ostetava maja kui omad kodud projekti nimel. Leppisime kokku, et ehitaja ehitab ja mina müün kortereid.



Esimene poolaasta läks sundüürnikele kodude vaatamiseks, projekteerimseks ja müügi alustamiseks. Oli aasta 2006. Kuna rahavood olid meie ettevõttel väga piiratud venis ehitus sügiseni. Lõpuks sai ka üürnike olukord lahendatud: pikka aega kommunaalkorterite järjekorras seisnud inimesed said linnalt omale uue elamise ja lahkusid majast.

Ehitus aga ei sujunud. Partneri sõnul ei olevat meil piisavalt raha ja tihi ajasid teda taga isegi meie ehitusplatsil tema teised kliendid, kel töö tegemata ja teisele jälle millegi eest tasumata. Partneri koduõuel, 600m2 vana häärberi juures käisid aga usinad tööd.

Korterite müük hakkas tasapisi sujuma. Meile laenu andnud panga haldur soovis millegipärast osta nii endale kui oma abikaasale korterid luksuslikus aiamajas. Kõik tundus liiga hea, et olla tõsi.

Pikad telefonikõned iga päev partneriga, keda oma meeskonnaga mitmed kuud objektil ei nähtud. Lubadused, hea jutt ja anektoodid vahele üritasid pingeid maha võtta. Võtsin asja üles ka pangas, kust mulle öeldi rahulikult tõde, et ise olen süüdi.

Läks aeg ja maksime intresse, müüdud korterite üleandmise tähtaeg lähenes, aga ehitajaid ei olnud. Lõpuks tegi partner ühe sammu, mis andis mulle võimaluse tema osalus firmas omandada ja sellisel moel projekti üritada lõpetada. Oli 2007 ja buum tipus. Ehitajad kauplesid iga päev endale uut hinda, varastasid tööriistu ja tegid praaki, mille parandamise asemel nad lihtsalt lahkusid.

Kuna projekt oli jõudnud täielikult kreeni, kuid osa kortereid olid veel müümata, leppisin pangaga kokku täiendavas laenus ja isiklikus käenduses. Lisaraha oli loomulikult napp, ehitaja oli enda tegemata tööde eest firmast ca 1,2m välja maksnud ja omateed läinud.

Lõpp oli väga hale. Pangahaldur oma abikaasaga venitasid oma korterite vastuvõtmist, mis takistas pangast lisaraha saamise. Vahelaenu andnud poollegaalne krediidiasutus võttis tagatisvaraks antud korteri päevapealt endale, mis välistas võimaluse lisaraha hankimisele tagatist anda.

Lõpp nägi siis välja umbes selline. Et kogu arendus pankrotti ei läheks ja korterite eest ette maksnud ostjad midagigi saaks teostasime asjaõigustehingud kõigi ostjatega. Kel rohkem jõudu, s.t. pangatöötaja ja ta abikaasa, neile lubas pank lepingusse ülemistes kuuekohalistes numbrites hinna alandamise. Noortele tudengiperedele loomulikult seda ei lubatud. Ühe korteri endale võtnud krediidiasutus "ostis" poole müügihinnaga veel kaks korterit majas ja olidki panga ärilaenu nõuded rahuldatud. Olin ca 10 miljonit pangale tasunud, sinna juurde jäi mul veel eraisikuna tasuda 1,3 miljonit ärilaenu osa ja hinnaalanduste ning ülevõtmisel forseeritud hindadega olin kaotanud veel 3 miljonit võimalikku tulu. Olin üle andnud lõpetamata korterid ja tunnen erilist süüd noorte toredate ostjate ees.

Mida teeb siis ärimees sellises olukorras?

Mõni paneb uue projekti käima, lubab, laenab jne. ja läheb eluga edasi. Mina seda ei osanud. Läksin tööle eksportivasse metallifirmasse müüki juhtima ja olen alates 2007 aastast enamuse oma sissetulekutest vanade võlgade eest välja käinud. Panga nõuded tulevad muidugi enne muid nõudeid. Jah, oma kodu oli mul alles, aga 2006 aastal pooleli jäänud remont jääbki pooleli.

Mida ma sellest kogemusest õppisin?

Kõigepealt seda, et olen liiga naiivne ja heauskne inimene. Ei osanud märgata mõne inimese tõelist motiivi: ahnust. Teiseks: olin väga rumal ja saamatu. Võttes endale eraisikuna täieliku äririski kuulub ärimehele tõelise rumaluse hulka. Sellele ei ole vabandust. Kolmandaks: projekte juhtida ja müüa ma oskan. Lubasin teha majale viisaka remondi ja see sai sinnamaani tehtud kust rahad otsa said. S.t. õlivärvid, lubikrohv, sobiv katus, põhjalik keldripinna remont jne. Aga need omadused ei kata ja toida. Ei ärimeest, ega tema klienti.

Mis edasi?

Kuna mind pommitavad muuhulgas sellest õppetunnist pärit anonüümsed kommentaatorid ja mõned kliendid nõuavad veel täna suuri kahjutasusid, pean möönma, et mu füüsiline tervis on alla andnud. Seljaaju kahjustus on röövinud liikumise ja näen perspektiivis elu invaliidina (Eestis tähendab see töötupõldu) ja varatuna. Pankrot kui moodus sellistest võlgadest välja tulla on välistatud, kuna juriidiliselt on lepingud ülimalt JOKK. Oma riskivõtmine on inimese enda süü. Kahjuks jääb ära sellises olukorras kindlasti võimalus alustada uuesti ja taasluua väärtused, millega tasuda vanad võlad. Rootsi ja muu läänemaailma kogemusel ei ole Eestis kandepinda.

Arvaku kes mida soovib. Olen kirja pannud oma loo nii nagu mina seda tean ja seda elukogemust ükski kohus ega pank ära võtta ei saa.

I Long for our vineyard

Uku & Kertu vineyard

I have collected some really warm pictures of our vineyard here. Last summer was a really positive surprise, as even those vines that I had doomed gone started to grow very well. Thoughts come to mind at the time of snow and cold. Longing for the vines...

Kevadtalv Vormsil

Panen siis vastalustatud vallalehte läinud loo ka oma blogisse.



Vorsmsi vald hakkab uuest aastast välja andma vallalehte, et parandada adekvaatse info liikumist vallaametnike tegevuse kohta valla elanikele. Mul on au siin end vastvalitud vallavanemana tutvustada. Pean tunnistama, et Vormsi vallavalitsusse tööle kandideerimise ajal ei olnud ma ise veel Vormsit külastanud. Seda toredam oli kohtuda südamliku saarerahvaga 30. detsembril ja mõista, et Vormsi on üks ütlemata tore paik.

Olen kolmandat põlve Tallinnlane, seega võiks mind pidada põlislinnlaseks. Minu generatsiooni inimesed veetsid oma lapsepõlve suved maal vanaema juures. Mina Saaremaal vanatädide juures. Üks osa minust on end alati kujutanud elamas saarel, selles tuulises keskkonnas kus on aega asju läbi mõelda.

Minu mõlemad vanemad olid muusikud. Isa, kitarri ja trompetimängija ja ema, laulja. Selline pere on loomulikult jätnud elule oma jälje. Muusikute peres tekib sügav armastus muusika ja loovkunstide vastu.

Elu viis mind emaga elama aastateks Rootsi. Lõpetasin seal keskkooli, gümnaasiumi ja natuke ülikooli. Tegin õppimise kõrvalt mitmeid töid nagu ajalehtede kojukandmine, koristamine ja kohalikus Eesti raadiojaamas uudiste lugemine. Elu oli karm ja majanduslik olukord ei lubanud mul muusikat õppima minna. Õppisin ärijuhtimist ja kaubandust ning minu töökäik on sellest alates suuremalt osalt seotud olnud müügitegevusega.

Rootsis töötasin peale ülikooli esimest kursust Tööstusametnike ametiühingus viis aastat ametnikuna. See töö andis mulle väga hea elukooli: nägin nii tööandja kui töövõtja probleeme ja erimeelsusi. Õppisin ära Rootsi riikliku asjaajamise.

Edasi viis elutee pea viieks aastaks USA'sse, kus peamiselt õppisin omal käel muusikatootmist ja jõudsin äratundmiseni, et ma ei soovi Ameerikasse oma elu üles ehitama hakata. Väga raske oli harjuda suure riigi ignorantsusega, olgugi, et mul on sellest ajast jäänud mõned mu kõige lähedasemad sõbrad.

Suuresti juhuse tahtel sattusin emaga Eestit külastama samal nädalal kui toimus Moskvas riigipööre. Mind puudutas Eesti iseseisvumine niivõrd sügavalt, et jäin kõhklemata Eestisse ning aitasin kaasa võimalikult paljudes ettevõtmistes ja organisatsioonides. Üheksakümnendate keskel asusin tööle Eesti Telefoni IT osakonda, sealt edasi Love Raadiojaama juhtima ning 1999 Rootsi ettevõttesse UpGrade Communication AB kus töötasin kuni 2005. Minu tööks oli ehitada üles selle ettevõtte ekspordiorganisatsioon ja perioodi lõpuks oli meil müügiosakonnad Baltikumis, Soomes, Norras, Taanis, Hispaanias, Poolas ja Ühendkuningriikides. 2006 tekkis mul võimalus Eestis oma emale korraldada tema vanade nõukogude ajal hävitatud salvestiste uuesti välja andmine ning pikem kontsertturnee, mis päädis juubelikontserdiga Tallinn Sokos Hotellis. Pean tunnistama, et oli rõõm tegeleda ühel perioodil muusikaga, olgugi et jälle asju korraldavas rollis.

Viimased kaks aastat olen töötanud eksportiva ettevõtte Frog Industrial Design OÜ müügijuhina ning peamiselt korrastanud Eestis toodetud lehtmetallitoodete müüki Põhjala ja Saksa turgudel.

Esimesed kogemused Vormsi asjadest ütlevad mulle, et siin on head tööd tehtud. Eelarve on väike, aga tasakaalus, algatatud on mitmeid väga kasulikke projekte, saar on täis noori särasilmseid inimesi, suvi on kohe tulemas koos uute külalistega. Silma jäi aga üks väga tõsine puudus. Nimelt ei ole Vormsil võimalik saada kiiret ja pädevat arstiabi. Seda märkab just kriitilistes olukordades ning selline puudus võib väga palju häid saavutusi varju jätta. Proovin leida vallavalitsusega sellele valukohale võimalikult ruttu esmase lahenduse. Saare jätkusuutlikuse seisukohalt on kohalik kiire arstiabi esmatähtis.

Lisaks vallalehele oleme võtnud oma ülesandeks paremini kasutada valla kodulehte ning korraldada iga kuu vallavalitsuse infotund, kus võib vallavalitsuse otsuste üle avalikult arutleda.

Loodan, et aasta tuleb positiivne ja teguderohke meile kõigile.

Visiting a German Vine pearl..

Last week I had the opportunity to visit some vineyards in Groß Umstadt, taste the wines and talk to the winemakers.

It must be said that I have not considered myself as a great fan of German wine and I don't know much about their wine-areas..

So for the un-educated person, that I am, I got to know that Groß Umstadt is called a wine-island. It is not connected to the more known Mosel and Rhein areas. a

The vineyards are mostly located on the southward slopes of the hill just above the small city.

The growers like to grow German favourites: Riesling, Gewürtztraminer, Späte Burgunder, Dornfelder and others. I was surprised that they were also experimenting with Regent as an ecological alternative to other wine-grapes.

Since Groß Umstadt is located within the borders of the historical Roman empire, the locals prefer to call themselves the civilised and the rest (20km east) the hunns or barbarians.

The romans brought wine culture to the german tribes. Vine growing has been decreasing in times during the past centuries. Germans love beer instead.

Grosse Umstadt 10/30/09 11:31 PM

Groß Umstadt vine growers have very small plantations. It is due to historic regulations: one could only buy or rent existing vineyards. You are not allowed to start a new one. So a lot of the growers grow on plots smaller than 2 ha.

But, the quality is exceptional. We could taste some increasingly clean, nuance-rich whites and to finnish it all up: a very smooth, chocholate and coffee vibed red, made from Regent. I was immediatelly turned into Regent religion;)

Visited Vineyards in Southern Estonia Fall 2009

Southern Estonian Vineyards Fall 2009

Since this Blog is increasingly promoted as Ukus and Kertus vineyard blog, I will start publishing more materials about vinegrowing in Estonia. Here you have an album of a trip to Southern Estonia. Jaak Eensalu Annemäe Vineyard - Rondo, Solaris, Cabernet Frank - wine and Liia Kaska vineyard, she grows tens of varieties, mostly table grapes.

Nynäs Slott - eller jag älskar Svenska Slott

Har tagit ännu en liten tur runt Nynäs Slott.

Visserligen var allt vinterstängt, men +19 och soligt var det ändå!

Klicka här för flera bilder!

Eesti Saartelt uus majandustõus?

Kuulsin eile raadios huvitavat lauset: Saaremaa lennuliini käsitletakse doteeringus tee pikendusena. Samuti peaks vist täna parvlaevaühendust käsitlema. Reaalsus on kahjuks hoopis teine.

Sõites täna Võru maakonna lõppu, kulub sõiduks läbitud km. bensiin ja aeg. Ma maksan kas ühistranspordi pileti või oma auto sõidukulud. Tee eest ma ei maksa. Selle summa saab riik kütuseaktsiisi kaudu juba kätte.

Sõites Saaremaale või Hiiumaale koosneb minu teekonna kulu: läbitud km. ja aeg + kütus ning siis sinna lisaks veel: aeg praamijärjekorras + praamipilet?!?

Usun, et see teema ei ole eriti originaalne, kuid kas ma olen ainuke inimene, kellele tundub, et võrdse kohtlemise seaduspärasusest on Saartele sõitjate ja muudesse Eesti kohtadesse sõitjate puhul palju rääkida?

Nõukogude ajal oli kaug-idas käibel eri-hindade ja palkade süsteem, mis üritas kompenseerida elamist kaugetel aladel ning kaupade kallist transpordikulu sinna. Eesti saartel ei ole bensiin odavam, ega palgad kõrgemad. Vastupidi, enamus tooteid on müügil natuke kallimalt kui mandri linnade suurpoodides (v.a. Kuressaare suurmarketid) ja bensiin maksab ühtmoodi kui mujal Eestis. Palgad seevastu tugevalt madalamad kui mandril. Seega maksustatakse Saartel elavad-töötavad-tootvad inimesed kõrgemalt kui mandril asuvad elanikud. Füüsiline isolatsioon ei luba ka tervendaval turukonkurentsil liigselt asju mõjutada.

Kuna paistab, et ametkonnad ei ole suutnud luua parvlaevaühendust, kus kulu Saaremaale sõiduks oleks sama kui kulu sama kaugele mandrile sõiduks, siis räägitakse Silla-projektist. Ja hiljuti üsna vähe sellest.

Kahjuks on tehtavad uuringud praegu suunatud vaid ühele sillale: Suure Väina sillale. Samas pakub merepõhja sügavus ja saarte kaugus võimaluse ühendada ka Vormsi - Hiiumaa ja Saaremaa sildadega. Või vast kõige optimaalsem variant arvestades külaliste arvu: Saaremaa Suure Väina kaudu ja Hiiumaa üle Saaremaa.

Tänases poliitilises võitluses on imelik tõdeda, et ükski arvestatav poliitiline erakond ei kanna seda teemat täie jõuga avalikus diskussioonis. See teema on võrreldav tuumajaama ja euro kasutuselevõtuga ning annaks kindlasti nii poliitilist PR-kapitali kui ka kaudselt tulu seda teostavale parteile. Pealegi on tegu projektiga, mida on võimalik tänasel hetkel rahastada ja läbi viia ning mille tagajärjel näeksime kindlasti mingit konstantset SKP tõusu sillale järgnevatel aastatel.

Saaremaa ja Hiiumaa majandus on viimased 20 aastat kiratsenud otsekui summuti all. Saarte inimesed on visad ja ettevõtlikud. Nad on harjunud ajama asju lolluste kiuste. Ajalooliselt on tegu väga laia suhtlusringinga heade müügimeestega. Eesti vajaks sellist kiirelt arenevat majandust, et lähiaastatel Masu'st tingitud kukkumist tagasi teha. Kasutades Saaremaa ja Hiiumaa majandusi on see võimalik. Enne tuleb siiski võrdsustada ligipääs nendele aladele teiste Eesti aladega. Ainus pähetulev analoog on praegu Petserimaa, mis on samuti raskesti ligipääsetav, kuid põhjuseks territoriaalne kuulumine Vene Federatsiooni alla. Eesti riigi valitsemise all ei ole mandril ühtegi selliselt raskendatud ligipääsetavusega ala.

Kutsun üles arutlema meie Presidendi tihti välja öeldud teemal, - ”maal elamine tuleb oma kuludelt võrdsustada linnas elamisele”. Lisaksin sellele mõttele ka saarte dimensiooni.

Tallinn does Chelsea

This year, Tallinn city will hold a garden exibition in the Old Town parks during the summer that comprises of more than 20 different gardens, presented by professional garden designers from Estonia and abroad.

The areas were prepared in May, all planting will start in June. I'll keep you posted with pics and info on that.

What non-estonians think about the current situation in Estonia

I was positively surprised by the quality of comments in balticbusinessnews.com, commenting Jüri Uustalu's article about the Estonian government hiding its mistakes..

Since the comments are anonymous, I will dare to cite one of the very best. The guy calls himself Buckie.. I really hope, that Estonian decision makers read these comments and start understanding how the rest of the world sees Estonias problems. The local debate has canonized one story and one truth, that has more or less killed the meaning of a debate. Even less help make positive decisions.

"Buckie

05.05.09 16:13

Yes, the government is running around in ever-decreasing circles looking to trim this budget and that budget but they just fail to see the bigger picture – by cutting funding they are killing any potential shoots of recovery before those have poked their heads out of the ground and any seemingly healthy aspects of the economy are being retarded by this attritional and, quite frankly, toxic policy. What has caused me the most alarm in Estonia, and indeed in the other Baltic States, is the lack of any coherent Plan B. Everyone in the opposition – and some in coalition too! – is ready to shoot down the government but nobody seems willing to ask or answer the obvious question, “So what would you do that is different?” Plan A is blatantly flawed but nobody has considered ANY Plan B. So we are left with an invalid where the declared state policies are to do less to assist the increasing unemployed, increase the tax burden on earners who are already seeing their salaries shrink due to wage cuts, cut all “superfluous” state funding in infrastructure, freeze payments to pension funds which were highly hyped at their outset, let’s not bother to go any further – am I the only person adding this all up apart from PerEconProg? What is the aim of this state-sponsored suicide pact? Why, yes, it’s the Euro. The be all and end all of Estonian economic policy. But what will the treasured Euro accession bring? Will it immediately create the green shoots of recovery? The PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) don't seem to believe that and they bemoan the loss of a currency that they can devalue to regain competitiveness in export markets. Of course there has to be a base of goods to export before we can consider that scenario and Estonia's manufacturing sector has been laying off workers to such an extent that it may very well be too late to make any attempt to effectively trade out of recession by ramping up competitiveness levels. PerEconProg has nicely carved up the figures to demonstrate what phenomena have occurred in the employment market since independence. If the main economic thrust has been to offer a service economy then the majority of those in service roles need to look in the mirrors long and hard. In 1995 I wrote an article for a business publication in the UK entitled “Estonia – A Service Economy With No Concept Of Service” and at the time I was gently rebuked by Estonian friends who claimed that I was premature in my evaluation of their efforts as time would prove them to be competent. Well, I could apply the same arguments that I applied then to today’s Estonia but this time the chiding would be replaced with visceral hatred. In that 1995 article I also touched on the Estonian attitude towards education as being praiseworthy and I foresaw educational excellence on the distant horizon. Unfortunately the opposite seems to have occurred with parochial attitudes being hardened by lack of vision beyond the borders of the country. Some of the private educational establishments are shamefully blowing their own trumpets but offering nothing of any note and Tartu University remains, according to a senior Swedish academic with whom I shared a recent SAS flight, “on the level of a second division school in Portugal.” That quote rather surprised me but he assured me that he could only wish that he was not being serious. However I have no experience of the Portuguese second division so I can only speculate. (Please expect the Tartu University graduates on this forum to now jump all over this.) But I digress. One of the saddest things that I have read in this forum recently is the comment at the top of this list from Tallinn #2 when he says, “People have loans in EUR. Don't you get it, then it is impossible to devaluate!” I am sure that he is being ironic but the sad truth is that there are many thousands of mortgage holders in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who really believe that this is some form of economic certainty. Completely baseless. When Krugman compares Estonia to Argentina that fills me with dread. There are bigger issues at stake in this world than a blind and ill-explained drunken stagger to the Euro. This country is being denuded for the sake of one economic policy. But what if Estonia misses that target? What then? What of the basket case that has nothing left to sacrifice? I don’t think that there will be much sympathy from outsiders for a government which bet the farm on black and the dealer turned over red."

Going on a date with Chaka

I have been visiting Stockholm for the past days and at last it hit me: Stockholm is a city with night-life. I hadn't been to the world famous jazz club Fashing for almost 20 years now, so I decided to check on whats going on there.

There was something quite unique taking place in Fashing on this Satuday night. A band called Any Old Sunday, consisting of child-young swedish youth performed Chaka Khan all night with a devotion that I have not been able to witness anywhere else.

The band was excuisite, the arrangements copied exactly the sound of 70's to 80's. It was like going back in a time-machine. On stage there were four girls performing the exact vocal arrangements of Chaka Khans music. The two solists EllyEve and Tina Talajic took turns in singing all Chakas hits with real youth energy. Elly had the high notes, Tina the grounge' lows. If I could find anything missing, then it was the bit of jazz, that we love about Chaka these days. But she is decades older and more mature. The girls sounded honestly like a very young Chaka.

In the mensroom, I was approached by an older man, who asked if I had come to Fashing before and what did I think of the band.. I told him this was my first time in 20 years and I've heard a lot of bad jazz there before, so today was just a pleasure. The man explained that his son is living together with the singer Elly and he was so exited... How nice;)..

Well, to make a long story bit shorter: all my youth I did dream of soul and funk taking hold in Sweden. Looking at that band made me an eery feeling that I had dreamt this all up.. The soul was there and I really connected with that music. So did everyone else, it seemed too..

"Den energiska kvartetten Any Old Sunday blandar finess med attityd och bjuder tillsammans med Misses Papillon på en fartfylld kväll full av dans och spelglädje.

Any Old Sunday: Aleksandar Brdarski – bas, 
Aaron Mellergårdh – trummor,
 David Larson – keyboard,
 Efraim Olofsson – gitarr. Misses Papillon: EllyEve – sång,
 Tina Talajic – sång,
 Marlene Strand – kör, 
Graciela Chin A Loi – kör"

Laulame Eesti võlast vabaks!

Tekst Laulupeol laulmiseks:

Laevutage laenulaeva, viige ära maksuvaeva, tagasi Rootsi randa, Svenssonite kanda,

Siis kõik kroonid kahel otsal lausa löövad laperdama, svenni taskus tokerdama:
eestlane läeb edasije, taretagust kündimaie, vorstiraha teenimaie,
Võlg see mingu võõrale!
küll siis kalev jõuab koju,
eesti rahval õnne tooma,
eesti krooni euroks looma...

Palun täiendage, saab pika värsi valmis. Suured tänud Anneli Niitsoo ja Kristina Märtin;)

How about an Estonian-Finnish Confederation?

I have been watching the cat-fight between the Estonian politicians lately and a mind-boggling idea has laid root in my head.. What if.. ? Estonia would join Finland in a confederate manner, taking over 100% Finnish legistlation, currency, etc. etc.?

Why? Why do companies merge? Why does 1+1 sometimes make 3?

Well, to start with, Estonia and Finland lie very close one to another. A merely 80km of sea separates the two capitals Tallinn and Helsinki. Most of Northern Finland has a very arctic climate, making it quite difficult to deal with agriculture. The Finnish and Estonian languages are merely dialects of finno-ugric. The temperament of the two nations is very similar. There are ca 5-6 million Finns and about 1 million Estonians in their respective countires. Estonia has a lot warmer climate, a lot of agriculture suitable land and very few people. Estonia has a very high governing cost, very young political culture (mostly missing culture) and a very limited leadership potential. Both countries have a russian speaking minority.

The two countries would make one new entity that would resemble Sweden in economy and geograpy. The two countries would finnish off the possibility for Russia to ever expand towards west again.

Why this is a crazy thought? Well, the Finns are a lot more advanced in economy (Nokia etc;), politcs and culture. The Estonians think they have the higher culture and are of course the smartest of all. So this would exclude any direct merger of the countries. But a federation would give Estonia full autonomy. Both countries would join one federal government that is located in Helsinki and the Estonian language would be one of the official languages of the land. The both countries allready share the melody of the national anthem, there will be some conflict about who is the big brother since it is clear that the Estonian establishment will have a weaker starting point in that situation. They would have to compete from a bit weaker position.

But think again. Estonia is too small to ever guarantee its inhabitants a standard of living that suits a European country. The cost of governing is very high from the local to country level. There is just too few tax payers, no matter how high the taxes will be. The political culture has not evolved according to western-european standards. You can clearly see primitive conclusions and simple solutions that resemble the Soviet past. Estonias neighbour Russia is using that weakness every day against Estonia.

Uniting the two countries would give a minimum critical mass of tax payers for the country to raise to new levels. Both countries lie in the EU, Finland has adapted the Euro, Estonia is about to adapt it. The only difference is the Estonias membership in Nato. But that can be corrected.

The purpose of this posting is to create the thought process. Please think with me and maybe there would be a way to proceed?

Yakov Shebelev

a poem / Economic crisis Eastern Europe anno 2009

My Wife says: What are we going to have for dinner tonight?

Me: Memories of Yesterday

My Wife: What about Tomorrow?

Me: Tomorrows Dreams...

Intresting rare videos of Marju Kuut on YouTube

Today I found some very rare videos of Marju Kuut from 60's to 80's.. Since our leaving the country, the Soviet system erased most of her videos and tapes. This is lucky that someone has copied them and shares them on YouTube. Today it feels truly Retro!

Wonderful Holiday in Saaremaa

Saaremaa 2008/2009 New Year

I want to share with you some really nice pics taken on the last weeks of 2008 and first weeks of 2009 in Saaremaa at our little vineyard.

We arrived at something that looked more like the Great Britain, +7, late fall. Then as the days went by, temperature fell to -1 and by the last week of 2008 we had a wonderful -18c and 20cm of snow. I managed to prune all the vines before the snow came, so all the vines got nicely covered during the really cold days.

This was the most wonderful short holiday of the past year.

The virtues with MacBook power supply

I am a proud owner of a black MacBook. I was amazed by the magnet on top of the power connector, which was intended to make the connection much sturdier. Yes, it was.

What didn't stand the time was the cable itself. Somehow it did not stand the dayly usage stress and actually burned today. I had to look up my soldering iron and to use some violence towards the plug. Yes, it works now, but besides being in matching black color, it is all but stylish.. And the plug will not come out of the Mac unless it brakes again, so I have to use my MacBook as a table top computer now;) The perspective of buying a 130 usd usp is beyond my comprehension. Good design, Apple!

But, they sell new bootlegs on Ebay..

Rosendals Trädgård

Rosendals Trädgård

I would like to recomend a wonderful place ifyou ever visit Stockholm. It lies on the island of Skansen (10 minute walk from the center of Stockholm) and comprises of several magic gardens, including a 5 years old vineyard.

I took those pictures for two weeks ago and the place is as beautiful in winter as in summer.

Winter has arrived to Tallinn

This weekend we had the opportunity to witness one of the heaviest snowstorms in years. The downfall was up to 44cm per one night and another 15cm the other night.

We had winds of 18-30m/s, yet the air was quite warm, around 0 c.

About 30 000 households stayed without power, most roads were stuffed with snow, airplanes were stranded, harbors closed, schools closed.

Yet our tough municipalities and government meant that no harm was done and no reason to call for national assistance was at hand. Their reasoning was: for an emergency there has to be severe disturbances of traffic, power and communications.



This is how it looked in Central Tallinn after the storm.





I have no comment;)

The varieties that can be found at our test-site

I have thought of making a list of varieties of grapevines that grow at our small farm. This could help sharing the information and experiences with other growers. Most of the list is currently planted on 0.8 ha.

On the picture to the left: we had a wonderful meeting this early summer with a snake couple making love in the Rondo pot;) under our window..

The list:

Black Hamburg, Cabernet Cortis, Cabernet Frank, Madeleine Angevine, Madelene Royal, Guna, Zilga, Jubilei Novgoroda, Mitchurinets, Zarja Severa, Jokke, Swensson Red, Somerset Seedless, ES-7-9-48, Krassavets, Aljoshenka, Dushambe, NY Muscat, Canadice, Valiant, Shirvinta, Russven, Toldi, Severnoi Rannii, Kuzminskii Sinii, Skandia, Hasanskii Sladkii (Baltika), Rondo, Vamushka, Loza Mira, Alfa - probably forgot some..

Information Horizon

There are a few thoughts that do want to escape my head once in a while. I have been following the progress of information physics and some quantum physics. There are a couple of things I'd like to ask Einstein, if he could answer me;)

There is to be a horizon of information around the perimeter of a black hole, no matter how physically small it is. Information is to be indestructible. If that is so, does that apply for the information that lives on living beings aswell? The Mems that reside on all living beings? What happens to the information that one person carries with itself during ones life once the living person dissapears? Where is the horizon? (please don't start with spirits and angels=or ufos)

We all know that the stars we see in the heaven is a reflection from millions of years from the past. In theory, we could travel away from the Earth and look back into the past if we had proper optics. Taking into account the possible quantum states of any photons, one could possibly read the time backwards without leaving the Earth. But! Since seeing alters the state of the matter, i.e. we have an unlimited amount of possible existences in parallel.. , then is there any way of seeing the past that we think should be the proper one? Because there seems to be an unlimited amount of pasts, presents and futures.

And last, but not least. The conciousness. For the information physics: the way we do percieve the surrounding time and space. Is there only one way to percieve the universe or are there similar countless experiences in countless universes? Or do we choose the universe every second of our life by our choices? Yes, you can talk about Karma now.

Good thinking;)

The future of Digital Music on the Internet

Sometimes I do get a flash or two about a thing or two. In my life as a musician I am following the demise of the record industry and I see the digital services not really filling that void.

Then it hit me. Well, in order to really capture the masses, future licensing of all music should be included in the monthly internet or mobile bill. The user should not have to bother to buy and pay for the exact songs or files, instead a world-wide catalogue should be avaliable for a monthly fee.

The files should be stored on the net, a bit like the photo-hosting services today. Instead of file duplicates, different databases of your chosen music lists should be held there and recalled for play-back. In order to access that catalogue and your own favourites, you have to pay for it to your operator.

Actually, come to think of that - that is the way we act today when we access You Tube.. or MySpace... The only difference is that the content owners do not get paid. What if the music there would be legal and the authors would get paid in the same way as with services as Rhapsody or I-Tunes?

I thought as usual, that there is no output to my idea, since I am not working within any organisation or company in this field. But then again: I have a BLOG. So let this post be like a bottle that you throw in the sea.. Who finds it, could use it;)

The little vines are waking up

I planted those little guys last July. They took root and grew nicely until one morning in Octobner they got a bit of a cold.. - 4 c I didn't give up, but took them up to the attic and after a nice winter sleep they woke up in January. Right now they are quite happy in the early spring sunshine..

Late Fall in Saaremaa

Now frosts have re-decorated the plants and the landscape. We could enjoy the frost-bitten view last time in Saaremaa.

This is the view from our farm towards the neighbours.

This is a little vine that I planted in July. It has taken root and will grow in the pot for the winter. We'll plant it on the field next summer.

I have a hard time moving around the garden, since it is all dug up for the piping.

Baltica - Hasanski Sladkii - Varajane Sinine..

Royal Dane: my favourite rose.

Roses are all over our vineyard.

Here we have managed to plant about 550 plants.

The old wine-cellar (renovation in progress)

This lovely friend got hit by a car. In Memoriam.

Mesmerising views projected by the setting sun..

The entrance to our vineyard.

My fathers album

I recently got hold of the family album of my fathers family.

On the right there is my grandma Maria with her sisters.

I had seen the album just once before, but now my uncle shared it with me and I could scan in all those old and wonderful memories.

Almost a hundred years separates me from those people...




Yet another memory from this book: my great-grandfather Jefim with one of my great aunts. Come to think of that: he has the same smile as my late dad. The girl (great aunt) must have liked her grand-dad. It shows from the picture.

My dad died on my 40th birthday. I was on the ferry to Saaremaa with my wife and son when I got the message. There must be something with the numbers. Nothing happens by chance.

Longing for my vines

Dec. 1st. Sitting in Tallinn, being in a middle of a very difficult year-end I keep longing for the vineyard we managed to plant with my wife last summer.

The little island: Saaremaa (Ösel) near the western coast of Estonia has a wonderful mild marine climate, bit chalcky grounds and a wonderful energy.




During my travels around the world, I have allways dreamed of having a silent hide-away in Saaremaa. Having studied my roots a little, I found that they have lived in Saaremaa since the medieval times.

Two years ago we did find one particularily charming little farm for sale. It had been left alone for many years and waiting for someone to bring some life back to it.

We couldn't resist and bought it right away. After settling in, we experienced a short clash with the last occupant that had lived and died in the house. It was a little bit of a poltergeist story, but it all ended well with the spirit moving on to higher grounds.

We have had two summers of work and joy, pendling between Tallinn and Saaremaa.