Wu Wei

Feedburner RSS (update: thank you Google for losing all my feeds)

I just noticed my Feedburner RSS Subscriptions have dropped from the usual 90s to 4.  I was fiddling with Feedburner Newsletter.  I don't know whether that had anything to do with it. 

I apologise.  Please come back.

Update

It seems Google has taken over Feedburner and forced us all into Google accounts.  Although Google promises to transfer all the feeds, it has managed to lose all mine.

Thank you Google.  I am really looking forward to the wonderful new services you are offering, if they are all like this.

Haiku to Vilnius

While I was staying in Vilnius at the weekend, my friends gave me a book of haikus for Vilnius, printed specially for the European Capital of Culture 2009 celebrations.  

All sorts of people were invited to contribute.  These are some of my favourites.  They are mainly in Lithuanian (but translations are provided) but also some from Japan (home of the haiku) and even from tourists passing through.

Europe says
Vilnius is the centre of culture
But where is it?

AGNĖ
a mother of three

rosso passione
è la notte di Vilnius
per chi è vivo

Sender:
Federica Fiorenza

I longed for Paris
I believed in Rome but
I fell in love with Vilnius

GRETA
student

and no sight in Vilnius too strange:

A bell is tolling
A moose is heard
Clattering along the Old Town street

VYTAUTAS V. LANDSBERGIS
a theatre director, children's writer


 You can see some more here. Haiku to Vilnius.

Georgia: Royal Wedding

Yesterday's wedding between two descendants of the Bagrationi dynasty which ruled Georgia for at least 10 centuries has captured the imagination of royal watchers worldwide. However, for those pondering the state of democracy in the post-Soviet country since the November 2007 unrest, the marriage between Prince David Bagrationi-Mukhraneli and Princess Anna Bagrationi-Gruzinsky has also reinvigorated talk of reestablishing the monarchy.  (from Armenia & the South Caucasus | The Caucasian Knot » Georgia: Royal Wedding) .

However, despite being called a fairy tale wedding, this was the best photo I could find (in yahoo news here, more here ).

Finally I found some proper "fairy tale wedding photos" in Hello Magazine. Where else?

Rugby in Georgia

In Cafebabel, you can read about the state of the game rugby, as played in Georgia.


Vito Kolelishvili: rugby player on 'unpaid managers and sportsmen' in Georgia - the European magazine ~ Cafebabel.

Iceland amongst the happiest countries?

Isn't it terrible what a difference less than a year makes?

Here is Lotus Reads quoting The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, four months ago in her  review here:

And then, there's Iceland where darkness reigns supreme for 6 months of the year and yet its people are supposed to be some of the happiest in the world. Weiner visited the country in winter and concluded that any or all of the following contribute to the Icelanders being so happy: A)Creativity : Everyone's a poet in Iceland, everyone's a dreamer and if you believe that dreams are the laboratories of reality then the Icelanders must have the ability to dream (thus creating) happy things for themselves. B) Great sense of community: The Icelandic people truly enjoy helping each other to do well or to be successful. All knowledge is shared and there is no envy, just a collective joy in seeing other Icelanders doing well. C) Failure is not looked down upon. As a result you will find a lot more people trying their hand at something because they don't fear failure. D) Icelanders wear many hats. In other words, unlike in North America, they do not restrict themselves to specializing in just one particular field. This means they are able to switch career paths as often as they desire. E) Icelanders are fiercely patriotic (they do not indulge in jingoism however) about their country and extremely proud of their language .

Too many dreamers, perhaps.  Not so sure that "failure is not looked down upon now". 

On the BBC News recently an interviewee claimed that there had been a revolution in thinking.  Not a happy one, clearly.

Government plans travel database

Can this on BBC News really be true (hat-tip to Random Reality here)?

The government is compiling a database to track and store the international travel records of millions of Britons.

Computerised records of all 250 million journeys made by individuals in and out of the UK each year will be kept for up to 10 years.

The government says the database is essential in the fight against crime, illegal immigration and terrorism.

The intelligence centre will store names, addresses, telephone numbers, seat reservations, travel itineraries and credit card details of travellers.

I don't think I gave permission to the airlines to give my credit card details etc to the government.  If it wants my data then it will have to ask me for it first, I hope.

Would this be the same government that still doesn't have a database of our health records in the NHS?  Given its current level of success at implementing big databases I think we are safe for a bit longer. 

But it seems we should read the payment conditions set by airlines more carefully when we book online, and complain.

Film and food blogs anyone?

Making some progress on reorganising my blogroll, but realised it is quite thin in some places:

only two blogs on books (one is really a techie blog)
no blogs on film (any suggestions, preferably for art house or classics, as I can't be doing with Hollywood much)
only one blog on music
only one blog on food (which I haven't been reading lately but will try again).

The problem with all the travel is that culture gets rather local and so I read country blogs rather than culture blogs.  Not much point in reading about plays and music I never get to see.  And cooking takes a back seat when you can't always get the ingredients, there's perfectly good food here, and it's cheap enough to eat out a lot.  But it's good to cook something which you have read about that makes your mouth water looking at the pictures.

So please send me your suggestions.

Today I had a great day  touring the Tbilisi food market (fully open on Sunday, despite the religious Georgians) and came back with plenty of fruits, vegetables and nuts.  It's already quite warm here so we are not stuck with only winter vegetables. 

If I'm going to be here at least another year, it's time to get serious about cooking Georgian food.

Books, Films, Music, Food. More revisions to my blog roll

This is a bit pathetic for a list, but suggestions are always welcome.

Books
Lotus Reads

Films
Er, now I realised I don't read any blogs about films.  Do you?  if so, recommend some in the comments,please.  Living in out of the way places means you don't get to see many films, or at least only Hollywood films which I don't have time for.  I'm more of an art house type.

Music
Viola in Vilnius (and books sometimes)

Food
Chocolate and Zucchini

Stuff I'm going to do sometime when I retire
Irish Arts Blog

Patriotic coffee served in Tbilisi hotel

Russia to blame for snow in Britain?

Today's BBC news headlines are: Big freeze expected to hit the UK

More freezing temperatures and snow flurries are predicted for February.

Icy winds heading for the UK will make temperatures feel "sub zero" as the coldest winter in 13 years continues.

Snowstorms from Russia are expected to hit the eastern part of England on Sunday night.

Night-time temperatures are set to drop to -2C (28F) as a blast of cold air sweeps in from the North Sea.

Bitterly cold easterly winds will cause snow to drift, with forecasters predicting that 5cm to 10cm will fall over many parts of England and Wales.

If the snow came from Russia, it must have warmed up a bit getting here if the worst it could do in the UK was -2C. But then we all know the Brits are wimps about cold weather:  feel "sub-zero"?  what the hell does that mean?  What about when it is really -10?