Thursday, April 25

Name day: Līksma, Bārbala

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Mike Collier

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Ārpus ētera
I'll meet you at the Cēsis cemetery gates
I'll meet you at the Cēsis cemetery gates
One thing of which Latvia has no shortage is cemeteries. While a visit to one of them can be for reasons that are extremely sad, slightly melancholy or relaxingly tranquil, having an expert historian by your side turns such a visit into one of the more interesting hours of your brief life above ground.
Along the Latvia-Estonia border: Northernmost Latvia
Along the Latvia-Estonia border: Northernmost Latvia
Thankfully the Latvia-Estonia border is not the cartographically satisfying but extremely boring straight line such as one finds between certain of the United States or countries owning shares in the Sahara Desert. On a large-scale map it looks fairly consistent, but the closer you zoom in, the more irregular and oddball it becomes.
Along the Latvia-Estonia border: Valka-Valga Express
Along the Latvia-Estonia border: Valka-Valga Express
In 2024, Tartu – or rather, Tartu and a large chunk of southern Estonia – is a European Capital of Culture, and as LSM has already reported, a concerted effort is being made to attract as many Latvian residents as possible to the party. However, it would be misleading of me to say that's the reason for this series of features. It's not the reason, it's the excuse. Some of us have had the Northern Latvia/Southern Estonia bug for a long time already and need no new invitation to explore the quirks and kinks of the Latvia-Estonia border.
It's surprising what you find in a Baltic bog
It's surprising what you find in a Baltic bog
It's rare that I feel annoyed these days about missing a press opportunity, but I must admit that it happened last week when I belatedly discovered that the three Baltic Prime Ministers had met in an Estonian bog. If ever there was a press opp designed for me, this was it.
'Sumy, Ukraina, I'm with you!'
'Sumy, Ukraina, I'm with you!'
Tuesday in northern Latvia was sunny, but still quite cold. The ice gave the impression it couldn't decide whether it should melt, and so would wait a bit longer before committing itself one way or the other.
Viewpoint: Latvia finally found its 'Nokia'
Viewpoint: Latvia finally found its 'Nokia'
Latvia's search for its 'Nokia' has been a protracted one. For those not familiar with the term, the search for "Latvia's Nokia" has been around since the days when Finland's Nokia was the big success of the Baltic region and has been used as shorthand for a concept combining Sir Gawain's quest for the Holy Grail, the Conquistadores' search for Eldorado and Austin Powers' bid to regain his mojo. As with all these examples, the hunt for Latvia's Nokia went on a bit longer than was strictly necessary.
Opinion: The Fake News Catch-22
Opinion: The Fake News Catch-22
One of the strangest things about the tedious phenomenon of "fake news", by which in most cases we mean badly-written fiction posing as factual reporting, is the way in which reporters are almost forced to write about it.
On becoming a Latvian citizen: Part 2 - Documentation
On becoming a Latvian citizen: Part 2 - Documentation
Having decided to apply for Latvian citizenship, my next step was to do very little for a couple of years. Rather, I quickly obtained most of the necessary documents and assumed the rest would take minimal effort so could be put off until that mythical moment we all dream of "when I have some free time." 
Sling your hook! My part in the Latvian centenary series "Sarkanais Mežs"
Sling your hook! My part in the Latvian centenary series "Sarkanais Mežs"
I have always preferred minor character actors to A-list film stars. They might only get a scene or two, but the presence of these strangely-shaped, broken-nosed, odd-looking and heavily-accented figures gives a film a human appeal and variety that can never be conveyed by the handsome and beautiful leading men and ladies.  
Things of Latvia: Not writing about the "Caurvējš"
Things of Latvia: Not writing about the "Caurvējš"
This is the last Thing of Latvia. Looking back, we have written about more than 30 different Things of Latvia. Some have proved popular, some not. Some have been well written, some less so. But of one thing we can be certain, in one thing we can take some pride: we have never stooped to writing about the "caurvējš".
Things of Latvia: Chris Norman
Things of Latvia: Chris Norman
In the 1970s and 1980s the United Kingdom had an amazing list of colossal and incomparable rock stars dominating the charts: David Bowie, Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury et al.
Things of Latvia: "Tehnisku iemeslu dēļ"
Things of Latvia: "Tehnisku iemeslu dēļ"
If you happened to notice there was no ''Thing of Latvia'' last week, and you were in the mood to guess why, it would be reasonable to speculate that we at LSM were ill, lazy, drunk or out of ideas. Such surmises might be correct in one, several or all respects. However, we could quite easily maintain our dignity and reputation by answering that there was no ''Thing of Latvia'' last week tehnisku iemeslu dēļ or due to technical reasons.
Things of Latvia: Clapping
Things of Latvia: Clapping
A great deal of research has been done on the behavior of crowds, their psychopathology and their tendency to express the more regressive aspects of the human psyche, but as far as I am aware, none of these studies have focused on clapping in Latvia.
Viewpoint: House sitting
Viewpoint: House sitting
A couple of weeks ago our colleagues at the LSM Latvian-language service unveiled a new project they had been working on for a long time: a multiple choice quiz devised to give voters in the forthcoming Saeima elections some idea of their general political affiliation.
Things of Latvia: Sighing
Things of Latvia: Sighing
A bar-room acquaintance once told me that while travelling many years ago in Eastern Anatolia, he made the mistake of "tut-tutting" during a conversation. While a local was complaining at length about the difficulties of life in a remote village, he delivered what may even have been a tut rather than a full tut-tut as a gesture of sympathy and understanding at the many trials with which life likes to torture us.
Viewpoint: Hopeful moves towards the changing of the old guard
Viewpoint: Hopeful moves towards the changing of the old guard
With so much attention currently focused on parliamentary elections due to take place October 6 - despite the common opinion that that they will result in very little change -  it is possible that some more important, if less obviously significant events are taking place under our noses right now.
Things of Latvia: Hero trees
Things of Latvia: Hero trees
In the past we have written at length about the mighty dižkoki or "great trees" of Latvia. Huge, majestic, long-lived and (and if you believe all the way) serving as repositories of folkloric power, they are rightly venerated.
Things of Latvia: Roberto Meloni
Things of Latvia: Roberto Meloni
Journalists passing through Latvia occasionally ask me who is the most influential person in the country. I have little hesitation in replying: "Roberto Meloni."
Things of Latvia: Pateicības raksts
Things of Latvia: Pateicības raksts
"This is to certify..." begins a typical Pateicības raksts, or, perhaps the marginally inferior "This is to recognize..." or "This is to acknowledge..."
Can you answer these 10 questions about Baltic art?
Can you answer these 10 questions about Baltic art?
April 10 sees the opening of a major exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris dedicated to the art of the Baltic states. Titled Âmes Sauvages: Le symbolisme dans l’art des pays Baltes. (Wild Souls: Symbolism in the art of the Baltic states), it runs until July 15 and forms one of the cornerstones of Estonia's, Latvia's and Lithuania's international celebrations of their founding centenaries.
A guide to the rest of Latvia's non-resident banks
A guide to the rest of Latvia's non-resident banks
Latvia's non-resident banks -- financial institutions with a large proportion of clients based in other countries -- are attracting a lot of international attention at the moment, for all the wrong reasons.
Things of Latvia: Candles
Things of Latvia: Candles
It is a small step from being a sun worshipper to being a fire worshipper, which may go some way to explaining the popularity of candles (sveces) in Latvia. In summer there is the sun. In winter there is no sun capable of burning you very severely, so we must rely on candles.
Kučinskis: fight against corruption "one of main priorities of the government"
Kučinskis: fight against corruption "one of main priorities of the government"
In Brussels on February 23 Latvian Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis was on a damage limitation exercise. For a week newspapers across Europe and beyond had been running front-page stories about sensational developments in Latvia's financial sector involving allegations of money-laundering, bribery, conspiracy, corruption and even, according to the government's own sources, a "probable" co-ordinated campaign to defame Latvia's name - which is a bit like saying everyone is making too much out of the money-laundering, bribery, conspiracy and corruption.
ABLV is a big deal
ABLV is a big deal
Next time a bank tells you how clever it is, how it uses all the latest technology, how its accounts are super secure and how slick and smart and highly-trained its employees are, you might choose to disbelieve the claim.