Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Līdz ar tehnoloģijām nāk jauni veidi, kā iepazīt veco. "Ojāra soļi" šajā gadījumā ir mūsdienīgs veids, kā tuvoties droši vien galvenajam Pārdaugavas dzejniekam. Daugavas labajam krastam ir Čaks, mums - Vācietis, vismaz ciktāl tas attiecas uz pilsētas apdzejošanu. Protams, Vācieti laikmeta ziņā pareizāk būtu pretnostatīt Ziedonim, kā nekā viņi bija vienaudži, taču kā Kreisā krasta patriots primāri Vācieti vēlos redzēt kā Rīgas anti-Čaku.

Turpinu Dirty Deal Teatro izrāžu-instrukciju iepazīšanu, baudot dažādas netradicionālas mākslas formas. Šoreiz - Anetes Konstes "Noziegums", kura tapšanā piedalījušies arī Jānis Joņevs un Elizabete Lukšo-Ražinska.

Apstākļos, kad teātris kā klātienes mākslas forma nav iespējams, Dirty Deal Teatro iet pavisam negaidītu ceļu - piedāvājot izrādes-instrukcijas, kuras nosacītie skatītāji bauda/veic/izmēģina (kā nu tas droši vien kurā gadījumā) sanāk individuāli (vai pāros) mājas apstākļos. Mani visādi dīvaini formāti vienmēr ir interesējuši, tad nu sāku savu ceļojumu šādu instrukciju pasaulē, redzēs, kur tās mani aizvedīs un ko par sevi pašu atklās.

В середину мая каждый год следующим большим мероприятием после хоккейного чемпионата мира становится Евровидение. В этом году я изначально не собирался следить за данной тусовкой, однако обстоятельства сложились так, что всё же пришлось.

Uzskatu, ka sevi varu dēvēt par lielu Eirovīzijas teorētiķi, jo ne vien jau daudzus gadus šo pasākumu skatos, bet arī tās rezultātu analīzei veltīju savu maģistra darbu (un cik daudz ir cilvēku, kas par sevi varētu teikt ko tādu?). Protams, tas vienlaikus nenozīmē, ka uzskatu sevi par šī pasākuma fanu. Vispār par Eirovīzijas faniem man radās kāda doma/jautājums. Mums ar draugiem Eirovīzija ir ikgadējs kolektīvas skatīšanās pasākums, kurā tev ir iespēja labi pasmieties un paņirgāties. Un, cik nojaušu, gandrīz visi, kas Eirovīziju skatās kompānijā, to skatās tieši ar mērķi paņirgāties. Bet vai ir cilvēki, kuri Eirovīziju draugu kompānijā skatās "nopietni"? Proti, tā kā hokeju vai ko tamlīdzīgu.

Piektdien notika beidzot tas, par ko bija ilgi runāts un kas bija ilgi plānots - Pink Floyd P-U-L-S-E koncerta skatīšanās uz lielā (projektora) ekrāna. Fragmentus no šī koncerta, protams, biju redzējis iepriekš, arī tā audio versiju esmu gana klausījies, bet tā - uz liela ekrāna un pilnā garumā šo koncertu redzējis vēl nebiju. Un vispār - PULSE klausījies pēdējo reizi arī biju pietiekami sen, tā ka bija interesanti paskatīties, kādu iespaidu tas uz mani atstās tagad, 2008.gadā.

Šogad, atšķirībā no iepriekšējām reizēm, Eirovīziju skatījos gandrīz kā profesionālis - kā nekā vairākus mēnešus diezgan intensīvi nodarbojos ar šī pasākuma rezultātu pētīšanu un analizēšanu maģistra darba izstrādes ietvaros. Līdz ar to arī manas izjūtas pirms kārtējā konkursa bija dalītas - no vienas puses gribējās, lai kaimiņu balsojumi šogad izšķirtu konkursa iznākumu un man būtu aizstāvēšanā spēcīgi argumenti. No otras puses cerēju, ka pārmaiņas pēc rezultāti nebūs prognozējami bez mazākās piepūles un ka šis pasākums spēs kaut cik izrauties no farsa apkampieniem.

That was surely the first time in my life I went to see figure skating, and I wouldn`t be too surprise if it happened to be also the last. I had free tickets for this event from my work, so me and my wife went there just to see what it was. Actually I was expecting it to be a small and insignificant event that no one would be going to see, but I was very far from the truth with that guess. There were literally thousands of people in the new Arena Riga where the ice hockey world championships had finished just a few weeks ago. The event was organized by some Russians, therefore there were more Russians than Latvians in the arena (that`s no surprise actually, for Russians are much more a figure skating nation than Latvians). Among the participants of the event there were several figure skaters, whom even I knew - Anton Yagudin, Jelena Sokolova, Jelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, Alexander Abt and some others who also had had medals at some Olympic games or World Championships. This event wasn`t particulary interesting to watch over a longer period of time, for there`s not very much one can do while figure skating and a sports event without results is like hangoever without a drinking the night before. So we left. It was rather funny though that Liene, my wife, managed to sneak in with an illegal can of Coca Cola (she`s addicted to that stuff, you know what I mean, in case you know me, what you do, of course), telling the security men that she had "a very small umbrella" in her purse.

The event was quite funny, of course, for the quality of music doesn`t really matter in an event like this, but it did have some positive sides. My favourites included the Lithuanians who performed a song called "We are the Winners of Eurovision" and who were booed by the sick viewers in the hall (in the end it gave Lithuania the sixth place among 24 contestants - not bad at all) and the rather crappy Finnish hard rock band "Lordi" who were memorable by two reasons - first, it played hard rock in an event like this yet wasn`t hard rock that made them stand out but their appearance. Imagine a band of monsters playing an event for grandmothers! I can`t really understand how come Lordi won, but that`s a fact "Hard Rock Halleluyah" became the first heavy song to win this silly competition. What`s good that at least they beat the crappy half naked girls with no voices but with silicon lips. In terms of pure quality this event was far from good, of course, but it was quite funny to watch it (I especially like the vote counting part of this event). This doesn`t presume, as you can probably imagine, that I`d watch this thing once again under any circumstances.

Now this is not a simple thing to describe. CdM is a weird thing that somehow has got the name "circus". If you`re looking for train baboons or dancing rats this isn`t what you should see. And don`t even expect to see those nice little fellows called clowns. Man, do I hate those! Yuck! Anyhow, Circo di Madrugada is more of a happening than of a circus. Probably it would be preferable to go to it after consuming some drugs. I may be wrong but how would you otherwise fall into a state of trance when a silly fellow shouts "Angels!" some fifty times over a few minutes. After that you`ll probably see some weirdos flying on ropes to the centre of the arena. And after that you`ll be listening to some wild half ethno, half latino music and watching those so called angels dance. If you`ll call their way of moving a dance. In short it`s somewhat similar to what lemmings do in "Madagascar", only there`s no one shouting "I like to move it, move it". Is this a thing to enjoy? Yes and no. I was a bit cold and a bit tired so I didn`t enjoy it that much. Especially considering that it wasn`t the actual performance but just a dress rehearsal. Yet, since I got in for free thanks to some friends I say - thumbs up (more than down at least)!

Visited the new aquapark in Lielupe today. Nothing unexpected. Been there, done that - so they say, and so do I. Most of the stuff pretty much reminded me of a similar institution I visited in Germany near Vlotho. One thing that was totally cool were the lifeguards which didn`t behave in a pleasant manner and refused to tell the exact time because the ticket lasted for 4 hours and for extra time extra money should be paid (and don`t you even think that there would be some clocks on the wall, those people aren`t stupid, you know.