A small dose of Swedes

The Swedes were back in town for the weekend. It’s been 3 months since they left. On Thursday evening almost the whole summer crowd was back together, greeting them and approximately an hour into them being back it felt as if everything was like it was supposed to be. And you just know that even if they were gone for longer they’d still fit right in. So the question really is, why did they move away in the first place.

On Friday evening there was the birthday party of the third Swede, Mr. Nui. How come it’s this way, that when you’re drunk, all kinds of things are “more possible” than when you’re sober. And not just in your head. No. For instance, when the time came to move on to night clubs and the ever-lasting problem of getting a taxi arose….we just took the bus. I mean, there was a night bus or sth like that and we took it. Mr. Nui paid the bus driver, the driver asked the other people to wait and there we were with our crowd of 10 people or so, in the huge bus, which only made 2 stops, as some of us wanted to go to one and some to another club.

And, as far as I’m concerned, I got through the weekend with no permanent damage. However, I still tend to end up in situations, where (in my most rational moments) I think I shouldn’t end up in. But since I still do, even with the universe (that jealous biatch) trying to stop me, I like to take comfort in the thought that it’s probably not entirely my fault. Maybe some things are just supposed to happen. That much I know about myself that that I’m not the kind of person to deny myself sth good in present for a possibly greater good in future.

MIKA

I have a new favourite. He’s called Mika, he’s a musician, he looks great and he’s got an amazing voice. The only thing is that he might be just a bit young for me and that he lives a bit far, in London right now.

Ok, wishful thinking:) But Mika really is my new musical favourite. I want to hear more of him and I want to see him perform. There’s a huge talent there and as much as I’d like to keep him only for myself, I believe in a year or so, he’ll be big all over Europe. Right now he’s hitting the radio stations with the song called “Relax”.

However, for a little taste of him, here’s another song “Grace Kelly”, performed live on “Later, with Jools Holland”.

Edit: The next single Grace Kelly will be out at the end of January and the album will be released beginning of February. I'll review it soon after i get it:)

Surprises in the night

Last night, when i was coming home from my night out, which, by the way, was a really good one after a long while now. I really felt like a socialite yesterday, going from one party to another. Even the infamous BB club, which has recently only managed to disapoint me, was top notch...

Ok, back to the getting home story. It was sth around 4.30 at night and i was on my way from the taxi to my place when i saw a young woman lying on the street in front of my house. Of course i went to check on her. She was well dressed, wore jewellery and was just lying there next to the house wall, sleeping. I tried to wake her up to find ut where she lives and help her home. Waking her was not the easiest task, as she was obviously really really drunk. At least i hope she was only drunk, in the light of recent stories of people being druged in the nightclubs. So i woke her and my next task was to find out the address. Not so easy either, as she was really not registering what i was saying, nor was she able to give me any intelligible answers. I offered her differnet languages in which we could speak. For some reason she chose English. Later we switched to Russian, because that was her mother tongue. As it turned out, she lived in the same house as i. I managed to get her on her feet. Again, not a very easy task, considering i was smaller than her and wearing heels. I walked her to her staircase, somehow found keys in her pocket, helped her in, found her flat, opened the door and helped her in. I hope she was able to take it from there and just get to sleep. At least she was in the safety of her own home. I really hope she’s doing ok and i hope nothing had happened to her in her drunkenness. I keep thinking maybe i should’ve done more, like help her to her bed or sth but that would’ve felt like invading her privacy too much.

Now, i know sth like that could never happen to me from drinking. I know my drunk self and how and what i can and cannot do. I always, always manage to get home, the very least ...or maybe i just don’t get so drunk. However, i know some people in my circles to whom this could easily happen and, if something as bad would happen that someone would drug me with a pill slipped into my drink or whatever, then i’d have no idea of how my body reacts and what i am or am not capable of doing. I just wish everyone had good friends to party with, so that there’d always be someone to take care of you, make sure you get home and maybe also give you an aspirin and a glass of water or if need be, take you to the doctor.

To sleep, perchance to dream...

Sleep-sleep-sleep….dreams-dreams-dreams. It’s been all about dream life and sleeping lately. I think I’ve talked about dreams lately with almost everyone. Talked about the power of dreams, flying in dreams, freaky sexual dreams, dreams so real you think they’ve happened for real etc. And then there’s sleeping and the enormous need of sleep all the time. This weekend that’s almost all I did. From Friday to Saturday I slept 13 hours, from Saturday to Sunday 11 hours. And that couldn’t stop me from taking 1,5 hour naps during the day. If I count the hours from Friday evening to Monday morning, then I’ve slept 35 hours from total 58. This is weird stuff. I think I’m starting to hibernate. When I’ve slept enough I hope the handsome prince will be on hand to wake me from my beauty sleep.

Edit: At least i wake up, after i've done my sleeping. Please read here about how one girl didn't wake up after a night out. It's in Estonian but i feel i need to spread the word. Don't leave your drinks alone when you party and don't let strangers buy you drinks. This is serious stuff!!

Ladybird

There’s a ladybird in my office. It’s actually walking on the verge of my computer screen right now. It’s November….and there’s a ladybird in our office:) I think there’s actually 2, because this one is red with black spots and about a week ago I saw one which was black with red spots. So…it’s November…and there are 2 ladybirds in our office:) It just makes me smile!

Nancy Sinatra
Ladybird

Nancy:
I've been where the eagle flies
Rode his wings 'cross autumn skies
Kissed the sun, touched the moon
But he left me much too soon
His lady bird...he left his lady bird

Lee:
Lady bird come on down
I'm here waiting on the ground
Lady bird I'll treat you good
Ah, lady bird I wish you would
You lady bird...pretty lady bird

Nancy:
Lightning flashed across the sky
The night he taught me how to fly
The sun came up and then I found
Too soon he let his lady down
His lady bird...I'm his lady bird

Lee:
Lady bird come on down
I'm here waiting on the ground
Lady bird I'll treat you good
Aw, lady bird I wish you would
You lady bird...pretty lady bird

Nancy:
Winter lives in my heart
In the times that we're apart
Summer sings a song or two
When he says 'I love you true'
My lady bird...yeah, I'm his lady bird

Lee:
Lady bird come on down
I'm here waiting on the ground
Lady bird I'll treat you good
Aw, lady bird I wish you would
You lady bird...pretty lady bird
Nancy:I'm your lady bird

Lee:You're a lady bird
Nancy:Yes, I'm a lady bird
Lee:You're too much you little bird

Music or movies?

“I can’t decide if I’m a music or a movie person,” N told me the other day. Not that you’d even have to choose, unless if you have to decide which of the 2 books – “1001 movies that you have to see” or “1001 albums you have to hear” – you want as a Christmas present. She finally chose to be a movie person.

Me, I’m definitely a music person. I enjoy a good movie once in a while and I can’t wait for the Black Nights’ Film Festival to start next week, but I must say sometimes a half a year can pass without going to the cinema. Music, on the other hand, has a tremendous effect on my life. Don’t ever try to take my music away from me. Sometimes a good song can tell you a whole story in just about 4 minutes. What is a movie compared to that:)

I love it how music comes to me from different sources. Sometimes it’s just a fragment i hear in a movie or series or even advertisement that catches my attention and makes me wanna look it up. Often my friends tell me if they’ve discovered something worth listening. Or, I hear a song at a party or in someone else’s playlist or blog etc. Very rarely I find new intriguing songs on radio or TV. By the time the songs I like make it to the charts, they’re usually old news for me. Not to mention that a lot of really excellent music never figures in the charts.

I think it’s amazing how songs can trigger emotions. There are songs, which always make me cry when I hear them, be it that they have so beautiful tune or the meaning of their lyrics. And then there are “good mood” songs, which (almost) never fail to lift my spirits. Like last week, when we were driving back from Riga, on a night bus. The bus was almost empty, it was dark and we were watching Sting’s “Inside Sacred Love” DVD. The emotions I got from it were really, really powerful, so I literally both laughed and cried. And yet, each time it surprises me, when it happens. Like when I’m at a concert and suddenly realize the effect the music is having on me.
Anyway, I was trying to get to some point with this story but I have a feeling I’m not reaching it:) Except that I am, for sure, a music person. If I think of the point later, I’ll come back and edit this post.

London, my London

Greetings, Earthlings! Sending my best from London this time. I think it must be my 5th or 6th time in this wonderful city. And it's always great to come back here. Glad i always have a reason to, as well, with S and J living here and all. The thing with travelling is that whenever i go somewhere, i always have a feeling i have to go there again, however, when i start planning the next holiday, i still feel i have to go to a new country. There are just so many places to discover.

Visiting the same place again, however, surely has its advantages. You've already got your systems working, you know what you definitely wanna see again and you know the places, don't get lost (well, only occasionally:) and can manage the transportation (the tube in this case).
This time around i've surely got my money's worth. Friday evening we went to the mexican restaurant Mestizo, run by my mexican friend's dad and his wife. I read on the internet that the restaurant has absolutely wonderful reviews. And i must say, the food was brilliant...and so were the margaritas, all 3 of them:) It didn't hurt that we got a special treatment from the staff, knowing the owners and all. Next time around, i'm surely going back.
Saturday we spent on Portobello market in Notting Hill, just chilling and looking around. And in the evening it was samba time in the Brasilian club called Guanabara. The funny part is that we had to be there already at 8! And the place was packed. Can you imagine. I've never gone to a nightclub at 8. In a way it's brilliant though. It means you can have a full evening full of dancing and still be home at 2 already and have a full day the next day. There was a live brasilian band (Saravah Soul) playing sort of funky, jazzy samba beats, something like Jamiroquai meets carnival. Absolutley loved it and rocked my socks off.
And last but not least, a little bit of Sunday shopping with S in Covent Garden. Didn't even bother going to Oxford street. Luckily enough I'm richer by a full outfit for Christmas party, so there'll be no last minute agonising this year. And now we've just had a wonderful Sunday roast, prepared by master J. Wish i could spend some more time here in their lovely home, but i guess i just have to start planning another long weekend. Cheers, mates!

Last week

Photo: Ardo Kaljuvee
Last week, Pink came to see me. Alright, she came to Estonia and I went to see her. I can’t say I’m a fan but she’s ok. And as she took the trouble of coming here….who am I to not go and see her show:) She seemed a bit tired or bored or she just couldn’t give a sh*t or maybe that’s what she’s about with the whole lot of attitude she’s got. Her live singing was better than I expected and she was really convincing in her act. And her acrobatics… 3 meters high in air, tangling on 2 strings of cloth…amazing! She’s got courage to do that without any safety cords AND keep singing while doing it. Respect! I don’t have any material from the Tallinn concert, but somebody filmed a bit of it on a Wembley concert, take a look here.
Photo: Ardo Kaljuvee
Last week, I also saw Fame, the musical. I’m not easily excited about musicals, if they don’t have either extraordinary good musical numbers or someone with amazing voice singing all the songs…and Fame sadly also failed to excite me. With one exception. The black Swedish guy (what a contradiction, right:) was really good in what he was doing in the dance numbers. And of course, his adorable Swedish accent just melted me. Then again, I may not be entirely impartial, for I’m a sucker for the accent. Anyhow, impartial or not, he danced really well.
Photo: Rocky
Last week, I also took part in a movie, in a “mass scene”. Or not so much of a mass scene, if you consider it was a house party with approximately 20 people or so. We went there with approximately 12 or more of our gang, we were dressed in 70’s style, were drinking wine and eating and being filmed at the same time. What a nice way to spend Saturdays:) I’ll let you know when to see me in the movie theaters.

It seems I did a lot last week.

Mask and moustache

Just a quick recap of what’s been up. Last Thursday brought a bit of glamour to my life, for monsieur Lee celebrated his birthday in Venetian masquerade style. Mask, boa, gloves up to my shoulders, little black dress and red shoes completed my look. The party was really glam, with a band and magician and ballroom dancing. Waiting for new interesting surprises next year. The pics are here.

Last Saturday it was the Borat day. With bunch of my friends we got to go to the pre-screening of the film. High fiiive! I laughed so much that I got a headache. After seeing the movie I don’t understand what is Kazakhstan whining about. The movie makes U, S and A look bad, with all their false puritanism and bigotry, not Kazakhstan. Who hasn’t heard about Borat must have been living under a stone, but if you’re really lost, let me know and I’ll give you some explanatory links. For the ones who know him and are wondering about how he could make the film happen, here’s some info about how the people were talked into consenting to interviews.

Rudebox

Today’s the day – Robbie Williams’s new album Rudebox is out. I must say it has surprised me in the most positive way. Not that I don’t have faith in Mr. Williams, course I do, he’s my main man. But…I mean, the album comes out less than a year after the last one and the man’s been on world tour for half of the time. Yet, the album is splendid. Better than the last one. I guess having all the great producers like for instance William Orbit and Mark Ronson aboard, helps a little. The album is very honest. In the song’s 80’s and 90’s you can pretty much listen to his whole life story and if you know a bit more about him from his book or interviews, several other songs can also be recognised as autobiographic. From all his albums, I think this one has most number of loans from other artists and genres. There’s a bit of Manu Chao, Pet Shop Boys and even Enya, the styles range from country to 80’s electro. And still, it’s got Robbie Williams written all over it and the whole bunch of eclecticism forms a tasty collection.

My top favourite songs are Louise, She’s Madonna, Actor, 80’s, Lovelight. Louise probably wins in lyrics and She’s Madonna in the tune department, even though you’d have to twist my arms to actually make me choose between the two:) Now, as I said, the album’s out, so go and buy it from your closest music store. But just to get you started, here’s one for you to listen. I only chose this one of the 2 because of all the publicity the lyrics have received.

Edit: I know a lot of the songs are covers of other artists, that does not bother me, they're still served in thick RW sauce. However, finding out that Louise was also a cover made me just a bit sad:(

Robbie Williams
She’s Madonna (just download it from here, i can't seem to get the listening thingy working)

Red shoes

So I bought those impractical but absolutely adorable red shoes. For 2 weeks I kept going back to the store to check if they were still there and I finally had the reason, motivation and finances to buy them. But believe me, if they bring about compliments like “the world’s sexiest shoes”, they are worth every penny and discomfort.

I know I must sound like a superficial babe but show me any woman, be she the-world-saving-philanthropist type or the-giving-all-her-money-to-the-poor type, who is not thrilled to treat herself once in a while with something really nice and girly, especially when it comes to shoes.

Being the star of the soap opera that my life is, i need to look amazing, don't i:)?

For R

Honey, I know you're going through hard times and that you're hurting and i promise it'll be alright...someday. Good things will start happening to you...for sure!

This song is for you:

Reamonn
Alright (link to live performance)

Wipe those tears away from your eyes
Just take my hand you don't have to cry
It'll be alright
I'll make it alright
Don't let the world get you down
Reach for the love that's all around
It'll be alright baby we'll make it alright

My newly found fame

So it turns out my stage appearance with Bobby Farrell and Boney M made it to the evening news. That means, approximately 156 000 people might have seen me on TV, ca 6000 of them belong to my favourite target group (men, 24-35, urban:) My name and company was mentioned twice during the short section, that means a lot of publicity (thank god I didn’t do anything stupid;). Anyway, it has yielded interesting results. I myself was not at home and did not see my TV premiere but a moment after it was on air my phone started ringing and people told me about it. Later my parents told me that several of family friends and relatives phoned to confirm if that really was me on the news. The next day, an old flame contacted me, and now we’re probably going out for a drink. Also, the next day, I got an email from someone I danced with at that party, asking me if we could meet up again for a bit of dancing. Hmmm…I think we just might. Lots is happening. I liiike! I guess that really was just a bit of good publicity.

How to spend Fridays

It all started Friday morning. I had just dropped off my sister at the bus station and was driving to work, when “Boogie wonderland” started playing on the radio and pfff…there he was, Mr Friday, on the backseat of my car. So, the whole day I felt that dance was in me, trying to get out. At the end of the workday we were already dancing at the office to Justin Timberlake “Sexy Back”. And it was only the beginning.

In the evening, after finding all the necessary accessories for N and myself, we made ourselves up and headed to the birthday party of an Estonia’s TV channel. The welcome drink was the deadliest alcoholic mix ever made – champagne with Vana Tallinn (do not try this at home!). After a little bit of small talking and a little bit of eating and drinking I pretty much focused on letting the dance out of me. So, at some point in the evening, the surprise band came on, which was…Boney M…the real and original one. So, after a while of dancing in front of the stage I was suddenly ON the stage, dancing with Boney M…hmmm…N later told me she was not surprised, for I had told her earlier that soon I’ll be dancing on stage. Go figure! I guess there goes my chance of ever becoming the president:) All-in-all, i got the dance out of me and it was a good night.

Welcome home!

Today’s the day! The day when our dearly beloved N finally returns from her 3-month Ecuador adventure. I’ve managed to survive the time, with seemingly no permanent damage (if not take into account that my hair is falling out and a couple of more stress-related bodily reactions). During those 3 months lots and lots has happened – there was the amazing Estonian summer, the Robbie concert, the Swede, the 2 of my personal small-scale crisis, the workload, the new clients, the one-week holiday, the numerous parties and events and so on and so forth. And N expects me to fill her in on all of that during one night…pfff….

Kalispera

Kalispera, my friends! I’ve been away but now I’m back in business. A bit more tanned, a bit more relaxed and richer by some moments and experiences.

Last week took me to the beautiful Greek island Crete. When we first got there, I must say I was not taken aback by the beauty, but hey, all the tourist resorts are supposed to look rather ugly, aren’t they. The sea and the mountains on the background, however, left some room for hope. And it really was only getting better.

First and foremost, I can never get enough of the beauties of Mediterranean Sea. If you take the bright blue (or sometimes bright green) water, add to that white sand (or sometimes pink sand, as seen at Elafonissi) the blue of the sky and the grey, green, brown or yellow of the mountains, you get numerous picture perfect moments. The best of these kinds of moments was on the last day when we rented a car and drove off to the most north-western peninsula. The distance from our hotel was not really long but the last leg of our drive was on a mountain road where we could literally go only ca 10 km per hour and it took us approximately 50 minutes to get through the 7 kilometers when the road ended and we had to walk across the mountain by foot. The view that presented to us when we reached the other side was breathtaking – bright blue lagoon, white sand, huge rocks in the water and perfectly blue sky.
Another location with picture perfect sights is the Santorini island, located north from Crete. To get there we had to get up at 4 am (and this on my holiday!!), take a bus for an hour or so and a boat for 5 hours just to spend half a day on a small island, where the little towns are filled with tourists, like Venice in August. However, as it was almost the end of tourist season, it was not so bad for us, and when staying away from the main streets, it was possible to wander around all alone and photograph the gorgeous white houses with their blue doors and the mountains and the sea and the lazy cats and dogs lying in the sun.
The most tiresome (but yet so rewarding) part of our trip was the 16 km walk through the Samaria Gorge (kuru) (supposedly the longest mountain gorge in Europe). For Samaria, we had to get up at 5 am (and this on my holiday!), in order to start earlier and get through the gorge before the hottest time of the day. The next evening after the “walk”, when I was putting on my dancing shoes, my calves were protesting rather loudly but I still won the argument, beauty demands sacrifice (and pain:)
When speaking about dancing, I have no idea how I always happen to get into the middle of “situations”. One evening there was a cabaret group performing in our hotel. 3 girls and a guy, and they were rather good I might add, doing all the different dances from belly dancing to salsa and classical ball-room dancing. At some point the guy asked a woman to dance from the audience and that was a sad sight, for she had no rhythm whatsoever. I was just sitting there, minding my own business, keeping a low profile, for I had just eaten, had not showered after a long day and I was not wearing my dancing shoes, when all of a sudden the guy was in front of me, grabbing me by the hand. Do I ever say no to dancing? Of course not! So, off went the flip-flops and there I was, dancing with the star of the evening, in front of all those people. He was so relieved to have a better dancer than the previous woman that he didn’t wanna let me go. Now, these situations make nice memories but it’s better if they were just memories, this time however, one of our group members filmed every last bit of my “performance”….i sure hope my micro mini skirt managed to cover my ass during all the twisting and turning.

A couple of more things in a nutshell – Greek cuisine is good and fresh, the wines are tasty, though rather unknown in the world, the people are friendly and the nature is stunning. The weather was pleasant and I think I managed to recharge my solar batteries for a while being.

Fragile

Have you ever wondered about how fragile is a human life. You stick a blade of a knife into the right place and a person dies. A tiny piece of metal, entering the body with high velocity can kill us. So can a reckless driver who hits us on the street. How can it be that in the evolution process we were formed so brilliantly that we have this whole elaborate system of bloodstream and muscles and nerves and digestion and so on, but our protection system is unbelievably weak. I think we definitely need some pimping in that department. Just think about it, we have a thin layer of skin covering all this intricate system. It’s even worse with the innate protection system and how badly we actually know what is going on inside of us. What we notice outside, are the small things, like when we gain or lose some weight, or we get a pimple or our skin colour changes after sun tanning – the mostly unimportant stuff. However, there’s often no way of knowing if there’s something really wrong with us. There could be a tumour a size of tennis ball somewhere inside us and we would have no way of knowing. For heaven’s sake, for a while we wouldn’t even know if there were a whole new life growing inside of us, before some obvious signs would give that away.

Have you ever felt that you want to LOOK inside of yourself, to see, what you have there or find out what is causing some pain so you would know what to do about it? I know doctors can actually do that but they usually do it if you already know, that you have some problem, which needs to be checked. They’d never give you a whole body scan without any reason, just for checkup. I know this topic is way too serious but when you hear that a young and seemingly perfectly healthy man dies in 2 months after finding out cancer has taken over his entire body and several other stories, it just makes you think. I’ve never been much of a fan of hypochondriacs and never will be but reasonable doubt is definitely wise when it comes to your own body and health. This is all we have here, one body and one life. Take care of it.

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

Sting - Fragile (live performance video here)

The Mating Game

It's almost weekend. Let the games begin! (If you wanna listen to the song, the link is under the song name)

Bitter:sweet
The mating Game

Dance with me across the ocean floor
Sail away to heaven's open door
Step right up you're the next contestant
In this sweet charade
Take a number, wait while I twist your fate

On the mating game
Mating game

Hold me close enough to drink my rose
The devil in my pocket turned to gold
Sorry to warn you, you're in a daze
Tonight I'll love you, but tomorrow go away
Step right up who's the next contestant
In this sweet charade?
Take a number, wait while I tease you sane

On the mating game
Mating game

Could you be...

Yesterday a boy told me i was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. (Well,I guess he hadn’t seen the latest pics of Scarlett Johannson…) I tried to convince him that it’s a well known side effect of alcohol that girls start to look more beautiful but he was rather persistent and wowed he’d be saying the same thing when he was sober too. Later on he also told me that in addition to me being beautiful I was also really cool and nice person. And later he also told me he really would like to get to know me better. All the perfect things to say, right!? All the regular lines of sweet-talking, right? Or was he being sincere? (Once in my life I’ve come upon such an instant admiration and he really was being sincere. He was just the type who didn’t really think before saying and spoke his first emotions.) Anyway, today I found out his age…hmm...he really still has years and years ahead of meeting beautiful girls. Maybe even more beautiful than me:) But what the hell is this about, year after year I start attracting younger guys? I know I don’t look my age but this is ridiculous. I will not go on and break the age record again, once a year is rather enough…

"Could you be the most beautiful girl in the world?
It's plain to see, you're the reason that god made a girl
When the day turns into the last day of all time
I can say i hope you are in these arms of mine"

Prince

The Swedes have left the country

Yep, it’s official, the legendary Mr. Acorn and Mr. Punisher have left Estonia. Last Saturday we packed their little “Ferrari” with all their stuff and sent them off to Sweden.

They came to Estonia and to our lives about a year ago, they somehow managed to find their way to our friends’ circle and to our little hearts….and now they left…How could they do that to us!?!? Now we have to manage to cope without their adorable Swedish accent and their jokes and their parties (I’ve got loads and loads of good things to say about them but this post should not be about praising them but about dispraising them for leaving us:). At last Friday’s farewell party I was so melancholy that even alcohol was not working. So, all those cocktails didn’t manage to get me drunk but the next day i still had a massive hangover, how cruel is that!?

Anyhow, temporary melancholy mood aside, the summer 2006 was absolutely amazing and the Swedes were an integral part of it and I have a feeling this is not the end of it all and we’ll be seeing more of them soon enough. That’s just the feeling I have. And my instincts don’t usually lie;)

"Sometimes it's good to feel something."