Omg iPhone

I got the iphone today and it is amazing. The price does not matter, the 24 month EMT contract does not matter, the phone is simply amazing. There is nothing close to this that exists, it truly is a do-everything device. I had quite high expectations, but it is unbelievable.

Nocturnal Song Festival and Ruja Rock Opera

The Nocturnal Song Festival was a brilliant event for Estonians. The only sour note is that they could have been more inclusive towards the Russian minority, so it was a lost opportunity for bringing Estonians and Russians living in Estonia closer. 

The Ruja rock opera provided a condensed version of a life of a rock band, the rock band in Estonia in the late 70s/early 80s. From their genius beginning to being consumed by their success and commercialisation, the rock opera made one think about success and the sacrifices one makes to achieve it. The brilliant staging, music and the use of video was unprecedented. The show had a distinct No99 theatre feel.

Toulon

So my first full day here in Toulon, France drawing to a close. I arrived late last night to Marseille airport with the KLM Cityhopper from Tallinn via Amsterdam. Some notable things about the flight:

• The Air France KLM Internet Check-In computer at Tallinn Airport did not work (I managed to check myself in, but no boarding pass was printed, probably due to lack of paper. There were other machines as well, which the check-in desk girl said would work better, so I do not get why the Internet terminals are there in the first place.
• The girl at the Tallinn Airport shop asked me if Marseille was in the European Union, before sealing my bottle of Vana Tallinn I brought with me as a gift.
• The flight from Tallinn to Amsterdam started with a slight scare, as there was an exceptionally large African-American man waiting at the gate for the flight. As my luck would have it the guy had a seat next to mine. The guy was really large, but somehow he fitted in the seat without totally crushing me. Fortunately there were two seats available at the back of the plane, so he sat there instead. My luck turned somewhat on the flight from Amsterdam where my seat was next to an young girl who looked like a model. She read Italian Vogue and a bunch of other fashion magazines which seemed to be her only hand-luggage.
• The KLM Cityhopper Ecomony class food selection is decent, with sandwiches on both flights. I also asked and received red wine (in a 18,5 cl bottle nonetheless) so I was slightly drunk when arriving in Marseille.
• The planes themselves are quite nice as well (with 2 + 3 seat cabins). The Dutch language sounded nice and service was very good.
• Amsterdam airport is a pretty boring place to wait for three hours. I had make your own salad for 5 euros and a small piece of bread for 0,75 cents. The salad was nice.
• In Amsterdam the traffic between the plane and the airport terminals was with buses.
• I did have a lot of time to kill so anything our of the ordinary was interesting.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year trailer

High School Music 3: Senior Year Trailer

Here comes the trailer for the third part to the wildly popular teen musical. This time it will be in cinemas first. Cannot wait!

Massive Attack live

One of the best concerts I have been to. I am not a particular fan of Massive Attack, but the new show is impressive.

Religulous

Bill Maher’s brilliant new film Religulous is coming soon. Will it be the God Delusion of documentary films?

It look promising, looking at the trailers. Visit disbeliefnet as well.

The EU is hosting a Chemical Party

Poor Neon gets left behind when Hydrogen gets attracted by Carbon and other drama occurs at the Chemical Party:

Sam Sparro

Just wanted to post that Sam Sparro’s album is great. Here is his brilliant video for Black and Gold:

Skins final episode

I just finished watching the final episode of this season of Skins and it was so good. I do not get why the other shows on TV cannot be as compelling and engaging as this one. They fit so much into one episode and yet it is so poignant, it comes together nicely. The actors were great (apparently the whole cast will be replaced every two season), but it mostly came down to killer stories and knowing the right way to tell them.

GEP

I have just arrived back from seeing the acclaimed play GEP at NO99 theatre. It was a masterpiece.

The premise is simple: Estonians as a nation are going to die out unless radical measures are undertaken. 7 Estonian men form a club called GEP with the simple intent to raise the birth rate by having as many babies with as many Estonian women as possible. It might be a great premise for a slapstick type of thing, but this is not what NO99 is about: instead it is a reflection and an observation of the issues faced by men and women in Estonia, and the underlying confusion about the changing nature of concept of a nation. 

The final provided an interesting debate between the cosmopolitan and the national points-of-view (in the scene where two club members try to sell the idea to businessmen for funding). I think that NO99 has done a remarkable thing with the play: they have provided social commentary and provoked thought about what it means to be Estonian, why and if we need to be Estonian and so on. 

It was never boring or uninteresting, it was serious when it needed to be serious, but at the same time provided a lot of laughs (especially at the start of the play when the twisted plot emerged).