Estonian Song Festival

From the very first song festival in 1956, every four years Southern Ontario’s Estonian Childrens Summer Camp and Cultural Centre ‘Seedrioru’ (Cedarvalley) has been hosting celebrations of Estonian music and culture. This summer, on the weekend of June 28^th, Seedrioru’s beautiful Grand River property near Elora, will for the 9^th time resonate with melodious song. The festival is proud to host two professional choirs from Estonia. Tartu RahvaÜlikooli Segakoor (Tartu Folk Post Secondary Mixed Choir – Dir Lauri Breede) and Eesti Rahvusringhäälingu Segakoor (Estonian National Public Mixed Choir – Dir Hirvo Surra) in photo. The choirs will perform Saturday evening and join a 200+ strong choir of singers from throughout North America on Sunday afternoon in the grand finale. Come join us for this very unique choral experience! Advance ticket sales and more details at http://www.seedrioru.com

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Be like Navalny

Embrace conflict. Pursue challenges. Fight tyranny. Never surrender to evil. Be like Navalny.

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Want peace? Prepare for war!

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Milvi’s summer song

Baton in hand, the conductor tried to focus attention of the assembled children’s choir. It was a Saturday. Visiting day for parents. A blue sky perfect kind of summer day. The camp kids and their counselors were garbed in white T’s, the formal camp uniform. Milvi, the conductor and assistant camp director, had a lifelong passion for music. And discipline. She insisted they all be appropriately attired on visiting day. Trying to impart her appreciation of music to her charges was a difficult task considering their little brains were thinking ahead to candy and other treats the parents came loaded with on visiting day. Milvi knew it was an uphill battle but choir practice and performance were critical slots in her list of camp activities. The children did not understand its importance yet, but this was Milvi’s little song festival every Saturday. Producer, director, stage manager. They were hats she proudly wore. And so she flicked her baton. A sweet wave of lyrical melodies from her homeland filled the summer air.

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Naked guys in saunas.

I’m thinking of changing my blog name from ‘saunaboy’ to something else. I googled ‘saunaboy’ and what comes up on the first page? “naked gay guys in saun” and “gay porn video”. These are not exactly word associations that I want to be related to! It’s another example of how culture and geography impact on our lives. I doubt very much that a google search done in Finland would generate the same kind of results. So, this ‘naked guy’ is going to enjoy a meditative sweat in his sauna and muse on this issue. Have a great sauna day y’all!

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Teet Kalmus War journalism. Great source.

Here’s your one stop shop for all the important news about the War. Teet Kalmus is an Estonian journalist covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I find his analysis and assessment of the War to be very prescient, objective and relevant. Use Google translate to convert his articles into the language of your choice. Let Kalmus scour the sources and provide your War updates so you can get on with the business of living!

https://www.eesti.ca/teet-kalmus-vene-sodurite-moraal-on-madal/article59214

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Bravo Estonia!

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Boycott Coke and Pepsi. Their beverages are tainted with blood of Ukrainians.

Since it appears NATO and the entire free world will be sacrificing Ukraine we must double down on the economic and financial war against Putin’s Russia.  There may still be time to encourage and support resistance and overthrow of his brutal dictatorial regime.  Unfortunately the change is going to have to come from inside Russia, from the Russian people.  It is time that we in the free world suffer economic hardship in support of Ukraine, and in support of the future of democracy and sovereignty.  Western governments must prohibit all corporations and individuals from conducting any business in or with Russia.  Financial profit has no place in a discussion where quite frankly, our way of life and the future of the free world is at stake.  If our governments are too weak and spineless to make the hard decisions, we as citizens must force change.  Boycott any business that does business with or in Russia.   Coke AND Pepsi are still doing business in Russia. I won’t buy ANY Coca Cola or Pepsi products until they halt operations in Russia and stop supporting Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine.   Coca-Cola HBC Russia owns 10 plants for the production of soft drinks and juices in Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Rostov region, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Vladivostok.    PepsiCo, which employs about 12,000 people in Russia, has been selling its trademark beverage in Russia for over half a century. PepsiCo founder Donald Kendall famously gave Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev a taste of the fizzy cola syrup during a U.S.-sponsored fair in Moscow at the height of the Cold War in 1959. Thirteen years later he reached a deal for the production of Pepsi in the Soviet Union. Stop supporting companies that have decided profits are more important than the lives of Ukrainians and the future of a free world.  Yes, ordinary Russian citizens will lose their jobs and suffer, but that is the short term price to pay in order to safeguard our societies and the free world.  Coke and Pepsi are now tainted with the blood of Ukrainians.

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MASENDAV REKORD! Koroonaviirusega on haiglaravil 386 patsienti, lisandus 8004 nakatunut, suri kuus inimest

Viimase ööpäeva jooksul analüüsiti 14 784 testitulemust, millest 8004 osutus positiivseks. Tänahommikuse seisuga on lisa- või tõhustusdoosi saanud 410 513 inimest. Kogu Eesti elanikkonna hõlmatus kahe vaktsiinidoosiga on 62,5%.

What a depressing day in Estonia. 8,004 people tested positive. Of 14,784 tests conducted, 8,004 were positive. That’s more than half! One out of every two people tested has Covid! It’s no wonder really. Only 62.5% of the Estonian population has been double vaxxed. And you thought things were bad in Canada.

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Baltic states to develop multiple rocket launch system.

On Tuesday, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian defence ministers agreed to jointly develop a rocket artillery capability. In their joint statement, the ministers “declared their intent to engage in a joint development of regional interoperable Multiple Launch Rocket System capability.” “I cannot say specifically right now how it will look like as we only have applications, in this case, to the United States of America that has such technology in its disposition,” Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas told reporters.

He added the plans might become a “good response” to Russia’s announced red lines. “Putin wants […] Poland and the Baltic states not to be defended, for attack weaponry not to be stationed, no American presence, and in fact no NATO presence. I think we cannot accept that,” Anušauskas said.

In Lithuania’s Kaunas, Anušauskas and his Latvian and Estonian counterparts Artis Pabriks and Kalle Laanet discussed regional security issues and cooperation within the EU and NATO. Laanet said he was “extremely glad we have commonly agreed with a Letter of Intent on an extremely important capability development project for our region – to develop a Multiple Launch Rocket System in all three countries”.

“This is a huge step forward for our common capability development and advancing the deterrence and defence posture in the region,” the Estonian minister said. The M270 MLRS has a range of 350 kilometers, meaning, for instance, Estonia would have the capability to support Latvia where needed, or vice-versa.

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