One of our staff had a strange experience the other week. He teaches English at a private language school in Tallinn and, as a way of facilitating written homework had given his gmail addy to the group early on in the course, in January. OK so far but he hadn't counted on getting an email from one of the students professing her undying affection for him and the fact that she'd seen him in a dream..twice.

Great, you might think, but not really. We're into unrequited territory here- well it's definitely unrequited on the PMC's part. It's that old truism which nevertheless happens to be true - why can't it be the fit ones that send you these messages?!

Nonetheless there is nothing worse than unrequited affections - take the worst method of execution, hanging drawing and quartering or whatever it may be, and that's no where near as bad as unrequited love, at least the execution has the release of death at the end of it! We know this from having been on the other side of the fence, but it's also true that the recipient can feel bad too, with feelings of guilt and anxiety.

So, lesson learned, don't give out email addresses to students so readily or if doing so

Comedy Estonia Gets Izzard Seal Of Approval

Following from the previous post on the upcoming Dylan Moran gig in Tallinn (tickets to which are almost certainly sold out, even with an extra date slotted in, though I've got mine!), there has been an endorsement on on less a Facebook page than Eddie Izzard's. It's a compliment with a sting in the tail though - he's congratulating Dylan for being the 'first English speaking comic to play Tallinn'; evidently Louis Zezeran, Stewart Johnson, Keiu Kriit, Andrei Tuch and other Estonians who deliver their act in the most amazing English do not count!

Nonetheless all publicity is good publicity, I can recommend a good English teacher for the regular Comedy Estonia troupe in the meantime..

Tallinn The New Comedy Centre Of The Baltics..

If we were to twattishly refer to somewhere as being a-buzz with excitement, then that is how we would describer Tallinn right now. Or more precisely, the Tallinn comedy scene. But we don't. Nonetheless it's true.

I don't hear you asking why but if you're still reading and want to know the reason, then all will be made clear a line or two from now.

On April 11th, which is a Wednesday this year, Dylan Moran comes to Tallinn to do a gig. Yes, the same Dylan who was in Black Books and Shaun of the Dead (we only really know him from 'Notting Hill' to be honest).

Here is another clip of him in action, or on stage anyway.

Something of a coup de grace, or a coup d'etat or something like that, for the consistently cool Comedy Estonia, a group of comics, evidently, which has gone in two year from, well, being founded to having a major comedy star frm Ireland coming over specially to make us laugh. Well done people!

Added reason for the urgency of this post is that tickets got snapped up like warmed-through cakes; within hours all the tickets on the lower floor (at the Russian Cultural Centre in Tallinn) had gone at 25 Euros and so you need to be bright eyed and all the rest of it on Monday morning, if you're in Tallinn and actually want to come that is, when the balcony tickets go on (according to comedy Estonia). I know I will be. Bet they wish they'd upped the price a bit - I hope the fuckers don't read this as I wouldn't put it past them to do that!

Seth's Blog - Ignorance Is No Longer Simply Not An Excuse, It's A Disgrace..

I'm so glad we live in these times...there's no excuse not to know shit nowadays - not for any of us - and that's great when one thinks that a few centuries ago the bulk of the people in Europe were illiterate.

This post by Seth Godin explains with a bit more panache...

Zelyenu Vulitsyoo Hooligans

This is a funny story about the Ukrainians using four MiG 29 jets and some "helicopter gunships" (meaning the legndary Mil Mi-24 'hind') as "crowd control" in the impending European football championships.

Talk about nuts and sledgehammers, although it could be worse - at least they're not using the SU-27 with its tendency to crash at airshows and cartwheel into spectators.

Of course two of the four groups in the comp will play their group games in the Ukraine (as oposed to Poland), including, uh-oh, England who will play at Donetsk and Kiev.

Fortunately it seems unlikely that England will get through the group games, so the Ukrainian air force will only have a limited amount of time to get their shots on target, but most likely more shots on target than England will get. That said, the idea of a load of porcine English football fans being scattered by the raking fire of a MiG 29 and its 30 mm nose cannon would make for a memorabe image nonetheless.

Others Are Not Worth The Bother.. Or Are They..

Wise words taken from 'A Guide to Rational Living' by the masters of frequently-added emphasis, Ellis and Harper, (1961) 3rd ed. pp 79.81:

This are much more complicated, of course, if you unduly care about what other members of the group think of you. For if you feel overconcerned about their approval, you will lean over backward to do what they want you to do, instead of what you want to do for yourself. Then you will tend to hate yourself for acting weakly and hate them for seeing your weakness. Or else you will do what you mainly want to do - and then worry whether they still like you for doing it.

Your overly caring for the approval of others is neurotic. But even without neurosis, your discriminating between what you would like to do and what you'd better do in group situations is difficult and often discouraging. For you want what you desire. And you also want others to feel comfortable and to approve of you - quite apart from any neurotic needs for approval that you may have. You may therefore constantly feel torn, and cannot completely resolve the conflict.

In a more complicated kind of group relationship, things get even hotter. Thus, in a highly competitive group - such as a school where pupils try to get into favourite colleges, or in a business office where employees compete with each other to make higher commissions or salaries - you will find it harder to do what you want to do for your own sake and also to gain and keep the favour of others.

In almost any social group, therefore, you will find it tough sledding to keep a sane, somewhat middle-of-the-road course and to avoid surrendering your personal tastes and preferences - while not antagonizing other group members. You cannot fully calculate in advance your most 'reasonable' actions, and you will shift with changing conditions. Thus, when you first enter a group, you may best keep your mouth shut and let the other members have their say. Later, you may try to get in your own two cents' worth, even though those who previously spoke up would love to continue holding the floor. Finally, you may give others a chance to talk more again. But you may never precisely determine in advance when and where to draw the line between your own active participation and your polite acceptance of others' discussion, since this depends on many different factors.

You may well acknowledge, then, the desirability of both self-expression and social accpetance. But while some form of hedonism, pleasure-seeking or enlightened self-interest seems a good plan of personal living, enlightened self-interest includes some degree of social interest as well. For if you only strive for your "own" good, and run roughshod over others, you will find that many people over whom you keep riding sooner or later thwart your "own" good. Therefore, to some extent you'd better include the good of others in your view of your own good.

Similiarly, if you mainly concentrate on striving for your immediate good, you will almost inevitably sabotage your potential future enjoyments. "Live for today, for tomorrow you may die" seems a perfectly sane philosophy-if you have a good chance of dying tomorrow. Most of the time, however, you live to the ripe old age of eighty or more these days; and your tomorrows will probably be miserable if you live only for today. At the same time, if you only live for tomorrow, you will tend to live your todays overcautiously and dully. Again, you will in the long run defeat your own ends.

End Of e-Stonia?

A very significant article was posted yesterday on the wesbsite of ERR, the Estoinan state broadcaster, or the Estonian BBC if you will, concerning the effects of US governmental encroachment on internet freedoms.

Many of us have followed to varying extents the developments in the progress of the US SOPA and PIPA proposed laws; indeed if you use Wikipedia at all regularly it would have been hard not to, but, just in case anyone didn't get the message that the ramifications of these acts are not confined to US soil, here are the ways in which it will affect Estonia, as seen by Otto de Voogd, a Dutch developer living in Tallinn.

It is particularly poignant given that one of Estonia's 'unusual selling points' is its internet freedom, high degree of connectivity, online governance etc. etc., much of which may now be under threat. In any case, even if you are not in Estonia the results of this phenomenon are likely to be the same.

Anyway I'll stop rambling and let the article speak for itself. It's at this address.

Thought for the Day..

A story I liked..

Diogenes was knee deep in a stream washing vegetables. Coming up to him, Plato said, "My good Diogenes, if you knew how to pay court to kings, you wouldn't have to wash vegetables."

"And," replied Diogenes, "If you knew how to wash vegetables, you wouldn't have to pay court to kings."

 ..courtesy of Edward Hugh's blog, check him out on Facebook if you want to keep up with the Euro saga (or better still, don't :-(   ).