Wait, there’s a networking company in Lithuania called Santa Monica Networks? And they do business from Lithuania, through Latvia and Estonia, all the way up to Finland? Huh?
Rïgas sargi (Defenders of Riga)
While I’m still waiting to see “The Singing Revolution,” it appears that there’s also a new great movie coming out from Latvia as well, “Defenders of Riga.” It tells the Latvian equivalent of the Revolutionary War. While it only came out several weeks ago, it’s the highest budget Latvian movie ever, at $4 mil USD, and has broken all Latvian box office records.
As the YouTube entry describes:
Story is about 11 november 1919. WWI was over but renegade german general with russian aristocrate Bermont- Avalov decided to take control of newly formed Latvia and attacked the capital city Riga. Their army that was formed from mercenaries and german elite divisions was surprisingly defeated by latvian army that had poor equipment and consisted of volunteers. From that day november 11 is a day when we, latvians, remember our patriots that could make a miracle and show the world that we deserved our country
Wi-Fi Bus Crosses the Border
By Cyrus Farivar
02:00 AM Mar, 06, 2007RIGA, Latvia — At first glance, Hansa Buss’ new coach seems like any ordinary bus — it’s got big, not-yet-sticky rubber steps leading inside to row after row of seats.
Curiously, some of the seats have electrical outlets mounted in the sidewalls of the bus. Farther down the aisle, in the midsection of the bus, is a kitchenette, complete with an espresso machine, a microwave and a small pantry area. Way in the back, there’s even two wall-mounted flat-screen televisions.
But the real coup de grace is the fact that the entire bus has Wi-Fi during the entire five-hour journey between Tallinn, Estonia, to Riga, Latvia. That makes this rig likely the first international cross-border Wi-Fi-enabled bus line. Better still, the cost of connecting to the internet is included in the $40 one-way ticket.
Hansa Buss launched this line on March 1, at a price double that of its main competitor, Eurolines, which makes the same run for half the price. But that ride is more typically cramped and there’s no net access.
Cyrus on The World — TODAY!
I’ve been informed that at last check, my radio piece on the new WiFi bus in Estonia will be on The World today!
Will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams):
New York – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org
Washington, DC – 3 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org
Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg
Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM – www.wgbh.org
San Francisco – 2 pm Pacific – KQED – 88.5 FM – www.kqed.org
Will be available on The World’s site tomorrow if you miss the broadcast of it.
Lemme know if you hear it!
Update: The audio is now online, and is available here.
I’m going to Riga tomorrow
As if five weeks and eight countries (Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, France, UK, Estonia, Germany, Switzerland) weren’t enough, I just got word that The World (PRI/BBC/WGBH) is sending me to Riga, Latvia for a story tomorrow.
Veljo and I will hop the bus to Riga (it’s five hours to the south), doing interviews Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. I’ll catch my flight onto Berlin on Sunday afternoon, and Veljo will return home that evening.
Now at least this time, I can say that I’ve legitimately been to Latvia.
