looduseomnibuss news... (Photo Competition and new competition)

You can now view all the winning photos here. All stunning photos! This time none of my photos selected but I can see why :)

But here is ANOTHER!! Painting Competition. Paintings are required of many places in Estonia. The link from Looduse Omnibuss is here.

Lahemaa Photo and Painting Contest

information in Estonian here http://www.keskkonnaamet.ee/index.php?id=26905

anyone can send their paintings and photos of Lahemaa (a beautiful part of Northern Estonia) until May 15, 2011.

___
ad by Katrin

Lovely photos of Estonia for you to view

Lots of photos have been sent in for the Looduse Omnibuss competition and you can view the gallery of them here. There are photos of landscapes, weather, nature, people ... close ups, long shots, some that will surprise, some that will delight. Anyway enjoy :)

Nature Quiz

As everyone waits for the results from Looduse Omnibuss for the photo competition there are more prizes and some questions to be answered.
They along with a company called Overall have a quiz which you can enter by identifying places animals etc (in Estonian). You can win a new camera or something else by entering this Quiz

You have about 2 weeks to enter!

(Details in Estonian are here)

Bee Story Collecting

see here: This year, in co-operation with Estonian National Museum, we are also collecting stories from people who have participated in the Day of Civil Actions and other kind of bees in different times. People can send us their stories as well as read other people’s stories on our website - www.teemeara.ee.

more information in Estonian here:
- collecting stories from March 15 until May 13, 2011
- story entering form in the website http://www.teemeara.ee/talgulood
- more information Tiina.Tael@erm.ee, tel. +372 7350420 (ask for example whether stories in English would be accepted ;)
- read stories here 
___
photo by English Volunteer in Palupõhja Bee in 2009

Tallinn Music Week

Tallinn Music Week took place last week. This is the third year that it has taken place.

When I was in Tallinn last year I managed to see a few bands at the Rock Cafe. On that evening were an Estonian band : Groundhog Day, Latvian : Instrumenti - with panda heads and remember this song . Finally there was another Latvian band called Brainstorm. They were a Latvian entry to Eurovision one year with My Star. Anyway it was great fun and recommended to all... so anyway...

This year it was part of Tallinn Capital of Culture and a review of the week can be found here in English. Also information about Music Week (maybe its something you might want to check out next time) and a list of all the bands (which you can check now:)) can be found here.
___
Photo of Crowd in Rock Cafe in 2010

World Poetry Day!

Happy World Poetry Day!
A good reason (if you need any?) to read some poetry today.
Maybe something old ,
maybe something loved,
maybe something new?

Well for the "maybe something new" section here is a poem I have found recently. It is by Hermann Hesse. Which I feel is a good choice for World Poetry Day due to his connections to various parts of the world.

A quick summary: He was born in Calw, Germany. His mother was born in a missionary in India and his father was born in Paide, Estonia (Article on Hesse-Estonia). They moved to Basel, Switzerland and he obtained Swiss nationality (Previously Russian). He married 3 times; including Swiss and Ukranian wives. He won the nobel prize in literature and wrote various novels including Der Steppenwolf (which inspired the name for the Canadian-American band) and Siddhartha. He also wrote various poems including the one I now present to you below in both English and German:

English (from poems.md)

Without You
My Pillow gazes upon me at night
Empty as a gravestone;
I never thought it would be so bitter
To be alone,
Not to lie down asleep in your hair.

I lie alone in a silent house,
The hanging lamp darkened,
And gently stretch out my hands
To gather in yours,
And softly press my warm mouth
Toward you, and kiss myself, exhausted and weak-
Then suddenly I'm awake
And all around me the cold night grows still.
The star in the window shines clearly-
Where is your blond hair,
Where your sweet mouth?

Now I drink pain in every delight
And poison in every wine;
I never knew it would be so bitter
To be alone,
Alone, without you.


Translated by James Wright


German / Deutsch (from murmel.de)

Ohne Dich
Mein Kissen schaut mich an zur Nacht
leer wie ein Totenstein;
So bitter hatt ich's nie gedacht,
Allein zu sein
Und nicht in deinem Haar gebettet sein!
Ich lieg allein im stillen Haus,
die Ampel ausgetan,
Und strecke sacht die Hände aus,
die deinen zu umfahn,
Und dränge leis den heißen Mund
Nach Dir und küss mich matt und wund-
und plötzlich bin ich aufgewacht
und ringsum schweigt die kalte Nacht,
der Stern im Fenster schimmert klar-
o du, wo ist dein blondes Haar,
wo ist dein süßer Mund??
Nun trink ich Weh in jeder Lust
Und Gift in jedem Wein;
So bitter hat ich's nie gewußt,
allein zu sein,
allein und ohne dich zu sein!!

-Photo by Ian - Snowy Switzerland in the fog