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EESTI ELU reedel, 24. aprillil 2020 — Friday, April 24, 2020
ESTONIAN CULTURE LINKS
Super pink moon and earworms The slender one has always had a fascination with the night sky. Especially with the Moon. Hence a good subtitle would be the trials of a kuuuurija, in English Moon investigator. Always intrigued by the faraway glow, this obsession reached its apogee with the first lunar landing. (Apogee used here in the secondary meaning of highest point, climax. Not the pri mary definition of the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is furthest from the Earth.) Never missing a lunar eclipse, well, he most likely was un aware of a few in his mis begotten youth (ah, another Moon reference, the Eugene O’Neill play of course). And then there is the perigee – when the Moon is closest to the earth. As it is a monthly event, whoop-dee-doo, right? Not this year. Any excuse to get outdoors will do. How many of us stared at the night sky on July 20, 1969, almost 51 years ago? Millions upon millions and for the conspiracy theorists new fodder. (Just as with to day’s coronavirus). The dif ference being you better have a reason for standing outdoors staring at the vast galactic expanse at 2 am. The internet is useful for ar cana, not necessarily truth and facts. The slimster likes a site that focuses on constellations, comets and, of course any new, rare Moon news. So it was with pleasure that the lean, mean, lu nar machine read online about the Super Pink Moon. Super Moons happen often, but this one, to be seen on the night of April 7, wee hours of April 8 was to be a Super (because of its enlarged state) Pink Moon. So named for at that time pink phlox is in bloom and the orb also has a slightly roseate face. Or is that the man in the Moon after a couple of stiff ones, the prankster is not sure. Phloxed if he knows.
Then there is the colour fac tor. Just think of all the vivid imagery presented by classic songs. First off one should think of late and much lamented Nick Drake and his beautiful “Pink Moon”. That was the first earworm that work-up to this cosmic event created. The ear worm, as we know is an insi dious beast, will not leave your mind, no matter how much one tries, silently asserting its psy chological dominance. Then the obvious one – the much-cov ered (Holiday, Sinatra, Presley, Dylan to name a few) “Blue Moon”. Gotta love Wilco’s “Black Moon”. It was only The White Stripes who stuck to the truth with “White Moon” However, FWIW, the Moon apparently comes in all sorts of colours: blue, pink, yellow, lavender. But the far-from-fat one could not think of any songs calling the Moon Laven der. Nor yellow for that matter? Does Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” count? Wheat is golden, after all. Leading up to the awaited night the isolation demanded by Public Health really got the old grey matter working. Thinking about other songs honoring or naming our nighttime light. Well, the first Doh! moment came with an entire album – Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”. A classic, but nothing to do with a super Moon. Better to sing along with Cat Stevens in the “Moonshadow”. CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising” would not let me outdoors, just like John Tory or Doug Ford in their menacing ways. Still, it got the earworms going for a while as all of the above songs, albums are in the gracile one’s not so thin music collection. Hence listened to. Came the long-expected eve ning. ‘Twas not to be! Clouds sheathed our neighbourhood. The next two nights as well. Made one think – the Moon is aware of the coronavirus! No
Jüripäev was a day of ploughing and planting new crops. Have you been waiting to re-pot some plants by your window or in your back yard? Now’s a good time to shift that plant or sow those seeds.
Bolt is Europe’s third fastest growing company
€ 80 million.
Garbage used to be burned on a jürituli bonfire. If you have a fire pit, maybe there are some twigs and yard debris that you can get rid of?
Silver Tambur, Estonian World
by Vincent Teetsov
Jüripäev – A Holiday of Springtime Renewal Jüripäev, or St. George’s Day in English, is an Estonian holiday that is made up of complex, rigor ous rituals and rules that were meant to let in the new life of Spring. Celebrated on April 23rd, in folk tradition it marked the time when the toxins of win ter were expelled from the soil. It’s a day that also brings a perplexing combination of historical events together. On one hand, it’s a reli gious day. Saint George was a personal guard of Roman emperor Diocletian. He was martyred in the 4th century for not renouncing his Christian beliefs. Saint George became a representation of Christianity’s rapid growth. He later became a symbol of the eradication of paganism, symbolized by the legend in which he slays a dragon. This allegory has parallels to the war to eliminate pa ganism in Estonia during the Livonian Crusade of the 13th century. On the other hand, this day has a rebellious tone. On the night of April 23rd, 1343, an insurrection was start ed against the Danes and Germans who occupied what was then the Duchy of Estonia. Fighting continued until 1345, when Teutonic knights marched in and ended the uprising. The following autumn, Estonia was sold by King Valdemar IV of Denmark to the Teutonic Order for 19,000 marks. In a way, it’s fitting that the name Jüri/George would be associated with this day, because the name comes from the Greek georgos, which means “farmer” or “earth worker.” In the times of manors and serfs, this day was when labour contracts ended, signalling the turn of a new economic period. Likewise, it was the day that a new year of unpaid service to a feudal lord would begin. Either way, it’s a day associated with upheaval and the shifting of time. Maybe we can shift the day’s meaning and rituals into a more contemporary context? Jüripäev happens to be closely followed by Volbriöö (Walpurgis Night) on April 30th, so it can be seen as a kick off to a new period of celebration and growth. If you live in Newfoundland and Labrador, the closest Monday to St. George’s Day is a provincial holiday, so there’s even more cause for celebration!
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masks to be had, so Luna hid behind clouds! And let’s not forget the very term corona is an astronomy word. More to do with the Sun, when during a solar eclipse a luminous en velope surrounds the heavenly body. With a moon the corona should be seen through cloud or mist even if the orb is not. But no sirree. The slight one was, though he could not see it, up the “Moon River”. And now Johnny Mercer’s wonderful voice drummed on the tympani. The otic ones. So the disappointed one could not kick up heels to Van Morrison’s “Moondance”. Un wise to do like Ozzy Osbourne and “Bark at the Moon”. It was a conspiracy, dammit. And that led to another classic album thought. If you want to know about the cabals and plotters of the world, King Crimson’s “In the Court of the Crimson King” exposes it all. Listen to the lyrics of “Moonchild” on this revealing album. But the worst was to come. Why oh why did one of the cheesiest songs of all time as sung by Dean Martin, “That’s Amore” come to mind? You know the lyrics – “When the moon hits your eye / Like a big pizza pie.” Man, could not shake that earworm, neither indoors nor out. Course the ner vous spouse loved my reference to it as a check on coronavirus fears, so she started singing it. Double whammy. Could not avoid it. In my head and aloud from her. Nothing left to do but have a double drink, listening to Dennis Wilson’s “Moonshine” Which led to being like Tom Waits, “Drunk on the Moon”. At least this state brought relief and occurred indoors, in the basement safe from the dreaded corona outside. Wonder what the next wave, for there will be one, of the pandemic will bring in musical prescriptions. But please, no more earworms. OTEPÄÄ SLIM
Estonians have celebrated the holiday by observing a number of land-based practices.
Up to the early 1900s, women would simulate the laborious process of making butter from milk, while re citing special poetry about the process. Estonian band Trad.Attack! actually created a song called “Kooreke” (“Precious Cream”) that featured a chant like this, with the recorded voice of Liisa Kümmel. Whisk up some milk or cream while you sing along, and then enjoy the finished product afterwards on a dessert. People used to wash their faces with birch sap or snow and take a bath before or on the day of Jüripäev, to reinforce the health of their skin and prevent sun damage. Even if you don’t have birch trees or fresh snow where you live, it could be time to freshen up for the summer. Better yet, Jüripäev is an opportunity to freshen up our daily routines in a fun way.
The Estonian ridesharing company, Bolt, is the third fastest growing company in Europe, according to the Financial Times, the Londonbased global business publica tion. The Financial Times listed 1,000 Europe’s fastest-growing companies in its fourth annual list on the topic, taking into account the revenue growth between 2015 and 2018. The Estonian ridesharing startup, Bolt, was the third fastest grow ing, with a compound annual growth rate of 407.4% and an absolute growth rate of 12,959.7%. While its revenue in 2015 was just over half a mil lion euro, in 2018 it was almost
Bolt was launched as Taxify by the Estonian startup entre preneurs, Markus and Martin Villig, in 2013. Markus, then just a 19-year-old student, had been left frustrated by the wait ing time and expense of taxis in the Estonian capital, Tallinn – especially in the weekend nights when returning from a night out. He launched a mobile app that allows people to request a taxi or private driver from their smartphone and the app also shows the price and waiting time. Bolt later also expanded into electric scooters and food de livery services and currently operates in over 30 countries and in more than 150 cities around the world. In 2019, Bolt became a unicorn – a startup with the valuation over USD1 billion, according to the New York City-based research firm, CB Insights.
A growing importance of technology companies The Financial Times said in a foreword of this year’s index that the ever-greater pace of growth suggests that the most nimble and innovative compa nies are thriving. “The ranking reflects the growing importance of technology, which once again dominates with 189 en trants hailing from the sector. When this is added to the re lated but discrete categories of fintech and ecommerce, that total climbs to 259,” the news paper said. Companies from Germany, Italy, the UK and France domi nate the list, with these four na tions accounting for about 70 per cent of the overall ranking. London retains its lead as the city with the greatest number of fast-growing companies, fol lowed by Paris and Milan, while Warsaw and Vilnius make the top 10 for the first time.
