I found a fun questionnaire on this blog and decided to use it to ‘close’ 2011 on Wonderland. This year was exceptionally full of travelling, for which I feel grateful. I went somewhere almost every month. I visited 3 continents, 12 countries (6 of them – for the first time) and 21 cities. True, I didn’t blog on Wonderland much, …
Translating between regular language and economics
Have you ever noticed that the best compliment students give their professors is something along these lines: “S/he is capable of explaining complicated things in such a simple manner”? Teaching and research, as well as the media, is often about translation: from specific to abstract, from sound/view to words, from one culture to another. And some scientists work very hard …
Witnessing a cloaca of immaturity in Prague
Prague is probably by far the most known and popular city in Central and Eastern Europe, with hordes of tourists and large numbers of exchange and full degree students. Some people know Prague as a city of sophisticated culture, the birthplace of Franz Kafka. Others associate it with nightlife and youth. It appears that Prague fell victim of its own …
Tourist joys and locals’ struggles in Malaga
Cross-posted from Wonderland – the Cafe Babel blog. Malaga, in South Spain, on the Mediterranean cost, turns out to be a particularly attractive place to settle for all kinds of people, especially Germans looking for a nice place to retire. But, according to my friend there, people from all over Spain say they would choose it as a place to …
Men – between nature and prohibitions
[The original of this article was published in Delfi. It was translated for public procurement purposes. All rights belong to Delfi.] Manliness is natural but so fragile that a little equality ideology or a babe in arms can disrupt it like a house of cards. Such conclusion can be made after listening to the defenders of normative manliness. On one …
Let it be night 2011
Let It Be Night is an annual festival in Vilnius (see post two years ago). It brings together professional and amateur artists to perform at night. Most of the events are free of charge, and many happen outside. The idea is to make Vilnius more of a night city, which it is not. The festival takes place in June, just …
First bubbles of this year
Also posted on Wonderland.CafeBabel.com. As soon as it became warm enough, Laimikis.lt relaunched its initiative called “Bubble the City” in English (in rather unsuccessful search for an adequate term for the creative Lithuanian “Burbuliatorius”). As last year, it takes place in Lithuanian cities and towns, as well as the most popular migrant destinations. The idea is to encourage people to …
Oddities of Cambridge
Long time no see, right? I saw that this long absence cost me about 30% of my usual readership. But I hope to win all of you back, starting with impressions from England and Egypt, and finishing (for now) with interesting political events. Months ago me and my colleague decided to attend an urban studies conference at Cambridge. The programme …
Street signs controversy
Are multiple languages in public space an issue? Not in many countries. But in Lithuania there is an ongoing battle over some buses and street signs, which, in addition to Lithuanian, give translations in Polish. A law in Lithuania obliges all public signs (streets, institutions, etc.) to be in Lithuanian. The mainstream interpretation is that this implies they have to …
Repeating shapes and patterns in Paris
I know that Paris is the city that so many people have either visited or seen in films, so if I simply describe what I saw there, I doubt if those of you who read this blog on Google Reader or similar will click on the link. However, there are many angles to look at Paris, and, interestingly enough, its …
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