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Latest items
07 Aug 2006
Translating the Koran
If reading the Koran is not on your list of things to do, then here’s a reason you might want to add it: A translation of Islam’s holy book is now available in Latvian. The poet Uldis Bērziņš has been working on the translation for a number of years. Thanks to Juris Žagariņš of Massachusetts, some of the translated holy book can be downloaded from the Web page Topošais Korana latviskojums.
Thanks to the newspaper Diena, which passed…
06 Aug 2006
Top of the pops, Latvian style
Do you know the words and melodies to “Pūt, vējiņi!” or “Seši mazi bundzenieki”? Do you think everyone should? If…
23 Jul 2006
Latvia’s place in the Universe
Sanita Kubliņa of Latvia, whose idol is President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, didn’t make the cut in this year’s Miss Universe competition.…
21 Jun 2006
Strongmen in Rīga
It was 1:30 in the morning and, for some reason, we could not sleep. So we turned on the television…
16 Apr 2006
Murphy’s Law: A case study
Murphy’s Law (in Latvian, Merfija likums) states that if anything can go wrong, it will. A case in point is…
23 Mar 2006
The Balkans
Latvia should just quit the Baltic family and move in with the Balkans down south. Some folks already think the…
26 Feb 2006
Fly guys from Latvia
Those aerial acrobats you saw during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy? They were all…
24 Feb 2006
Hockey is their life
So what if the Latvian ice hockey team crashed and burned during the Winter Olympics? The fans love the team…
05 Feb 2006
Celebrity updates
The SuperBowl football championship saw plenty of attention in the days before the Feb. 5 contest in Detroit, Mich., between…
24 Jan 2006
Heijā, šeit nav mēstuļu!
The trendiness of Gmail has worn off a bit (it’s so 2004, after all), but the free Web-based e-mail…
19 Aug 2005
Ethnic relations in fiction
The latest fiction offering in the weekly magazine The New Yorker is a short story, “Thicker Than Water,” by…
05 Aug 2005
Evidence of things Latvian
If there’s a Latvian connection to be found, we’ll milk it. In that spirit, consider the new television crime show…
27 Jul 2005
710,000 thumbs and holding
One of our guilty pleasures, the Rīga-based social network draugiem.lv, has hit its share of bumps in recent weeks.…
01 Jul 2005
Ganiņš biju: The video
To round out the school year, the Latvian community of Stockholm, Sweden, decided to stage a performance of composer Bruno…
19 Jun 2005
What about Gaiziņkalns?
Ed Viesturs, son of a Latvian mechanical design engineer and a German mother, describes himself as “America’s leading high altitude…
17 Jun 2005
The surf club
We think this is a first: Umurkumurs, the downstairs bar in the Latvian Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto, now has…
08 May 2005
The Paris Hilton of golf?
Latvian golfers have known about Natalie Gulbis for a while. Now the 22-year-old Latvian-American professional golfer from California is getting…
08 May 2005
Meow-sic to our ears
Reading the minutes of meetings may not be most people’s idea of fun, but here’s evidence that these records sometimes…
21 Apr 2005
Rīga reptile
That time we visited the Rīga Zoo, we missed the alligator, having more fun with the friendly North American porcupines,…
15 Apr 2005
Kādā frekvencē, Kenet?
American alternative rock group R.E.M.‘s famous song, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”, provides the soundtrack to a 30-second trailer showcasing a…
What's new
News
01 Sep 2010
Summer of 2010 is Latvia’s warmest
This summer in Latvia has been the warmest on record, topping the previous heat wave of 2002, according to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre.
News
30 Aug 2010
Number of green cards declines, while U.S. sees more Latvian visitors
The number of persons from Latvia who have become legal permanent residents of the United States dropped last year to its lowest point in the past decade, according to recently released government statistics.
Reviews
28 Aug 2010
Latvian, Georgian collaboration results in remarkable world music album
One of the most intriguing recent collaborations in Latvian music is that of composer Valts Pūce and the Georgian ensemble The Shin. Joining together on the recording entitled Es arī, their talents have produced a unique album, combining elements of Latvian and Georgian folk songs, as well as jazz and other world music elements.
In the forums
SC = "Atpakaļ nākotnē" posted by ambersun on 02 Sep 2010
Election campaigns posted by jem71 on 01 Sep 2010
Saeima nedomā par latviešiem, bet par bagātiem ārzemniekiem posted by courlander on 31 Aug 2010
Durbin on the Mosque posted by Peteris Cedrins on 30 Aug 2010
"In Israel, Settling for Less" posted by Peteris Cedrins on 30 Aug 2010



