Dr Murks is the Handicraftsman

Uhuu, besides building furniture yesterday night that ended in totalmurks (like Germans probable would say) or total chaos after drilling the head of the screw into unrecognizable shape; besides knitting gloves with pattern from Pankjavitsa that should be finished by next evening... describes the handicraftsman side of Dr Murks also the fact that he has to but thousands of figures 74500, 101000, 123000 in Excel program into the form of time BY HAND!!! Auuuu! It is like: 74500=7:45, 101000=10:10.... Or by the other hand - let them be in this ugly shape and why not make all the calculations with this miserable form. What a bitty to be a researcher when making things beautiful takes too much precious time...

Dr Murks is waving to Mr Njume

How does it feel like? How does it feel like to lose your father? How does it feel like to lose the mentor of yourself, your brothers, your sisters, your aunts, uncles, their children... the mentor of the whole extended family... ? But still most of all just a guy who has been always there, who was there when you were just a small child looking with eyes full of curiosity, everything was new... And he was the one you could ask: "Husay? Weti? Wich taym? Ha? Hu? Way? Wich kayn? Hus?" Hmm, and maybe when time passing looking up to him and wanting to become the same in the future... And then realizing that there are more truths than your father have been telling you and sometimes start arguing with him, sometimes just not accepting that he has been drinking too much, too many bottles of palm vine or beer and not communicating to him many days... But in secret still looking up to him and thinking that he is the most powerful and most kind man you can ever get to know...How many times Dr Murks has waken up in the morning after bad dream seeing his father falling down from the ladder while picking up apples or cutting the branches of tree. "What happened!? What happened?!" Dr Murks screams in his dream and wakes up full of fare that... But hearing somebody smacking his lips in the kitchen like his father is used to do he relaxes and falls into dreams again... Uh. It is probable Dr Murks' greatest fear. Someday it will happen but so far Dr Murks can just be happy that there is somebody agitating Dr Murks to make more sports, to take care of himself, not fall into a power of diseases and just showing with simple shy humble way how much he cares... He is just always there, you do not even have to speak to him that often... you just know that he is there. The prototype of an interesting and funny man.

Leslie, I think you got a lot from him. I never got a change to meet him, but you knew him many years, he was there for you, you were there for him. He was probable a great man as he had a son like you... If you have the same tradition as they had in Santa, I wish you could send an huge amount of gunpowder to the air to kill the death... My respect to this kind man. It is hard to imagine what will your life look like now with all this responsibility I will not say "Ashia" , as it sounds like "sorry, but I can not help"... but I will think of you, pray for you and I know you can manage, you brave young stubborn and (most of all) doughty man.
As you are used to say there: "We are together!"
W e a r e t o g e t h e r !

Dr Murks belongs to a group of GOOFs

In Riga. Three days on the conference in the purpose of comparing Regional Development in the Baltic States. Scientists, geographers coming from Baltic countries presenting and introducing their work. As there has not been many contacts so far then it was a good possibility to find partners and think up some projects together.
As Dr Murks did not have to make any presentation, managed to shift this responsibility to Mdm Siiri then most of the time the conference was just like "glee and flowers party" as Estonians like to say about not so stressful events. Some participants were a lot of fun, was nice to chat about many topics, drink some vine, beer and brandy together... Hmmm, for example one guy from Gdansk really sounded like Mr Georg from Chemnitz :). He had exactly the same accent like he has, only Mr Georg speaks a little slower... Maybe it is some kind of Central European thing to sound like this, anyway it was fun to listen. He even told about his many foreign girlfriends as also Mr Georg have had... Deja vou... :)
Dr Murks has to tell the secrets. There were two really embarrassing things... Firstly, that Dr Murks drank too much at Friday night that he needed to sneak out from the auditorium during the second Panel-session on Saturday and free himself from still existing poisons in the body. Really embarrassing, hopefully nobody noticed Dr Murks' green face that by the inner feeling stayed green the whole day... Anyway, the Friday evening with interesting people was probable worth it. But next time Dr Murks should not forgot home his friend in the pocket who could tell when to stop drinking alcohol!The second embarrassment was not really up to Dr Murks but somehow he still feels responsible. The working-group from Tartu leaded by the professor of human geography really acted like a group of goofs. It was really sad to see how Dr Murks' working-group did not have any civility feeling towards the other participants... They probable did not speak to anyone there, maybe only answered shortly as somebody asked a question and then run away to stay with other impolite Estonians. They reached to the tip of the cake as just stood up in the middle of concluding session and left the place without saying any goodbye to anyone... Just left for Estonia... Dr Murks can not still believe that this last thing really happened. It was like shouting to organisers face that it is just a crap that you are talking about here!
Dr Murks has to admit that the level of science is quite different in the Baltic States and seemingly Tartu and Tallinn are on the highest level, but the question arises: HOW CAN THEY BE AS THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY SKILLS FOR COMMUNICATION????? Just another bunch of arrogant Estonians. Dr Murks feels embarrassing to be a part of this group... Sad.

Dr Murks lives in the SnowWorld

A picture from window. The temperature should be approximately -11 degrees. Oven to heat, lot of fat and hot stuff to eat, warm cloths on and first round on skis will be booked at 11 am. Let the tears come from eyes when you sledge downhill and let then frees into ice cubes right away! Superb!

Dr Murks is in Boiler

Have you ever felt this feeling? Being in the boiler? It is like you see all the bubbles going towards the surface in the boiling water, everyone of them carrying a message or an idea or... and you just see them quickly passing by. You only see how many bright and different ideas there are but as you want to see them more close they already disappear to the air and become just a part of this huge gray gas-body. There are so-so many possibilities to live your life, to base your ideas on, to create something nice and interesting but you just see the flashes of the ideas but before you can sit on one bubble it is disappeared. You can not catch them course you are not able to decide early enough. This is how Dr Murks feels recent times. Do many thoughts to pick up the ones to carry on.

And then it makes Dr Murks so jealous when he sees people with concrete and bright ideas. For example Mr Chiaradia from London who was to Estonians Art Academy to talk about a method measuring the connectivity of the parts of the cities. He was so convinced and convincing that it was just amazing. Whatever stupid or not stupid question anybody asked he just could explain you everything. Dr Murks had before only hears some septic opinions about the method he introduced and read some badly-written articles where it sounded as new religion not a method. But after meeting Mr Chiaradia he really saw how important are personal relationships between scientists. You can read as many articles and write as many but if you are reclusive and not willing to communicate, cooperate and... you are just an empty place. And by the way, it is very interesting and constructive to see some other scientists making their work then just your own professor who is just asking you much without even basic politeness.
Anyway as a result of last two weeks seminars Dr Murks found some inspiration to start work again in more patient mood. He will systematically look throw the bubbles from the boiler and pick up the Chosen Ones. The results how it will work out will be commented soon on these pages.

Dr Murks is showing off

Last Monday at 10 pm in the evening Dr Murks and his friends opened an exhibition about their trips in the Library of The University of Tartu. There were many people coming, listening the speeches, asking questions and drinking 6 liters of vine in total. The participants were boot out from the Library at midnight as they were sitting on the floor having a talk companied by vine and did not hear the melody notifying the closing time. The after party took place in Zavood. The article about the voluntary work in developing countries and the exhibition can be read at Tartu Postimees. Too bad that it is only in Estonian.

Dr Murks can eat ginger bread in the bath

Dr Murks turned the page. There is written 2007 on the bottom of the page now. Dr Murks already has a small vision of the picture that will be drawn on the page and witch kind of colors to use and what will be written there... But it is not jet time to dive into dreams, better to describe events already happened.

They went on a trip to the South. Standing on the edge of the world, hills and woods belonging to Latvia seen on the other side, the sky went suddenly break and a bit wet snow started to fell down. "Christmas miracle! Christmas miracle!" they screamed. To dance and jump and run in the snowfall! Then they found a stone-round in the garden of local witchcraft, took one stone and made the round and put the stone somewhere in the round wishing something concrete and nice for the next year. Old oak-trees showed the way to the ruins of watermill by the pearl river and it started to go dark... Time to sit back in their red carriage and ride to the Dirty Teeth village where were waiting stoves and smoke-sauna to be heated and potatoes, meat, sauerkraut, black budding to be made for eating. House had no electricity but they had many candles and oil-lamp taken with, so the house turned to be as bright as candle-light can make.
They made the saun. Saun is a small house you heat till the temperature reaches at least 80 degrees, sometimes even 120. Then you take off your cloths and will go to the hot room to make your body hot-hot and beat yourself (or somebody else beats) with special broom made of branches of birch. It really cleans your body and soul. They had smoke-saun. This is a special form of saun with no chimney. It means all the smoke is coming in the room. You heat it long, for about 6 hours till the stones on the stove will get very hot, then you will take out the glowing coals and open all doors and windows. It takes about 15 minutes, then you close the doors and may go in. The stones heat the room and if you throw water on the stones it make water vapor to heat your body even more. More, more, more!!! Dr Murks likes specially to jump into the snow or throw cold water on the skin in between going to the hot saun. Special pleasure! And it was snowing during a day - what a nice saun-evening!
For the moment of turning the page there was a need to but up a fire. All the snow was melting already and the bower of fire-light should defeat the darkness of the night. It certainly did. This is approximately how it was.