Off The Fence

     Tried my luck in directing a video for a new song which I yet have to finish. Needless to say it was a lot of fun, especially freezing my ass off in a swamp. Well, I shouldn't complain because actors were in a skinny outfit and thin shoes freezing to the bone. My heart shrank everytime I looked at their frozen hands and cheeks so my fat ass was just fine. The crew of ten people spent one day on ice in a cold wind at -10 degrees Celsius. The intention was to tell a story and I tell you that I realized that it's not an easy way to do it. Being an absolute rookie myself together with an experienced cameraman came up with a script and a storyboard wishing to embody certain amount of skill, taste and luck from our favorite directors we kicked it off on a saturday afternoon, driving cars around the city of Riga. Bit thanks to everyone involved, it's been such a pleasure. The effort from people was enormous and I wish the result will be satisfying for all of us.

Double U Double Me

We took a ship to Vienna last weekend. A huge cruise ship which departed from the ancient harbor of Riga City. I was surprised that people there were so similar to latvians (Rigans?) - they had three eyes, spoke at least four languages and had hair dark as the guts of the universe. Actually it felt that I have never left Riga (city which I love so much. Actually I think Latvia should be called - Riga and the rest of it we'd call a park thus making it a bigest city park in the world?) Anyway, I'm brewing my theories about that so stay tuned. Meanwhile (mean whale) observe the sky.

Mr Postman Knocked On The Door

       I started a newspaper of my own. You know, Kanye's making films with nice running in it, birds and angel - like servants. Why not a paper with just me and the band in it I thought? 

As I sip black coffee (not that I like it black but couldn't find milk in the fridge for multiple reasons) and go through the pages of somewhat one may call a newsletter or a fan update, or whatever else I might have despised not too long ago, I could think of only one thing - the importance of amazing people I've met so far in my life. It's incredible. I could write a story or two and they all together would mirror only the tiniest bit of an actual life of an individual. Life is crazy and so are we - humans. 

I can't say precisely what made me realize that writing music could be it. Even more, it changed my whole life. Thinking back I doubt that I have ever dreamed of living this much broke and actually being happy about it. Anyway, the journey continues. I've lined up 21 song to be recorded over period of next 3 months.

It all started with Tour De Friends and me sitting in a cold room in Dharamsala, India. "It has to be today I start making next album," I thought and set up everything to record something that would serve as a basis for all things to come. Came up with the name of that album the moment I was singing something about visiting the oracle while staring at a majestic peak of a mountain. I love it, I want to go back. I'm able to go back only in future, isn't it funny? You never go back. 

Stevie Gee is making a cover for Werewolves On A Mission, a skate rock album recorded in San Francisco due to the kindness of people I met there. Looking through the images on Gee's blog made my day today. I highly recommend to check it out now and find out where's Osama? 

I'm off to record something. Oh yeah, if you are a latvian reader and want this newspaper in your inbox send an email to elmars at elmarsuniverse.com 

Old Is Gold - I Don't Like Gold

I do like photos though. Does it make it Old is A Photo? This is the last entry with photos, I don't have a camera anymore. Well luckily I still got a keyboard so I can type. Moving on to the next subject, I wasn't born in this town but spent here my first eighteen years. The town is really old, so it is like a photo to me.  

 Russian Isus Hristos

 Fence.

fish eye

 Trees

A hole in the wall

 Sugar

 Smoke

 Training facility.

The next section is called: Riga At Knight.  

 We are being filmed. I recently noticed the fact.

 Sometimes you're offered and asked.

 Spies are everywhere and they know it.

 The dude below was checking my computer while I was away to grab a cup of coffee.

 I was taking a photo of myself and this nice hallway and caught other dudes on tape who were spying on me again from behind.

 The list of names to be spied on.

Good luck. 

Home Is Where Your ... Is

"The trip brings odd misadventure, off-kilter romance, and sudden danger, but the real story involves coming to terms with a lifetime of ingrained resentments plus grief of more recent vintage.” The actual point of the picaresque wanderings, he added, “is coming home.” These lines written by NewYorker's Richard Brody about Anderson's "Darjeeling Limited" when it was about to come out. Today it was same magazine's ArtPick. 


The restlessness of souls these days seems almost overwhelming and I still wonder what is the main motive for people to leave their homes, finding new ones, building families, breaking them apart. Honestly, I haven't found much. The only thing that pops to my mind is that there's a moment which is a continuity of things and we try to live it up to our ambitions, expectations and unconscious desires. We all try to be happy not necessarily knowing what happiness is. We can try and split this reality into most subtle sequence and we still wouldn't find the answer how one should be happy or how to live every day with at least some sort of feeling of satisfaction and yet be part of this society which sometimes reminds me of the loudest industrial machinery one can find. 


"Coming home" to me would be something of finding peace. If finding peace is not anything of the first sentence in this chapter then how can one discover that it's so?


I am a wanderer. Physically and mentally I wander off to discover that happiness is not an external matter. It's the perceptual creativity of the sequence of life or moments that make things what they are to us. So everyday we have a choice of how we look at things and how we shape our reality which is merely arising and serves as a basis for our interpretation. 


Yet we leave the impact, impressions on others with inevitable consequences of any kind. If we look carefully what tools do we have to do so you may find that we have only two external instruments that are activated by one from the inside. The doorways to the physical reality are body and speech with mind as the initiator. 


There's is a hope that music and arts in general are the ones that actually are providing a proof that one can look at reality and interpret it from numerous angles. We use language and concepts in order to communicate but neither of those are the reality itself. It's the world in which we operate, yet there are things to discover. Wander off and bring home what you have found, be creative, share it and be happy!

Stereo Espresso

Some may say - don't you ever look back. Well, I did! I found more photos on the same camera and discovered that I documented my march through the old town on the way from Riga airport where I just had happily arrived from New York. I love this city, no, let me put it this way and maybe hurt some feelings here but I love both cities. "Do you still live in that village?", Bobby asked once on my another frequent visit to Snice. I love my village. 

First stop and my final destination. Where else can you get a Stereo Espresso? For shizzle. 

 Hot ladies hanging around all day!

A small portion of national identity. 

 Check out my steeze. It's like a scene from Rockers.

 Sugar Man, won't you hurry

 "Having kids is like having a tattoo on your face...  You gotta be committed."

Revolution will not be televised. At least in 2 meter radius. In case of technical failure please don't call, evacuate.