Teh Baltic Correspondent

Lithuania so far performing better than I expected. The games have been tough, but the team does not have its usual key players, and the earlier bench has to stand up. It's like a group of sixth men with Linas Kleiza.
Kleiza has been marvellous, and proving being worth every cent his current team in Greece pays him. Wierd expression? Well, I just simply forgot the name of the team - Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, or some other -os. I think they finished second in the Greek league this season.
But except Kleiza being the heart of the team, the formed Vytautas Magnus University trio of Jankunas, Maciulis and Kalnietis have done fairly well too. Of the rest of the team, Delininkaitis, Klimavicius and Gecevicius are worth a mention.
Sadly, Lithuania is a bit short of defensive effort, and a bit short generally this year. One can see surprisingly clearly that neither of the Lavranovic brothers are playing and that the SG place needs to be filled with a man capable of sinking 3 pointers with a constant performance. We can of course discuss, whether Maciulis os SG or SF, but anyway, this still leaves there the other of these two places empty. Also, Kalnietis may have issues with constant performance, as he sometimes can flash excellent game, but then from time to time performs very questionably. He has a small wannabe Jordan in himself, but either there is too much confidence or too little skill involved - being the university dunking champion does not yet make you a World Cup star.
For me, the biggest disappointment so far has been Simas Jasaitis. The man used to be one of the most consistent performers of the team, who just got better in a tight place. You may think what you want to, but I have a bad feeling the new celebrity girlfriend / singing pair of tits is giving a bit bad impact to him. Perhaps the head is not totally in the game having an ex-nude model as a bedroom partner?
Then there is this tall boy Andriuskevicius. Did not yet understand why he is needed in the team, as he has zero minutes on his belt, and there are no reports on injuries. Javtokas got his leg injured, but 218 cm tall Andriuskevicius would surely be needed in the team. Is there no effort from the players side, or is it the coach not giving a chance for the guy to show what he can do?
My expectations for the team? 3-2 record from the first round with losses to Spain and France and a victory from Lebanon. Then, a game against Turkey/Greece, which is not necessary a victory. Tactically seen, Lithuania's best chance is to become anything but third or first in the group. Spain is trying to secure 2nd place to avoid US, and Lithuania should thus beat Spain and lose to France for ruining the Spanish plans. Can the team really provide the scoring needed to a victory over Spaniards, and have the maturity to take a beating from France, which should be weaker as a team? Remains to be seen later today.

I love religions. They at the same time can motivate people to do a lot of good deeds while they may wake the inner monkey and let him go berserk. Now, in Warsaw, after the tragic death of the President, a cross was erected to his memory. Cross, Catholism, Pope, Poland... these things tend to match. However, now this cross caused some protests, and, among the protestors there were some Pastafarians.

Who? Pastafarism is a very archaic religion worshipping Durum and Mince in their purest form - that is - as a flying spaghetti monster (with meatballs).Spaghetti Monster, according to their views, created the world and... flies around? I don't actually know (thus the previous "according to their views" was very accurate statement), but surely, a flying spaghetti monster is the ultimate proof of evolution: you leave it in a kettle for a day or two, and you may actually see his sauciness evolving into various kinds of funghi.

But why pastafarians were against the cross? No idea, perhaps they just had some spare pasta to give away?

Link to an article on protests, unfortunately in Polish (more you can google).

Follow the link to read an opinion on the differences of Baltic States by Justin Petrone. Quite a lot about Kaunas there too. Surely, he could have been a bit more cautious with his opinions - now they sound very American in the worse meaning of the word (that is, ignorance). But let's forgive him for what he is, and read yet another opinion to the differences in the region. Link.

Web shopping is a rather convenient way to purchase items for a foreigner. First of all, the Google Translator is there to aid you, and sometimes the shops even have the menus in English. Not to mention, that in Lithuania it is often easy to make a simple mistake in the shops: No, there really are no customers servants in about any Lithuanian shops - they are all shop detectives hired to see whether you are pick-pocketing!

Web shops are in a way better: you can really see all the inventory without any "How may I bother you"s or "Could you please leave, we need to spend some quality time speaking to each other here"s. However, that still does not mean the service would not matter. And service may easily be the weakest link for  webshops too, and all too often the answer to any question is silence. For example, I was interested earlier in buying an AIO computer. I sent a few simple questions to 13 shops. Got one answer, and - perhaps this part surprises no one - bought it from there.

The web shops, as any shops vary a lot in quality, but here are a few places that are more recommendable than the others - with a few commentaries.

Domestic:
Fotofabrikas.lt - a webshop for anything related to photography (except the nude models, which of course was what we expected to find there :P ). They have price level which is quite much on par with German and French shops (especially when counting the delivery costs in). Inventory is rather good, and they even hold the descriptions of older models there for reference. I even found a Lithuanian instructions for my Panasonic LX-2 there - which is in my case better than the Italian ones I had.
Gerakaina.lt - here, the selection perhaps in not that amazing, but they did have in inventory that old adapter for my ancient HP laptop. The bad side is that this original part lasted for a few months only (which I cannot really hold against the reseller, but the JV of HP and our rabbits).
Intymipagunda.lt - If you are not looking for plugs or memory cards, then this is the shop for you. A bit spice to the bedroom in the form of Polish branded underwear. Prices are cheaper than at the high street retailers, plus you will avoid all the blushing and "I'm not looking this for myself, but for my wife" -situations.
Onnet.lt - one of the many web shops for computers and accessories, with one exception - they answer your questions. Already that makes them worth the purchase - and then they are not really that badly priced either. Unfortunately, you can pay for the items only by Swedbank web bank, or bank transfer.
Pigu.lt - a bizarre shop, which sells a bit of everything. I guess you could actually buy anything from there! Shower cabins, fashion clothing, computers, cameras... you name it. The selection is very limited, but then again, the prices are often rather fine.
Skytech.lt - a nicely priced web shop for IT-related equipment has also affordable prices, even though it is not among the cheapest ones. The selection seems good (perhaps a direct listing from the GNT reseller platform?), however they are not that strong in communication.


From abroad:
Pixmania.lt- the Lithuanian Pixmania site. It is not such a marvel it used to be some years ago, but still they have a fine price level, and the delivery costs are usually only 34 LTL (but it takes a week).
ebay.co.uk - the British eBay page is in the end the place to buy, if you want anything exotic or spares. When I paid more than 100 ltl for the HP charger when buying from Lithuania, now I got a spare with 20 ltl from China - including the delivery!

And yes, you most certainly can use most of these web shops even if you are a tourist. Just agree the delivery to hotel, and give your phone number. Most of the time, it will work out just fine - and some companies most likely allow you to pick up the items with web shop prices from the local dealerships (Fotofabrikas at least used to have an office in Molas in Kaunas,).

While writing this entry, the decisions have been taken: Soon the administrative fines for not having the national flag on pole on national holidays will go up. They will be from 100 to 600 LTL and sound like a new way from the conservative government to squeeze incomes from the already oppressed people.
As ridiculous as it sounds, one really must possess a flag and a flagpole (or a holder for a flag fixed on the wall), and yes, one has to hoist the flag on every event that has some significance to the nation. There are no exceptions - if you are not home or even in the country, you have to arrange a friend or a neighbor to do the job, or risk the fines.
As you perhaps have already guessed, the state will not aid the puchase of the flag nor the pole - if one can afford a house, it seems one must as well have the finances for the necessary equipment (a bit like a car owner should afford a fire extinquisher). No matter how nice view it might be to see every house flagging the death of a president or speculative coronation day of long dead king (and I am sure some mp is jerking off for the sight), I find it hard to support forcing people to such a worship of the state. Reminds me kind of the good ol' times.

What's wrong with bootleg products? That the owner of the brand does not get compensation? That they are done in worse labor conditions? That they cheapen the brand? Perhaps all of the previous plus loads of other reasons. Still, bootleg products keep the brand visible in countries where people cannot afford the original ones.
Bootlegs are not necessarily cheap. I saw the other day a pair of Puma shoes sold in the market for around 60 euros, quite a hefty price for a pair of shoes that as original cost around € 100. Then, why would anyone buy these shoes from market?
Now, let's move to an even more ridiculous case. House brands. House brands are like these previous fake Puma shoes without the Puma logo. Usually they are cheap, and at most expensive they are still affordable. However, then we have also house brand watches. However, first a case of a bootleg one.
Some 4 years ago, I bought from Siauliai street market a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Time watch, or what ever it said. There was no date, but it did show time. It took a few months for the wrist band to break and in 1,5 years the silver color had faded away. Still, the watch worked, which definately makes it to qualify worth the 4 euros I paid for it. And it was lots of fun - no way a status product, but more of a party watch. I opened it once to look inside, and the Swiss made movement was quite plasticy. Quite much what I expected. Now, the item lays somewhere deep in my drawer after eating 2 batteries in 3 years. Quite a substandard efficiency, I would say.
This one was a bootleg watch. I knew it, the seller knew it, and everyone who saw it closer than 2 meters knew it. It did not really damage my idea of Rolex as a brand, nor did anyone really make money with it. However, what if I would sell you "Real diamong Swiss gold watch" with brand Calvaneo, Yves Camani, Koenigswerk or such?
House brand watches sold exclusively in internet - especially in eBay - are a bid of a dubious issue. Usually, they are replicas of brand watches when it comes to design. Usually, they sound like a real, expensive brand. Usually, they are made in China. Then what is wrong here?
Otherwise nothing, but they are sold as real brands. "Real Koenigswerk watch, Retail price 1449 GBP". How can you state a retail price for a product that is sold exclusively in eBay auctions? Also, some watches are stated to have real diamonds (coming with a certificate), while other sellers sell the same item as "with real Swarovski Crystals". There is in fact a quite fine list of these eBay watches: http://www.trustedwatch.com/community/blacklist. Another way to see which watches are not worth a price higher that your super market watch is to check here: http://www.uhrmacher-balster.de/welche-uhrenmarken-werden-nicht-repariert.html

Again, it is here, the neighbor voting competition. One horrible song after another, badly written speeches --- and in the end it is even better humor than Nasha Russia!
The first semifinal was full of great surprises, and I liked the fact that this year quite a few countries did perform at least to some extent using their language. The voting result was the most exciting, and seems like the whole Europe just loves the Eastern European sound. Or then the people in these regions are more nationalistic (meaning: their citizens vote from abroad or via skype), or the west just does not care...
Anyway, that does not really matter! Today, at ... whatever PM, the first performer of the show will be InCulto from Lithuania. The band will play a song called East European Funk, which should - if the Europe really loves the East as much as on Tuesday - go to the finals. Sure, the song is not anyhow Eastern in sound, and the guys are easy to imagine wearing a sombrero while playing (or then I am just sick) - still, the simple, political and yet somehow funny song may be just about what you should have seen coming.
Finland was about to send Eläkeläiset, but it seems Lithuania sent the only real humor band - unless that Serbian guy is not counted as such (and I saw also a lot of humor in the Polish show, but it might be just me).
Thus, where ever you are, vote for the band that marginally lost to "Vote for the Winners" gig in 2005.