Annual Video

The Grand Documentary of 2020

From more than 111 GB of footage (1295 short clips per year), I was able to produce about 1 hour 30 minutes long documentary
As every year - documentary, a home video style, filmed with a DSLR camera, and since July, the novelty is the drone
The length of the film is determined by its main character - Rene. The first injuries, the first garden (Georgian), the first friends..tasty "painted pīrādziņš" - everything is for real!
Travels around the…

Vilgāle Apartment

Vilgāle apt update: Doors, drywall, electricity

Again a few weeks have passed and I got the latest images from the Vilgåle apt renovation. This time contractors have almost finished drywall works and are ready for plastering and finishing electricity works.

The end is so close I can even feel it.

Slowly, but we are progressing here. seems the next task is to plaster ceiling and add tiles on the walls

New doors have been installed, also lamps for the halway

Cost so far:


Water plumbing:…

Health & Fitness

3 Days into My Meatless Experiment: Reflections and Observations

I decided to take a quick experiment and stop eating meat for 7 days. Just meat, not dairy or eggs.

I guess age, current affairs, people around me, and go green hype have finally reached me. Despite that I still love meat, and I don't call myself a vegetarian. Not yet.

Today is day 3, and I noticed I eat a lot more veggies, bread, and fish. I will keep you posted

Going meat-free for a week is a great way to experiment with a plant-based diet…

Drupal & Servers

Adding Custom CSS stylesheet to Drupal Olivero theme

Just recently I migrated my blog from Drupal 7 to the Drupal 9 platform, and this time I decided to stick with what I get, instead of building it all from scratch.

I really like the default experimental theme Drupal Olivero, but of course, there are a few things I would love to fine-tune. 

Instead of building a theme from scratch I decided to apply a few customizations for the stylesheet, and here is how (this is not recommended as when…

Digital Photography School

Top 10 Best Selling Mirrorless Cameras 2022

When talking about mirrorless cameras in 2022, Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic are the brands to consider.

In this article, I've listed the top 10 best selling mirrorless cameras on Amazon.com

A quick note: Please note this list contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income from that. Prices for mirrorless …

Latvia

Latvian National Opera

The Latvian National Opera and Ballet is an opera house and opera company at Aspazijas boulevard 3 in Riga.

Its repertoire includes performances of opera and ballet presented during the season which lasts from mid-September to the end of May.

During a typical season, LNOB presents almost 200 performances, including, on average, 6 new productions. The largest is the Great Hall which houses 946 seats, while the smaller ones – the New Hall, the…

Digital Photography School

How to Rotate a video in Adobe Premiere Pro (Portrait to Landscape)

Sometimes when filming with a mobile phone, I shoot in portrait mode. Portrait mode is Okay for social media posts, but not really cool looking on larger screens. 

Recently, when working on a larger home video in Adobe Premiere Pro, I discovered a few scenes shot in portrait mode, but actually where meant to be landscape. 

Without further ado, here is how to rotate a video in Adobe Premiere Pro

Upload your clip, from the timeline…

Vilgāle Apartment

Vilgāle apt update: Hallway, Sauna and more

It has been a few weeks already since the works with Vilgāle apt have been restarted, finishing the hallway, kitchen and sauna. more wiring were done, additional drywall constructions, some plumbing and a lot of sauna works. 

Hopefully the works could be done by the end of the year, but more realistic I'm looking on Spring 2022. Will see.

There is built a closet for storing wooden pellets, boiler and wood pellet stove itself.

Looks bit…

Georgia

Tskaltubo - Former Soviet Spa Resort

Tskaltubo is a spa resort town in west-central Georgia. The resort was especially popular in the Soviet era, attracting around 125,000 visitors a year. Bathhouse 9 features a frieze of Stalin, and visitors can see the private pool where he bathed on his visits.

Just like Chiatura cable car town, Tskaltubo is very interesting to visit and see the brutalist and futuristic Soviet architecture. 

In today's Piece of Life series - Tskalubo -…

Annual Video

The Grand Documentary of 2019

Embedded thumbnail for The Grand Documentary of 2019

Almost 38.8 GB (676 clips short clips per year) footage resulted in almost 2 hours of film. (1h 56 m).

As every year - documentary cinema - in the style of home video, but we have thought about your vestibular aparatus - trying to avoid the tremors of the hands and the desire to work with and around the zoom as much as possible (undoubtedly, the couple places ar filmed in a manual mode). Filming with a tripod and a baby on the move is difficult…

Georgia

Chreli Abano Sulfur Bath in Tbilisi

Chreli Abano is a sulfur bath located in the Tbilisi Bath district of Abanotubani. 

We have been heading to these baths a lot in the past (back in 2011-2013), since then we have changed our location, visiting other, not so fancy ones on Kyiv street, but lately again, we have started to visit sulfur bathhouses in the old town district.

As they are many, I will try to give a quick recap of all of them, though after revisiting Chreli Abano…

Vilgāle Apartment

Vilgāle apt update: Drywall for Bathroom, Kitchen and Hallway, Building Sauna

It has been a while since I posted the latest updates from our Vilgāle apartment renovation, the active construction works have been paused since March, except some minor plastering was done by mid-June.

In the Summer months in Latvia, it is hard to find contractors. I was left with no other option than to wait for the fall/ winter season. 

Without further ado, works have resumed with lightning speed and there is a hope we will finish…

Georgia

Le Meridien Batumi Hotel Review

Le Meridan hotel is one of many 5-star hotels in Batumi I've stayed in so far.

We booked a one-night stay here in August 2021 to celebrate my 36 birthday. For this stay, we paid about $340, and this seems a bit overpriced. I still prefer Radisson or Hilton, but if money is no obstacle, why not?


We arrived bit late in the evening from Batumi international airport (flight from Tbilisi). It was already getting late, but I managed to capture the…

Georgia

Chateau Bruale Tkhilistskaro

Chateau Bruale offers accommodations in Tkhilistskaro. Guests can enjoy the on-site restaurant. Free WiFi is available throughout the property and free private parking is available on site.

We booked a one-night stay at this place at the end of August 2021 and paid about EUR 30. Additionally, we ordered some dinner and breakfast, for an additional GEL 120


Chateau is located in the middle of vineyards and hazelnut grove. I actually bought some…

Autumn in Laidi

Laidi is a village in Laidi parish, Kuldīga municipality, Latvia.  The village is located some 28 km from the county center of Kuldiga and 167 km from Riga.

One of the most interesting objects to see: Laidi manor - Built in the early 19th century by the local German nobility, it has housed the Laidi primary school since 1921.

In today's Piece of Life series - Autumn in Laidi

Beautiful scenary with colourful trees

Annual Video

The Grand Documentary of 2018

2018 was very special. Here is a brief recap in a 25-minute long documentary.

Some shorts from Tbilisi, relocating to Jūrmala. A lot of snow. Building a baby crib, chilling. chilling a lot. Picking up a baby name. First meeting with a little person. First bathing. Many things were done for the first time. Relocating back to Georgia. And many more. Enjoy!

Hotel reviews

Prometheus Epic Hotel & Spa near Tskaltubo

Located just some 500 meters from Prometheus Cave, Prometheus Epic Hotel & Spa provides accommodations with a restaurant, free private parking, an outdoor swimming pool, and a bar.

We booked this hotel for a 2-night stay at the start of September during our Kutaisi and area trip. This was a pretty affordable stay, in total we paid about EUR 110 for a two-day stay.


With a garden, the property also has a terrace. The property features a spa…

Stocks

Sold all Bitcoin, Seb Mutual funds, Baltic Horzion and DelfinGroup Stock

Yesterday, on October 25, 2021, I sold all of the Bitcoin holdings I had with Coinbase PRO. Additionally, I sold off all my investments with SEB mutual funds and stocks at Nasdaq Baltic: Baltic Horizon, and DelfinGroup.

I did this because I have started another interesting 52-week challenge - buying Apple stock for the next 52 weeks and I want to focus on that challenge. 

As an options trader, I want to collect at least 100 shares with…

Latvia

Kļavu Lapas Laidos

Kļavu lapas Laidos - an attempt to catch some falling colorful leaves. Laidi manor and more. October 17, 2021 Dji Mavic Air 2, Galaxy A52

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