EDITORIALS

Here is a list of all CAPITAL R EDITORIALS published every 25th day of month and arranged by date:

2020, 25 March.
DOWN WITH TOURISM. The future of travel in the age of disasters.
Did last year teach us a lesson to think more about resilience in tourism as we know it? Could the Coronavirus, forest fires or warm winters finally demand us to take crucial measures in order to install emergency plans into every destination's daily schedule? In Riga, Latvia, Europe, World?


2020, 25 January.
TEN YEARS CHALLENGE. Reliving the last decade in Riga. 
I began the previous decade with quite a blow to how I see the world and people around me. I'd deliberately quit my first real relationship; I would lose my brother a month later; and I would pretty much turn into vegetarian, slash, vegan right after. If you think I had a tough case, Riga was not doing any better in 2010 - 2020.


2019, 25 December.
GREY IS THE COLOUR OF MY TRUE CHRISTMAS DAY.
Yes, the snow is on an nation-wide absence this year, and we need to prepare ourselves for it taking place more often in the future; the White Christmas, as promoted by destination marketing organisations, American movies, popular songs, and ads or as praised in old folk songs, is fleeing our latitudes, and it is important to be honest to ourselves - the climate change will totally rewrite the colour palette of winter season




2019, 25 November.
DARK IS OUR RESILIENCE.
It takes two days and an international conference to rise many questions, thoughts and no prayers when talking about the perks and perils of intangible and living cultural heritage in the north.



2019, 25 October.
10 THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR FLAT TRULY RIGAN.
Could the coming of November begin another quest for the true style of flat interior culture of Riga?







2019, 25 September.
HOW DOES COLDNESS SMELL IN RIGA.
There is a particular scent embracing Riga's old suburbs every time autumn comes. It's the scent all people recognize, and the one that, many will agree, came surprisingly early this year. The scent that makes Riga being a down-to-earth and cosy city, and characterizing something many urban spaces have lost during time. Can you guess what smell I'm talking about?




2019, 25 August.
URBAN PREACHING TO NEWBORNS.
Today we are celebrating our first birthday since the CAPITAL R web gazette began, and it will be several years before your parents or yourself will read this "letter for the future" together. But that's ok, if the Internet is dead by now, we have a back-up copy of this blog!


2019, 25 July.
ARRIVING IN AN EMPTY CITY
Old Town in Riga is still a tourist Disneyland and barely local. But when travellers dare to visit the centre or nearby suburbs of the most populated city in the Baltics, every tourist is caught by surprise with half empty streets. Where did the people go?






2019, 25 June.
LOSING "URBAN VIRGINITY" ON MIDSUMMER
Can Latvians lose it and stay in the city during the legendary summer solstice celebration for a change? Is it worth it and what would be the conditions for Latvians to look into such option - ditching leaves and lakes for a good piece of urban environment?


2019, 25 May.
METRO HAS NO FUTURE, BUT METRO IS THE ANSWER
Have a read of this another special contribution CAPITAL R has provided to Riga Photomonth's yearbook. From the biggest geeks of Metro history in Riga - here is an essay on why metro sucks, but the concept of metro vanquishes!





2019, 25 April.
NOT COOL
Like the Notre Dame was on fire, Latvia is again, too. "Kūla" or the old, presumably dead and dry grass is covering several fields around the country and seemingly troubling some individuals for reasons. I might not deny any of reasons being valid for fire, if only by burning kūla one didn't also kill animals, birds, nests, insects, neighbours, and themselves. Finally, the whole landscape is not looking better eventually, so is there any reasonability behind this irresponsibility after all?


2019, 25 March.
On 25 March, 1949, 42 125 people were loaded into cattle wagons and sent to Siberia. It was a second time after 14 June, 1941, when such "activity" covered 15 424 more souls. Meanwhile, none of my kinship, were affected.. So, where do I stand - constantly looking back and deeply channelling the deportation through myself, despite it being absent to my family, or commemorate a national tragedy, while looking toward the future with no strings attached?


2019, 25 February.
BRAVE NEW MAN
This year so far has been a challenge for what being a man means in Latvia as well as in globally. Including possible changes of regulations for mostly boys doing, some say, archetypical masculine activities, then following eating habits, and ending with toxic masculinity cases and senile military celebrations.


2019, 25 January.
OLD TOWN IS NOT FOR OLD PEOPLE!
When it snows, Old City gets slippery. Nothing has changed for years, and if it is, the newly laid pavement is already wobbly, rugged and dangerous. On the contrary, everything has changed when speaking about venues in Old Town. The few last resorts of alternative, peculiar, once locally-beloved venues were closing down, and many finally would admit - this has been the last drop of de-authentification.


2018, 25 November.
CONFESSIONS OF A BETRAYER
When many seek a renewal of Latvian identity during the Centenary, and many prove their patriotism by indulging into nationalistic rants against migration, minorities and in favour to conservative governance, I got my DNA tested. Simply to find out - am I a truly Latvian or an offspring of another migrant betrayer.


2018, 25 October.
AGE OF THE DISAPPOINTMENT
We are celebrating our Latvian Centenary in less than a month, and many have had their time looking back and observing our steps in history, too. Then what leap of life the hell was forgotten to us being so stuck in some 1978?



2018, 25 September.
VOTE, VOTE, OTHERWISE WE ARE LOST
On why the election of 2018 matters the most again since the very first national election more than 25 years ago.





2018, 25 August.
RĪGA - THE MIRROR OF LATVIA
On why the capital of Latvia resemples a lot of places around the country, and why it's a good thing.