Afisha details the regulars at Mayak on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. (Click the photo for a larger one that you can zoom in on). Fascinating.
Tipster Bublikov insists there’s a table marked “expats” but I can’t find it on this. (AMENDED: In my rush to love the map, I overlooked the fact that the original map was not a map of Mayak at all, though there is some overlap of attendees. New map and link above. Bublikov wins, as ever.)
10 months ago
The appropriately named “Vladivostok Open Icey-Water Swimming Championship” was held last week in the Far East. Click the photo above to be linked to a slideshow.
10 months agoYesterday evening upon exiting my apartment building, I was stopped by Vassily, a man in his late 40s who was washing his car in the -16C weather. Hearing me speaking English with my companion, he stopped me and asked if I could help him as a translator. He was looking for people to cure of cancer and heart problems — Hollywood stars, preferably. A little Internet search is all it would take, he said. He has special technology to not only cure disease, but help people live 20 years longer than they normally would. I wanted to hear more, but after nearly 10 minutes I could no longer feel my face and had images of my fingers crumbling off with frostbite. So I took his card and said I’d be in touch. He was particularly interested in finding Madonna. So if anyone has any leads, please do get in touch.
10 months ago
The talks in Brussels are over, with no progress and a further meeting cancelled (Gazprom says it was never meant to take place in the first place). I’m afraid this dispute will drag on for a while yet. The EU is looking to get their gas supplies restored as quickly as possible. Russia is looking for a more permanent solution (and anyway it hasn’t yet succeeded in destabilizing Ukraine enough). Hope those of you in Europe are bundling up this winter …
10 months agoThe heads of Gazprom and Naftogaz are meeting in Brussels today, and that’s reason enough to post a video of Belgium’s best 20th Century product. Above is Jaques Brel signing one of his best songs, Jef, in which he appeals to his downtrodden friend to get over the girl who has broken his heart. It’s music and theatre rolled into one. You don’t see that much these days. Maybe it only works in black and white.
(To listen to his ode to Belgium, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPBE75O9tkU)
10 months agoOut of Gas - Modest Mouse
10 months agoThe people at Gazprom have a joke they like to tell on New Year’s Eve: “Come ‘round our offices tomorrow morning, we’ll serve champagne. Ukrainian-style — no gas (bubbles).”
The gas cutoff has entered its 7th day. It’s Orthodox Christmas here today, and you’d think they’d give it a rest. But there is no rest in Moscow, no sleep in Moscow, and no Russian gas in 17 countries throughout Europe.
It’s mostly about forcing early elections in Ukraine, I think. But I’m sure Russia isn’t too displeased that the oil price has shot up above $50 as a result, that European dependence on Russian gas has been illustrated yet again, that economies throughout the continent already reeling from the financial crisis have had to further trim industrial gas usage, and that not a single reporter in Moscow has had a minute’s sleep in seven days.
10 months agoThe krizis hits LiveJournal, Russia’s preferred blogging platform. Click the headline for the story (in English).
10 months ago
Ok, more than anything this is just an excuse to post another photo of Marat Safin. The tabloids have been remarkably quiet, with just Moskovsky Komsomolets reporting that he was beaten up by “the son of one of the directors of a Moscow restaurant.” Click the photo for the story (in Russian).
10 months ago
Marat Safin, the man who alone proves a Russian male can be hot, won his opening match at the Hopman Cup in Perth but got more attention for his beat up face.
“I won the fight, I’m good, I’m ok,” he said. “I got in trouble in Moscow but it’s ok, I can survive. It’s just a small problem. I wasn’t in the right place at the right time.”
Hopefully the Russian tabloids will elaborate tomorrow …
10 months ago