| February 25, 12:00 AM We’re On To You, Deep Purple |
Did we call it, or did we call it? Last week, we told you that the Federal Migration Service had plans to make all visiting Western pop stars acquire work visas to do gigs in Russia. In the same breath, we chided Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice for claiming the new law wasn't such a big deal. To which we said, speak for yourself, Deep Purple. Not every over-the-hill classic rock act is lucky enough to be buddy-buddy with the Russian president. Well, guess who’s playing two shows in Moscow this April? That’s right. Get your lighter ready, Mr. Medvedev. |
March 2, 8:00 AM Doubting Putin's Popularity, Oligarch Returns His $600M Gift |
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov secured the purchase of the world’s most expensive house last summer — a $600 million villa in the south of France. Now, he wants to give it back. If this sounds like another oligarch unable to pay his bills, it isn’t; apparently flush with cash, Prokhorov was planning to buy the villa as a present for Russia’s current leader. He only hesitated because he’s no longer sure who that is. |
February 26, 12:00 AM Putin Goes Newsroom Hopping |
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February 26, 12:00 AM Khodorkovsky’s "Win" Could Cost Him |
It can’t be called good news, but it’s certainly noteworthy. The Russian court has rejected the sexual harassment charge against imprisoned oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The dubious case was filed by Khodorkovsky’s former cellmate, Alexander Kuchma — the same Alexander Kuchma who slashed Khodorkovsky’s face with a knife in 2006. But another of Khodorkovsky’s ex-prisonmates, Denis Yurinsky, rushed to his defense, stating publicly that the allegations were a smear ghostwritten by the authorities. Is this small victory a sign of hope for Khodorkovsky? Not likely. |
February 25, 6:00 AM A Major Breakthrough In Our War On Trees |
We interrupt your blog to briefly note how damn proud we are that not one but two regular Russia! contributors, Daria Vaisman and Boris Kachka, have landed major book deals... within days of each other. Let’s dive under the jump and meet them properly. |
February 25, 12:00 AM Book Review: The Sacred Book of the Werewolf |
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February 25, 12:00 AM Fast Food Chain As Exemplar |
Who said all empires in Russia are built on blood, lies, and connections? Some are built on homemade potato recipes — hold the vodka jokes. A new video from state press agency RIA Novosti follows Andrei Kononchuk and Vitaly Naumenko, co-owners of the baked-potato chain Kroshka Kartoshka [Крошка Картошка]. Now moneybags, the two tell of their humble but honest beginnings in the baked-potato biz, which they began in 1998, when the Russian economy was in the proverbial crapper. At first, all their revenue was eaten up by hyperinflation and their only other employees were their wives. But within a year their fortunes turned, and now Kroshka is an iconic and delicious symbol of post-default Russia, often imitated but never replicated by copycat brands. Wait, this video is just a carb-veiled parable intended to inspire more Russian entrepreneurship! Is nothing sacred? |
February 24, 12:00 AM Short Films About Modern Russia Are The New Google Video Search |
Oh, the hours of procrastination ahead of us. Russian weekly Russky Reporter [Русский Репортер] has joined forces with MySpace in launching a competition for short films about “real life” in modern Russia. The contest is designed to expose young filmmakers, cinematographers and other “creatives” to the world around them. All entries must focus on something in the public sphere, and must run no longer than 25 minutes. They must contain conflict, characters and a plot, and cannot be “silent” (some sort of text is mandatory). Those last three rules are a tactful way of saying, "Go easy on the art school stuff, kids." |
February 24, 12:00 AM Naomi Campbell Gets Slavic Soul Transplant |
We’re going to rehash some celebrity gossip and we’re going to enjoy it. Supermodel Naomi Campbell, who’s been dating Russian property tycoon Vladislav Doronin for almost a year now, has been spending an increasing amount of time in Doronin’s Moscow penthouse and his vacation mansion in the über-expensive oligarch suburb of Rublyovka. Not because Campbell’s under house arrest for assault, but because she’s becoming a “Moscow housewife,” according to British tabloid Daily Mail and various Russian papers. What backs this allegation? The love-struck supermodel has been spotted at banyas (steam bath houses) across town. She gets her hair cut “locally” for about $50. And she’s reportedly adopting the Russian Orthodox faith. Sounds like somebody’s angling for a reality TV show. |
February 23, 12:00 AM A Viral Marketing Thing We Feel Dirty About Spreading |
There’s nothing like a well-made fake. And conspiracy theory blog MIR-12 is nothing like a well-made fake. Granted, the production values for the site, part of the viral campaign for an upcoming video game called Singularity, are very high. But that’s just the problem. If real conspiracy theorists had made it, the homepage logo wouldn’t be nearly as slick, nor would the conspiracy, which involves a Chernobyl-type accident at a top-secret Russian weapons facility, be so involved. Then again, the fact that we’re sitting here writing about the stupid thing probably means the advertisers are getting exactly the response they want. |
February 23, 12:00 AM Eurasia Prepares For Influx Of Dancing, Histrionic Teens |
From the producers and composer of the High School Musical trilogy: a bona fide Russian rip-off! First Love: Now That's Music! [Первая любовь: Вот такая музыка!] is premiering in Russian and Kazakh theatres March 5. If it’s anything like the trailer (link with subtitles after the jump), it will be a puberty-charged romp teeming with vibrantly clothed break dancers. The glossiness and skilled promo are pure Hollywood, but the underlying machismo and melodrama? All Russia, baby. |
February 23, 12:00 AM Government Snubs 100+ Languages On Endangered List |
Turns out there’s another February holiday that gives us reason to be depressed: It’s called Native Language Day, and it came and went on the 21st. Created by the United Nations a decade ago, the holiday was observed this year with the release of UNESCO’s Atlas of Languages in Danger, a work whose findings on Russia are being heralded as “disturbing” by researchers and members of the media alike. Linguists, brace yourselves for what follows. |
February 20, 8:00 AM Bag of Hope: The Avoska |
Avos. “Perhaps.” “God willing.” “Hope against hope.” Pushkin baptized his fellow Slavs with this very phrase in Eugene Onegin: “Perhaps, o people's Shibboleth…” In Goncharov’s Oblomov, the spineless protagonist can barely splutter a sentence without its invocation: “And perhaps Zahar will contrive something… let's hope they'll manage without turning me out…well, things will be arranged somehow!" It is said that few words characterize the Russian outlook as succinctly as avos—a compact expression of the belief that, against all reason, something good might still turn up. So it should come as no surprise that the word eventually morphed into the avoska—the USSR’s portable, fishnet shopping sack. |
February 20, 12:00 AM 02/20/09: More Airline Stupidity And The Most Curious Thing About Benjamin Button |
The Russian blogosphere conveniently, if bafflingly, revolves around LJ. Each week, RUSSIA! scans the chatter and brings you the top five topics. |
February 20, 8:00 AM Belarus Suffers Porn Shortage |
In an otherwise alarming report about Internet crimes, this hilarious bit of information from news site Lenta.ru: at present, there’s no porn of any kind on Belarusian Internet servers. That's right, zero porn. This according to officials from the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs, who claim instead that the majority of Internet porn comes from countries like the United States. Ironclad logic here: the U.S. has a lot of porn, so we must have none. If this is some sort of New Cold War strategy, we’re not sure to whose advantage it’s working. |
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