CultureGrams

I found this great website I thought you'll might like: http://online.culturegrams.com/
It has information from a lot of countries ranging from interesting facts, recipes, history, politics, and basically anything else you want. There are three sections: one that focuses on the 50 US states, a kids sections (my favorite, easy on the brain and very colorful), and a world edition. Here are some interesting things from the Kid's Section on Russia.

Did you know?

• Russian men were forced to shave off their beards or pay a beard tax when Peter the Great ruled the country during the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Because of a Russian tradition, if someone steps on your toes accidentally, you have to step on theirs as well, or you’ll get in a fight.
• Valentina Tereshkova, from Russia, was the first woman to travel in space.
• It’s unlucky in Russia to shake hands through a doorway.
• St. Petersburg was built on top of a marsh, so more than three hundred bridges had to be made.
• Nerpas, which live in Lake Baikal, are the only freshwater seals in the world.
• Russia is important to the world’s energy supply because it has the world’s largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves

And the same section from the World Edition:

New Year's Day is the most popular holiday in Russia. When entertaining, Russians put more food on the table than they can eat to indicate abundance. Urban apartments are small and it is common for a family of three or more to live in a one- or two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom. Victory Day (9 May) commemorates the end of World War II and is deeply important to most Russians.

Go check it out yourself. It really does have everything you want to know (and, of course, some things you don't) about Russia.

Russian Economy on FIRE

Bloomberg.com: Economy:

"Inflation remains a rather serious issue for Russia,'' Medvedev said on his Web site today. ``This is a price that we are essentially paying for our presence in the club of world economic powers,'' Medvedev said in the transcript of an interview he gave to the Financial Times. Consumer-price growth in Russia, whose economy is expanding for a 10th year, has overshot the government's target in every one of President Vladimir Putin's eight years in power except 2003... Under Putin, who plans to remain in government as prime minister, average incomes have risen sixfold while foreign currency reserves have swelled to more than $500 billion. The surge in oil revenue and disposable income has fueled a consumer boom that has made it difficult to contain inflation, which accelerated 11.9 percent last year. "Naturally there are other factors contributing to our inflation; in particular we don't yet have a full-scale internal market for food products,'' Medvedev said. ``We are forced to buy many food products from overseas, and given the way prices are going up on world food markets, this is also having an impact.

Spiritual Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader of the Soviet Union, admits he is a Christian!

Check out the article here.

Ok, so HOW did I NOT know that there was a RUSSIAN YouTube?!!!!

How did this escape me?  Why did none of you tell me?

Here's a fun clip to help you learn Russian....

http://rutube.ru/tracks/72302.html?v=637b892f304ad8b581dcd59a567f3fed

Yay for familiar TV shows in other languages!

Russian Flag

Russia!

I just bought a Russian Flag for my roommate and I as decoration. She was born in Novasibirsk and it helps her and I (now that I am learning so much russian) feel more at home. I was curious how the flag design and colors were chosen. It turns The design of the Russian flag is based on the flag of the Netherlands. The colors are often referred to as the pan-Slavic colors because the russian flag has inspired the flags of many others in Europe. They have come to depict Slavic independence and unity. There is no documented meaning of the colors but to many russians the colors have their own messages. The white symbolizes generosity and frankness; blue stands for loyalty, honesty and wisdom; red means courage, magnanimity and love. Many people also believe red represents Russian people, blue represents the Ukrainians, and white represents the Belo Russians. Russia is compiled of mostly russians but also small groups of other descendents that pride themselves on the flag just as strongly.

Unit 7

Scientist claim the a machine used to understand the orgin of the universe could very well be a time machine. HOW INTERESTING!

We all need a little pop to brighten our day....

As a child of the 90's, it is my duty to incorporate a little pop into my blogs. In my quest to find information about Russian pop music, I found this little nugget of knowledge.

Did you know that modulation (moving from one key to another in a song) was a Russian invention? Seems that this 13-century technique remains characteristic of Russian pop music today.

I found this breakdown of the songs that modulate:

Modulations
47% - Up a half-step
45% - Up a whole-step
7% - Up a minor-third
1% - Any downward modulation (known as a McTerry 7th modulation)
Other modulations do occur, however the percentages are so low as to be irrelevant.

74% of Russian pop songs modulate to a new key between the final bridge and final chorus.

Enjoy some good ol' Russian boy band modulation!




There's also a Russian version of the Pussycat Dolls.... It doesn't modulate, but it's pretty entertaining.




Here's a Russian female singer named Polina Gagarina. She doesn't modulate, but I enjoyed her videos. Thought I'd share. She's cute and catchy. What more can you ask for?

Russian point of view towards America

I found an article on the website for the Russian newspaper, "Правда," which caught my eyes because of the blatant bias in the title, "USA exercises double standards again."

The article covers the US response to the recent independence of Kosovo, and how the country is supposedly displaying a "double standard" in their treatment of other cases of independence, specifically South Ossetia.

It gives some background on the region:

"South Ossetia was an autonomous oblast of Georgia in Soviet times. The majority of the territory including the capital of Tskhinvali is administered by the government of the de facto independent South Ossetian Republic, which declared independence from Georgia. South Ossetia's declaration of independence is not recognised by any country. However, parts of eastern and southern South Ossetia are controlled by the Georgian government. Georgia does not recognize South Ossetia as a distinct or independent entity. However in April of 2007, the Georgian government created a temporary administrative unit (Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia) headed by ethnic Ossetians (former members of separatist government) which would enable Tbilisi to administer the region through local leaders, negotiate with Ossetian authorities regarding its final status and conflict resolution."

The part where the US comes in concerns a quote from Condoleeza Rice:"While on her way to Brussels, Belgium, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked by a journalist if she thought that South Ossetia's independence was inevitable.

'It’s not going to happen,' snapped Condoleezza Rice, cutting short the dreams and hopes of freedom which are shared by the South Ossetians."

Maybe it's just the unfamiliarity that I have with criticism of the US as a country (sure, media here may criticize the government, but they don't display the government's viewpoints as the country's), but I don't think that you would see this kind of blatant use of a point of view in journalism. It seemed quite unprofessional to report on someone's words as "cutting short the dreams and hopes of freedom" and an entire country "displaying double standards again."

link: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/06-03-2008/104390-usa_double_standards-0

Video: From Russia With Hate

This video is long, about twenty minutes, but is worth watching in its entirety. It is pretty amazing to see how close this journalist can get to this radical Russian group, however, he is indeed a white male. I am saddened to realize that immigrants and ethnic minorities in Russia have to fear for their safety whilst trying to live ordinary lives. This crazy new "nationalism" is an epidemic and is spreading rapidly as such. A infectious "us and them" mentality is being disseminated by predominately white males who are affecting millions of lives negatively. I have learned that twenty to thirty people a year die of such attacks and these numbers are rising at an annual rate of thirty-percent! Russia is becoming "fertile ground" for Neo-Nazis and it seems this problem is only growing. Hate is the vehicle being forced on immigrants at all cost in order to drive them out of the country. The question is, will this violent plan work?

The past couple of times I've been in Russia, all I keep hearing about is this famous sing Maksim. They are obssessed with her! Here is one of her songs I found on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogYDBmj4Z_o&feature=related