Djivan Gasparyan and Russian National Orchestra

If you ever have a chance to see the Russian National Orchestra in concert they are great! I saw the Orchestra over Spring Break with Itzhak Perlman, a violinist and conductor, and it was very impressive. I am searching for a the video clip that I took but until then enjoy the Russian National Orchestra!

18-Swan Lake

Hey Guys!
So I know I posted a Swan Lake clip last unit.. but I just think it is so beautiful- the music, the dancing, how isync everyone is, and the costumes is magnificent! The way the every thing comes together in the Russian Ballet is wonderful! Hope you all enjoy.

This summer, some 10,000 Russians will head to a summer camp north of Moscow run by Nashi — "Ours" in Russian — a youth group supportive of President Vladimir Putin.Everybody gets a political education during their stay. A common theme at lectures: how Russia will once again be a global power. In promoting a healthy lifestyle, the group doesn't tolerate smoking or drinking and all camp members work out together in the morning. Both Medvedev and Putin both frequently visit the camp. Attendance to all lectures and events is required . An electronic chip in members' name tags tells organizers if anyone has cut class.

Remind you of anything?

I'm a Gremling from the Kremlin

This has only a little bit to do with Russia, but is way to interesting not to post. I don't think we ever saw this one when watching cartoons on Saturday morning.

It's a Merry Melody title "Russian Rhapsody" about Hitler (yes, Hitler) getting on a plane to bomb Moscow. Fortunately for Moscow, gremlins cause all sorts of problems, including one that's a Russian caricature. A really great example of WWII propaganda, and there are quite a few moments that make you thing "Oh shit, did they really do that!?"

Better yet...

Forget Kontakte.  Pff, Kontakte is so yesterday...a stupid crush, a fling if you will, nothing more.

 I have found a new love.  Couchsurfing.

Seriously, check it out, www.couchsurfing.com.  Get to know each other.  If VKontakte is black, then Couchsurfing is the new black.  Vkontakte is big hair and leg warmers.... Couchsurfing is skinny jeans and...and...um...whatever is trendy/fashionable now.

I'm hopeless with fashion analogies.

But seriously, couchsurfing is great.  You don't have to actually couchsurf (I won't explain, just checkout the website), but it can link you up with heaps of people to get together with and have a coffee.

Check it y'all.

Russian Roulette

While there's the famous Russian Roulette gun game, I'd rather inform you about the drinking game (it all goes along with Natalie's post about Russian alcoholism, I'm sure it's due in part to this game!)

What you need:
- 1 die
- 2 players
- 6 shot glasses (one of them a double)
- Bacardi 151
- Any other liquor of your choice

**Since we're talking about Russia, of course they would play with водка!!!

Start by filling up every shot glass with what ever other hard liquor you want and the double with the 151. Write the numbers 1-6 on napkins and put a shot glass on top of each napkin. Flip a coin to determine who is to roll first.

From there each player takes turns rolling the die and whatever number the dice falls on is what you have to drink. If you roll what the 151 is on you've bitten the bullet and the game is over.

If you roll a number that's already been eliminated roll again until you get a number that's on the table. Winner can stay on if they like but it's a mighty dangerous game.

Courtesy of www.barmeister.com

Enjoy, but obviously for those over 21. For the rest of us, we get to wait out our few years until we get to dominate Russian Roulette, vodka style!

Peter and the Wolf

Everyone probably remembers this piece by Sergei Prokofiev from their childhood. For those of you who don't remember, it's the piece that has an instrument represent each character:
Bird : flute
Duck : oboe
Cat : clarinet
Grandfather : bassoon
Wolf : horns
Hunters : Woodwinds
Peter : string instruments
And some percussion thrown into the mix.

It's programmatic music, which basically means that it is music which tells a story. In this case, it's about a boy named Peter and some animals he befriends who get attacked by a wolf. Spoiler alert: The duck DIES!? What the HECK! That's not the Peter and the Wolf I remembered. Anyway, it's a cute story. It's well worth listening to, as there are spots guaranteed to make you smile, such as the grandpa's lethargic bassoon entrance.

David Bowie explains it all clearly in these videos:

Russian Stuff

Vodka!

thought this was funny:

Some Russian drivers now mark their driving skills.

Such tradition came to us from the age of World War II when pilots painted a star on their aircrafts for every successful enemy turned down by them.

So Russian drivers think they also are some kind of military pilots and all the other participants of traffic are their direct enemies, so the collision with everyone is something like a little victory.

So they put such kind of stickers marking successful accident with each type of traffic participants:

And a little humor for any gamers out there:

Водка, пожалуйста

We make lots of шутки about Russians and their vodka, but really, is alcoholism a serious problem in Russia? I mean, our first semester Russian book illustrated a dialogue between Russians at an AA meeting. Is this harsh reality or blatant stereotyping? Either way, it's an awful choice for a text book dialogue. But do we expect any less from Начало? Certainly, we don't expect any more.

So, I looked up the truth about alcoholism and Russia. There was good news and bad news.

Bad News:

1. Russia is FULL of alcoholics. 

2. Alcoholism is the main reason the average life span for men is 58. 

3. Beer is marketed as a soft drink and treated as such by many Russians. I guess compared to vodka, beer kind of is a soft drink....

Good News:

1. There's barely any tax on vodka! That's good news for me anyway. Here's to cheap good times in Moscow! I can't wait.

2. Russia is the fastest growing beer market in the world. What can I say? I'm a dirty capitalist. Growing markets excite me.

3. Beer is heavily taxed, which creates revenue for the government. Vodka is barely taxed, which creates revenue for the people. The only loser here is your liver. 

So, there you have it, the pros and cons of Russia's alcoholism in a neatly distilled potato. Perhaps if it weren't winter 13 months out of the year, people would have a reason to sober up once in awhile. As it stands, I honestly can't blame them. But when their young men fall a couple decades short of the average life span, I can't feel bad for them either.  

ВКонтакте -Russian Facebook!

Hey everyone,

So I'm having a great time in St Pete, meeting a lot of international students.... But I haven't really befriended any Russians yet.  I decided to sign up on http://vkontakte.ru , to hopefully find some Russian people who wanted to improve their english, and help me with my Russian.

I only just signed up today, but all my suitemates (they're from the states) say that it's a good site... Russians don't use facebook, but they always ask if you have a kontakte page.

So you should all check it out! Dr Denner had Jason and I sign up on a dating website last year... I recommend trying kontakte first perhaps haha.

The only issue is that although Daytona Beach and even Orange City are listed on kontakte, Deland is not.  I lied and said I went to school in Daytona -I don't know, maybe one of you with more patience can figure out how to suggest Stetson University as a place.

But yeah, get an account and add me as a dryg :)