Правда!

When looking for something to blog about on Bear in a Hat, my first instincts always lead me to google "funny Russian news". It hasn't worked for me all year, but I still thought it is worth the try. Today's search proved fruitful.

On a little website known as pravda.ru, I came across this article on "climategate", a supposed scandal uncovering the truth about global warming: its all a lie.

"The Internet has been abuzz throughout the past week with the news of what everyone is calling 'Climategate' - a major scandal involving leaked emails and data from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Located in the town of Norwich in the United Kingdom, the Climatic Research Unit is a primary center for the 'science' that supports the theory of Global Warming".

This led to several questions. Wasn't Правда the Communist-Party Newspaper in the U.S.S.R.? Isn't the Communist Party out of power? Isn't the U.S.S.R. dissoved? Is everything I know a lie? I decided to investigate...

The first Правда was founded by Trotsky in Vienna(to avoid censorship) in 1908, and was smuggled into Russia, but closed down in 1912. It turns out, the Правда we know and loved existed as an organ for the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991. It started as a weekly in St. Petersburg called Звезда, and made its way to Moscow by 1918. It was known during the Cold War for making the announcements for the Soviet Communist Party. In 1991, President Boris Yeltsin closed down Правда. Today, many former reporters for the newspaper created a new paper by the same name. The new Правда is the most popular tabloid in Russia. Pravda.ru is unaffiliated with either new or old Правда.

Thus Правда, which started out as a revolutionary paper, has transitioned from Communist propaganda to tabloid. The news published in Pravda today is probably not much different than the news of fifty years ago, although Stalin probably doesn't publish anything in there anymore. Wait, its a tabloid... maybe he does. After all, a popular Russian saying during the Soviet era was "v Pravde net izvestiy, v Izvestiyakh net pravdy". Referring to Pravda (Truth), the Communist Party paper, and Izvestia (News), the main Soviet paper, this translates to "In the Truth there is no news, and in the News there is no truth".

The city where the mills created the paper for Правда, amongst other newspapers, is now called Pravdinsk.

Koliadki Cookies

Koliadki are Christmas cookies that are made to treat all the people who come to sing carols. These cookies can have the most different fillings.

Ingredients:
400 g flour.
150 g water.
Filling:.
300 g tvorog (cottage cheese).
7 ea eggs.
sugar to taste.

Directions:
Combine flour with water and knead the dough. Roll out the dough finely and cut out squares. Fold the edges and pinch them to have small boxes. Fill the boxes with tvorog combined with eggs and sugar and bake in a preheated oven on average heat until light brown.

Brad Pitt prevents road accidents in Siberian city

Police in the Russian city of Omsk are using cut-out pictures of Brad Pitt in police uniform to slow drivers down through some of the most dangerous intersections in Omsk. Police officer Dmitry Ziryanov is quoted saying, "he is kind of like a colleague for us." http://mosnews.com/weird/2009/06/23/bradpitt/

The pictures to the left are not from a liquor store. They're from a museum. The Vodka Museum in Moscow features 2707 different types of vodka of varying levels of rarity. Groups go on tours to look at the interesting bottles, to observe the distillation process and, of course, to sample. The museums restaurant offers samples of all of the varieties shown in the museum but it's a good idea to have a designated buyer willing to keep a clear head, some of the varieties are very expensive.

Vodka is something of an art form in Russia and it isn't all about the drink itself, although it's definitely important. The wild, creative bottles the drink comes in are half the fun. There is vodka for sale at the museums gift shop but many of the same brands can be picked up at smaller local shops for a way lower price. Additional pictures can be found at http://englishrussia.com/?p=1216.

Russian Lolcats?!

Heck YES! Russians now have Lolcats! This is just one more thing the Russians have stolen from the West (ex. Facebooke/VKontakte.)
*Warning* Since it IS lolkoti, things ARE spelt wrong. That's the point. Lolkoti are not lessons on Russian spelling and/or grammar.

For more hilarity, go to www.lolkot.ru.

Everything is Illuminated

So I watched that movie Everything is Illuminated. My dad had told me it was pretty good so I decided that I would check it out. Overall, I praise the movie for skillfully balancing comedy and drama. The movie follows Jonathan Foer played by Elijah Woods as he journeys to Ukraine to find the history of his grandfather, a Jew murdered in the Holocaust. His Ukrainian guides are the comedic Alex, his cranky grandfather, and their seeing-eye dog. Hilarity ensues as cultures clash. Jonathan is unable to explain how he is a vegetarian. They eventually discover the truth of Jonathan's grandfather and his hometown of Trachimbrod also discovering that Alex's grandfather has a role to play in that past. Touching ending.

Elijah Woods does a great job playing the introverted, yet determined protagonist. Also, Alex is played by Gogol Bordello, Gypsy punk band, lead singer, Eugine Hütz. He also acts well and humorously.

The movie is based on the book, Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer. It was written and directed by Liev Schreiber (the guy who was sabertooth in the X Men Origins: Wolverine). Go see it! It's not a waste of time! You can easily pick out Russian words, so it's a great learning experience!

Unit 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barynya
A Russian folk dance, direct translation of landlady, used to address a woman of higher class. "The dancing was without special choreography and consisted mainly of fancy stomping and traditional Russian squatwork – knee bending ". Many times, "the dancers get so wound up they often break the heels from their boots".

Traditional Russian folk song (and the people that sing it!)

This is a traditional Russian folk song "Kalinka". Written in 1860 by the Russian folklorist and composer Ivan Larionov. Here is a video of the Red Russian Army Chior singing it (along with some crazy dancing and silly hair) and a translation of the lyrics into English.





And the translation:

Little snowberry, snowberry of mine!Little raspberry in the garden, my little! (word by word: in garden raspberry little, little mine!)
Ah, under the pine, the green one,Lay me down to sleep,Ah, rock-a-baby,Lay me down to sleep.
Little snowberry, snowberry of mine!Little raspberry in the garden, my little! (word by word: in garden raspberry little, little mine!)
Ah, little pine, little green one,Don't rustle above me,Ah, rock-a-baby,Don't rustle above me.
Little snowberry, snowberry of mine!Little raspberry in the garden, my little! (word by word: in garden raspberry little, little mine!)
Ah, you beauty, pretty maiden,Fall in love with me,Ah, rock-a-baby,Fall in love with me.
Little snowberry, snowberry of mine!Little raspberry in the garden, my little! (word by word: in garden raspberry little, little mine!)

Russia orders recall of Modern Warfare 2

The Russian government has ordered a recall of all Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 copies in the country after the unveiling of the controversial "No Russian" mission which includes the player taking part in a terrorist attack on an airport in Moscow, killing innocent civilians. Other causes cited include other parts of the game's plot, such as the Russian reaction sparking an invasion of the East Coast, and decimating Washington D.C.

Original link

English Source

Every copy of the console version of Modern Warfare 2 has been recalled from stores in Russia due to the content of the “No Russian” mission, better known as the controversial airport massacre level. Likewise, Infinity Ward has released an official patch for the PC and Steam versions of Modern Warfare 2, entirely removing the mission from the game.

Pending validation from the Russian government, the censored console versions of the game are expected to be released within less than a month, with the mission removed.

The game’s content has raised the ire of the Russian gaming public as well as a number of politicians who object to its portrayal of Russia’s armed forces as terrorists who invade the United States and subsequently erect statues of dead terrorists in Washington D.C.

Russian gaming website GotPS3 voiced their anger over the game’s storyline, which they criticized as catering to a primarily American audience with total disregard towards other cultures, especially the Russians, whom the game depicts as terrorists.

As it is, Russian gamers who wish to play the game will have to choose from purchasing the gutted Steam version, ordering the US/EU version of Modern Warfare 2 from eBay, or waiting for an indefinite period of time for the censored version to be released, pending validation.

WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC

Fantasia

Anyone here ever seen Fantasia? I haven't, but I do know about the big black demon on the mountain summoning souls as chilling orchestral music plays. Almost everyone knows about that scene from the movie, Night on Bald Mountain. Well, apparently the original music for the segment was written by a Russian composer by the name of Modest Mussorgsky. The piece as we know it today is an arrangement by Leopold Stokowski based off Mussorgsky's original tone poem St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain. It is apparently about a witches' sabbath. The piece was never played in Mussorgsky's lifetme, and was criticized for it's composition and subsequently rearranged several times, but it became a popular concert tune in 1886 with Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement of the piece, the arrangement that Stokowski would later use to arrange the Disney version.

Chornobog, the demon, comes out as the music starts soft. He reaches out and his shadow extends over the town below as the music becomes more audible. The music winds about with the spirits as they fly to the mountain. The music explodes as Chornobog summons fire from within the mountain. The music develops, twists and turns as the imps and ghosts dance and Chornobog plays with them. Finally the music dies down and bells ring, announcing the coming morning, the demons shrink at the sound of coming light and then flee as sweet music flows from the strings. As they strings die down, Chornobog fades back into the mountain.

Anyway, enjoy the show!