Moscow School Shooting

Starting Off with a Bang…

With the Soichi Olympics rapidly approaching, the last thing Russia needs is another reason to question its security. But northeast Moscow was rocked this morning when local student Sergei Gordeyev open-fired in School No. 263, killing his geography teacher and the police officer who responded to the call. The boy’s own father (who simultaneously helped the other students escape) reportedly held the 10th grader at bay via phone until the police arrived, at which point the young man was promptly apprehended. Gordeyev fired eleven rounds in all, wounding a second police officer in his attack.

Putin pets a snow leopard

Putin, when arriving for the Olympics, visited a preserve for the endangered snow leopards. The location of the preserve for the snow leopards is located in the mountains around the growing Sochi. Putin said that since hosting the Olympics Games, they should also try to help preserve the snow leopards. The preserve was created 5 years ago during the first steps of hosting the Olympics Games, which was all about environment conservation. Soon snow leopards from the preserve will be released into the wild in southern Russia where they previously became extinct in 1970.

Who Knew Russian Tangos Existed?

The first week back to school all the students in my vocal studio were required to go to the faculty piano recital of Kristie Born and another piano professor. These two professors are amazing performers and did an excellent job that evening. As I was on the edge of my seat listening to what they had to say about their pieces there was one piece Dr. Born spoke of where she said "and this next one I'm going to say in the English translation because I know I would butcher the Russian," this peaked my interest even more. The piece she was speaking of is called "Book of Marches and Dances in Memory of Valeriy Gavrillin"/"Тетрадь Маршей и Танцев Памяти Валерия Гавриаина" by Igor Yefimovich Rogalyov/Игорь Рогалев. The story she told to about the piece is that Valery Gavrillin/Валерий Гаврилин was thought to be one of the greatest Russian composers during the time of the USSR and he was awarded numerous prizes and was an honored artist of Russia. Later, during Igor Rogalyov's time tango was becoming very popular and many composers were trying it out, even Russian composers. Rogalyov wanted to honor Gavrillin and try out this tango thing so he wrote a piece for two pianos. Rogalyov composed one of the first Russian tangos. Below I left a link for anyone's listening pleasure:
(20 minutes in and you will find the Tango,
it's brilliant!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArVEKl9qsBw

Ukraine Today

CULP stands for the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency program. This is where for many ROTC cadets the world becomes there classroom. Cadets are now given the opportunity to compete for the chance to become immerged in another countries different culture and intensify their language study by immersing themselves in the location, which helps the ROTC program by producing commissioned officers who possess the abilities to empathize with other cultures and develop skills to support global operations. On average cadets get to spend three weeks to a month in these foreign countries. I had a friend who over the summer went to the Ukraine for this program and had a great time getting to know how the military works there and the different views of America from the outside. It is funny to think how just over the summer a friend was there teamed up with the Ukrainian military to get a better cultural understanding and today there is a revolution happening. By the pictures and stories he told you would never be able to tell the troubles of the country. How did the jump occur and when did the countries fervor spike for revolution? There are pictures of my fellow cadets trip below…..

 
 

Moscow Circus

Catherine the Great’s reign issued in the circus and it has played an important role in the rich cultural traditions of Russia since that time. In Russia, the circus is regarded as an art form on par with the ballet or opera. It is a showcase for highly skilled and creative artists. An Englishman, Charles Hughes, is partly responsible for the huge popularity of the circus in Russia today. A showmanship horseman, Hughes gave a performance with his circus performers for the court of Catherine the Great. She was mesmerized by the performance. She ordered two circus rings to be built for the Hughes. He remained in St. Petersburg for a year before returning to England. However his performers, remained behind, thus giving began to the Russian circus we know today. The circus became extremely popular with the Russian people in the 19th century. The circus quickly became one of the chief forms of entertainment. The Old Moscow Circus was founded in 1880. It quickly became the most respected and loved circus in Russia. After the 1917 revolution, the founding fathers of the Soviet Union quickly recognized the circus’ importance. All, regardless of race, language, age, education or class, enjoyed the circus. Through the establishment of state circus schools in Moscow in 1927 and later other major cities, circus developed exponentially and in far greater ways than other countries. At its pinnacle, there were 70 permanent circus buildings and 50 traveling circuses when the Communist regime collapsed in the early 1990’s. The fall of Communism threw this massive organization into disarray, and the future was at times uncertain. However, the Moscow Circus has continued to thrive, recently celebrating its 120th anniversary.

The Russian Flag

Russia has gone through it's share of flags. Military, presidential, state, imperial, Soviet Union, the list goes on. Historically, it's changed along with the government regimes. The two most well know flags to the current generation of America belong to the former Soviet Union and the current edition. The USSR's flag was almost entirely red, which represents to the West all of the blood on Stalin's hands but to the "commies" the scarlet shade was  representation of courage and strength. In the upper left hand corner is a yellow sickle (agriculture), hammer (industry), and a star (communist party).



After the fall of Stalin and the communist party and the institution of the Republic, the flag changed again. Almost ironically, the new Russian flag shares America's, Britain's, France's, and Australia's colors of red, white, and blue, for much the same reasons. The red is still for strength and bravery, white for peace and honesty, and the blue for loyalty and justice. It's a simple set of three horizontal stripes, ordered white, red, then blue.

Vodka Binge Drinking... an Early Death to Men?

     It has been discovered that alcohol is the primary cause of the high number of premature deaths in Russia.

A recent report shows that 25% of Russian men die before the age of 55, with the majority of these deaths attributed to alcohol (particularly vodka).  Some Russian men said that they drank up to one-and-a-half liters of vodka every week, however researchers say the main reason behind the high death rate is not in the amount of alcohol consumed, but in the way Russians drink alcohol. They predominantly binge drink.  During the course of the 10-year study, more than 150,000 adults living in three Russian cities were monitored by researchers.  Throughout this time, 8,000 participants died from alcohol-related diseases including liver disease and alcohol poisoning. Many of the participants also died in accidents or after getting into fights.  The report also showed that smoking aggravated the negative health effects of alcohol, and that mortality rates were lower among women.  Moral of the story, binge drinking leads to a higher death expectancy, don't do it! :)

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/vodka-binges-kill-quarter-of-russian-men-prematurely-research-shows/493666.html

70 Year Anniversary of the Leningrad Siege.

This month the country of Russia celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Leningrad Siege. The Siege at Leningrad cost more than a million Russian lives, military and civilian alike. The siege began on September 8th, 1941 and was not over until January 27, 1944. This was a total of 872 days. Celebrations included a reenactment of the first break through German lines to lift the siege, along with a parade of Soviet Era T-34 tanks. Many veterans of the war came across the country to come to the city for this day of remembrance. A memorial service was also held along with the reenactments. President Putin visited the city because he was from there. His family was also personally effected by this attack, his mother would survive but his uncle would become a victim of starvation due to the Nazi blockade of the city. He laid a wreath of flowers underneath the memorial dedicated to the victims.  The German government also sent their condolences to the people of Russia, acknowledging that it was their country who was responsible for the suffering of the Russian people. In a letter to President Putin, German President Joachim Gauck wrote "Germany recognizes it's historical responsibility for the suffering inflicted on the people of Leningrad and for the brutal warfare of it's soldiers, commandos and SS formations." The lower house of the German parliament dedicated it's Memorial Day to the victims of Nazi Germany, including the people of Leningrad. Noted Russian author, Daniil Granin, was invited to the Bundestag to share his experiences with the German government. Daniil Granin is a 95 year old war veteran who participated in the fighting when he joined the Red Army at the age of 22. German politicians listened as he talked about the cruelty which he had witnessed, admitting it took a long time to forgive the people of Germany for the crimes against humanity and Russian people.

http://rt.com/news/leningrad-siege-end-celebrations-265/

Jan. 30 End of St. Petersburg

The Russian Studies Spring Film Festival kicks off with Конец Санкт-Петербурга... The End of St Petersburg, dir. Pudovkin. How did the Bolsheviks come to power? Как пришли к власти Большевики в 1917 г?

Russian Studies Spring Film Series...

Russian Studies Spring Film Series...

• Jan. 30 End of St. Petersburg 
• Feb. 13 Volga-Volga
• March 13 Our Own
• March 27 Spring on Zarechnaya Street 
• April 3 Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

All films are THURSDAYS @ 6pm Russian Studies House

Cultural Credit served