Close to 30C outside, heating still on
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The kid, who just assumed, after a lengthy legal process, my surname seems to have acquired my luck to run into industrial-strength absurd. It is plus 30 centigrade (85F), and his school is still heated. Russian style, with no option to run it off. I’m trying to get him to take photos of naked sweating bodies. He, not having seen much beyond Russia, seems to perceive the situation as merely uncomfortable, not as transcending the bounds.

Concert today at 7pm in benefit of Russian political prisoners
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Singer Alexey Paperny, essayist/poet Dimitry Bykov, and Shenderovich, a writer described as “satirical”. Mir Concert Hall, Tvetnoy Boulevard 11. Right by the Old Circus.

I’m probably going. Company welcomed. I’ll be offline soon but my number is +7 985 217 3241.

Bykov, in my opinion, is the one destined to become a classic for capturing zeitgeist in its totality. Let me know if you see any of Bykov in English translation. I would especially recommend his Zh/D to anyone looking for the core formula of Russian-ness. Shenderovish is one of these “Russian comics” that use humour to package and fortify their message that’s anything but funny. Paperny is somehow associated with the fashionable and slightly alternative club scene. 

Off to the Novopodrezkovo flea market
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The trip was postponed but looks like it’s finally happening. We are off to Khimki AS SELLERS, but for me the trip is one large step along the road of semi-enforced downshifting while Alexandra, who is trying to purge my vocabulary and outlook of “loser” concepts, insists on seeing it as a fun information-gathering exercise and a reason to write a story.

Неполиткорректное и грустное по поводу 9 мая, думанное и писанное под “праздничный фейерверк”
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fireworks_zamoskvorechyeПраздник? Можно в 17 лет праздновать день рождения. В 50 его уже отмечают, а не празднуют. Победу в футболе празднуют. Пасху нет, не празднуют. Просто есть “Пасха” и есть “Воскресение”.  В чем не откажу мракобесам, так это в чувстве стиля, в слухе.  Празднуют, когда хорошо без плохого. Празднуют сбор винограда и созревание вина.  Зреет виноград, бродит вино – хорошо. Готово – праздник. Бегут от фараона, убежали Continue reading →

Moved to LiquidWeb hosting, now switching to Swift theme, speed drastically up
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I’ve followed Satish Gandham’s good advice and moved to LiquidWeb, mid-range VPS, with APC cache installed on the server. Page loading time dropped immediately and considerably, from 5-7 seconds at HostGator to 2-4 at LiquidWeb all else unchanged. A switch from a powerful but somewhat heavy Weaver II to  Swift resulted in a further improvement of the loading speed to around one second!  While I’m a hardwired conservative in my tastes and preferences, I will probably switch to Swift.  Under 2 seconds loading time is tempting. Continue reading →

Old Russian guns
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http://img11.nnm.ru/4/d/5/f/5/5585fde3227510c4ec5dfe60932.jpgA client sent me off on a search for military souvenirs, I passed it on to our in-house information expert Alexandra who found this story on pre-revolutionary handguns either available or manufactured in Russia >>  The text is mostly in Russian but half of the story is told by photos.

The closest I know is where to get are DISABLED TTs and Russian made Nagants.  See where.cheap-moscow.com, categories Souvenirs or Military. But no, they cannot be easily revived, and doing so successfully (and the local law defines “success” very loosely:  if it does “bang” once it is considered a real weapon) gets you  six years in prison. Yes, merely for possession of something that can potentially make just one shot before disintegrating it is real Russian prison camp.