Stories about Russia from May, 2009
Russia: “Uncle Mirza's Cabin”
Sixty-one photos of Moscow's migrant workers, by Yuri Kozyrev and LJ user kunstkamera – at LJ user burtin‘s blog (RUS).
Russia: Bloggers’ Memories of Soviet Maternity Hospitals
Last year, Sinisa Boljanovic translated a number of heartrending childbirth stories, written anonymously by Serbian women and posted on the "Mother Courage" award-winning site, launched and maintained by Serbian blogger Branka Stamenkovic/Krugolina Borup. This month, LJ user germanych, a Russian blogger, asked his readers to share experiences of giving birth in the Soviet Union. While Branka Stamenkovic's "Mother Courage" initiative is an attempt to change the situation for the better, the Russian blogger's goal has been to document a lesser-known chapter of the Soviet history.
Russia: Blogging for Justice in Hit-and-Run Accident Case
On May 13, 2009, a Subaru Forester car hit a pregnant woman who was crossing the street in Moscow. She died in hospital later. The perpetrator escaped the scene of the crime, but eye-witnesses remembered his license plate number. He turned out to be an off-duty police officer. On May 21, he was still not apprehended. On that day, the victim's husband, Alexey Shumm, started a blog to draw public attention to this tragic case and to document his attempts to seek justice. Below are some excerpts.
Russia: A Blogger's Review of “The Associate”
About a month ago, Jost A Mon blog posted a “roundup of translated crime fiction consumed in April” - which included several books by writers from Central and Eastern Europe. What follows below is a displeased Russian blogger's blitz review of John Grisham's 21st novel, The Associate.
Russia: Farewell to Actor Oleg Yankovsky
Renowned Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky, 65, died in Moscow on May 20 and was buried at Novodevichiy Cemetery two days later. Thousands of fans came to the Lenkom Theater to bid farewell to him. LJ user drugoi re-posted AP photos from the memorial event, and LJ user leosat wrote about it.
Russia: North Ossetia's Superstitious Law Enforcement
North Ossetian journalist Liza Valieva writes about an incident that could have prompted a lighthearted reaction had it not occurred in North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation, whose people have seen much violence since the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the Sept. 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis.
Russia: “A Popular Blogger”
Popularity means different things to different people, in blogging as in real life. Below is a very short humorous take on some of the implications of being a “popular” blogger in the Cyrillic sector of the LiveJournal universe.
Ukraine: Russian Ads; PM's Hairdo; Crimea
Russian ads in Ukraine; Yulia Tymoshenko's hairdo; labor minister's text message interaction with her daughter regarding a government job offer for her father; the Crimean Tatars’ situation and the mess in the Crimean capital's city council – at Ukrainiana.
Russia: Foreign Pirates on Torrents
Profy reports that “more than a half (52%) of all the visitors to all the web resources in the Russian internet segment are foreign pirates who rush to the local web resources looking for free content that is easily available on the popular Russian torrents.”
Russia: “Best Designed Russia Blogs”
Sublime Oblivion rates a number of “Russia-watching” blogs by their design.
Russia: Eurovision Roundup
In Moscow, Eurovision coincided with this year's Night of Museums (IZO) – and with an attempt to hold a gay pride parade, which was interrupted by riot police (Robert Amsterdam's Blog). Some more thoughts on this year's contest – at Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog.
Russia: Spiderman in Moscow
A sighting of Spiderman in Moscow – by IZO, via LJ user mrparker.
Russia: Medvedev's Visit to Kirov
IZO links to LJ user rem-lj‘s photo report on the consequences of president Medvedev's visit to the town of Kirov: “His route crossed a railway track. So someone decided to cover the track with asphalt.”
Israel: Eurovision Peace Duo Push for Another Way
Can music help bring us closer together? Noa and Mira Awad hope their message from the Eurovision Song Contest reaches far and wide. Gilad Lotan updates us about the journey of those two musicians and reactions to their performances in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
Europe: Alexander Rybak
Natalia Antonova writes on GlobalComment about Alexander Rybak, this year's winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Political Eurovision
As voting for the Eurovision Song Contest gets underway in Moscow, bartlemot tweets that the telephone number to vote for the Armenian entry in Azerbaijan was censored. In a second tweet, the same user says that instead of displaying a telephone number in the lower section of the screen it...
Armenia: Eurovision Reaction
Ianyan rounds up the reaction to Armenia's entry in this year Eurovision Song Contest currently under way in Moscow. The blog says that the two singers, Inga and Anush, could be described as “traditional Armenian wear meets Star Wars meets Diva Plavalaguna from The Fifth Element.”
Russia: Eurovision
“Suddenly it is that time of the year again – the time when one cannot help but feel that one is, was and will always remain a European,” writes Josefina of Russian Blog in her post on this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Siberian Light posts an overview “of every single...
Russia: History of Victory Day
Copydude on Victory Day in today's Russia and back in the Soviet times – here and here.
Cental & Eastern Europe: Crime Fiction
Jost A Mon posts a “roundup of translated crime fiction consumed in April” – which includes a few books by writers from the CEE region.
Russia: Translation of Baymurat Story
Jost A Mon translates Roman Gruzov's Bolshoi Gorod text (RUS) about Baymurat, “an unlikely star” of the Russian internet, mentioned on GV back in April – here: “… a poorly dressed Tajik gastarbeiter who brilliantly performed the song ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the Hindi film ‘Disco Dancer’ with such...
