1 Maya (May, 1st)

Tomorrow is the first day of May and we (I mean in Russia and some Post Soviet Countries) celebrate another holiday. It's devoted to labor. Well, some people say the history of the holiday goes back to ancient Rome (where they celebrated the begining of sowing and prayed for the goddess of fertility Maya). Later in America in 1886 there was some riots organized by socialists and communists organisations in the USA and Canada. There were six people killed during such a demonstration in Chicago. In return they set up a bomb and killed several policemen, 4 people were sentenced to death. In 1889 II International Congress (don't know the right term for it, sorry) suggested celebrating the day as the Labour Day.

In Russia the holiday was first celebrated in 1890. At first the demonstration on that day were unofficial. In 1917 there were held official demonstration (yeah, we had already Soviet government back then). And so it went till 1992 when it was renamed in the Spring and Labour Day. The motto of the day was "Peace, Labour, May"

Now we don't have any particular demonstrations like we used to back in Soviet times (I even remember participating in one of them when I was a kid). Only some socialist and communist parties gather their followers in the center of Moscow. But everything goes rather peacefully. The majority of population is just enjoying another free-of-duty day, going for a holiday or staying with a family. As it coincides with the begining of cropping season many people go to their country houses.

Bellow you'll find some posters from Soviet times.

Japanese bands are finally coming to Russia

This year there is a break through in our J music scene, 'cause lots of bands are coming this year. We already had concerts on An Cafe, MONO, Iruma Rioka, SUGIZO (with Juno Reactor) and we gonna have D'esparsRay, girugamesh and miyavi coming next. I know all our J music fans worked hard together to bring these bands to our country and there're rumours that many more bands are coming next.

I was kinda lucky. One of the orgs, that are bringing D'espairsRay to Russia, is an acquaintance of mine. So she promised I'll come to the concert free of charge. It's symbolic. The first J rock band I've ever been to was also D'espairsRay's live but in Madrid 2006. My friend and me arranged our holiday trip that year so that we could go to see the band. It was a real miracle back then. Since that time I've been to several other bands' concerts, both in Europe and home in Russia. I hope someday I'll welcome my favorite bands in my city^^

Sunny weekend

The forecast turned true and we really had more than 20 C last weekend. That's why we decided to open the bbq season. Here are some pics of the first flowers we have and also of our bbq

Some crazy colors we have

I took some screenshots of strange color names. I can't believe people do name these colors like this. But well, the world is weired.

Don Quixote ballet

Well, as I've already said, I'm not really fond of classical art. But as my mom somehow managed to get two tickets for the ballet for free we decided to buy one more and to go all together (I mean my mom, my sister and me).

When going to some concerts or other events I really like watching the audience. This time it seemed that there were mainly some ballet fans (mainly elderly people), foreigners (as attending russian ballet is considered to be one of the tusks to accomplish when touring Russia) and some kids (taken on an excursion from school). And yes, we still have the culture of dressing up all nicely when going to ballet or opera.

The piece itself turned out pretty entertaining. Actually I expected it to be really boring, but the young lively characters managed to keep you following them. The ballet consisted of three parts. Actually we watched only two, 'cause my mom was tired after a long day at work and we left earlier. I liked the first part better. There was more action and there was some kind of plot. The dancers performed almost with the expression of some drama actors. The second part was somewhat more technical, it was devided in several parts, in each stared one dancer performing some difficult jumps or movements. You know it really amazes me to see what people can reach by constant trainings and by puting their soul in what the are doing. But on the other hand there was no particular meaning in that - just to watch beautiful dances (which gets boring after an hour). May be if I had some deeper knowledge of the art it would make some sence to me. Anyway it was a good show and I don't regret going to see it.

Bolshoi Theatre web page here in the upper right corner you can see some pics of the performers.

Crazy weather

It is soooo cold in Moscow this April. I think it's the coldest spring I can remember. To illustrate this I'll show you a photo I took 2 days ago (-4 C) on my mobile when going to work. The fontain is working and freezing at the same time. This Sunday they say it will be + 20 C. I really hope so

Another birthday

Yesterday we celebrated another birthday. My friend turned 22 and on the occasion he decided to take everyone to a beerhouse. When I asked him if there was anything special he wanted as a birthday present he said he wanted a toycar on radio control. So I went and got it for him. He was absolutely happy or at least so it seems.

The party actually was another possibility to get everyone together and to have a good talk. All of us study in the same university but we don't see each other much lately because we have no more classes but we work and write our final paper. Two of my friends are planing to go to Austria to study for MFA, one of the boys is living with his girlfriend and it really seems they are going to marry. You know, it's interesting to see how everything changes just in some small period of time.

And I also have to decide what to do next.

PS: Tonight I'm going to the Bolshoy Theatre to see ballet Don Quixote. Though I'm not really fond of classical performances I'll check it out and tell you my impressions tomorrow.

Traveling as a lifestyle

Here's the great article on what is a Traveler. The article is really inspiring and makes you wanna try this life out. It describes some advantages and disadvantages of living a life as a traveler. But there're always buts.

I know I'm getting to personal, far from being objective, but I think it's ok to leave your things, friends, partners behind and just take a chance to go on a trip. It really can give you a lot of experience, what is the most important thing in life after all for me. And I understand that it only needs a strong desire to do it and then you can do it. But for me there's one thing I can't leave behind and that's my family. I know they need my support now. Of course they can live fine without me around, but I can't stand the thought of making these people's life harder (people, who put a lot of effort in bringing me up and supporting me). I wonder if there'll ever be a point in my life when the wish to leave everything and to go to some faraway place will eventually overpower my sence of responsobility (so to say).

I feel like being a traveler, I really can't stand the idea of staying constantly at one place, knowing that there's SOOO much to see and to experience around the world. And I'm quite sure I'll be perfectly fine living such a life not to say happy. But at the same time I have a fear, and that is being caught up with the routine, which later will never give me a chance to get out. I know it'll take only a couple of years to get stuck in it up to my ears and i'm really affraid of it. Besides I'm now just that common person with good education, good job, nice meetings with friends at a good cafe described in the article

Sometimes I wish I were alone or at least I could really leave everything behind.

Birthday present

Today is one of my friend's birthday. It took us a long time time to come up with a present and finally we decided to give him a duck radio for bath/shower. Ok, its not that useful or anything but it IS hard to find a good present for someone who has almost everything. So it's ok if the present is fun. Here's the pic of it.

Strange thoughts

There's a bird that often knocks at my window. Today morning it waked me up exactly at the time I'm supposed to get up and than flew away when saw me standing and looking at it through the window. It IS strange. The bird also knocks at my sister's room window. It sometimes looks like it wants to get in or may be it wants us to go outside.

With this in mind I've started thinking about reincarnation and all that stuff. I hate the idea of everyone being mortal. So it would be at least something if we knew for sure that our soul and mind would be reincarnated in some other form. And may be this particular bird still remembers smth of her human life and may be it even knew me or my family. I really want to believe in it.

Dreams come true

The article tells us about an American girl who's now an assistant by renowned mangaka Takeshi Konomi, the author of Prince of Tennis.

A great story of success.

The thing I really like about the USA and Europe is that their citizens can easily go to other countries, it's easier to travel. I really wish I didn't need to go through visa application procedure each time I wanna go somewhere.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Finally I watched the movie. They were broadcasting it on TV on Friday night. To tell you the truth I didn't like it and I don't really understand, why it got so many Oscars. Anyway It's a good fairy tale with happy end. And I liked really the way it is filmed or the cameraman's work, dunno how it is called.

My Mom's birthday

On the 3d we cellebrated my Mom's birthday. These are the pics of the flowers I gave her. Actually my sister and me couldn't find a good birthday present for her and the only idea we had (to give her a tennis racket) was taken away by her colleagues. So we had nothing left to do but to take her out to a restaurant. She was also presented with a big basket full of tasty things and a big bottle of spanish wine. And there're flowers everywhere *but I belive mu bouquet is the best*.

Anyway she seemed happy and that's the best thing.

Kula Shaker

Yesterday together with my school friend we went to Kula Shaker's concert at B2 in Moscow. I used to listen to their music when I was in junior high under the influence of that friend of mine. Then I got into japanese music and stopped listening to the stuff I used to. So it was like a trip back to my school days.

I didn't think the band was so popular. The club was packed, the tickets were almost sold out. I must say they did a great show. It reminded me of the rock bands of the 60-70s like the doors with a bit harder sound. The music was relaxing and made everyone to move. Of course there were some freaky fans, but in general the people were nice. The only thought which kept me from enjoying the event to the fullest is that it didn't really seem the the frontman enjoyed the show. Somehow he looked like just doing his job.

We left after my favorite Govinda. I don't really know if there was another encore after the song, cause almost everyone stayed to wait for it. They gave out autographs as far as I get from the blog posts I looked through. But I don't really care. Another dream from my schooldays came true and I'm really happy about it. I enjoyed the concert, I liked the music and I relaxed. Again I noticed that it's better to watch some bands playing live than to listen to some record. And that was definitely the case. I guess I should go to concert more often.

Bruce Osborn's Oyako

If you press the link in the heading you'll see a collection of photos by Bruce Osborn. He took shots of parents and their kids in Japan. Some of them are really suprising. Like a daughter - porn star and her father first a zoo shop keeper and then porn script writer. Some are cute. There's also a short text about each family on the shots. It IS interesting to read.

And here you can find some really nice essays on the topic.

My friend and me in a park in Berlin

Grebnevo

Last sunday my friend and me went to a nearby village to visit the former mansion house of the local aristocrates. Now it's almost completly crumbled, with only one building staying in some kind of normal condition. Here you can take a look at some pics of how the place used to be and what is left now: http://www.fryazino.info/index.php?mod=15&folder=33

I thought it was absolutely beautiful... If only it was in proper condition. One can see a lovely view on the garden (almost undefinable now) and on the small river from one of the balconies of the main building. Besides the area maintaines good ecology, it's not as polluted as some nearby places due to the forest being not far from it. I guess you could make a good touristic business after its restoration, but again that requires money.

And it turned out to be extremly popular among local couples, 'cause during our stay there we've noticed several pairs of all lovey-dovey yongsters going around the place. So it is still considered romantic.

Well, in any case i really would like to hope, that we'll become more aware and proud of our oun history and culture and it want be late to restore such nice places as this one.

Russians in Japan

The report is quite interesting, it provides rare statistical data on the russian presence in Japan.