Cartoon: Rock, Paper, Scissors!

by Andy on December 28, 2009

rock-paper-scissors

This week’s cartoon by Spanish cartoonist Juan Rodriguez Morales is called “Rock, Paper, Scissors!” You can find more of Juan’s cartoons at Spanish language Russia blog La Mirada al Este.

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Merry Christmas

by Andy on December 25, 2009

Picture 1Just a quick post to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I also wanted to let you know that the Global Voices initiative is now five years old. David Sasaki has written a great retrospective of Global Voices’ first five years that I really recommend you read if you get the chance.

The team over at Global Voices have done an amazing job over the past half-decade promoting and supporting bloggers and journalists across the world (including in Russia and every country of the Former Soviet Union), and they really deserve every plaudit they get.

Global Voices are funded partly by charitable donations, so if you were looking for someone to donate a little money to this Christmas, I think they’d really appreciate your help!

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Cartoon: Layer Up!

by Andy on December 23, 2009

cold-cartoon

You can find more cartoons by Spanish cartoonist Juan Rodriguez Morales at Spanish language Russia blog La Mirada al Este.

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Russia Today steals my blog titles :-)

by Andy on December 20, 2009

I was amused to stumble across this Russia Today video report about the 70th anniversary of the battle of Khalkhin Gol.

Why amused?

Well, do you notice that the title of Russia Today’s report from August 2009 is almost exactly the same as the title of the article I wrote in January 2008 – an article called ‘Khalkhin Gol: The Forgotten Battle That Shaped WW2‘.

SL Khalkhin Gol Picture

Sadly, I’m told that you can’t copyright blog titles. So, rather than being annoyed, I’m instead going to settle for being smug/amused that Russia Today reporters use Siberian Light for their research.

And for their copy writing.

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alina-kabaevaRumours are circulating (again!) that former gymnast Alina Kabaeva has given birth to a bouncing baby boy, who just happens to be Vladimir Putin’s son.

These rumours come not long after almost identical rumours swept the world’s media in May – I reported about the phantom Alina Kabaeva baby here on Siberian Light at the time. As you can guess, the rumours turned out to be untrue… much like the rumours that Kabaeva and Putin were secretly engaged.

Mostly the stories coming out this week have been reported in Indian newspapers (see the Indian Times for an example) and Indian blogs, but a couple of Canadian newspapers have also picked up the story.

The common theme to all the stories this time round is that, again, absolutely no Russian newspapers are covering this story. The cynical will, of course say that the Russian press is terrified of stepping out of line, for fear of facing Putin’s wrath, but as far as I can tell, the real reason is that there is absolutely no substance to the stories – from my reading, it seems as if this week’s stories are just re-hashes of the May story. Even some of the quotes are recycled.

Still, it gives me the opportunity to quote this excellent gem of Russian political incorrectness, which turned up entirely unattributed in the Inquisitr:

“…one analyst told us, “Putin is very careful about his public image. Still, considering Russia’s Muslim population is about 30 million, it might not hurt him politically to have a beautiful, half-Muslim wife.”

I wonder if this story will get far enough off the ground to result in another Kabaeva / Putin denial?

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Russian Diamonds

December 15, 2009

A guide to Russian and Soviet Diamonds.

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Interview: Anatoly Karlin – Sublime Oblivion

December 7, 2009

Siberian Light interviews Anatoly Karlin, of Sublime Oblivion.

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Police – This is a Robbery Cartoon

December 4, 2009

This week’s cartoon by Spanish cartoonist Juan Rodriguez Morales is called “Police – This is a Robbery!”

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Billy Joel’s historic Soviet concert tour

December 1, 2009

1987. Billy Joel becomes the first US rock megastar to tour the Soviet Union.

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Cartoon: The East is the East

November 27, 2009

This cartoon is called ‘The East is the East’, and is by Spanish cartoonist Juan Rodriguez Morales.

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The Little Golden Calf

November 20, 2009

A new translation of The Little Golden Calf, one of the Soviet Union’s most famous satirical novels, from Russian Life Books

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snob.ru – Adverts appearing across London

November 18, 2009

Adverts in Russian for online magazine snob.ru are popping up all over London.

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Russian Film Festival London 2009

October 19, 2009

The Third Russian Film Festival London kicks off on 30 October this year, with a bundle of fascinating films from Russia, both old and new, including 10 new UK premieres.

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Football: How to watch England vs Ukraine Live Online

October 6, 2009

For the first time in history, an England football game will not be shown on British TV. Instead, football fans will this weekend be forced to pay to watch England v Ukraine live online.

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Holiday Reading

September 9, 2009

I’m on holiday – but here are some links to Russia blogs you might be interested in checking out.

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