In other observations, I have been disappointed by the so-called winter here in Moscow. I thought it was promising when we had the first snow in October but since then it's all been a wash which has turned into a mudslide. The snow has been minimal - there hasn't been one time that it has been up to my knees - and a far cry from any image I previously had of a Russian winter. It has been quite cold a few times but no colder than the coldest parts of Chicago's winter. And now it seems the winter is over. For the past three or four days the snow has been melting to reveal the piles of poo that will probably be there until summer. I do have to say, however, that when I've been outside of Moscow the snow appears to be more prevalent.
If anyone hadn't heard I've been working as an editor for an English language magazine and news source. I'm now on my third week at the office and going strong...
So you (self-centered) Americans probably didn't know that last Saturday was Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland here in Russia. Originally it was the day for the Soviet army but all that's done away with now. Besides being another day for those who serve in the armed forces it is a day for men in general (of course everyday is men's day but this day particularly so). So last Friday afternoon at work the women in the office, of which there are about 20, had a small party for the 5 men in the office. On Saturday my ever attentive fiance took me to a concert in honour of the day and Patriarch Aleksey who's names' day was coming up.
So here's the program of the concert which was appropriately called "Defenders of the Earthly and Heavenly Fatherland" (contrary to the picture, however, it was not in that church)
The performers ranged from a few choirs which sang church music to traditional Russian folk music to orchestral compositions.
To my surprise when I was looking at the program it seemed to me that one of the soloists looked like one of the men in the choir at St. Antipas where I go to church. When said performer entered the stage my eyes proved not to have been tricking him. Moreover also in the small choir in which he performed turned out to be two more members of the choir at St. Antipas. On top of that, the choir director deserves some recognition...imagine Neo (except in light brown) doing the robot dance and you have the choir director:
For those of you who don't really believe I'm in Moscow or that I attended such a concert I will present photo evidence for your doubting eyes to see:
For more pictures (of the concert, not of me at the concert) click here.
While you are all particularly self-centered I think you all know that an election is coming up in the ole RF (Russian Federation that is). I have to say that I am pleased with the lack of advertising such that can be seen in the US of A. (Of course, I don't watch tv so I don't know what goes on there.) But one interesting bit of spreading the word I noticed conveniently printed on a metro pass:
The observant viewer will probably notice that this is simply an exhortation to vote in the elections with no mention of who to vote for. You may say that there really that there really isn't much of a choice of who to vote for but for me that's neither here nor there.
Now, in the consumer crackhaven that is consumer America no crackhead is surprised by seeing a comment card at your favorite crackhouse. Russia, on the other hand and probably for a short time being, is approaching the consumer cooler. Where else but in the window to the West would we be likely to see this cooler warming up? Observe:
For those of you deficient in the art of reading I will translate to the common: Dear guests! We work for you, therefore your opinions and wishes are important for us. Please answer our questions and express your thoughts about service in our restaraunt.
For those of you whose memory has not been completely cracked you will remember my post about my upcoming wedding and the paperwork involved. I now present you with photo evidence of a certain paper exhibiting (even for the deficient) the handwriting that caused so much trouble:
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