Have been reading some old Afishas (Russian youth/sub culture magazine) online and came across these grandads modeling some expensive cardigans (the red one comes from Tommy Hilfiger). Amused me a lot.
Created: 2008-04-27 19:50, Tags: fashion, magazine, Russia, Comments: 0
An article in the Guardian yesterday really captivated my imagination. In August 2002 the (former) president of Turkmenistan decided to rename by law all the months and most of the days of the week. Most months were named after Turkmen national symbols. The president also decided to dedicate a few months in honour of himself. Let's take a look:
January - Türkmenbaşy - The adopted name of Saparmurat Niyazov, former president of Turkmenistan, meaning "The Leader of Turkmen".
February - Baýdak - meaning flag. Turkmenistan flag day is celebrated in February on Niyazov's birthday.
April - Gurbansoltan - Gurbansoltan Eje - The name of Niyazov's mother.
September - Ruhnama - Niyazov's book, defined as a spiritual guide for the Turkmen nation.
December - Bitaraplyk -
Neutrality - Turkmenistan was proclaimed a neutral country, Neutrality Day is celebrated in December.
The new forms became mandatory for state television and officials. Publications aimed at Russian speakers in Turkmenistan also had to adopt the new forms. In my mind the power to change words in a language is the ultimate power.
The new president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, wants to reinstate the old Turkmen names for months and days. Perhaps somewhat ironically, the old names for months are based on Russian: Ýanwar, Fewral, Mart, Aprel, Maý, Iýun and so on.
Created: 2008-04-26 10:11, Tags: languages, Turkmenistan, Comments: 4
Can't particularly be bothered writing something from the heart today. Work has been tiring this week. But there are some links that I want to share with you. There's so much brilliant stuff out there. So go click happy!
1. A cool flickr set, especially the spam. How can people eat that? > 2. Want to go to this! Alina got famous a year too late...I knew it was going to happen...but just too late! The best Lithuanian export there is. > 3. Lithuanian street style > 4. Nice PDF mag moloko + via smosch > 5. Some street art in Ukraine > 6. Polaroids > 7. Another Swedish blog > 8. Random beauty
Created: 2008-04-16 17:14, Tags: inspiration, links, randomness, Comments: 1
Created: 2008-04-16 16:43, Tags: German, languages, video, Comments: 0
I've never really talked much about my experiences living in Russia in this blog. Russia's a hard place to write about really. There are lots of low points and lots of high points about my time there. People always ask me "was it cold there?" Well, yes and no. It was 40 degrees in May! They are always surprised. "Well, were people really poor there?" And I have to say yes and no again. But most of the time people have no idea what to ask when I say I've lived in Russia.
I was going through my vocabulary notes I made during my time in Russia and it documents all the new words I came across and needed in everyday life. I think it gives a nice summary of what I went through out there. Here's a couple of my favourites (out of hundreds of words)...
форточкa (fortochka) - small ventilation window to keep open at night (and not let all the heat out or all the cold in)
гречневая каша (grechnevaya kasha) - buckwheat porridge - it was an endurance test
мусорка (musorka) - a bin inside the house
алкаш (alkash) - boozer
курсант (kursant) - someone studying at a miliary academy. Nice uniforms...
склад ума (sklad uma) - way of thinking, can be very different in Russia
ларёк (laryok) - kiosk selling whatever you want/need
ломтик (lomtik) - slice e.g. of cheese. A very basic word I didn't even know before I went to Russia
забава (zabava) - fun, amusement
слякоть (slyakot') - slushy, muddy snow
я объелась (ya obelas') - I overate, it happens...
Ярослабка (Yarolslavka) - an inhabitant of Yaroslavl'. The pleasure was all mine
значок (znachok) - badge (of Lenin)
взятка (vzyatka) - bribe
похмелье (pokmel'e) - hangover
лужа (luzha) - puddle
пончик (ponchik) - wonderful, tasty doughnut
сырник (syrnik) - fried curd fritter - not so wonderful
красавец/красавчик (krasavetz/krasavchik) - good looking boy (rare)
оттепель (ottepel') - thaw
шуры-муры (shury-mury) - hanky panky!
солённый (solyonnyj) - salted (gurkins) - a shock to the tastebuds
шмель (shmel') - bumblebee
шарик (sharik) - balloon
сумасшедший (sumashedshij) - crazy!
Ань! (An') - how people called out my name using the old vocative case. I hated it!
I think it's only now that I can start to look back on my time with fond memories.
Created: 2008-04-15 17:34, Tags: languages, Russia, Russian, travel, Comments: 2
Give you a clue:
It's not there... :)
A nice promotional poster for Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009. I'm giving you some little appetizers and then going for the hard sell in later posts...
Translation: "The world doesn't know about Vilnius. Tell them!"
Created: 2008-04-08 18:43, Tags: Capital of Culture, design, Lithuania, Comments: 0
I'm beginning to think this site is equally as good or even better than HEL LOOKS. As always, a simple concept: people empty the contents of their bag/pockets and scan them along with their face. People carry around all kinds of random things with them. I would do my own if I had a scanner...
Also good for learning some Russian!
Created: 2008-04-07 16:44, Tags: people, photos, stuff, Comments: 0
It's not as grand as it sounds, but I've become an ambassador for Vilnius Capital of Culture 2009. This is thanks to Asta who suggested I should sign up and encourage people to visit Vilnius and Lithuania in 2009. I'm going to dedicate some posts in the coming weeks to doing just that, but I can't guarentee that anyone who reads them will decide to pack their bags and travel to a mysterious country at the other end of Europe...
The problem with my target audience is that they barely know where Lithuania is. One of my collegues thought it was possibly a part of Russia, but it could have been on the moon for all she cared. My first priority is letting people know that Lithuania is a small, yet perfectly formed country with an amazing history and it's own language and culture.
If I get anyone even slightly interested, then I have one other small problem. There are no direct flights from the north of England to Vilnius. The closest you are going to get is flying from Liverpool (Capital of Culture 2008) to Kaunas with Ryanair. Don't get me wrong, Kaunas is a lovely city, but a. even more unheard of than Vilnius and b. a bit of a nightmare to get to Vilnius from the airport.
Here's what you can expect from Kaunas:
"...10.00am Visit a museum celebrating the history of Lithuanian pharmacies. The curator looks slightly shocked to see anybody and regards me with what can only be described as suspicion. He takes me around and tells me about the history of Lithuanian pharmacies. I am extrapolating this, though, as he doesn't speak English.
11.00am Visit a museum celebrating the role of the devil in Lithuanian folklore. Set over three floors, there are more than 2,000 statues of Satan in his various guises. Learn that the devil created alcohol from she-goats' urine.
12.30pm Lunch. I sit at a table outside a restaurant and have cepelinai - translation: Zeppelin - a Lithuanian peasant dish that consists of a rugby ball of potato dough stuffed with meat. It is designed to keep out the cold during the harsh winters. It is not necessarily the best choice when it is 32 degrees. As it is today..."
Read the rest of the article here.
Created: 2008-04-06 16:29, Tags: Capital of Culture, Lithuania, travel, Comments: 1
I haven't really worked out whether this is a useful service or not. Forvo is a new site where you can find words pronounced in their original languages by (hopefully) native speakers. You can search for the word you want to hear or submit a request if it's not already there. You can also record your own words for other people to learn. You can discuss and rate other people's contributions.
In principle, this site does sound like a good idea. It could be a source of reference for every word in every language. Maybe in the future you could also hear words pronounced in all regional accents! This would be a great tool for English learners. Pronunciation is the hardest thing for me when I'm learning languages. Unfortunately, there's no Lithuanian words as yet. I guess I have to get back to learning the phonetic alphabet!
Created: 2008-04-06 16:13, Tags: languages, learning, Comments: 0
I fell in love the moment I saw these. Way better than the normal black ones.
Created: 2008-04-05 19:14, Tags: stationary, stuff, Comments: 0
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