Nevruz @ the Lincoln Theatre

I post this one just for placement purposes.  Get in the vibe.  And look at the eggs!

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Take John Galliano melded with Alexander McQueen and you still won't get anything as fierce as these girls.  I wish I had gotten video.  It was so high fashion.

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Movies to Watch Out For

Beginners.

Ewan MacGregor
Christopher Plummer
Melanie Laurent
a cute dog
others.

Ewan buys a dog to make up for not having a girl when his parents had such a successful marriage.  Then finds a girl. Then mom dies and finds out dad is gay.

Also, the dog has subtitles.

Definitely a cute dramedy.

Water for Elephants.

Robert Pattinson
Reese Witherspoon
Christopher Waltz
Hal Holbrook

Make a movie about the circus, and I'm going to watch it.  At first glance, you may not be impressed by the cast, but Pattinson, while involved in shite vampire nonsense, is a quality actor.  And Waltz?  Come on!

Essentially, Holbrook recounts his tale of living in the circus and witnessing an awful disaster therein.

Russian Retrospective...not really

So, going through this blog, I realized there was a lot of negativity towards Russia.  And I was called out on that once.

The fact is, I love Russia.  And I think if you ask a lot of people Why they love Russia, they will give you things that coincide with my rants.  People that "love" Russia, love a challenge.  The frail can't cut it.  So you have to have a bit of a hard exterior to survive, to find humour, and to enjoy.

And I want to try to list the things that I love about Russia (what little I've come to be acquainted with), that I don't just love because it makes it challenging to live there or get on with it's peoples.

1)  The architecture.  Need I say more?  Being in St. Petersburg is like being *inside* of a wedding cake.  Ok, that's not quite right, because inside a wedding cake is spongy and dark.  Ok, like being an ant in a bakery.

2)  I love the light extremes in the North.  2 weeks of darkness in the winter, 2 weeks of daylight in the summer.  It's thought that this directly influences the Russian personality.  Cold at first, but once in their home, they'd give you anything.

3)  Stroganoff.  'Nuff said.

4)  Subversive literature.

5)  A history of excellent film

I gotta say I'm stuck here.  But I came up with more than I thought I would.

People often ask me if I would go back to Russia, and I immediately say yes.  And often they respond with an incredulous "Why?!" burdened with only their preconceived thoughts, not my own.

Remnants of the Cold War?  Maybe.  I think they're just weak, or maybe just need a little horizon broadening.


***ADDENDUM
I recently had a Russian ask to read my blog.  He found it thoroughly amusing.  He reckons that if I am going to bother trying to live in the country and study the language, I must be...well crazy.  But I must really like the place.  Can't say the same for all the Russians, but I appreciate...his appreciation.

Some music you should be listening to:

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electronically driven, but not without lyrics:


Ghostland Observatory

Future Islands

AWOLNATION

intriguing vocals in a mellow setting:

Alexander

Dylan LeBlanc

soul throwback groups:

Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves

Fitz & the Tantrums

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My Favorite Book

Inspired by Shawn, I'm just posting pictures that make me happy today. 

 I want to make a mural of this book for my wall.

Gorgeous, Somber

These are photos (obviously not taken by me) of Frank Gehry's building at 8 Spruce Street in New York.  As usual, absolutely gorgeous, absolutely outside of the box. 

 But I can't help but be reminded of the torn, mangled remains of the World Trade Center.