What makes the FSU so interesting?

[Gator]

I remember when black caviar was still affordable... we used to buy a kilo for around 400 bucks or so. 

In the 1970s I did a water pollution survey of the Caspian Sea for the UN.  One side benefit was caviar.  The caviar from the huge sturgeon  was large in size and black in color (Beluga).  It was highly prized but I preferred smaller variety with a slight gold tint, referred to as golden caviar.   Unlike the Soviet coast, the Iranian coast was largely unpolluted, and the sturgeon thrived in the snow runoff waters from the Alborz Mountains in the South Caspian.   
 
I became addicted to caviar.   Unlike what one would buy at the best restaurants today for $200-400 per appetizer serving, the local caviar was fresh - recently cultivated and not pasteurized and salted and sealed in a tin.    In the smaller towns I would buy 400g for $30-40.   
 
I remember it well because I made a full meal of caviar about three times each week.   I would buy freshly baked Iranian flatbread, and while the bread was still warm I would make caviar open faced sandwiches with a touch of minced onions and fresh lemon.  And I piled on the caviar in a thick layer.   
 
I would personally consume over a kg per week of this prized caviar.  Probably unattainable today.    Incredulous!  I can not imagine my cholesterol intake.   
 
In a few ways, the old days were better. 

[Misha]

Ranetka,
 
 Thank you for taking part in this topic! I think that we are one the same page.
Yes, негазированная can be difficult at first but with a little practice is possible to say. Perhaps you can help me break it down What do you think of this? ne gaz i ra van naya.

Please look it over and correct as needed.

I believe that the "ro" syllable is stressed and the "o" would thus be pronounced as o and not a. This is what I have confirmed here: http://starling.rinet.ru/morph.htm

[Fashionista]

I remember when black caviar was still affordable...

I remember it well because I made a full meal of caviar about three times each week. I would buy freshly baked Iranian flatbread, and while the bread was still warm I would make caviar open faced sandwiches with a touch of minced onions and fresh lemon. And I piled on the caviar in a thick layer.

I would personally consume over a kg per week of this prized caviar. Probably unattainable today. Incredulous! I can not imagine my cholesterol intake.

Haha, this reminds me of a movie scene
 
 
-Not caviar again! I can't eat the damn thing every day! Can't you get me some bread instead?
-OMG, where could you possibly find bread nowadays?
 
We used to make salted fresh red caviar by ourselves too, maybe that's why I prefer it to canned black

[mendeleyev]

You guys are awesome. Mrs. M just arrived home from some time at the dacha and also concurs that the O is stressed. Thanks to each of you.

[mendeleyev]

Flashback to 24- 25 July 1959: A historic event took place during the cold war between Soviet leader Khrushchev and U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon.

Mr. Nixon had arrived in Moscow to open the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park and as Khrushchev and Nixon strolled through the exhibit they paused at the model of a suburban American kitchen and it wasn't long before a heated dispute broke out between the two men. Elliott Erwitt, a press photographer captured this famous photograph of Nixon jabbing his finger at Khrushchev in the debate. Nixon supposedly said: "We're rich and you're poor. We eat meat, you eat cabbage". Khrushchev, who had a hair trigger temper, is said to have responded with: "Да пошел ты на х*й!"




The American exhibit was a model house was on display. It was a simple but efficient model that most Americans could afford and inside were various labor-saving appliances as a display of the American consumer market. The famous debate was recorded using the brand new technology of color videotape, pioneered in the U.S., and Nixon made reference to this fact; it was subsequently rebroadcast in both countries.





Both countries agreed to broadcast the debate however Premier Khrushchev was skeptical that his part in the debate would be translated into English for American viewers. The Americans and Russians agreed to air the debates on national TV on the same date however the Russians wanted to wait until the excitement over the exhibits had died down as the American home products had embarrassed the Russians.

Back in the USA however the big three major networks, independent of government control, felt that a delay was unfair as the debates constituted immediate news and proceeded to broadcast the now famous "Kitchen debate" on 25 July.

The US networks translated Khrushchev's dialog and they were broadcast in full as promised. However when the Soviets decided to air the Russia language version of the debates two days later on 27 July, Nixon's remarks were only partially translated into English and the Soviet broadcast was delayed until late at night.







 
Reprinted from the Mendeleyev Journal.

   

[Eduard]

In the 1970s I did a water pollution survey of the Caspian Sea for the UN.  One side benefit was caviar.  The caviar from the huge sturgeon  was large in size and black in color (Beluga).  It was highly prized but I preferred smaller variety with a slight gold tint, referred to as golden caviar.   Unlike the Soviet coast, the Iranian coast was largely unpolluted, and the sturgeon thrived in the snow runoff waters from the Alborz Mountains in the South Caspian.   
 
I became addicted to caviar.   Unlike what one would buy at the best restaurants today for $200-400 per appetizer serving, the local caviar was fresh - recently cultivated and not pasteurized and salted and sealed in a tin.    In the smaller towns I would buy 400g for $30-40.   
 
I remember it well because I made a full meal of caviar about three times each week.   I would buy freshly baked Iranian flatbread, and while the bread was still warm I would make caviar open faced sandwiches with a touch of minced onions and fresh lemon.  And I piled on the caviar in a thick layer.   
 
I would personally consume over a kg per week of this prized caviar.  Probably unattainable today.    Incredulous!  I can not imagine my cholesterol intake.   
 
In a few ways, the old days were better.

stop torturing me!!! Here I'm sitting, drooling all over myself after reading this post!!! Bad Phil!

[Eduard]

Flashback to 24- 25 July 1959: A historic event took place during the cold war between Soviet leader Khrushchev and U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon.

Mr. Nixon had arrived in Moscow to open the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park and as Khrushchev and Nixon strolled through the exhibit they paused at the model of a suburban American kitchen and it wasn't long before a heated dispute broke out between the two men. Elliott Erwitt, a press photographer captured this famous photograph of Nixon jabbing his finger at Khrushchev in the debate. Nixon supposedly said: "We're rich and you're poor. We eat meat, you eat cabbage". Khrushchev, who had a hair trigger temper, is said to have responded with: "Да пошел ты на х*й!"




The American exhibit was a model house was on display. It was a simple but efficient model that most Americans could afford and inside were various labor-saving appliances as a display of the American consumer market. The famous debate was recorded using the brand new technology of color videotape, pioneered in the U.S., and Nixon made reference to this fact; it was subsequently rebroadcast in both countries.





Both countries agreed to broadcast the debate however Premier Khrushchev was skeptical that his part in the debate would be translated into English for American viewers. The Americans and Russians agreed to air the debates on national TV on the same date however the Russians wanted to wait until the excitement over the exhibits had died down as the American home products had embarrassed the Russians.

Back in the USA however the big three major networks, independent of government control, felt that a delay was unfair as the debates constituted immediate news and proceeded to broadcast the now famous "Kitchen debate" on 25 July.

The US networks translated Khrushchev's dialog and they were broadcast in full as promised. However when the Soviets decided to air the Russia language version of the debates two days later on 27 July, Nixon's remarks were only partially translated into English and the Soviet broadcast was delayed until late at night.







 
Reprinted from the Mendeleyev Journal.

 

Really interesting to watch these videos! What a striking contrast between the leaders of 2 countries. The clownish, immatureish style of Khrschev makes Nixon really look like a true statesman and an excellent diplomat. It's almost like watching a teen next to a grown up. Thanks for posting these! I haven't seen these originally since I was still in my mom's belly when this was originally on )

[mendeleyev]

Thanks for posting these!

With pleasure, Ed.
 

[Ade]

The Russian word for eggs is яйца (YEEt-sa).

Maybe someone has pointed this out already but as it just caught my wife's eye as I scrolled past I thought I'd say; that should be yaĭtsa not yeetsa. FWIW, Google translate seems to do a pretty good job of the phonetic representation.
 

[Eduard]

Maybe someone has pointed this out already but as it just caught my wife's eye as I scrolled past I thought I'd say; that should be yaĭtsa not yeetsa. FWIW, Google translate seems to do a pretty good job of the phonetic representation.
 

this word has a double meaning,  used for "eggs" and also for "balls". And this is what makes Russia so interesting! 

[Eduard]

Flashback to 24- 25 July 1959: A historic event took place during the cold war between Soviet leader Khrushchev and U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon.

Mr. Nixon had arrived in Moscow to open the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park and as Khrushchev and Nixon strolled through the exhibit they paused at the model of a suburban American kitchen and it wasn't long before a heated dispute broke out between the two men. Elliott Erwitt, a press photographer captured this famous photograph of Nixon jabbing his finger at Khrushchev in the debate. Nixon supposedly said: "We're rich and you're poor. We eat meat, you eat cabbage". Khrushchev, who had a hair trigger temper, is said to have responded with: "Да пошел ты на х*й!"
 

somehow, after watching the videos and  watching Nixon being very professional as a diplomat, it is very hard to believe that Nixon would lose his cool...

[mendeleyev]

It never ceases to amaze at the parallels between North American Indians and some of Russia's Siberian and Far Eastern tribes. We can read of land bridges to Alaska and how ancient peoples may have traveled to Canada and into what is now the USA, but that a native American Indian in North America could be related to groups in Asian Russia is a marvel. That they could understand each others dialects after so many years is just as interesting.

Russia's Altai Republic is a federal subject of the Russian Federation and the capital city is Gorno-Altaysk with a population of over 200,000. The area of southern/Siberian Russia borders China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan and is home to the mighty grey river, the Katun.





What is this called in Altai and across Siberia: Ловец снов (dream catcher).

What is this called in Indian communities of southwest USA? A dream catcher.
 




So just how closely related are these people groups to North American Indians?
   

       

[Misha]

That they could understand each others dialects after so many years is just as interesting.   

That is a bit of a stretch. The only indigenous populations that might understand each others dialects would be the Yupik speakers of the Chukotka and the Alaskan Yup'ik population, and even here they would likely not understand much of what was being said. Then, there are perhaps a dozen or so people left in Russia who speak the Aleutian language that would be of course much more closely related to the Aleut language of Alaska.

[ghost of moon goddess]

this word has a double meaning,  used for "eggs" and also for "balls". And this is what makes Russia so interesting! 

But not as much as it could have been, thanks to Unilever 

[ML]

this word has a double meaning,  used for "eggs" and also for "balls". And this is what makes Russia so interesting! 

I thought the Russian language (in everyday use) did refer to testicles as eggs, whereas we use the term balls.

So not too surprising.

[ML]

It never ceases to amaze at the parallels between North American Indians and some of Russia's Siberian and Far Eastern tribes. We can read of land bridges to Alaska and how ancient peoples may have traveled to Canada and into what is now the USA, but that a native American Indian in North America could be related to groups in Asian Russia is a marvel. That they could understand each others dialects after so many years is just as interesting.

I can understand the amazement about understanding the dialects.

But why are you amazed that there are parallels?
They are the same people who have just moved around via migration.
They moved even farther; to the tip of South America.

I remember back in my college days visiting in a geography professor's office.
I commented on the beautiful 'Indian' blanket hanging on his wall.
He corrected me saying he had gotten it during a visit to eastern Russia.

[mendeleyev]

That is a bit of a stretch. The only indigenous populations that might understand each others dialects would be the Yupik speakers of the Chukotka and the Alaskan Yup'ik population, and even here they would likely not understand much of what was being said. Then, there are perhaps a dozen or so people left in Russia who speak the Aleutian language that would be of course much more closely related to the Aleut language of Alaska.

While no one would suggest fluency, I don't find it a stretch. I've been told that one of the reasons that the code talkers were limited to the Pacific theatre, one for reasons of limited number of personnel, but for caution that some of the Red Army units from the Far East might have some level of understanding.

As for language linkage between North American Indians and Asia/Russia, research from a study at Western Washington University suggest otherwise. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080326-language-link.html

Language is one consideration, additionally a University of Pennsylvania DNA study suggests that some American Indians can be traced back to Siberia, including the Altai region from where the "dream catcher" photo was taken. According to the study the Aanthropologists used markers in mitochondrial DNA, which according to their report is maternally inherited, and in Y chromosome DNA, which is passed from fathers to sons. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2092258/Native-Americans-actually-came-tiny-mountain-region-Russia-DNA-research-reveals.html

See also the report from the Arctic Studies Centre. http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/peopling_siberia.html

On the other hand a study from UC Davis suggests that there is no relation between North American Indians and those found in Asia. http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9101

Other studies seem to suggest that some North American Indians come from the Middle East. http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_adn05.htm

I'm no scientist and perhaps that is why no matter whether or not they originate from Asia, some of the similarities are interesting to say the least.

[mendeleyev]

But why are you amazed that there are parallels?

I write as a journalist and ML I'm amazed, intrigued and fascinated by many things. 

We live in a world, and in my opinion especially parts of the West, seem to have an increasingly small view of our planet and the peoples and histories of this planet. The world is becoming smaller to an educated person like yourself, but if you told the "average Joe" on the street that many things about life, food, dress, transportation and culture were the same in 1910 Kiev as in 1910 Saint Louis, you might discover that "average Joe" could find that hard to grasp.

So, I hope to remain amazed, intrigued and fascinated, else I'll find another career.


 

[Misha]

Mendy, I know the research. Linguists found similarities for some words, birch bark notably, which suggests that the Ket and Na-Dene languages shared a common ancestral language thousands of years ago. However, they would still not understand each other even if talkimg solely about birch bark.

[mendeleyev]

Misha, if you know the research, then that is good enough for me.

[Misha]

This is a nice summary of the scientific research: http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/pdfs/data/1998/154-20/15420-10.pdf

This is the scientific article: http://www.pnas.org/content/95/23/13994.full.pdf

[Eduard]

I saw a special on NatGeo channel (or may be it was Discovery) where the show was about the scientists who were working on tracing the DNA of early Indians' remains found in N. America. After a lot of searching they conclusively traced the DNA to a Siberian ethnic group. I believe it was Chukchi, but I might be mistaken.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Knockoffs can be found in almost any part of the world and the FSU isn't about to left behind when it comes to stealing a good idea. Starbucks immediately comes to mind--a Russian company held the rights to the name and while Coffee House, McCafe and others were making a killing, Starbucks sat on the sidelines for years as legal cases slowly drug their way thru the Russian courts. Today Starbucks can be found in the FSU, but they're a baby still due to so much lost time.
 
One of the most common knockoffs is McDonalds, МcДональдс.




Not quite McDonalds in Ukraine's Yalta area.There was a rumour for awhile that McDonalds was considering the purchase of one Russian ripoff, McPeak, but they haven't done so as far as I know.




McD....wait, Mak Duck?!Another blatant knockoff is McFoxy, the Ukrainian ripoff of McDonalds.




Here, have a coupon next time you're in Ukraine:




McFoxy is Ukraine's version of a McDonalds knockoff.

McDonalds is suing McFoxy in Ukrainian courts.

Speaking of McDonalds and lawsuits, Mickey D recently won a land mark case in Russia, a case which observers say will forever change the Russian fast food market. For those who say that the entire Russian judicial system solely favours the home team, you may wish to think twice.

The Moscow Oblast Federal Tax Authority had set tax rates at 18% for restaurant. McDonalds sued, and won, by convincing the court that it is not a restaurant but instead, a grocery store/market for prepackaged foods.

McDonalds attorneys were able to successfully argue that their chain of stores provides no traditional restaurant services. Instead they sell preprepared and packaged food, when customers come in to order it. They were able to prove that most of their food is prepared in advance and the final packaging is completed as it is ordered by a customer.

If that a ripoff to Russian consumers? Well not really as smart businesses generally pass along increased costs and that is one cost that will not be "on the menu" however other restaurants will benefit from the same ruling. From McDonalds, McPick, KFC, McBlin, Burger King, Wendys and many other fast food restaurants will enjoy the 10% sales tax instead of 18%.
Just in case you're wondering, traditional restaurants will continue to pay the 18%.


 

Hmm...it's not McDonalds!



We leave this report with a flashback to the day in 1990 when the first McDonalds opened in Moscow, a Canadian venture, so for this report we go to the archives of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:

[mendeleyev]

As reported today in the Mendeleyev Journal, one of the things to love about modern Russia is that by simply walking 60 to 100 yards to the left or right one can step back into time by a few hundred or even a thousand plus years, and then continue back into the 21st century in plenty of time for dinner.



Russia is home to some of the most important rivers in Europe. The Volga is the largest and longest of all European Rivers, traveling over two thousand miles to the Caspian Sea. On the Asian side the shores of Lake Baikal mark the largest freshwater lake in the world while deep in Siberia are enormous taiga pine forests.




(Iversky Men's Monastery, Valdai, Russia.)

The country is blessed with beautiful and ancient churches of which many are being returned by the government to their communities to again be used for local worship.


 


Russia embodies some of the most beautiful pieces of European and Asian history with many UNESCO World Heritage sites across this great land. Moscow is the historical and business capital while St. Petersburg is considered as the cultural capital of Russia.





Christianity came to Russia from Byzantium in 988, and over the centuries has remained a fixture of the Russian culture and life. The Russian Orthodox church is largest autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, Eastern Orthodox church in the world. Over 70 years of Communism did not snuff out the Christian faith, although it tried.



(Young woman takes time from the modern world for her timeless faith.)

Some are surprised to learn that Peter the Great wasn't of the House of Romanov. He was the Tsar who expanded Russia’s territory and opened the country to European politics, art and culture.



(The Church on the Spilled Blood, Saint Petersburg.)

World-class art is on display in Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery and St. Petersburg’s Hermitage. Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway connects east and west from Moscow over the Urals, thru Siberia and on to the Far East. By the time your journey ends at Vladivostok you'll have traveled one third of the way around the world.

[mendeleyev]

Sunday was Navy Day in Russia, a national holiday in Russia celebrated each year on the last Sunday of July. The Russian Navy, recognized by the Symbols ВМФ (VMF) is a branch of the Russian Armed Forces and dates back to 1696 when established by Peter the Great.



The regular Russian Navy fleets are the Pacific (headquartered in Vladivostok), Northern (Severomorsk), Baltic (Kaliningrad), Black Sea (Sevastopol) and Caspian Sea (Astrakhan) . Many spectators of Navy Day events wear the traditional black/blue and white stripes, uniform colours of the Russian Navy.



(Navy Day parade, Saint Petersburg.)

In Russia's northern capital of Saint Petersburg, hundreds of residents and guests lined Admiralty embankment to wave and cheer for Russian sailors. This week Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov, Russia's top Naval Commander, announced negotiations with Cuba, Vietnam and the Indian Ocean island country of Seychelles about the establishment of Russian naval ports.


 
(Naval parade, Vladivostok.)

Russian Navy Day celebrations began in 1939. This year Russia and Ukraine shared joint celebrations in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

In Naval cities across Russia, celebrations included laying flowers at monuments to sailors, parades of naval ships, picnics in parks and city squares, concerts in the evenings and capped off with fireworks displays. King Neptune and his entourage are often a part of Navy Day festivities.

 
(Navy Missile Cruiser, the Varyag.)

In recent years the Navy has sent ships to more foreign port cities, including India and as far away as the Philippine Islands. Officials say that these visits are meant to strengthen existing friendly relations and enhance understanding and cooperation.

On Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the commissioning ceremony for the Knyaz Vladimir nuclear-powered submarine. The ceremony was held at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk. The president promised that by 2020 Russia would have eight Borei-class submarines in operation around the world.


 
(New Nuclear submarine ceremony was held at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk with President Putin.)

Knyaz Vladimir is the lead ship of the renewed Borei-A class submarines with improved nuclear-missile weapons: each submarine will carry 20 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles. Sevmash is the only shipyard in Russia that constructs nuclear-powered submarines. Over the course of its history, the plant has produced 128 submarines for the Russian Navy.



(New Nuclear submarine ceremony in Severodvinsk with President Putin.)

The Borei class submarine is intended to replace the Delta III, Delta IV and Typhoon classes now in Russian Navy service. The class is named after Boreas, the North wind. Construction on the first of the Borei class subs (officially designated "Project 935") began in 1996.


 
(Navy submarine, Vladivostok.)

The Navy holds a place of special honour in the hearts and minds of many Russians. It was the Baltic Fleet’s battles on the approaches to Leningrad and its heroic defense during the Great Patriotic War that demonstrated the courage and ingenuity of Russian sailors in defending the homeland.



"Нас мало, но мы в тельняшках!"