What makes the FSU so interesting?

[Lily]

Wow, that metro map on the black background looks incredible! In 2010 when I left Moscow, that many connections were not even published! This looks like a planned map for the future to me.

[mendeleyev]

Lily, you are correct. Today there are 188 working stations.

I made a typo:

see the 2010 version below.

It should have read: see the 2100 version below.

Thank you for catching my error.

[mendeleyev]

From the Moscow Times:

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service in Kostroma fined a taxi company for an "unethical" advertisement that a local organization said was insulting to "the world's revered bread," a news report said Wednesday.

The fine involves a commercial with the slogan, "If you make five typos in the word 'bread,' you get 'taxi,'" Lenta.ru reported.  The anti-monopoly watchdog fined the head of the advertising firm 4,000 rubles for the commercial and banned its further usage.




хлеб = bread.

In a statement on the agency's official website titled "His Majesty — Bread! You Mustn't Insult It," the watchdog says a council of experts reviewed the advertisement after receiving a complaint from the local chapter of the Council of Veterans.

The complaint said the advertisement's "insulting attitude to bread" was "rude" and that such an interpretation of bread "besmirches the Slavic people and insults the world's revered bread."




такси = taxi.

In a statement on its official website regarding the advertisement, the anti-monopoly service cites a law on advertising that bans the use of swear words, obscene and offensive images, comparisons and expressions that include references to sex, race, nationality, profession, social class, age or language, human and civil state symbols, religious symbols, and cultural heritage sites.

It is not clear which category bread falls under.

(Mendeleyev observation: Veterans constitute a key voting block to the Putin administration. Not that anyone could comprehend why a group of old soldiers would feel slighted over comparing bread to a taxi, but what the hell--if they're offended, apparently we should all be offended.)

Read more at the Moscow Times.

[ML]

WOW, I am quite surprised that something like this (the taxi - bread) situation would occur in Russia.

In USA, yes. 

Here, it only takes one or a few people to say . . . I am offended about X.

[mendeleyev]

I agree. It almost seems like one of those intentional "slippery slope" or the "frog slowly bowling in a kettle" type situations as in recent months this same government agency ordered a beer factory to remove the sign from the front of their building for some very oddball reason.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Thanks to our good friends at Moscow Municipal Programs for the latest numbers on Russian use of social media sites.

Of course Russia has them all: Twitter, Facebook, Vkontakte, odnoklassniki.ru, and the large blog hosting site LiveJournal.ru. Although Facebook seems to enjoy steady growth each year, the big dog on the block remains Vkontakte (vk.com).






The lastest study shows that 55% of Russia's active Internet users are part of a social media network and a whopping 62% of them are subscribers to the popular vk.com (Vkontakte) social media service. For non-Russian speaking readers, the letter B in Cyrillic is a "Veh" (V).

According to the study only 9% use Twitter. The once large odnoklassniki.ru site has fallen dramatically in recent years.

[mendeleyev]

In the Mendeleyev Journal:

For years we've marveled at the open platforms of the Moscow Metro underground subway system. These are fast moving trains, arriving every 90 seconds on some routes, are a potential hazard for those not paying attention to their surroundings and so platforms with safety glass enclosures may be coming to Metro stations eventually.



If you're ever wondered what glass enclosed platforms would look like in the Moscow Metro, there is one coming your way in the future.





Beginning with станции метро Лесопарковая (Metro Station Forest Park), passenger platforms will be enclosed with glass walls 2.3 meters in height with sliding doors opening in sync with the car doors for passenger safety. Elevators will be an added feature to the standard escalators used to move passengers between levels.





The station will be located in the south of Moscow built at the intersection of Ring Road and the exit of Butovo. Local residents protested against the construction as the line will run through Bitsa Park.

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal:

The new law against smoking in public places goes into effect June 1st and we're watching this story with great interest. Some polls say that 40% of Russians smoke, one of the highest percentages in the world.





A recent poll of Russians on the potential effectiveness of the ban shows that neither smokers or non smokers are confident that the ban will curb smoking in public.

The ban, signed into law by President Putin, will include all public sites, including government buildings, health care and educational facilities, cultural sites, sports stadiums and on public transport. In 2014 the law will also ban smoking in movies and TV programs unless smoking is part of the story plot or a character's image.

[mendeleyev]

Here is a very cool "tour" of Moscow set to music and using time lapse photography.

[Anotherkiwi]

Here is a very cool "tour" of Moscow set to music and using time lapse photography.

I'm not a fan of the music  , but the photography is awesome! 

[mendeleyev]

Throughout the day yesterday Russians began to bring flowers to lay along the gate at the American Embassy. By nightfall candles had been added. One poster read "“The youth of Moscow grieves together with the American people.” A candle nearby sheds its light."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3s8v081AHHM
 
 

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal:

Summer hot water alert: The summer hot water "shut off" will begin on May 13th. In theory the number of days for maintenance of pipes, which is the reason for disconnecting hot water (provided centrally), shouldn't exceed 10 days, and in some cases the reality could be much shorter. In more recent years the average shut off is around 3-5 days for recently constructed housing developments but longer in older apartment complexes.





It goes back to Soviet times: the practice of shutting off the hot water has been an unpopular tradition for most Russians for a two week period between May and August. The city checks pipes and performs needed maintenance in preparation for the upcoming winter. The installation of new pipes has made it possible for city crews to shorten the time needed for repairs.

Although some new housing projects use on-site boilers or individual water heaters, most of the city's housing receives hot water from a series of boiler plants throughout the city and the water is piped underground to each apartment where it is used in normal hot water functions and to provide steam heat via radiators in winter.

If the shut off is only 3 days some Russians simply endure until a hot shower is possible again. Many however make the effort to heat water in the kitchen and carry it to the bathroom.


photo: ITAR-TASS

For those of us who want a daily shower, most Russian kitchens have an electric hot water kettle for tea, called a чайник ("Chai-nik"), and to fashion a temporary shower, water is heated in the chai-nik and then poured into a bucket or large mixing bowl in the bathroom. A shower is then accomplished by using a large ladle, a ковш ("kovsh"), to pour water over themselves while standing in the bathtub.

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin last year cut the inspection and maintenance period from two weeks to only ten days in total. The shut offs are rolling by region so that not everyone is impacted at the same time. Moscow isn't the only Russian city with summer shut off, in fact many Russian cities must cope with this inconvenient tradition, however that tradition may be coming to a close as a spokesperson for the Moscow United Energy Company (MOEK) says the annual summer rolling shut offs should end by the year 2017.

The schedule for the Moscow region is available at the Moscow Energy Company’s website, www.oaomoek.ru.

[ML]

Mostly, I have stayed in apartments where each unit has its own hot water heater.

However, once I found myself without hot water when shower time came around.

The gal who was with me said: Oh, no problem.

She then brought a large pan of water to boil, ran tap water into an empty 6 liter water bottle to partially fill it, then added the very hot water, and told me to get into the tub.

She then poured the bottle of water over me while I worked with the soap and shampoo.

Then we repeated the procedure for her.

Result was not too bad.

[mendeleyev]

Today we have a hot water heater but years ago I lived in an older apartment that seemed to be down more like a month in summer. I developed a routine during dinner prep as I'd  heat the chai-nik, and while cooking dinner empty several kettles into a large mixing bowl stored in the bathroom. I'd continue heating that chai-nik during dinner and when the meal was finished the water was still warm but no longer scalding hot and then it was a pleasant shower, albeit short giving the limited supply of water in the mixing bowl.

Washing dishes also required a routine as there was only one sink in the kitchen. I had a plastic tub in which to pour hot water from the chai-nik, wash them in the tub, then rinse them in the one sink by pouring again from the chai-nik.

[calmissile]

In the Ukraine villages and former collective farm houses there are few indoor showers or toilets.  When staying with Irina on her farm, all showers were outdoors.  Water was heated on the gas stove in a large pot and we went outdoors to a little screened off shelter to bath. 

Having experienced this, it certainly allows one to appreciate the luxury of indoor plumbing.

It wasn't that bad, but would hate to have to go outside in the winter to shower.   

[SANDRO43]

Amateurs, get proper equipment .

Last year my old gas-fired water-heater finally exhaled its last flame, and I had to wait about a week before a new unit was installed. I managed by heating TWO large pots that I use for cooking pasta to a suitable temperature, and showered with them: soap up partly, rinse with one, soap up the rest, rinse with the second pot .

[ML]

Amateurs, get proper equipment .

Last year my old gas-fired water-heater finally exhaled its last flame, and I had to wait about a week before a new unit was installed. I managed by heating TWO large pots that I use for cooking pasta to a suitable temperature, and showered with them: soap up partly, rinse with one, soap up the rest, rinse with the second pot .

You and Mendy both reported something like  this . . . and used the word shower.

I contend you really can't call this a shower without the help of a second person to pour properly over the body.

Talk about amateurs !!!   

[mendeleyev]

Talk about amateurs !!!

Yep...at least in my case!

The first time the then future Mrs. M took a shower at my place was an afternoon after we'd spent walking for miles around the city. She said "dush" (душ is the Russian word for "shower") and I thought she had said "douche" instead. Puzzled, I said....okay....I'll go run some water for you in the ванна ("VAh-na" is bathtub) but she said that she could do it herself, which had me wondering why she needed a douche.

A few moments later the shower began running and that is when it hit me that she had said душ, which sounds just like douche. LOL

[mendeleyev]

Growing up in a family of Dutch heritage, I can tell you that the only cuisine even close to being as uninspiring is served up by the English. Let's see, the Dutch have split pea & ham soup and...and...and, well that should get us started. The English of course have double the amount of dishes as the Dutch, yes TWO dishes of note.

Sit for a meal in an English pub and the menu will list fish and chips (right proper chips by jolly) and bangers and mash. I get the "mash" in mashed potatoes but knowing the English, I'm just too afraid to ask about the bangers. It is no wonder that the sun never set on the English as those boys were out in search of something to eat!

A good friend who owns restaurants once shared the secret of international dining:
- The French prepare the pastries and desserts.
- The Greeks prepare the salads.
- The Arabs percolate the coffee.
- The Chinese make the rice and tea.
- Italians are in charge of the main courses.
- Russians provide the valet parking.
- The Germans run the business.
- The Dutch make the floral arrangements, and
- The English feed the pigeons.

What about the Americans, you ask? Ah well, it’s almost 10 o’clock and McDonald's is about to open.




So you can imagine my horror upon discovering that the new "Let's Pizza" vending machines rolling out at Moscow airports were developed by the Dutch! That should make the Italian who invented the machine shrink into the shadows but apparently in Italy these days, getting a pizza out on time is more important that the pizza taste.

So far they haven't tried to "Dutchify" the product but I'm just waiting for the company to announce something like a new "rusk" dough pizza.

The "Let's Pizza" machine has not only craved a verb from the rib of a noun, but offers hungry customers four choices of toppings while the machine kneads the dough, rolls out the crust, adds cheese and toppings, bakes the pizza and serves it in a box. This is advertised as a 2.5 minute process from the time you insert your Euros to the time you're ready to eat, according to the advertisement on the machine. Truth is however those Dutch may not be a punctual as we thought because 3.5 minutes was our experience.

The company just announced expansion plans to Atlanta in the USA. I'm not sure if they eat pizza in Atlanta--grits, red beans with rice, and a gagging reflex concoction termed "sweet tea" is high brow cuisine around Atlanta. Oh wait, I forgot okra. Those folk may not be ready for Italian, much less Italian in a box, but we'll take a wait and see attitude until market tests have been completed. Stranger things have happened.

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=j7_lxiU8eLM

With a slogan as catchy as "not touched by human hands" I'm fighting the impulse to throw all the family retirement funds into the next "Let's Pizza" market. Somehow I'll find a way resist that urge even though upon tasting the pizza made by a machine in a box, well it wasn't that bad.

[SANDRO43]

that is when it hit me that she had said душ, which sounds just like douche. LOL

Actually it's an imported French word :

First Known Use: 1766. The word douche came to English via French, from Italian: doccia "conduit pipe" and docciare "pour by drops" to douche, from doccia water pipe, probably back-formation from doccione conduit, from Latin duction-, ductio i.e. means of conveying water, from ducere to lead – where today it means shower.

A 'doccione' is the gargoyle on church façades that spouts water when it rains:

Douche was adopted in English with a curiously restricted meaning .

[SANDRO43]

So you can imagine my horror upon discovering that the new "Let's Pizza" vending machines rolling out at Moscow airports were developed by the Dutch!

I don't think the Dutch are to blame for it :

The device was invented by Claudio Torghele, an entrepreneur in Rovereto, Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let's_Pizza

Website: http://www.letspizza.it/.

[mendeleyev]

The device was invented by Claudio Torghele, an entrepreneur in Rovereto, Italy.

I understand that sometimes Italians don't build anything more complex than a brick oven, but to turn it over to us Dutchmen?! Sounds like he valued Dutch functionality more than a good pizza. 

[Shadow]

Truth is however those Dutch may not be a punctual as we thought because 3.5 minutes was our experience.

That is because the little Chinese in there who is making the pizza had his coffee break. Dutch union laws....

[SANDRO43]

I understand that sometimes Italians don't build anything more complex than a brick oven

Actually, last year we exported 73% (€3,66 billion's worth) of our overall production of machine tools, which are slightly 'more complex than a brick oven' .

[mendeleyev]

I believe you, Sandro. But there are few on the planet who can out create the Italians when it comes to good cuisine.