Surprise! Medvedev wins the Russian presidency.

by Grant Martin on

Closing Russian polls this Sunday are indicating that Dmitry Medvedev, long preened to be the next Russian President has won in a landslide victory over the opposing candidates. Putin, in the meantime, is taking up the newly coined role of “Prime Minister”, which, shall we say, is Russian for “Medvedev is my bitch”.

Rather than give you the straight news that you can pick up on msnbc or Reuters, I’ve decided to sum up the election in a series of sarcastic statements. I’m from the Midwest — what can I say — it’s how we get through our cold winters.

  • See? Russia isn’t heavy handed
  • I’ll bet you that Medvedev’s Moscow is going to be a new, fresh leadership, corruption will plummet and Putin will wile his days away in a hunting cabin in the St. Petersburg countryside.
  • At least the KGB isn’t running the entire Russian government!
  • I’ll bet that the new cabinet and Kremlin officials won’t be identical to Putin’s outgoing staff.
  • Hey, as long as Russia’s economy is booming, who gives a rip about who’s in charge?
  • I mean, who isn’t nostalgic for another era of secret police and mass paranoia?

Wellll, crap. I suppose things could be worse. Although Putin’s administration seriously creeped me out more than a few times over the years, Medvedev seems like a pretty nice guy. They let Kosvo declare independence, right?

The real question is how much power Putin will retain in his Prime Minister position. If Medvedev actually steps in and begins to rule the country like a leader, things could be interesting. But if the Putin era continues, we’re probably in for the same old heavy handed Russia of yore.

Trans-Siberia Railway: The backdrop for the movie thriller “Transsiberian”

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s an adventurous ring to the Trans-Siberia Railway–the train that takes seven days to get from China to Mongolia and onto Russia. There’s a certain connotation that evokes images of glamor, the exotic and mysterious. Perhaps that’s why it’s the backdrop for a thriller in the tradition of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie due out this summer. It has Monika Bartyzel on Cinematical eager for its release. I have to agree. It sounds like the perfect blend of travel and intrigue.

In “Transsiberian” Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer play a married American couple, Roy and Jessie, who hop on the train in Beijing (then Peking during the time period that the movie is set) with an aim for a little excitement on their journey home from a stint as missionaries. As what can happen with any travel, but more so, what they envisioned doesn’t even come close to reality. Their personalities and missteps get them into less than stellar situations. Sure, they get the initial fun of a train ride and the expansive scenery of this part of the world in the winter, but they also get murder, drug dealing and deception when they settle into their train car with two other travelers. From the summary, here are missteps not to take that could help you avoid a big fat mess:

  1. Don’t get off the train (However, that puts a damper on sightseeing)
  2. If you do get off the train, don’t get off the train with the travelers you just met
  3. If you do get off the train, don’t one of the two of you miss the train and the other get off on the next stop
  4. Don’t kill anybody if you can help it.
  5. If you do kill someone, it might be better to come clean, particularly if the person might be a drug dealer and left a little something in your luggage.

When I’ve shared train cars with people I’ve been fairly lucky to not have anything overly weird happen. One guy , though, kept wanting to rub my foot–seriously, but other than that, I’ve shared food, conversation and slumber without hassle. I’m interested in seeing this flick for sure. Partly, I want to see what parts of Beijing, Lithuania and Spain ended up in the film. Also, I’m hoping Ben Kingsley who plays the officer looking to solve the crime is able to help Roy and Jessie have a happy travelers’ tale ending. Somehow, I don’t think so.

St. Petersburg to welcome Europe’s tallest tower

by Anna Brones on

Although seen more as a historic location — the center of town is a UNESCO Heritage Site — St. Petersburg will soon assume a more modern face. Russian gas company Gazprom has hired UK-based architectural firm RMJM to build its new headquarters, the Okhta Tower.

Not only will the tower be Europe’s tallest, but it is planned to be one of the most “environmentally sustainable in the world.” Coming from an energy company, maybe it’s all part of Gazprom’s plan to be environmentally responsible.

No matter what the reason behind the building, one of Russia’s most famous cities will soon feature a new architectural feature to compete with the city’s more traditional Baroque and neoclassical styles.

Via Inhabit

Oscar nominated shorts: A world tour

by Jamie Rhein on

Every year as a member of the Columbus Academy Motion Picture Pickers (CAMPP) I embark on a movie going frenzy to see all the movies nominated in every major category. Not on the list of my obligatory must-sees were the films nominated for Short Features and Short Animation, but I saw them anyway and highly recommend them as a way to enjoy the scope of humanity and art.

For the past three years I’ve seen the nominated movies in both categories all in a row, one after another–10 in all. This is one way to travel from country to country, from sensibility to sensibility in a few hours. What strikes me is that, although there are often cultural influences and differences particular to each country from which the movies hail, there are many thematic similarities among them. What this shows to me is through the diversity, we can always relate. Terrific stories are terrific in any language.

These movies are making the rounds. Check out film festivals or independent cinemas to see if you can catch them. Here’s the list of the films and which country they are from:

Short Film (Live Action)

Short Film (Animated)

For clips of the animated shorts, head to BuzzSugar.

Happy Birthday Aeroflot — Russian nostalgia revisited

by Grant Martin on

Aeroflot (SU) turns 85 this month and has come a long, long way. Not long ago, the thought of flying on Russia’s national carrier meant the fear of flying on ancient, broken down Tupolev aircraft, crummy inflight service and questionable schedules. Now, the airline is up in the ranks of any ol’ international carrier and with numerous flights departing from New York every day we don’t give a second thought to boarding an Aeroflot Jet. I’ve flown SU a few times over the past years and have to agree — they’re in decent shape.

As part of their celebration/advertising campaign for the event, Aeroflot has created a website highlighting some of their ads and images over the last century. While the site is in Russian, the scrolling bar at the bottom of the page links to some of the old images, many of which hearken back to the days of Communism. It’s really interesting to see how the advertising developed.

As a note to the domestic carriers, Aeroflot handed out frequent flyer miles like candy to their passengers as a birthday gift. Take a hint.