Bolshoi in Russia: American celebrities aka hookers in Moscow?

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

This sincerely made me laugh today.

At breakfast, I am sipping my morning coffee at a coffee shop, reading The Moscow Times. There it is in the classified section: an ad for an exclusive escort service featuring Jessica Simpson, I mean “Lena – 24 hours.”

Another two ads with pictures of two Victoria Secret models. They are retouched just enough to make you look twice, but there is no doubt it is them.

I guess you couldn’t really get away with stealing someone’s likeness in the LA Times, but hey, this is Moscow. Anything goes.

From Russia, with love.

Russia to produce new Sukhoi jets

by Grant Martin on

Is airframe production the mark of a successful country? The US has Boeing, Europe has Airbus, Canada has Bombardier, Brazil has Embraer. Even China’s trying to get in on the business with the China Comercial Aircraft Company, even though that’s going to take a couple ten years to get rolling.

Russia’s flagship producer, Tupolev, not unlike their progress as a democratic nation, has been pretty lethargic. Much of their production has been in the commercial sector while very few new aircraft designs have surfaced.

Under a new commercial wing of The United Aircraft Building Corporation (UABC), however, things are starting to turn around. UABC, Russia’s new manufacturing congolmerate (which will soon run Tupolev as well) is now employing Sukhoi Corporation to start production of a new series of medium range jets.

The first, dubbed the Sukhoi Superjet 100’s, are already well underway. First test flights were just complete this week and the company has an aggressive production schedule that includes initial deliveries later this year.

Their plan is to directly compete with medium range aircraft — those like Bombardier’s CRJ’s or Embraer’s E-Jets — but mostly in the Russian market. Reducing dependence on foreign airframe manufacturers (not unlike China’s plans), will therefore make their economy stronger.

Don’t expect to be flying on any Superjets in the near future though. Most of the initial orders have gone to Russian carriers and even then it’s going to be a few years until all of those orders are fulfilled. Until that point, I’m still happy flying on Tupolev 154.

Bolshoi in Russia: Is this the world’s ugliest statue or what?

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

Moscow is an incredibly vibrant city. New buildings are popping up everywhere (and one can only hope they will soon cover a lot of the other buildings I’ve seen). Russian architecture is a mixed bag. There are some real gems, but a lot of it is just supposed to illustrate the greatness of Russia, and is simply horrific. (As most pieces illustrating the greatness of any nation typically are.)

Take this statue, for example. I honestly could not believe my eyes the first time I saw it. Smack in the middle of the river Moscow in downtown Moscow, there is Peter the Great, dressed in a Roman toga, clutching a golden scroll, while standing in a comparatively kid-sized boat, setting direction away from Moscow. Zurab Konstantines dze Tsereteli, a controversial Russian-Georgian artist completed it in 1986.

The worst part of it is, you can’t get away from it. It’s 94,5 meters (300 feet), twice the size of the Statue of Liberty. It’s the sixth tallest statue in the world. It’s pitch black and so monstrously outsized, it looks surreal.

From a lot of angles it even dwarfs the church behind it, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which is the tallest Eastern Orthodox church in the world. It has got an interesting history, too. First built in 1883, it was demolished in 1931, by order of Stalin‘s minister Kaganovich. Nikita Khrushchev later was transformed the site into a huge public swimming pool, the largest the world had ever seen. Only in 1994 did they start rebuilding the church. Although it looks old, it was completed in 2000 and, interestingly enough, it was built by the same architect who built the Peter the Great statue. I am telling you, you can’t get away from this guy in Moscow.

Which brings me to my question: What is the ugliest statue you have ever seen?

From Russia, with love.

Bolshoi in Russia: Moscow museum night is free (hence popular with hipsters)

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

Moscow held their 11th annual Night of Museums (or Long Night of Museums) on Saturday, May 17. I haven’t seen as many people in one place since visiting China. I shouldn’t be surprised. It was, after all, a free event. The majority of life in Moscow is far from free.

Long Night of Museums, began in Berlin in 1997 as an attempt to bring more people into museums and art galleries, focusing on younger people who may not be regular museum-goers. Moscow, like 120 cities across Europe, now participates in Museum Night, holding free late-night museum and gallery open houses on the same day.

Saturday night was an interesting dichotomy for me. First, I went to the one of the galleries–Winzavod (ex-wine distillery turned into really hip industrial space, turned into gallery) and saw thousands of young hipsters roam around the galleries. You would never know whether you were in Moscow, New York or Paris. It dawned on me that hipsters are the most globalized group of people out there. Hipsters–through their attempt to differentiate themselves from the majority–look the same anywhere in the world.

After the Museum Night, I went to Opera, one of the most popular Russian clubs. It was like being in a completely different city. Moscow is like that. The “art people” never interact with the “club people”, who never interact with the Russian Orthodox “traditional” folks. It’s a different city depending on what clique you belong to. More so than in any other place I have seen.

From Russia, with love.

Photo of the Day (05/19/08)

by Iva Skoch on

Since I am in Russia this week, I am using a photo I took yesterday on the secret ground of Kolomenskoe, in outer Moscow. Rumors that Peter the Great was born here led to its nickname “the Russian Bethlehem.”

The Church of the Ascension overlooking the river Moscow is quite stunning and the park is great. What I loved the best, however, was the view. From here, Moscow looks like a peaceful oasis set in nature. (Don’t let it fool you. It is the opposite of that.) Here is the weird thing: I found the view of the endless field of communist-era city blocks strangely soothing in their uniformity. From far away, they don’t look as scary as they do close up.

From Russia, with love.

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can’t post it here.***