March 25

 

_______

 

March 14

THE NIGHT IN PETERSBURG

I'm at home. Arrest at such times does not clarify the subordination: it is not clear who is more deprived of freedom - the one who is inside the cell, or the one who is outside ...

“The editorials were abominable, packed with bloodthirsty, arrogant lies. The whole outside world was represented as degenerate, treacherous, stupid, and good for nothing else but to be taken over by Germany.”

 

_______

 

March 5

RUSSIAN WARSHIP, FUCK YOU!

I was released 48 hours later. I would recommend patriots of Russia and supporters of the war against Ukraine to visit the cell where I was sitting. The squalor of this place does not give reason to think that the state which has such elements of the penitentiary system has any future. 

After my release, my protest consisted in volunteering: first night I was talking to my friend about the war that had begun, about a collapsing business, about how to live in the ass that awaits us all... for two nights I went to police stations - I delivered transfers to detainees (it's good that they exist, but it's a pity that they are few, that they are so young and poorly organized)... Although, maybe is it just a plus?.. After all, this is exactly what the evil goblin and his entire entourage do not have!.. And they won't have it never…

The morning I go for a run in the park in a sweatshirt with the inscription "putin is a liar!", "GLORY TO UKRAINE!" ... Although my friend said to me that I have a chance to get on the head…

By the way, there was a "action" of putin's youth in my area this morning (goblin still wants him to have youth too!) - as I understand it, students from all sorts of technical schools/colleges were driven to the park (five hundred people, I think), handed out flags of the russian federation, and they waved them and shouted something. I was running through a group of these young people... and seeing me one girl started singing the anthem of russia ...

After this war, there will be only one link connecting all residents of the russian federation – it's a sense of collective shame...

The tenth day of the war is the tenth day of a new reality in which to live. To live and appreciate every day and every deed…

No one can humiliate Kiev.

Glory to Ukraine!

_______

 

THE LIFE OF A POET (the last pre-war appeal to putin)

 

FOR HEROIC UKRAINIAN DEFENDERS OF THE ISLAND OF ZMEINY (now, during the war)

 

 

Your end is near,

it will be sudden, damn goblin,

your majesty on stupidity of rams.

It isn’t clear where you must be waiting for it yet,

armed guys are covering you with their bodies,

parliament is a bunch of madmen,

the constitution has become your wrong ID.

Nobody can read it.

You have thrown the discontented in prison,

you have squeezed out the unwanted from Russia quietly and calmly.

You have painted your world cleverly,

but no one can live in the colors of your greyness.

And I repeat to you again

the color of your pus will not cover

the color of living blood of Ukraine.

Suck it. /Have you understood?

________

 

 

February 25

 

Morning we’Il all go out, fuck putin! 

 

 

STOP putin!

Don't believe putin in anything! Don't talk to him, don't notice him, don't broadcast him, don't translate him. putin is a disease of Russia. He will not stop in Ukraine. He's going to move on if we don't stop him sooner. We can stop him by weapons – in Ukraine, by protest - in Russia, by finance and law - in Europe, all over the world.

Stop putin!

God help Ukraine!

________

February 24

THE WAR

 

 

________

January 30

LEVASHOVO MEMORIAL CEMETERY

This is only one of the places of mass executions carried out by Stalin's executioners. About 50,000 people were shot here. The record of those who were shot was not strict, for this reason the number of those shot remains approximate ... Executions began in 1937 ... in 1942, objectionable people were also shot here too ... In the 1990s, a memorial to the victims of stalin's terror was opened here. However now there is no line to enter. I think that the janitors themselves do not know for whom they clean the paths from snow. The new stalin would like to forget about this place. He throws in prisons more and more prisoners who disagree with his policies.

 

 

There are crosses and monuments in the forest: for example, to the killed Ukrainians, to the killed Germans, to the killed Ingrians…

 

There are memorial plaques: for example, to the poet Boris Kornilov ...

 

 

Begrüßt uns der kühl Morgen?

Trifft uns der Fluss vom Wind?

Bitte keine Sorgen,

nicht mehr, meine Liebe.

 

Jetzt geht dein Wahnsinn weiter, 

aber ich hoffe, es wird weg.

Deine Krankheit wird müssen beendet -

alles wird umgekehrt.

 

Wirst du sauber und weiß –

der Nichtgerichtete wird nicht richten.

Gute Reise, Ruβland, gute Reise –

Sing du dem Klugen, du bist tief.

 

Werden wir ein Volk sein?

Es schneit noch, es schneit.

________

 

January 15

 

________

 

January 9

The Russian Museum is hosting a very interesting exhibition dedicated to representatives of Russian cosmism.

Here you can see some of the masterpieces that the administration of the Russian Museum usually does not display on public display.  I am talking about the collection of Filonov's paintings, for example.

 

________

 

January 2

 

An exhibition of works by Dürer is being held in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace. Here are exhibits from the collection of the Hermitage, the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts and from Yaroslavl. These are mainly graphics, engravings, prints.

When the borders are closed, this is the way to Europe.

 

________

 

December 31

THE LECTURE COURSE ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE (the fifth lecture)

________

 

December 24

SOMEWHERE AND SOMETIME BEFORE
 
If Plato's statement that we live in a world of ideas is true, then it is also true that the death of empires is the death of big ideas. Once the idea of Rome has outlived itself, now the idea of Putin's Russia is outliving itself. Perhaps the lifetime of big ideas becomes shorter in the course of the historical process. In this regard, it is impossible not to admire the life of poets, because they live in a world of illusions, which they cherish more than anything else in the world, and the sages laugh at them, as Erasmus of Rotterdam said.

________

 

December 19

________

 

December 5

________

 

December 4

It's a fabulous winter in St. Petersburg!

It's the pre-war situation in politics: Putin's fear of rockets from Kiev is like two drops of water similar to Stalin's fear of artillery from Finland in November 1939. Most of all, Russian patriots and non-Russian The Blue Meanies are to blame for the war...

I like skiing.

________

November 27

It was founded by the Swedes...

To this day, his Swedish origin worries many people in Russia. For this reason, in the museum exposition in Vyborg castle, many texts “testify” to BEFORE the foundation of Viborg/Viipuri, Karelians and Russians lived here, and not Finns, and especially not Swedes. In the historical museum of Stockholm there is no information that the Old Russian state arose thanks to Sweden. At the same time the monument "1000th anniversary of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod is dedicated to this event… And the Old Russian chronicles testify to the vocation of the Varangians from Scandinavia in 862.

This is a specific Russian view to history: to prove what is beneficial, not what is true. Even if we don't know what happened BEFORE. This view to history is not typical for Sweden.

Apparently, Russians and Swedes are different peoples. Swedes have no psychological difficulties – They may not drink.

So… There is an interesting thing in the library of Vyborg Castle. This is a commemorative plaque (It was brought from the wall of the railway station of Vyborg) with the words that the Red Army have liberated the "ancient Russian Vyborg-city". Perhaps the very fact of the appearance of such a memorial plaque after the Second World War saved the old name of the city… While the Finnish names of all other settlements were destroyed in 1948. Fortunately, many original street names have been preserved in Viborg/Viipuri itself. For example: Wateroutpoststreet – Vesiportinkatu/Vattenportsgatan, Watchtowerstreet – Wakttornsgatan/ Vahtitorninkatu … original names have been preserved from the Finnish and Swedish city. This happened because during the Imperial Russia in Viborg/Viipuri all the names were in three languages: Finnish, Swedish, Russian. As the Finnish national identity grew, the question arose about Finnish becoming the first language.

There are two cathedrals in the center of Viborg/Viipuri: Orthodox and Protestant. The Orthodox church is in perfect order. The walls of the Protestant church need painting and repair. Two brothers: the first is full, and the second is hungry. They are praying to God.  Whose prayer is stronger?

 Viborg/Viipuri This city itself is of great importance for the Finnish language and for the Finnish Reformation. Maybe the same as Wittenberg - for Lutheranism in Germany. The life of Mikael Agricola, the first Finnish Lutheran, is inextricably linked with Viborg/Viipuri.

On Sundays, young people are walking around the city like dogs in Constantinople. Without a goal.

There is no work in Viborg/Viipuri. For this reason, men drink vodka, and their women work as saleswomen in shops, and in the market, where you can't buy local natural products. Nobody remembers the local natural products. The entire Leningrad region is killed. However, the restaurants are open. Inside there are the usual average globalistic menu. At the end of the XX century, one gangster group seized power in Viborg/Viipuri. Gangsters run restaurants because it corresponds to their morality. This is not same the keeping cows or running a subsistence farm. This is how Viborg/Viipuri lives – a beautiful, not fully destroyed city. The city that was founded by the Swedes, inhabited by Finns, conquered by the Russians. The soul of Viborg/Viipuri is in the organ music of the Protestant Cathedral of Peter and Paul, in the amiable night seller of ice cream at the sculpture "Boy with a bear", in the stones of houses and pavements.

Now his only joy is the rare tourists from St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Such a city cannot be perceived only as a stop on the way from St. Petersburg to Helsingfors/Helsinki. This is a stupid inattention to his history. I am against such a utilitarian view of Viborg/Viipuri.

I suggest a drink to the glory of Viborg/Viipuri.

 

________

November 7

_______

October 30

 

_______

October 24

Minorities Party

Election results in Russia

5. Is the war waiting for us? 

Fighting putin's autocracy only in the ways adopted in America or Europe is hardly possible with success. I mean demonstrations, campaigning, elections - everything that is used to manifest civic activity in the civilized world. Putin juggles historical images and, thanks to a low level of education, keeps a significant part of the population of modern Russia in fear and stupidity. In order to defeat him, it is necessary to create Russia outside Russia. For example – in Ukraine. All this leads to armed confrontation. This is very sad. But it is so.

 

 _______

October 23

 

_______

October 17

 

_______

October 16

Minorities Party

Election results in Russia

  1. Long live the Great October Riot!

It is obvious that the murder of Anna Politkovskaya was ordered by Kadyrov. The day of the murder was not chosen by chance - Putin's birthday. Perhaps it is according to the tradition of the mountaineers - to present to an older friend ("the great white tsar") the most precious thing - the head of the enemy. Several facts indicate the validity of this hypothesis. First, the very reportage by Anna "Centerboy from Tsentoroi". Direct threats from Kadyrov. The fact that Anna, leaving Kadyrov's possession, was waiting for a machine gun fire in the back. It all lies on the surface. But power in Russia is not based on the law, it is organized like a bandit clan, a gangster's family. For this reason, in the first place, such power protects those who are closer to the head of the clan. Kadyrov is closer to Putin than Politkovskaya. For this reason, Putin will never allow Kadyrov to be blamed. At the same time, Kadyrov knows exactly what "the great white tsar" allows him and what he does not allow.

Thus, the state power in Russia is the bandit clan, a gangster's family. Accordingly, any negotiations, speeches, disputes and discussions are communication with bandits, thieves and liars. Khodorkovsky says, "If you want to negotiate with gangsters, then you must be a gangster yourself." In ordinary life, do you communicate with someone who is lying to you? He lies at any moment for any reason. Sometimes this lie can be explained by his bad mood, bad weather, poor health, but sometimes this lie cannot be explained by anything. With such communication, you can be sure of only one thing - that you will definitely be deceived. This is the style of putin's criminal family – the state power in Russia. 

It is very interesting this kind of power keeps to the historical tradition. The power of putin's gangster family is a continuation of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the first years of Soviet power, it is a continuation of Stalin's tyranny, it is a continuation of Brezhnev's stupidity. Now it is - dictatorship, tyranny and stupidity of putin's criminal family. Reconciliation with Russia existing before the 1917 revolution did not happen. Despite this, now the state power in Russia sometimes may be associated with the times of imperial Russia too. Disrespect, a reluctance to take seriously the problems and needs of the overwhelming majority of imperial Russia eventually led to a social explosion in 1917. By this way the criminal power of the putin's gangster family repeats the behavior of the august family that led the country to the revolution. One of the main events of that riot took place in October 1917. By the way.

_______

October 10

Minorities Party

Election results in Russia

3. Free Navalny!

Stubbornness is the first sign of stupidity. You cannot listen to anybody of the Russian power for any reason. The source of this power is the President of Russia is pathologically cowardly, he understands only the language of force. As long as he does not feel an immediate threat to himself personally, he will do whatever he wants. Maybe this is due to the fact that he is a little man.

Alltime he remained a little boy. He didn't grow up. But he wants to act like adults. This little boy is very shy about not being tall. As a little boy, he isn't always getting what to do. He says all sorts of nonsense in order to drive away his fear. For example, in Dresden in 2006, he said that the murder of Anna Politkovskaya harmed Russia more than her publications. By this he showed his attitude to the publications of Anna Politkovskaya - he assessed them as harmful. Before the entry of the Russian army into Syria, he said that the Leningrad street had taught him the "deal a blow first" rule. Indeed, there was this rule on the streets of Leningrad or New York (?) when he was a child, but what does it mean in the world politics today? He just doesn't think about it. He doesn't know how. He is a little boy. He didn't grow up. But on the other hand, his fear grew to incredible proportions, he turned into a huge inferiority complex.

His “smaltitude” stature formed a special fear complex in him.

This fear sometimes takes completely bizarre forms. For example, he does not mention Navalny's surname, assuming that this does not introduce him into real life. He wants to show: who is not named does not exist. This philosophy works in certain circumstances. In the case of a little-known or unpopular phenomenon. But now not to mention Navalny's last name, when tens of thousands of people had been taking to the streets only after one quiet appeal, means to show everyone not only their fear, but a paranoid fear of protest, and a panic, which Alexei Navalny ( as the personification of this protest ) generates in him. But the protest is broader. Protest and outrage are much broader.

Free Navalny!

_______

October 9

 

_______

October 3

Minorities Party

Election results in Russia

2. Putin is a liar

Putin's lies correspond to the Russian tradition. The peculiarity of the Russian traditional lie is that it has a religious and patriotic character. And it also has an educational character. One example is historical figures whose images are embalmed so tightly that the features of people who once lived are simply not visible. In Soviet times, icons and banners were made from portraits of the leaders of the Soviet state. Now, thanks to the ignoramusation raised to the principle when a KGB officer considers himself a historian, new icons and banners are appearing. One of the revered icons is the icon of Catherine II. In the palace, which belonged to the descendants of her illegitimate son – Bobrinsky - that he was born out of wedlock, they say almost with embarrassment. It is quite difficult to change the slave psychology of an entire nation. Putin uses it.

 

_______

October 2

 

_______

 

September 26

Minorities Party

Election results in Russia

1. Stupidity and poverty of russian people

The tradition of the Russian people is to have patience. 'The Lord was patient, and told us to' - This is the favorite slogan of the authorities in Russia. The authorities have been dragging any crimes, theft and lawlessness through such a slogan for several hundred years. As a result, the people are no longer left with faith, but with superstition. This superstition is very convenient for the authorities to explain to the people their poverty. Superstition itself turns into stupidity. Stupidity and poverty are signs of savagery and lack of freedom. line to payment officeLack of freedom and savagery can manifest themselves in the standings in line when paying for utilities:line to payment office standing in line to save a small amount on payment.  Standing in line because of distrust of electronic terminals and the Internet (it is happening in 2021!). Lack of freedom and savagery can manifest itself in fear for your property even at the very top: it is best not to declare your property in Russia as your own, if you do not want to lose it… (one says this about real estate objects, too.)

 

 

the scene of the monks' dispute about the russian people

about film

 _______

 

September 16

_______

 

August 28

Intolerance leads to war. Unfortunately, Putin's Russia is moving in this direction with great speed. Can you stop the train with your bare hands? ... "Death of Stalin" is an attempt to stop such a train ... For this reason, in my opinion, this film deserves high praise from Russian viewers. Thanks to the filmmakers.

_______

August 21

Some surroundings south of St. Petersburg

It is obvious that around St. Petersburg there are many interesting places related to the history of Russia and its culture. But through the interesting surroundings of St. Petersburg and Russia itself is connected with the world. The Museum of the Gannibals family connects Russia with Africa, the museum and the possessions of the Vladimir Nabokov family - with Europe and America ... Unfortunately, Russia does not always treat its own history with the respect it deserves ... The first Gannibal in Russia was Abram Gannibal. He was a servant of Emperor Peter the Great and great-grandfather of the poet Alexander Pushkin. The grave of Abram Gannibal was destroyed in the Soviet era ... Later, a cenotaph was installed in the Gannibals estate. Was it so difficult not to destroy this grave?...

In the annotation in Russian, in front of the entrance to the estate of Vladimir Nabokov's family, he is named an emigrant writer. Yes, it's true, he emigrated during the Bolshevik revolution ... But... This is the most important thing that could be said about the writer, poet and entomologist Vladimir Nabokov? ...

A simplification of history should not be allowed. But in Russia, president Putin writes historical articles in which he tells how everything really happened. He does not need the help of historians. He is the main Russian historian.

It should not be!

For this reason… Free Navalny!

 ______

August 15

The Alexander Palace was opened in Tsarskoye Selo. This is an interesting museum without an amber room. I think that the charm of the interiors in which the family of Nicholas II lived is able to captivate the attention of visitors no less than the amber box of Elizabeth. The palace was not destroyed in the XX century, for this reason, many authentic interiors have been preserved here.

I express the hope that in addition to the art critics of applied arts of Russia at the beginning of the XX century, this museum will remind everyone for many years about the cruelties of Russia, about the victims of Russia... Amen...

But Navalny should be free!

_______

August 14

Russian artists in the Russian Museum...

Permanent and temporary exhibitions in the Russian Museum (Benois block) are very interesting. But, in my opinion, the national specifics here are not just emphasized by the organizers (this was conceived by Emperor Alexander III), but are opposed not only to Western, but even Russian, but not officially accepted in Russia. The tradition of Soviet times in this sense has not undergone any changes. Unfortunately…

I thought about the fate of Russian artists in Bavaria (Germany), among whom were: Kandinsky, Jawlensky and Grabar. Russian Museum has opened an exhibition of the latter, as well as an exhibition of the wonderful Russian artist Ivan Shishkin

Free Navalny!

_____

 

June 2021

A walk along the islands of the Neva delta is a particularly refined holiday in the city of St. Petersburg at the beginning of the XX century. And now, one hundred and ten years later, this is still true. The fate of the buildings of the dacha district of the St. Petersburg nobility has developed in different ways. Something has completely disappeared, something has found new owners - new Russians and their children... Putin is a liar!... Something had become part of his domain. In Russian, the owner is now the presidential affairs department, which corresponds, by analogy, to the Ministry of the court of His Imperial Majesty before the revolution... On the western tip of Krestovsky Island, you might think that time is passing and everything is changing...

______

July 2021

Unknown architects of St. Petersburg deserve to be known about them. For this reason, I visited the excursion dedicated to the architect Baranovsky with great interest. He built a Datsan, he built two amazingly beautiful houses for Yeliseyev near the Lomonosov Bridge. He had a beautiful and unusual house of his own on Dostoevsky Street and an interesting, perhaps tragic, fate...

Free Navalny!

______

 

For the Death of Egor Bashlachev

It's never late to get close to father.

He is a bird - it's possible to fly,

He is a song, then every son’s a child

who singing, who remembering his sigh.

We’re all the fathers, and we are all children.

We speak the words of Morning Prayer with

faith'n'hope as if we haven’t never,

the sound like this have not been heard…

Like as a crazy and a doc (by choose)

I’m writing a new curse to in-

attention – to the ace of base.

Are they together now? I twist

a table, and I’m looking for…

What do they care what whole world says?

 

August 1

Why do you say a tale is quickly told?...

... for the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Nystad (Sweden)... 

 

May 28

A House of the Emir of Bukhara

Many houses in St. Petersburg have their own rich history. One of them is located on Kamennoostrovsky prospect. This is the house that was built for the last emir of Bukhara. The past and present of this house is of interest to many. Now half of the house belongs to the bandits Vasilievs. Perhaps they are Putin's friends or just his acquaintances. This is a very famous gangster family from Vyritsa (Leningrad region). This gangster family is so famous that even on Wikipedia you won't find anything about it. High windows hide the space that was intended for the harem of the Bukhara emir, and which is now apparently occupied by the harem of the Vasilyev brothers.

In the part of the house that does not belong to the Vasiliev-bandits, poverty and misfortune reign. Here you can see the remains of the preserved rich decoration - wall cladding, marble window sills, oak railings and balusters.

It is sad that the cruel contrast of poverty and luxury is still characteristic of Russia, even if one does not think about the reasons, about the origins of both.

Today Russia is run almost everywhere by a community of gangsters and police. In this reason, on this staircase, in this kingdom of poverty, which is located next to the possessions of the mafia, the congratulation of the city administration sounds especially cynical: "Happy City Day!"

...

 

May 22-23
A Night of museums..
..took place in St. Petersburg. Walking to museums at night - what could be more unusual? But it is possible. You can also go to concerts at night!

This night I was a Dutch church on Nevsky Prospekt, I listened to a new organ made in Holland and brought to St. Petersburg! Communication with God through organ music is sincere communication. Visitors to the Dutch church do not yet know what it should look like. For this reason, all the chairs in the church are turned towards the organ, and not towards the place where the crucifixion should be. But - "the road will be mastered by the one walking" ... Yesterday, in the Dutch church in addition to the organ, I saw two living Dutchmen! It was these Dutch people who brought the organ from Holland!

The Rumyantsev Museum is a museum of the history of the city. In my opinion, this is a Museum not only about St. Petersburg, but about the city in the cosmogonic sense. For this reason, there is a large exhibition dedicated to Venice. But for me the most important thing is in the preserved interiors of the palace.

The building, which was built for customs, is used for the Institute of Russian Literature. There is a large exhibition here, the exhibits of which tell about the history of Russian literature. There are portraits of famous customs officials. I'm talking about Alexander Radishchev. On the night of museums, the administration allows you to go up to the observation deck at the customs tower. A beautiful view opens up from here.

There is a Roerich Museum in St. Petersburg - this is a truly globalistic place. In a good sense of the word. After all, the problems facing culture and art are the same all over the world. I think so. Like Roerich.)) But this is not the only place in St. Petersburg that is associated with Roerich.

Even deep after midnight it is pleasant, if you have not fallen asleep, to listen to classical music - arias from famous operas. I like to hear something pleasant, especially if it is a performer unknown to me. If a young singer, then this is interesting. It is very interesting if this young singer is a young woman with a rich voice and she has rich formats ...

 

 
May 11
 

Is there no sadness here?

And anywhere?

Do you want to be free

when you are going there?

It's sure - for me.

This is my wish what's had.

I like to get drunk with a friend!


 
May 9
 
Those who fall into warlike fervor should be revered as bandits and murderers alien to the people...
 
 
May 2
 

Today is Easter in Russia. Instead of the usual "Hi" or "How are you" according to the Orthodox tradition, we greet each other with the words "Christ is risen", answer "Truly risen", then kiss three times (on the cheek). This is not a very strict rule. But this is a very bright rule, as well as visiting temples. But I visited the planetarium yesterday, not the temple. It's a pretty old planetarium. For this reason, I think that it, like everything else in St. Petersburg, has a special meaning for Russia. I especially liked the story - a journey through the starry sky. It was a living scientist's story, living speech, not an audio guide. Russia traditionally has a lot of ambitions. One of them is the cosmic ambition. But I do not know how Russia can seriously make any space plans when the Planetarium steps are falling apart. Just as Neil Armstrong said when he set foot on the moon that it was one small step for man and one big step for all of humanity, so here I want to ask: how can you expect to go to the Moon or to Mars, if there is such a mess?

You can believe it only... To believe - it is sacred.

Christ Is Risen.

https://planetary-spb.ru/planetarium/people/pogorelskaya-anna-borisovna/

 
 
April 18
 
 

Unfortunately, mostly Russian state museums continue the traditions of Soviet museums. The main thing here is not a visitor, a tourist, at least not a Russian tourist. Here the main person is a museum employee, an administrator. If you only buy a ticket for individual service (80 euros per person), then you will be looked at in a human way. After a long repair, the entrance to the palace is equipped through a side building – this is more convenient from a logistical point of view. There is a lot of politics and agitation in Russian museums. The beginning of the tour of the palace is the rooms of Alexander III. It is now very fashionable to praise the monarchy. Usually the monarch who lived here who is praised. In Gatchina it's Alexander III, in Pavlovsk it's Paul I, in Oranienbaum it's Peter III, everywhere it's Peter I. The praise comes with the same fervor with which 30 years ago they were scolded. In the Russian and Soviet traditions, there is no limit to praise and abuse. Everything that is "restored" in the palace is actually made anew from drawings, photographs and drawings. The exception is the collection of paintings in the throne room and something else. In general, everything looks very expensive and very cheap at the same time. Expensive – if you count the money. Cheap – if you remember the past. The palace is equipped with an alarm system and a large staff of nervous female employees who believe that they are at the forefront of the struggle between culture and barbarism.

The special beauty of Gatchina is preserved in the old streets.

p.s. Since the time of Alexander III, there have been almost no changes: Russia treats its people as disrespectfully as then. Under Alexander III, the playwright Ostrovsky received a pension for many years of work only from the hands of the tsar and by his will, and not by the will of parliament, not at the initiative of society. Now on the house where in 1988 the great Russian poet Alexander Bashlachev lived his last days, there is not even a memorial sign.

 
April 11...
TEST OF THE BAT by Strauss

There are many performances at the Mariinsky Theater. There are bad performances. Yesterday I watched the operetta "The Bat" by Strauss. This is an openly weak production, which is completely irresponsible. Here, the entire text repeats the text of a Soviet television film of 1978, while the performance of the Mariinsky Theater actors looks pale against the background of the performance of the actors of that time. Rare successes in the form of the dance of "Orlovsky's ballet" cannot compensate for the general depressing impression of this seemingly cheerful show.

 
 
April 6...

The Leningrad Meat processing plant, an architectural monument of the 30s of the XX century, will soon be destroyed. In 1937, the project of this building was awarded an ash medal at the World Exhibition of Arts and Technology in Paris. The sculptural group, created by the great Russian sculptor Demut-Malinovsky in the 19th century, will be transported to the old place, which also has a completely new look. The clock on the old building of the factory entrance stopped ... Oleg Grigoriev, a Russian poet of the 20th century, said: “Time is tired and stopped. And not anything is happened."  Fyodor Tyutchev, a Russian poet of the 19th century, said: "We cannot predict how our word will respond." (Can't we know the future?)

 
 
Recently... March 27-29...
 
Unfortunately, the perception of history in Russia is peculiar…

The ancient city of Smolensk is very beautiful and interesting. It is believed that it was founded in 863 - this is the date of the first mention in the chronicle. However, I think its age would have increased if good archaeological research had been done. Smolensk is beautiful despite of the fact that it is very destroyed, and the most of destructions is the fruit of Russia's own inattention to this city. Smolensk is interesting, although here the interest most often comes across tragic pages. These pages evidence about how the city gave everything for Russia, but now it cannot make ends meet… As a loyal dog, which, due to old age, is no longer interesting to the owners… In Smolensk, three stone churches of the XII century have been preserved! But all of them are not located in the center of Smolensk, but behind its fortress wall. All the buildings of the XIII-XV centuries, which were located in the fortress, were destroyed. The fortress itself is also mostly destroyed or dismantled. Several fragments of its wall are used as war memorials. A Polish Catholic church has been preserved here! But it is closed, because Catholicism is an unpatriotic religion (according to Putin and his gangstersyard). There is an interesting art gallery here, which makes sense to visit… Unfortunately, in Smolensk, all the old street names have been destroyed, but there are places where, along with modern (Soviet) names, old (pre – revolutionary) names are also marked... Here you need to be careful in the everyday sense-a public toilet may not be equipped with anything (there is only a hole in the floor). In the center of Smolensk, the Philharmonic Hall has one of these sights. : ( In general, the whole history of old Smolensk is very sad. It is especially sad that Putin and his gangsters use this for propaganda purposes: everything that was destroyed it was destroyed by the Germans in the XX century, or by the French in the XIX century, or by the Poles even earlier. On the contrary, everything that is new, that is building, that is repaired - all it's thanks to Putin and his gangsters… However, this deception is easy to detect, easy to discover. These are disgusting roads everywhere, especially in new areas, to which the Germans, French and Poles have nothing to do; this is a bad working municipal transport; this is dust, sand and dirt all over the city (it is clean near the administration buildings in the center only); these are the old cemeteries of Smolensk, trampled into the mud, neglected… The residents live very poorly… For this reason, they may seem sullen and unsmiling… However, quite by chance, you will also be able to feel here the amazing warmth and openness of the Smolensk soul or-the soul of Smolensk… ;)

Not far from Smolensk is the memorial "Katyn". It is dedicated to the Polish prisoners of war and Soviet citizens who were shot and buried here. These executions were carried out by the OGPU-NKVD of the USSR since the late 20s of the XX century. In 1940, more than 4,000 Polish prisoners of war were shot and buried here. These burials became known during the German occupation in 1943.

Given the suppression of dissent and political persecution in modern Russia, the whole it is very sad to think about this.

In the memory of the victims of political repression in the USSR I say:

Free Alexey Navalny!

 
 
...March 21...

The difference in the perception of history leads to a different perception of the environment, to a different perception of modernity ... Many people knows that Hitler is the evil ... but few think about where he came from ... In Russia it's more difficult, more complicated -  few think that Stalin is the evil,  and only a few people think about how he could have been exalted. How could the regime of his sole power establish itself in the USSR, lead to all the horrors to which it led? You can get to know the history of the life and rise of one of Stalin's associates, Kirov, in his museum, which exist in the apartment where Kirov lived. Kirov was the leader of the Leningrad party organization (“governor of Leningrad”) in 1926-1934. He was killed on December 1, 1934. The circumstances, reasons and customers of this murder are still a topic of controversy. (what can we say about the murder of Boris Nemtsov?!) But in all versions, in all interpretations of Kirov's murder, a woman appears - his mistress (?). Kirov was killed by her husband... Unfortunately the museum does not tell anything about this women ... But the museum has a lot of exhibits that tell about everyday life - about the life of Kirov himself, about the life of Leningraders in the late 1920s, early 1930s ... They allow you to learn more about the formation of totalitarianism in the USSR, about its traditions in Russia ... (There are the texts in English and French)

Free Navalny!

 
March 13..

In St. Petersburg there are many museums, many palaces, but the Leningrad region was be populated by people long before the foundation of St. Petersburg, before the birth of Peter the Great. Everybody may to know more about the amazing history of ancient Russia in the Museum of Old Ladoga - this fortress was founded no later than the 753 year. In December 2020, a new pleasant and interesting museum opened in one of the towers of the fortress, here you can learn a lot about the history of the development of this earth .. If you'll be lucky, then you can see the frescoes of the XII century in the St. George Temple ... In any case, it will be a memorable walk ..

   
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