Los Cuadernos de Julia

Much Ado About Russian: A Fight At the Ukrainian Rada

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:50:00 +0000

Multiculturalism entails multilingualism, and different countries react to the issue differently. Most people in the UK whom I came across were more positive than not about the fact that they could hear all sorts of accents and languages in the street. Bengali, Indian, Polish, Russian - anything went, it seems, as long as it was not the Queen's English.

In Russia, and certainly in Moscow, the situation is different. I live in the same apartment block where I was born and grew up; many Russian (=white) neighbours know me well. But we have other neighbours, too, who arrived in the last 5 years from the former Soviet republics or Russian subject territories. They speak Russian to a different degree, and between themselves they naturally speak their native language. My Russian neighbours attitude is not enthusiastic, to say the least. On several occasions, when I got into a lift together with such Russian (=white) neighbour they would remark, as if I was a guest: "Oh, how good it is to see a Russian face!" A variation is "How good it is to hear the Russian speech". Nationalism is overt here, and those Caucasian and Uzbek "newcomers" are often called "black", as opposed to pale-skinned Russians.

However, for years since the demise of the Soviet Union the survival of Russian citizens in the former Soviet republics was also a sensitive, if not altogether painful, issue. The case of the Baltic States may be better known, and now Ukraine, a country that historically, culturally and politically has for centuries had strong ties with Russia, follows the same nationalistic course. Probably being close to Russia for such a long time explains, why the Verkhovna Rada deputees couldn't stop half-way in defending their point of view.

Basically, on his coming to power, the current president Victor Yanukovich promised to raise the status of the Russian language in the country. Russians constitute the largest ethnic minority in Ukraine, so Yanukovich's plan paid due respect to this fact. The Ukranian nationalists are against this, arguably for fear of threatening the status of the Ukrainian language. So when the bill was about to be discussed at the Rada this week, opposition's garni khloptsi (Ukrainian for "handsome guys") were adamant to have their way. To avoid discussing the bill they burst into the Rada praesidium, and a fight ensued. The photos were made by the RIA Novosti correspondent.

The nationalists believe that this Russian issue hammers a wedge in the Ukrainian society and is best to not be discussed. And they are ready to kick the air - literally.

A Bicycle Stand At the Moscow State University

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:58:00 +0000

The scene I saw today at the Moscow State University brings to mind Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thieves, if only in a very generic sense. When I was a student graduating 10 years ago we didn't have bicycle stands or shelters; the actual culture of cycling to the classes was practically non-existent. Today's different, as the scene I captured today well illustrates. I first shot it in colour and then changed to monochrome, as it felt more natural that way.

Julie Delvaux - A Bicycle Stand At the Moscow State University

Pedro Saenz - La Tumba del Poeta

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:38:00 +0000

Pedro Saenz, The Poet's Tomb

Pain of the Matador (photo by Greg Wesson)

The painting by Pedro Saenz La Tumba del Poeta reminds me of two things. One, is Pain of the Matador monument in Madrid; another is a poem by Nikolai Zabolotsky written shortly before his death when he and Alexander Tvardovsky visited Italy and stopped in Ravenna by Dante's tomb. I translated this poem but I'm still slightly unhappy with two stanzas, so I'll omit them.

To Florence-mother always a stepson,
I chose Ravenna as my final home.
Stranger, accuse me not; let Death alone
Torment the soul of the cheating one.

<...>

I didn't take my broken lyre with me.
It rests in peace among my native people.
Why then you, Tuscany, for whom I've longed so deeply,
Now on my orphaned mouth are kissing me?

<...>

Go on, almight bellman, ring your bells!
The world is still awash with blood-red foam!
I chose Ravenna as my final home
But even here I found no rest.

JD © 2012

Ed Miliband For Social Mobility; What About Postcode Poverty?

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:24:00 +0000

I've just read an article on Yahoo! News reporting how Ed Miliband went all against the Beecroft Report that suggests changes in labour laws that would facilitate employers to lay off the employees. The coalition Government, in his words, isn't doing anything to attack social inequality; quite on the contrary, they uphold it by denying "bright youngsters from poor backgrounds to succeed". He wants to make it easier for disadvantaged teenagers to go to the University and to enter the elite professions. And above all, he wants to build culture based on long-termism, investment, and training.

Since I have two native countries, I take to heart what is happening in Britain, especially in the social and education spheres. Now, the Government may be about to seal inequality and to pervert labour laws, but in doing so it is merely following in the footsteps of its predecessors. When I watched a 2005 programme on BBC about postcode poverty I was shocked and upset. In Moscow I have a neighbouring district that is separated from mine by a railway - to take that as a comparison, on my side we were middle-class with promising future; on their side, they were poor working class, forever dealing with money and drug problems.

Obviously, this cynical nonsense - to offer prospects based on one's postcode - wasn't the Labour creation; but as one understands, Labour did nothing to change the state of things. Quite possibly because within the party itself some people didn't want to mix with someone whose parents were drug-abusing paupers.

It's great that Mr Miliband voices the problem; it's bad that voicing isn't a solution. To solve the problem, people's mindset has to be changed. I'm glad to have lived in a very typical working-class area to the north of Greater Manchester, for I have no illusions about the so-called "disadvantaged people". Many of them enforce this condition on themselves and their children. But I also know about snobbery that accompanied a rather patronising mercy towards the poor - quite like in one Victorian story. An upper class girl decided to help a hungry street beggar, also female. She brought her home, gave her biscuits and sandwiches, and was convinced to keep her in - because it was so good to help common people! Unfortunately, the poor girl appeared a bit too pretty, and so she was sent away into a London night with 3 pounds in her pocket.

Is this what the Government, no matter of what political background, also doing?

Gavin Ewart - Shakespearean Sonnets

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:30:00 +0000

Michelle Puelo, Shakespeare In His Study

Back in 1976 and 1977, a celebrated British poet Gavin Ewart composed two sonnets in free verse, mentioning and contemplating William Shakespeare. In case you are unfamiliar with this name, here is what the 1989 edition of the International Authors and Writers Who's Who tells us that Gavin Buchanan Ewart was born in on February 4, 1916 in London and received his BA and MA in Classics and English from the University of Cambridge. For a number of years he was the Chairman of the Poetry Society, and in 1984 became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He died on October 26, 1995.

Tidying Up (1976) is distinct for its choice of words: the lyrical hero tells us that some thoughts just lay, reposed, in his mind, "awaiting collection", for they are not of a kind to be uttered (and he explains what he means). Shakespeare, Ewart claims, "owes his power to them". These thought may well be the product of the author's psyche, but they should also ideally be informed by the author's travels and perambulations. If, contrary to the advice in Shakespeare's Universality (1977), the author fails to get out and about, he "gets stuck in his own psyche" and thus "bores everyone - and that includes himself".

The illustration is somewhat Baconian Shakespeare In His Study by an American artist Michelle Buelo.

Tidying Up (1976)

Left lying about in my mind, awaitingn collection,
are the thoughts and phrases that are quite unsuitable
and often shocking to all Right-thinking people -
penetrated by a purple penis for example
(almost a line?); and how it's almost certain,
for Swift's hints, that the big sexy ladies of Brobdingnag
used Gulliver as an instrument of masturbation.
Hence a tongue-twister: Glumdalclitch's clitoris.

Though not always decorous, there's a lot of force in phrases.
A good many poems stem from them; they start something.
More than anything Shakespeare owes his power to them
(his secret, black and midnight hags and hundreds more),
they almost consoled him - though life is pretty bloody
(the multitudinous seas incarnadine).

Shakespeare's Universality (1977)

In one sense Shakespeare's 'universality' was accidental -
due to the fact that he wrote plays. When you have so many characters
you're bound to have so many views of human life.
Nobody can say 'Why are all your poems about moles?'
or tell you you're very limited in your subject matter.
A playwright's material (unless it is outrageously slanted)
usually deals with a group of opinions; people can never say
'Of course this play is entirely autobiographical'.

It's interesting that Shakespeare's Sonnets, which are
(I think we can't doubt) completely based on his life,
are by a long way his least satisfactory verse.
It's better for a writer, in most cases, to go out and about.
If he gets stuck in his own psyche for too long
he bores everyone - and that includes himself.

Russian Government May Stop Tobacco Products Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:36:00 +0000

When I returned to Moscow after living in England where smoking in public places has been prohibited for a number of years I found it hard at first to cope with smokers in cafes. Granted already in 2010 some cafes did have non-smoking areas, but it was still a long shot from an express taboo.

Come 2012, and here is the news that the Russian Government plans to discuss the pill vetoing smoking in public places and tobacco products sales in kiosks and small shops. No-smoking areas are to include the open-air markets, transport stops, long-distance trains, and even staircases in apartments (the long-term favourite of all home smokers).

We'll have to wait and see what comes of it. The bill also suggests to cut down on tobacco products advertising, especially if an advert for kids features smoking or cigarettes; and to avoid showing the same products in the shopwindows.

I'm totally for it, even though Moscow cafes have now a clearly designated no-smoking space. Until you get a taste of it you don't realise how wonderful it is to come back home after a night out and not have to head to the shower because your hair smells this hideous mix of different cigarettes. Nevermind the fact that smoking in cinema has long become a cliche, it would be nice to gradually erase this cliche from real life as well. Would do more good to our culture.

Radoj Kirov - Bulgarian Rhymed Short Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:19:00 +0000

Many years ago I got a book full of lovely rhymed short stories. They were written by Bulgarian children author, Radoj Kirov. He was born on February 6, 1916, and studied Engineering in Prague, Bratislava, and Sophia. I have no idea if he had any success as an engineer because he was to be better known as a poet and writer. He began to write, while still at school, and as a student actively protested against the Fascist regime. He seriously took to write after the Revolution of September 9th, 1944: first he composed poems for politically-savvy adult audiences, tried his hand at satyrical writing, and eventually came to write for kids. His poetry was translated in many languages, not only European.

As he noted in a short address to the book I have at home, when he compared his childhood with that of later generations, he could not believe how many kids were spoilt so much that they expected their parents to do everything for them. No wonder that some of the stories in the book "Слънце в торба" (Sun in the Basket) are about children who don't look after themselves, their house, and so beget some "punishment" for being too careless or lazy.

And then there are others, poetic, romantic, witty, like How Echo Appeared (read it in Bulgarian). Or the one below, in Russian translation, An Adventure in the Skies.

Радой Киров, Приключение в небесах (перевод Л. Дымова)

Пошел погулять я на луг серебристый, сорвал одуванчик большой и пушистый и поднял его над собой, будто зонтик, тучу заметив на горизонте.

Но тут налетел ветер яростный южный, и я полетел, как на шаре воздушном, над домом и лесом, над горною кручей, навстречу далеким клубящимся тучам. И облако вскоре догнало меня. Как было похоже оно на коня! Я прыгнул на белую спину его, и мы понеслись, не боясь ничего.

А там, над горой, где ночуют туманы, уже собрались облака-великаны и сумрачных туч кочевая орда. А мой белый конь мчался прямо туда! Тут гром загремел - и зловещ, и тревожен, но сразу я выхватил шпагу из ножен. И молниями небеса осветились, но в тот же момент наши шпаги скрестились!

Но вы-то, друзья, понимаете сами: нельзя одному воевать с небесами. Пройдет всего-навсего десять минут - и в плен меня грозные тучи возьмут!..

Но в это мгновение вдруг из-за тучи - поверите ль? - выглянул солнечный лучик, увидел мой луг серебристый вдали и сразу с улыбкой коснулся земли.

По этому лучику, как по веревке, на луг серебристый спустился я ловко. И вот перед вами я - цел, невредим, и снова по травам иду золотым, и тучи вдали не пугают меня...

Но жалко мне белого чудо-коня.

And someone copied the illustrations from this book, by Kiro Mavrov. Enjoy!

Фотографии в альбоме «Радой Киров "Солнце в корзинке"» blagorodendon на Яндекс.Фотках

The Appeal of a Soviet Car: Moskvich at the Car Exhibition in 1971

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:17:00 +0000

Moskvich car at the 1971 car exhibition

This is a photo from 1971 car exhibition featuring Moskvich ("Muscovite", literally). By 1970s this Soviet automobile had broken records in car manufacturing in the USSR. Taking Ford and Opel as inspiration, the MZMA/AZLK car plant in the outskirts of Moscow developed and produced various Moskvich models, including vans and mini-buses. The car was exported abroad, and not only to fellow Socialist countries, but to Britain, Norway, France, etc; it also took part in several car rallies, once gaining the 3rd place in the team competition.

Walking in Wisteria Tunnel; Reading Haiku

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:53:00 +0000

I was reading from Nabokov this morning, a translation of his celebrated Dar. It opens with a beautiful passage describing the appearance of a rainbow after the rain, particularly noting the puprle hues. I've always loved purple skies.

Then suddenly I found this amazing photo of wisteria tunnel in Japan. It is located in Kawachi Fuji Garden. The Japanese celebrate a few floral festivals, one is a very popular sakura matsuri, the cherry blossom festival; and another is fuji matsuri, or wisteria festival. As Garden Design explains, "The wisteria at these parks are Wisteria floribunda, which grow with powerful clockwise-twining stems. In Japan, these varieties bloom in this order: 'Usubeni fuji' (light pink), 'Murasaki fuji' (purple), 'Naga fuji' (long), 'Yae kokuryu' (double-petaled black dragon), and 'Shiro fuji' (white)".

I wish I could be so good with plants and flowers!

Source: Uploaded by user via Nicole on Pinterest

In Moscow, we have the lilac bushes in full bloom at this time of the year. Sadly, you can make money on them, so the branches with flowers quickly get cut and sold. Tulips are also blooming, and it's a beautiful time of the year now that the pollen settled down.

Garden Design via stomaster.livejournal.com

I wondered if there was ever any haiku commemorating wisteria, and you know, there is! It's not coming from a Japanese but from a lovely lady, Andromeda Jazmon Sibley. She composed the poem for the National Poetry Month 2010, and on her blog she writes about "multiculti kids' books and poetry".

Evening tea;
rain on the wisteria
until sun breaks through
~Andromeda Jazmon Sibley.

A Licedei Mime, Felix Agadzhanyan Dies in St. Petersburg

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:15:00 +0000

One of the father-founders of Licedei, a pantomime theatre, Felix Agadzhanyan died unexpectedly in St. Petersburg. He was 56.

Together with Vyacheslav Polunin, Agadzhanyan was one the first five members of Russia's world-known pantomime theatre. He joined the troupe at the age of 19.

The video below was made in February 2012 at the School of Modern Vocal in St. Petersburg where Felix gave a master class in pantomime. Sadly, this seems to be his last video.

About Licedei by Vyacheslav Polunin

May in Moscow in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:20:00 +0000

In March, when winter wasn't showing any sign of resignation, a joke circulated: "Those who survived 3 months of winter have got the fourth free of charge".

I think it can now be added: "...and hay fever as a vernal freebie". I'm very sorry for the tourists (not to mention citizens) who may be suffering from running noses and eyes, coughs, headaches, and whatever else that comes with this lovely spring condition. I have spent nearly a fortnight indoors because of it, and I have never been more annoyed for the same reason. It really is dreadful this year, as everyone suspects, due to a quick and sharp change in weather.

My few recommendations:

use your medication;
stay inside as much as you, if you can help it;
if you know what pollen you are allergic to, get an avoidance plan together;
don't get upset or wound up - being nervous will not help at all.

In-between the sufferings I read the collections of Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlain, Ossip Mandelstam, and the German Expressionists, and am currently on Luigi Pirandello (in Italian) and Jules Verne (in French). I tried Marcel Proust for my French reading, but after the attack on Symbolist and Expressionist poetry my brain evidently craved for something more legere, so I'm now on a tour du monde en 80 jours.

And as you may have noticed, I took a plunge and enabled dynamic views for LCJ. Feel free to play around and let me know what you think (especially how quickly it loads).

Russie: 'Art et Politique Sont Toujours Inseparable

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:49:00 +0000

Борис Акунин собирается провести 13 мая шествие от памятника Пушкину до памятника Грибоедову со следующей целью:

" Делая вид, что мирно беседуем о литературе (а на самом деле трясясь от страха), мы прогуляемся от одного Александра Сергеевича до другого. Завещания составлены, последние песни написаны, некоторые на всякий случай уже воздвигли себе памятник нерукотворный.
     Мэра города Москвы, депутатов Московской городской думы, а также всех желающих понаблюдать за этой рискованной операцией под кодовым названием «Контрольная прогулка» приглашаем к памятнику Пушкину в ближайшее воскресенье, 13 мая, в полдень.

     Предупреждение: Мы не отвечаем за жизнь и здоровье зрителей, которые подойдут слишком близко! Как говорится: At your own peril!

     Цель эксперимента – установить: можно ли все-таки москвичам свободно гулять по собственному городу или нужно получать какой-то специальный пропуск?"

Делается это, как говорится, in the aftermath ареста лидеров оппозиции за неповиновение полиции и скандирование политических лозунгов во время праздничных гуляний 6-9 мая 2012 г.

Защитники животных против защитников порядка (Sodahead)

По-видимому, у нас решили, что, если бумага, Интернет и ТВ могут терпеть "поток сознания", сдобренный "живым" матом, то самое время вынести это все на улицы города. Ну, допустим, поток сознания может быть вполне обоснован, а лозунги - оправданы. Даже можно без мата. Тем не менее, если вы начинаете открыто озвучивать лозунги, то это называется "политическая акция", которая без санкции правительства страны запрещена. Это нормальная логика, и не имеет значения, о каком правительстве идет речь, и как мы к нему относимся.

Если уж здесь (в Москве) так любят кивать на Англию, то следует иметь в виду, что тамошняя полиция точно так же "разобралась" бы с оппозиционерами. Даже политически активные деятели PETA, и те удостоиваются внимания полиции, если разгуливают нагишом по городу.

По этой именно причине мне и противна эта ремарка: "неужели жителям города нужно разрешение на прогулку по Москве"? Можно не только гулять, но даже в приватном порядке разглашать политические убеждения, но если вы собираете толпу и начинаете ее организовывать, то будьте готовы, что значимые лица озаботятся. В свое время так поступили даже Каиафа и Понтий Пилат.

Уважаемый писатель, кстати, собирается идти под настоящим именем и, вообще, его сия акция интересует как иллюстрация к давнему труду "Писатель и самоубийство". Надеюсь, мы не увидим повторения знаменитой студенческой акции в Париже в 1968 году; а вот в книжке на момент выхода было несколько ошибок. Но за переизданиями я не следила, возможно, ошибки уже исправлены...

Почему противно? Это же прекрасно, что у нас крепнет политическое сознание, что по первому зову собираются толпы народа! Однако по благотворительности Россия занимает 138 место в мире, а к самой этой деятельности у нас относятся, мягко выражаясь, как к покупке места в раю. Государство "должно" тратить деньги на всё и при этом еще сокращать налоги с населения. Откуда государству брать деньги? О том, чтобы самим благоустраивать общество за свои же деньги, речи почти не идет. Зато часть интеллигенции собирается устроить променад от одного Ал-дра Сергеича до другого, дабы убедиться, что в нашем городе еще можно свободно гулять. Интересно, сколько инвалидов и неимущих они заметят, ужаснутся и поймут, что нечего ждать "государство", а пора что-то делать самим? Потому что гражданин и политикан - это не одно и то же.

PS - По каким-то причинам, функция "Read more" не работает, поэтому пришлось с ней (пока) попрощаться, чтобы можно было прочесть пост целиком.

Only Old Men Are Going to Battle (with English subtitles)

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:28:00 +0000

Russia celebrates the Victory Day today. Since last December I have had a few chances to listen to old actors who either fought in the war or worked on the civilians' side. Ever since taking part in BBC's People's War campaign in 2005-2006 I was immensely interested in studying the generation that survived the world war - not the local military conflict, not some imperialist attack, but the war that pursued some 'loftier' ideals and exacted an extremely high price from those who shared them and who didn't.
The feeling I took from all conversations and performances was that our grandparents had had a great deal of emotional and spiritual stamina, so to speak. The actress I spoke to used to be a dancer during the war; her group was sent back and forth in all directions, assuring that soldiers never lost belief and courage. At one time she and her comrades had to hide in the forest among the trees; the idea was to stand against the tree or sit beneath it so you can't be seen. It's a good idea except that it was winter, so they had to hide among the naked trees.
To this day - that's nearly 70 years after 1945 - a lot of us cry when we listen to those stories, watch the films, read the books. One example of the war-time lyrical poem that continues surviving the time is Wait for Me, by Konstantin Simonov. I was thinking of sharing a song from one of the films, but then I found a movie from my "top-5" war films, with subtitles. I only ever watch it once a year or so because it takes you back to the days when love and death were inseparable, and you treasured small moments more, and it's a heart-rendering film. Only Old Men Are Going to Battle is a story of an air squadron whose fighters are also united in a small orchestra. It features a well-known song, Smuglyanka, which has a very contagious theme. Click on "cc" icon on the video panel to turn on English subtitles.
And although I don't want to get on my hobby-horse, contemplating the state of modern art, or Russian cinema for that matter, I will just say one thing. The only reason these films and poems escape the grip of Time is their wisdom and integrity. The problem is that both wisdom and integrity require courage, and we don't have it today. Defaming a politician doesn't require courage; even assassinating them is no longer an act of courage. Courage is in facing your own fears and weaknesses, which Only Old Men... also demonstrate.

Venus Anadyomene in Painting and Arthur Rimbaud's Sonnet

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:57:00 +0000

Titian

When we consider the impact that the Symbolists had had on how the following generations of artists treated beauty, the best example may well be Arthur Rimbaud's sonnet, Venus Anadyomene. A contemporary of Degas and the Impressionists, Rimbaud, like painters, saw his Venus as a "real" woman, enravelling to us her terrifying beauty, complete with bad hair and cellulite. Rimbaud rampantly went against the custom image, showing the birth of Venus from behind. As Somerset Maugham would say in Cakes and Ale: or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard in 1930, it was unforgivable to write about women as if they had no anus at all - and Rimbaud in 1870 certainly held the same viewpoint.

Sandro Botticelli

So, while you read Vénus Anadyomène by Rimbaud in several languages, you may also compare various representations of the birth of Venus in painting, starting as early as a fresco in Pompeii. Rimbaud's poem is also in sharp contrast with a melodic long poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that again studies Venus as it emerges from the water, facing us.

William Bougereau

Arthur Rimbaud - Vénus Anadyomène (1870)

Comme d'un cercueil vert en ferblanc, une tête

De femme à cheveux bruns fortement pommadés

D'une vieille baignoire émerge, lente et bête,

Avec des déficits assez mal ravaudés;

Puis le col gras et gris, les larges omoplates

Qui saillent ; le dos court qui rentre et qui ressort;

Puis les rondeurs des reins semblent prendre l'essor;

La graisse sous la peau paraît en feuilles plates;

L'échine est un peu rouge, et le tout sent un goût
Horrible étrangement ; on remarque surtout
Des singularités qu'il faut voir à la loupe...

Les reins portent deux mots gravés : Clara Venus;

– Et tout ce corps remue et tend sa large croupe

Belle hideusement d'un ulcère à l'anus.

German translation by Eric Boerner

Theodore Chasseriau

Wie aus 'nem Weißblechsarg erscheint ein Frauenkopf,

Die braunen Haare dick pomadisiert,

Aus alter Badewanne, träge, dumpf, es tropft,

Die Defizite sind nur mäßig renoviert.

Dann – feist und grau – der Hals, weit klaffen Schulterblätter,

Der kurze Rücken hebt sich, beugt sich wieder vor;

Dann schwingen Lendenwülste sich wie zum Flug empor;
Das Fett unter der Haut erscheint wie flachgeplättet;

Das Rückgrat ist leicht rot, vom Ganzen schwelt ein Duft

Befremdend fürchterlich; doch man bemerkt mit Lust

Die Einzelheiten dort, die nur die Lupe findet …

Und CLARA VENUS ist den Lenden eingraviert;

– Der ganze Leib bewegt sich, spannt den breiten Hintern

Und scheußlich schön erscheint am After ein Geschwür.

A fresco in Pompeii

Russian translation by Mikhail Kudinov

Из ржавой ванны, как из гроба жестяного,
Неторопливо появляется сперва
Вся напомаженная густо и ни слова
Не говорящая дурная голова.

И шея жирная за нею вслед, лопатки
Торчащие, затем короткая спина,
Ввысь устремившаяся бедер крутизна
И сало, чьи пласты образовали складки.

Чуть красноват хребет. Ужасную печать

На всем увидишь ты; начнешь и замечать

То, что под лупою лишь видеть можно ясно:

«Венера» выколото тушью на крестце...

Все тело движется, являя круп в конце,

Где язва ануса чудовищно прекрасна.

Brazilian Portuguese Translation by Ivo Barosso (source)

Antonio Lombardi

Qual de um verde caixão de zinco, uma cabeça

Morena de mulher, cabelos emplastados,

Surge de uma banheira antiga, vaga e avessa,

Com déficits que estão a custo retocados.

Brota após grossa e gorda a nuca, as omoplatas
Anchas; o dorso curto ora sobe ora desce;
Depois a redondez do lombo é que aparece;
A banha sob a carne espraia em placas chatas;

A espinha é um tanto rósea, e o todo tem um ar

Horrendo estranhamente; há, no mais, que notar

Pormenores que são de examinar-se à lupa...

Nas nádegas gravou dois nomes: Clara Vênus;
-- E o corpo inteiro agita e estende a ampla garupa
Com a bela hediondez de uma úlcera no ânus.

Amaury-Duval

English translation by Wallace Fowlie

As from a green zinc coffin, a woman’s

Head with brown hair heavily pomaded

Emerges slowly and stupidly from an old bathtub,

With bald patches rather badly hidden;

Then the fat gray neck, broad shoulder-blades

Sticking out; a short back which curves in and bulges;

Then the roundness of the buttocks seems to take off;

The fat under the skin appears in slabs:

The spine is a bit red; and the whole thing has a smell

Strangely horrible; you notice especially
Odd details you’d have to see with a magnifying glass…

The buttocks bear two engraved words: CLARA VENUS;

—And that whole body moves and extends its broad rump

Hideously beautiful with an ulcer on the anus.

Another English Translation

J. A. D. Ingres

Out of what seems a coffin made of tin

A head protrudes; a woman's, dark with grease -

Out of a bathtub! - slowly; then a fat face

With ill-concealed defects upon the skin.

Then streaked and grey, a neck; a shoulder-blade,

A back - irregular, with indentations -

Then round loins emerge, and slowly rise;

The fat beneath the skin seems made of lead;

The spine is somewhat reddish; then, a smell,

Strangely horrible; we notice above all

Some microscopic blemishes in front…

Horribly beautiful! A title: Clara Venus;

Then the huge bulk heaves, and with a grunt

She bends and shows the ulcer on her anus.

Soviet Pop Music: Jaak Joala - I'm Drawing You

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:00:00 +0000

The song below was performed in 1981, and I listened to it on a vinyl disk throughout 1980s and early 1990s, for as long as my disk player was OK. On my way back from Tallinn in 2002 I shared a compartment with a lady who told me that in the years since the USSR demise Jaak Joala denounced his work on the Soviet pop scene. I don't know exactly what he meant, and he surely has the right for his own opinion, but I hope he didn't mean to dismiss the songs by Raimonds Pauls, including the one you are about to listen.

Indeed, this is what the Soviet analogue to the Top of the Pops looked and felt like (it is called The Song of the Year and runs to this day). And the dashing Jaak Joala, tall, handsome, with a great voice has obviously left an impact on the type of men I like. Another Estonian who also impressed me as a child was an actor Lembit Ulfsak.

The song I'm Drawing You is about a guy who loves a girl and so draws her portraits, thus bring her in his life even before she crosses the threshold of his house. I think many of us have worn the guy's shoes at least once in life. The lyrics by Andrei Dementiev, music by Raimonds Pauls.

Explore the U.S. with Great Savings from BA

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:07:00 +0000

Having a well-deserved holiday

I love the British Airways. In all my flights I chose the BA more often than any other operator simply because they never disappointed me. I must admit, of course, that if they negotiate direct flight connection between Moscow and Manchester I shall love the company ever more.

I want to let you know about some offers the BA currently run for their regular and prospective customers. The best thing about them is that you need to respond to the promo until the end of April BUT the flights can be booked for any time from April 17, 2012 through to March 31, 2013. I'll be very happy if I could help you sort out your holiday plans. (Note: those are affiliate links).

Secluded beaches on the Gulf Coast

For those looking to get off the beaten track, book a fly-drive holiday and discover some of the lesser known beaches found along the Gulf Coast including Pass-a-Grille beach. Alternatively glide through the Everglades National Park and check out the wild-life or cruise down through the Florida Keys and relax in Key West. Couples can save £200 on a 14 night fly-drive with holidays starting from £529 per person, including inclusive Avis car rental and flights to Orlando or Tampa (both from Gatwick), and from £559 to Miami (from Heathrow). Details and booking.

Jet-set Style Holiday on Miami Beach

Mingle on Miami Beach and enjoy this cosmopolitan city with its chic hotels, bars and designer shops. Save up to £140 with seven nights at the 3* Casablanca on the Ocean from £599 per person based on various departures in May and June (including return flights from Heathrow and accommodation only). For luxury, check into the 5* Fontainebleu Miami Beach where seven nights costs from £989 per person (saving up to £140) based on departures June 10-22 and September 1 to October 31, 2012 (includes return flights from Heathrow and accommodation only). Details and booking.

Be Dazzled by Dali

Glitter on the Gulf Coast and top up your tan on St Pete's Beach. You can then check out the largest Salvador Dali collection at the museum and wonder at the artists creations. Save up to £140 with seven nights at the 3* Postcard on the Beach from £639 per person based on departures September 3 to October 10 (includes return flights to Tampa and accommodation only). Details and booking.

Family Fun

Families head to Orlando with seven nights of fun filled adventure from £459 per person at the 3* Ramada Gateway based on departures up to May 15, 2012 and from January 6 to February 14, 2013 (based on a family of four travelling and sharing a room) and including flights to Orlando and accommodation only. Alternatively save £200 with eleven nights at the 3*Disney's All Star Music Resort from £599 per person (based on a family of four travelling and sharing a room) and including flights to Orlando and accommodation only. Details and booking.

Quotes about Laughter: Samuel Butler

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:54:00 +0000

Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature. - Samuel Butler, the English author (biography at Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Upside Down: Weather and Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:31:00 +0000

When I travelled to England in late February I was surprised and relieved at once that it did not rain a bit. It did not occur to me that something drastic may be coming, but now I hear in the news that drought has spread over a good part of the UK. It's not just the traditionally dry and sunny East Coast, but the South West and Midlands, too. In fact, such counties as Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and West Midlands are affected, so it will come as no surprise if Manchester and Liverpool will suffer the same fate. The Environmental Agency only warns against the water shortages, and I hope that forests and gardens remain intact. Had it been in Russia, we'd already be bracing up for turf and forest fires.

Break Dance Routine at Photo-Expo 2012

As for Moscow, the snow is gradually - finally! - disappearing, it is warm enough for me to wear a lighter coat, and as I am writing this, the weather is dry. Today I am wearing grey, green, and brown colours, which is a quite vernal combination.

Over the past month I've been to many events; I'm also attending a workshop in Literary Translation organised by two well-known Russian translators. There are at least two days a week when I don't get home until midnight, and I still manage to do good work during the day. That's why, I guess, I so heartily responded to the photo I found in a randomly selected LiveJournal post. It is a pic of a guy performing a break dance routine, - and even if art and life don't imitate one another here, life is definitely breaking all the rules of the physical world. And that's art.

Moscow Camera: Yauza River Bridge at Dusk

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:36:00 +0000

This scene was captured on the bridge across the Yauza River near the Foreign Literature Library. You will see changing billboards, some traffic, water reflections, people walking, and ducks bathing.

Belated Palm Sunday Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:42:00 +0000

This weekend I've not been online longer than 10 mins - just to check my emails and to accept a request to translate an article for an academic journal, from English into Russian. There's also at least one day in a week when I have my mobile phone turned off most of the time. I have a class, and I find it impolite to keep my phone on, even if nobody may ring. In any case, I came to study, not to answer the phone.

I'm not doing any of this purposefully. I really cannot be available all the time now. But as a result I miss some dates - like, The Palm Sunday. So I hope this vintage photo from my family album can rectify things a bit.

In Russia, we celebrate Easter on April 15 this year; unlike in the UK, Easter is not marked by days-off, - unlike Christmas holidays. I have just had a conversation with my colleague about Russian rite of having the Easter cakes and eggs blessed by the priest in the church. There is never a church big enough to fit all who want to perform the rite, so they take long tables out in the church yard where the religious can put their Easter foods, and the priest walks past and sprinkles the holy water on each one's cake and eggs. Sadly, although this is a holy occasion, it is not seldom that people start disordely occupying empty places and bicker about it, especially old ladies. A church affair acquires a kind of bazaar spirit, thus flying in the face of the famous Biblical episode in Matthew 23: 1-12 when Jesus condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and expelled them from the church.

In Memoriam: Thomas Kinkade

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:38:00 +0000

Thomas Kinkade, Venice.

Back in December 2011, we gave my colleague (a Sag, like me) a calendar as a birthday present. It was a selection of paintings by the American artist Thomas Kinkade who unexpectedly passed away this weekend. The colleague has just found out, told us, and she is very sorry; in her words, every month when she changes a calendar on the wall she discovers a new piece of art that she enjoys looking at.

In his own words, Kinkade saw his mission in art as a capturing "those special moments in life adorned with beauty and light". Kinkade was doubtless a modern-day John Constable, their paintings being a bit too idyllic but so masterful you could not possibly count their idealism as a weakness.

The work left behind impresses with its range of settings, the colours, the composition, and - last but not least - the popularity. There are various means of measuring the artistic merit, but one of them is people's needing your work and telling you about it by buying mugs, paintings, calendars, and actually remembering and telling others about you.

I include two of Thom's Cityscape paintings (both are from his official website). One is that of Venice, it hardly needs any explanation. Another is Sunset over Riga. Now, Riga is the capital city of Latvia. It is once again very popular among tourists, following the Soviet era; and in Soviet times it unfailingly provided the location for movies about the "West". Riga, Talling and Vilnius with their Western, especially medieval, architecture and serpentine lanes served as a backdrop for many films. This is the text Thom wrote about the painting:

Thomas Kinkade, Sunset over Riga

"Recently I had the chance to visit the enchanting city of Riga in the tiny Baltic republic of Latvia. For my painting Sunset Over Riga, Latvia, I attempted to capture the elusive light of dusk. When you paint as the sun is setting, God sets the timetable. Riga, Latvia, is one of the grand old cities of Europe, considered to be the romantic heart of the Baltic. We are fortunate to live in an era when this historic treasure with its picturesque medieval districts, can once again be celebrated by all. Sunset Over Riga, Latvia displays the vast sweep of the ancient city, in the manner of El Greco's "View of Toledo." Dominated by the soaring spires of St. Peter's on the square and the Dome Church, the skyline flickers with a thousand points of light, creating a festive atmosphere. Enjoying the sunset view, I am not surprised to learn that Riga is the historic home of the world's very first Christmas tree".

Quotes About Laughter: Fyodor Dostoevsky

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:54:00 +0000

It is a bad sign when people stop understanding humour, irony, or joke. - Fyodor Dostoevsky.

This is a rare photographic portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky, made by his close friend Konstatin Shapiro. The photograph was presented to Jacov Faddeevich Sakhar on 16 December, 1880 with the inscription in Dostoevsky's own hand.

More about the photo: Lame Duck Books.

Andrei Tarkovsky Turns 80

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:23:00 +0000

Had he lived to this day, Andrei Tarkovsky, a genuine Russian film director, would celebrate his 80th birthday. Instead, we celebrate the lifetime of work marked by a never-ending philosophical quest, poetry, and constant probing.

Born into a family of a Russian poet Arseniy Tarkovsky, Andrei went on to graduate from the State Institute of Cinematography with a short film, The Streamroller and the Violin. The script was co-written by Tarkovsky and Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, another outstanding Russian director and the brother of Nikita Mikhalkov. I found a subtitled version, which I am sure will be a treat to all those who have already discovered and long loved such masterpieces, as Andrei Rublev (about the Russian icon painter and creator of the famous Trinity), Solaris (an adaptation of the novel by S. Lem), Ivan's Childhood (a war-time drama about a boy), The Mirror, The Stalker (an adaptation of the novel by the Strugatsky Brothers), Nostalghia (with the script by Tonino Guerra), and The Sacrifice (again based on a script by Arkady Strugatsky, the film scooped many coveted awards, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes festival in 1986).

Still, it all started here, with The Streamroller and the Violin. Here already we notice Tarkovsky's masterful use of colour and reflections as dramaturgical means.

Art Salon 2012 at the Central House of the Artists

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:53:00 +0000

Art Salon came to the Central House of the Artists in Moscow between 16 and 25 of March. I visited it with a friend of mine who kindly helped me to delve into contemporary Russian painting and sculpture. One of the exhibits featured the work of Alexander Voronkov, a renowned Russian painter who in 2010 finished his graphic cycle, The Odyssey. It consists of several graphic paintings that join one another into a magnificent 13,5m-long stripe. A Stroganov Institute of Arts graduate, Voronkov possesses a virtuoso etching skill, which Odyssey amply manifests.

On his official website you can watch the entire cycle at the top of the page. I also took a photo of one of the "chapters".

Alexander has been fortunate to amass dedicated painters around him, too. His wife, son and daughter-in-law all paint, although in different techniques and on different subjects. At the presentation of his work during this year's Art Salon I took a photo of his wife's still life with flowers and the easel she used to create the painting. There is a palpable impression of passion and delicate treatment entwined. Interestingly, you would be pressed hard to say that the flowers in the frame are painted, as opposed to the fresh bouquets - and such is the gift of a painter.

Quotes About Laughter: Kurt Vonnegut

noreply@blogger.com (Julie Delvaux) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:37:00 +0000

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. - Kurt Vonnegut (official site).

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