Like you, I had heard the hype surrounding the new movie, Avatar. Normally, I would have simply ignored the movie and perhaps gotten around to seeing it some months hence. However, when the film broke through the billion dollar mark in box office sales and the reviews kept coming back positive, I realized I had to see the film for myself.

Over the weekend, we went to a couple of the cinemas in the local shopping malls but the film was sold out. You had to buy tickets for a day or two in advance. Russia actually had the highest grossing box office sales internationally for the first weekend of the film. Since it’s almost impossible to see the film in 3D and since it would also be in Russian, I figured I’d download a copy from bittorrent and just check it out.

The copy I got off bittorent was horrible. The colors were washed out and the natives were translated with German subtitles. Nonetheless, the film was amazing. The story had depth, perhaps even more depth than is being discussed by reviewers. The message I took away from the film was one of hope. Hope that we will stop fighting these pointless wars to subdue terrorists around the globe. It’s understandably easy for us to get lost in all the talk of technology and special effects; however, ironically the message of the movie is that the meaning of life is deeper than technological progress and materialistic comfort.

I urge you all to go and see this film if you haven’t already done so. When watching the movie, ask yourself, “What is James Cameron trying to say through his epic story on the planet of Pandora?” I know that I will be going back to the cinema in the next couple days to see the movie in all its 3D glory. I can’t wait. Check out a HD version of the movie’s trailer below.

Here’s the link to the YouTube video for those of you reading in Facebook.

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After the airing of the television program, Ukraine’s Got Talent, Kseniya Sobchak is no longer the only famous Kseniya out there in popular culture. The winner of the contest was sand animation artist, Kseniya Simonova, who drew:

a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a unique one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about Ј75,000 (approx $125,000).

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye. The final quote is “You will always be with us.”

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Kseniya Simonova says:

“I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me.. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment.”Source: Anastasia Carroll.com

Here’s more from the Guardian:

About 13 million people watched Kseniya Simonova win Ukraine’s Got Talent live with an extraordinary demonstration of “sand art”. Most of them, according to reports, were weeping. The judges and studio audience sobbed throughout. Ukraine, where a fraught presidential election campaign is under way ahead of a vote in January 2010, is enduring a deepening financial crisis and the raw, sentimental depiction of Ukraine’s suffering, even drawn in sand, was too much.

Ever since May, when Simonova first stepped on stage with a light-box full of sand and drew pictures in it, deftly creating tableaux of the country’s history, her performances have collected new viewers. Her winning appearance has now notched up more than four million hits on YouTube. The number of hits is extraordinary for a foreign web clip, especially given that few people watching it could understand its message.

Simonova has returned to ordinary life in the Crimean seaside town of Evpatoria, where she has used her $125,000 prize to buy a modest house and set up a children’s charity. Simonova has told interviewers she is happy to stay in Evpatoria and will not be travelling abroad to cash in on her growing global fan base.

Her success has taken the young woman by surprise. “I only entered because there was a child I know who needed an operation and I wanted to help,” she said. “I did not mean to make the whole country cry.”Source: Guardian

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Here’s the video of Simonova’s winning performance:

(Link to YouTube video for Facebook readers)

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Україна має талант (Ukraine’s Got Talent) premiered on April 3, 2009 on STB (Channel). The show is hosted by Oksana Marchenko. The three judges are Vladislav Yama (famous dancer), Slava Frolova(showmaker), and Igor Kondratyuk (showman). The prize of 1,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnia (April 2009, approximately US$125,000) was won by 24 year old sand animation artist Kseniya Simonova

Who says that Russians don’t have a sense of humor? Watch the video (below) and then read the article Making a Little Fun of Russia’s Powerful (New York Times), which gives some more background information regarding the video skit. Thanks to Joera Mulders for first posting the video.

When it aired last night, I was out on our friends’ balcony watching the amazing fireworks “show” throughout the city. Thousands, and I mean thousands, of people lit their own fireworks off from courtyards and street corners. The fireworks over Krasnodar lasted for a good solid 20 minutes. It was impressive (hopefully nobody got hurt).

Here’s the link to the YouTube video for those of you reading inside Facebook.

UPDATE:

Here’s a translated transcript of the New Year’s video.

The word on the building “krosaffcheg” is corrupted “krasavchik” (handsome) written in the Internet slang.

M: Since it became a tradition to summarize each year
P: We will do it right now too

P: Well done (molodets)
M: Thank you
M: You first

P: I was driving Niva (Putin’s car model) with Jacques Rogge a Sochi road (Olympics 2014)
M: And he didn’t feel like being picky anymore

I am not sure but I think it refers to our roads. Here we say there are two troubles in Russia – fools and roads.

M: Wonderful

P: I took care of the situation in Pikalyovo and now everything is alright there
M: Now even Deripaska feels secure there

It refers to the situation in Pikalyovo when two owners of the plant couldn’t deal with each other and didn’t pay the workers so Putin had to come and take care of the situation and force the owners to sign the contract. One of the owners, Deripaska, tried to avoid it, so Putin had to tell him to put the signature right there in front of him.

P: How are we?
M: I think we rock, Vladimir Vladimirovich
P: I agree

M: Believe it or not but I get online everyday (Medvedev has a video blog)
P: I know. Sometimes I get online too and say “Preved, Medved”

Preved, Medved is an Internet slang greeting, corrupted “Hello, Bear” (Medved’ means Bear)

M: Yes, I remember. Funny link
P: Thank you
P: Well done

M: It’s the second year I wish people Happy New Year
P: You know, one of us did it 9 times

M: Yes I remember
M: I agree

M: We will accomplish the Northstream and Southstream at the right time
P: And the Nabucco will, excuse me, suck

M: Opa!
P: America Europe
P: Vot tak! (something like this is how it is)
M: I agree

M: We asked Kiev (Ukraine) to pay for gas with money this time
P: Not with fairy tales, pancakes and impudent Yushchekos

“Impudent Yuchenkos” is wordplay.
Here Yushchenkos (yushchenkami) sounds like puppies (shchenkami) made of the name of the Ukrainian president.
“Impudent”, in Russian “borzoi, borzaya”, also means “greyhound”.
In Czar Russia greyhound puppies were given to lords as a bribe.

M: Precisely
M: Opa!
P: Good

M: However our Sberbank (our main state bank) tried, they couldn’t buy Opel
P: And now that vaunted Open may get in …
M: A deep crisis, Vladimir Vladimirovich

There meant to be “may get in ass (v popye)” because it rhymes. In Russian “to be in ass” means “to be in trouble”.

P: Opa!
M: I agree

M: Bureaucrats used to work under the table
P: Now they will modestly live somewhere else (in jail, that is)

M: Tough
P: But fair
P: Opa!

Both: We would sing more couplets but have to work. Happy New Year, friends! Opa

via AnastasiaCarroll.com

We are getting ready to visit friends and celebrate the New Year here in Krasnodar. The neighbor’s music has been cranked-up and the fireworks have started throughout town (everyone lights their own). 2 hours before the new decade begins. Thanks for reading this blog and I look forward to communicating with you guys in 2010.

С новым годом!!!

Just watched a fascinating interview of Mark Pincus by Chalie Rose regarding Mark’s company Zynga. Zynga is the company which has created the Facebook sensations- Mafia Wars and Farmville. While I am not personally a player in either game, the fact remains that something very important and special is happening in this space online. Watch the video to learn more about the birth of a brand new industry- social gaming.

You may also remember that Russian venture capitalist, Yuri Milner from Digital Sky Technologies, just invested $180 million into Zynga last week. This investment is in addition to $300 million DST has already invested into Facebook.

My fearless prediction for 2010 is that DST, which also owns a huge chunck of Russia’s current #1 social network- Vkontakte.ru, will work with Mark Zuckerberg and his team at Facebook.com to orchestrate some kind of acquisition or merger between Facebook and Vkontakte this year. Russia’s social media market, now the 4th largest in the world and the largest in Europe, is simply too big too leave to its own devices. I would guess that such a deal will happen in the 2nd half of 2010 after Facebook gains significant traction in the top markets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Once Facebook starts breathing down Vkontakte’s throat, then rather than die a slow death, Vkontakte will sell out to Facebook for $250 million in mostly stock and some cash ($50).

Such a move will position Facebook to grow with Russia’s quickly emerging online population. So, that’s my prediction. Let’s check back here at this time next year to see what happens.

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I’m working with a number of executives at some Russian companies on various social media campaigns and I keep getting the same question from them, “What’s social media?” The answer to this question usually involves worlds like “conversions” “relationships” “authenticity” “user generated content” “bi-directly discussions” and the like. Huh? Yup, that’s the reaction I get from most of the executives.

So I thought instead of trying to tell them what social media is all about, I figured it would be easier and more valuable if they could see and hear an example of a case study where a large company “gets it” and does social media the way it ought to be done.

Here’s a great video from Domino’s Pizza’s, which earlier this year earned the dubious title of “social media train wreck” when some a-hole employees shot some homemade videos of themselves doing some pretty nasty stuff to customers’ pizzas. At the time, Domino’s Pizza was in trouble and the brand was badly damaged.

Well, I am happy to report that the executives at Domino’s Pizza quickly learned the lessons of social media and embarked on a journey of self-examination. Here’s Part 1 of the The Pizza Turnaround video showing how they responded. Watch it. You will be inspired to embrace social media and your company, your employees, and your customers will thank you for it.

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The New York Times is reporting that Russian venture capitalist, Yuri Milner, who earlier this year invested more than $200m in Facebook directly has been busy this holiday season. It was announced today that Milner’s Digital Sky Technolgies (DST) venture capital fund will invest $180m in Zynga, the hugely profitable developer of Facebook games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars.

Here’s the original article.

While Vkontakte.ru and Odnoklassniki.ru are still Russia’s largest social networks (DST has an equity position in Vkontakte), it shouldn’t be too long before Facebook become a huge player in the massive Russian social networking marketplace (4th in the world with 20+ million users).

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