Art, opera, and people who have been cut in half

[sabotabby]

A few entries; eventually I'll start updating about current events again.


Friday, April 21

We went to the Old Tretyakov Gallery, which features a phenomenal array of art by various Russian masters (none of whom I've heard of. I'm starting to think that my art history courses were a bit narrow in scope.). We'd aimed to make the Pushkin Gallery as well, but alas, it was closed. The nearby Ilya Glazunov Gallery, however, was open, and I now have a new artistic obsession. This guy is incredible.


To Your Health! (1977)

[There's not much about Glazunov in English, alas. Here is his website. Even if you don't read Russian, you can click through it and see some cool shit.]

For some reason, Dima and Natasha had decided that we all needed to go to a Uzbek restaurant located way in the middle of nowhere. Getting there, eating, and getting back took a total of five hours. There was also a phone theme in the restaurant and appalling and loud karaoke. Our reward for going through all of that was a trip to the local booze store.

I should explain—almost every store in Russia seems to sell several varieties of vodka. There are also stands in the street that sell it, although I've been warned that the vodka they sell is frequently fatal. And then, there is a special store with more types of vodka than you have ever seen in your life, including some that comes in AK-47-shaped bottles. I now have more booze than I know what to do with, which should make my parties back home a bit more fun than they'd ordinarily be.

P.S. I almost forgot to mention the most disturbing thing I saw today—half a guy. He was begging in the subway station. He seemed to end part-way down the ribcage—I don't know how that's even physically possible. He grossed Anya out, and she's seen countless corpses.


I drew a picture. How is this guy still alive? I don't know.


Saturday, April 22

Natasha got it in her head that Anya and I should go to the Kremlin Armoury and see some sort of military parade, but we found the whole process needlessly confusing and bureaucratic, so we skipped off and went to the Chaliapin Museum instead. I think it was more up both of our alleys anyway—we got to listen to opera and Anya played a chord on a piano that Rachmaninoff used to play.

Then we went to the Izmaylovskiy Market, which was tons of fun until Dima made us take off for an outlet mall so he could buy Anya a new coat. Have I mentioned, by the way, that Moscow is a terrible place to buy clothes? Everything is overpriced and most of it is hideous. [Not the coat, I should add. She looks fabulous in it.]

Tonight, we're going to a performance of Eugene Onegin by the Bolshoi Opera Company at the Kremlin, which should just about be the coolest thing ever. And then we're off on the overnight train to St. Petersburg.

[The following day...]

Eugene Onegin was great, and on top of it, performed in the auditorium where the Communist Party used to hold meetings.

Pictures!


The entrance to the auditorium.


Haha, nice decor.


Me being all commie and shit. At the opera.


Inside the auditorium. I guess if Communist Party meetings were really long, you could secretly read a book or something.


Goodbye, Kremlin! Goodbye, Moscow!

Comments

[syndicalist.livejournal.com]

Ah, "Mother Russia" is one of my fave Sisters of Mercy songs.

...."there's a white house in the red square...."

[syndicalist.livejournal.com]

Also, did you happen to visit the tombs of Big Bill Haywood, Wobbly founder, and John reed, the US author, the only two Americans buried in Red Square with full honors, etc. ?

Man, I'm so jealous. I want to visit Russia some day.

[sabotabby]

Yes, yes, I did.

I'm not sure if you saw it, but I also visited Kropotkin.

[syndicalist.livejournal.com]

Holy SHIT!

You are my fucking hero!! I'm sorry if I missed it, but how did you pull this trip together?

Dunno if you caught my entry where I mentioned I'd picked up a copy of AK Press's/Paul Avrich's Russian Anarchism, which has only increased my desire to take the exact same trip you've taken.

You lucky dog!

[sabotabby]

I want to read that. (Speaking of Russian anarchists, I suspect you'll be interested in one of my future entries. I'd say what it was about, but I want it to be a bit of a surprise for my fellow anarchists.)

I am very, very lucky (for many other reasons, too) in that I have annaotto as a friend. (She also was the person who lured me into LiveJournal, incidentally.) She grew up in the Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union, and a lot of her family members still live in Russia. She hasn't been back there in about ten years, and we've been talking about going there for two years.

Basically, I had an opportunity to go with a native Russian-speaker—who happens to be my favourite person to travel with—and free places to stay in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

[sabotabby]

Mine too. I think they're sort of unfairly denigrated; they really were a good band.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

I saw a news story about that AK-47 Vodka a few months ago, I guess it's officially endorsed by Kalashkinov himself (who's still alive and kicking in his 80s or 90s).

[sabotabby]

Kalashnikov is a cool dude. Apparently, all he ever wanted to do was design umbrellas, and now that the Cold War is over, he gets to realize his dreams.

[brownfist.livejournal.com]

Apparently, there is some material that has been written on the Chinese Anarchist movement too. I havent read any yet.

[sabotabby]

Neither have I. Read a bit about the Japanese anarchist movement....

[brownfist.livejournal.com]

yeah there is a really interesting japanese anarchist movement that originated around the same time as the communist movement. i wonder if any serious academic work has been done on it.

[sabotabby]

What, my ex's article in Ye Drunken Sailor on the subject wasn't enough for you? ;)

There are a bunch of books, though I think they're more trade non-fiction than academic. Somewhere, I possibly even have a list.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

I have a pamphlet on the topic. I'll have to dig it out.

I also forgot, once again, to give you my fatah long-sleeve t-shirt. Remind me next time we're set to meet.

[ghostwes.livejournal.com]

How is Uzbek food?

More to the point, what is Uzbek food?

Did you see that guy in Toronto or Moscow? I saw a person of similar proportions in Toronto years ago.

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

More to the point, what is Uzbek food?

Lamb butt fat kebab!

And many other tasty things, but most importantly:

Lamb butt fat kebab!

[sabotabby]

I wouldn't know. ;)

Also, I found some funny euphemisms on menus, generally.

"Bulls' eggs kebab? But bulls are mammals; they don't lay..."

*pause*

"Ewww."

[sabotabby]

Uzbek food is one of those hybrid Eastern European/Middle Eastern type deals; it was quite good. Don't recall exactly what I ate, but it involved lots of dill and dumplings stuffed with something.

The dude was in Moscow. Maybe the guy in Toronto is his other half...

[zemleroi.livejournal.com]

This makes me so jealous! Had I been following livejournal better, I could have suggested you add Rochdale Street in Moscow to your anarcho-tourist itinerary... Oh well.
I am not at all a fan of Glazunov, but here is a website of a Russian painter that may be to your taste: www.maximkantor.com (English translations are god-awful). (Him I do like a lot.)