The intro to this song always wakes up some deeply buried associations with my childhood – it was used as a theme for a popular TV program (which one, I can no longer recall) back in the 70’s in the USSR. No less importantly, hearing Mireille Mathieu reminds me of vinyl records and turntables that
Nathan, who often said in the past that he hates memes1, has actually created a meme of his own, listing the places that he resided in during his eventful life. I put together my own similar list and realized that I actually did not move around that much in my life. (Nathan’s rules are, basically,
I haven’t done one of them meme things in a while, so I am happy to pick one from Jason. The meme is centered on my high school memories, which I am sure is a subject that will hold a lot of my readers enthralled, given the fact that my high school experience was so
I only went back to Russia once in the years since I emigrated. Did not like that journey much, for a number of reasons. The pervasive state of dilapidation on Russian periphery at the turn of the century was the primary reason. The commonplace boorishness of service sector employees, from shopping assistants to receptionists, grated
Having watched Across the Universe a couple of days ago, I find myself constantly humming my favorite Beatles’ tunes. All You Need Is Love is one of the more obvious ones. I actually have a vague memory related to this song that includes an auditorium full of students and the title of the song written
All pretense of being seasoned travelers aside, Natasha and I only started to make regular trips abroad in 20021. Our first voyage was to France, with almost a week in Paris followed by a jaunt around Loire Valley castles and French Riviera destinations. We fell in love with Paris on that first trip. Large part
As I mentioned in 25 things meme and probably elsewhere, I defy stereotypes of a Russian being a hard-drinker. I’m very partial to red wine, I order a screwdriver once in a while, I drink beer under right circumstances (such as when watching sporting events or gathering with friends for a barbecue), I enjoy sherry…
In the last couple of years before my emigration from the USSR, I used to frequent the sole Rostov synagogue. Not out of any sort of religious interest, mind you, but purely for social reasons. Perestroika brought some measure of respite to formerly suppressed ethnic identities within the empire, and seemingly every Jew in the
Even a person who never seeks thrills, always drives under the speed limit and avoids the smallest possibility of appearing adventurous can probably name a few “close calls”, situations that had the potential of ending up with unpleasant consequences where it concerned his life and limb. Off the top of my head, I can think
I first heard this song not in its original form but as a Russian language “remix” by Sergej Minaev, whose repertoire in late 80’s consisted largely of jocular takes on popular “foreign” songs. Not translations to any degree, his numbers normally used only a key refrain or an image from the original song to make
It’s a story that long begged to be immortalized in writing, and I finally decided to give it a try. I might even start a whole new category with it, aiming to relay some of the more remarkable and/or memorable experiences from our travels. Imagine Vienna. Among end-of-day things to do in the Austrian capital,
Around the time that I was entering high school, breakdance was all the rage. The guys my age were always trying to outdo one another and impress the girls with their moves in discotheques. Breakdance carried the aura of rebellion – I don’t think that it was officially prohibited, but I witnessed many occasions of
Back to obscure European pop of the 70’s and the 80’s for this series. I’ve been hearing this particular song fairly regularly over the last couple of years, as it features on the Euro collection disk that we like to play in the car on long drives. I have not seen the video of the
One of my camp summers happened after I just turned ten, on the Black Sea coast near Anapa. For reasons not exactly clear to me, the placement committee at the beginning of the camp term assigned me to a “force” of mostly 12-year-olds. Thinking back, I wonder if it was not done on purpose to
I mentioned a few times in this series the notion of my own very first cassette tape. In fact, there were two of them. Both were recorded for me by my Uncle, who owned a Sharp dual-deck stereo recorder – a rarity in those days. While he was aware of what I would have liked
I’ve only noticed in passing that I am not a very willing dancer. At any given party, when the dancing floor becomes the focus of the celebration, I am still more likely to be found at a seat by the table, hopefully with a similarly-minded friend, spending time in idle banter. (Natasha – who loves
Towards the very end of the 80’s, the Soviet television started incorporating little bits of Western culture into its late-night programming. Among the teenage crowd, Saturday night MTV hit-parade quickly became a must-see event. I’m pretty sure that the charts were European, rather than American, but the difference mattered little to the generation that grew
One of the most important dates in my life is the day I met Natasha. We were really young then, yet somehow managed to recognize that we were meant for each other, if not at first sight, then definitely at the second one. We actually saw one another for the first time a couple of
This is not, as it were, a memory. I am a singing person. I sing when I walk, hum when I’m idle, and frequently burst into vocalization when I’m at home (oh yes, I always sing in the shower!). I know lyrics to thousands of songs – mostly Russian, but a fair share in English,
The other day we went with friends for a dinner to a trendy place in Mayfair. The meal itself was exceptional, the company was extraordinary, and live entertainment – first a virtuoso keyboardist and then a belly dancer – made the evening all the more fun. Among the songs played (and danced to) there was