MetaFilter posts tagged with Moscow

Moscow Cats Theater

Stewriffic — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:33:04 -0800

I was always taught that cats aren't possible to train; they do whatever they want. But everybody in Russia is used to it. It's just natural to see cats perform tricks. The Yuri Kuklachev Cat Theatre was founded in 1990 and now has a company of over 120 cats. Kuklachev: "The authorities thought 'What can a cat possibly say about Soviet power? The only thing a cat can say is MEOW!' It's an international language" Moscow Cats Theater--meet the actors with and without a tail. YouTube channel

"a real-life James Bond. His boozy amours, his tough postures, his intelligence expertise..."

The Whelk — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:55:35 -0800

In 1948, when John was five, Guy Burgess came to stay for a holiday. John's mother resented Burgess and his close relationship with her husband, and began staging accidents to claim attention; she once reported being mugged in her car, and on another occasion set fire to the living room, suffering serious burns. She was later sent to a Swiss clinic for treatment. Philby was posted to the United States the following year. The strange life of John Philby, the son of "the most hated man in England", Kim Philby, a member of the notorious Cambridge Five spying ring. (via)

олигáрх

gman — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:17:51 -0800

Moscow is home to the largest number of billionaires and in Russia, there are nearly 100 billionaires. Due to recent economic developments and the drop in oil prices, the oligarchs, who rose to prominence under Gorbachev, have lost a combined total of $200 billion. Help is here.

Better red than dead

infini — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:01:32 -0800

With the potential 'crisis' with Russia, Georgia, Europe et al, the BBC tries to imagine what a new Cold War would be like starting with a tour of the budding Moscow tourist attraction called the Confrontation Cold War Museum. Sold off in an auction last year, the underground bunker now belongs to a private company that plans to turn it into an entertainment complex with a museum about the Cold War, a restaurant and even a spa. But it is already possible to hold fashion shows around the 600-meter-long network of bare, cavernous tunnels.

Heart of a dog

Afroblanco — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:15:02 -0800

As Moscow changes, so does its population of stray dogs. During Soviet times, Moscow's stray dogs foraged for food and avoided humans, since there wasn't much to be gained from begging. As the city became increasingly affluent, the dogs' behavior changed radically. Some recent adaptations include passive subway begging, observing stoplights, and a food scam called the "come-from-behind ambush." The stray dogs, whose population is estimated at 26,000, have even ceased some of their interpack warfare. Observe the Moscow subway dog here. Thank you, Kottke.

Decaying photos

parudox — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:48:08 -0800

Decaying memorial photos at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

To the library!

phrontist — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:45:08 -0800

Something about the library inspires one to jump.

'Werewolf Boy': The Wild Child of Russia

ericb — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:30:20 -0800

Like Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron (made famous through François Truffaut's film L'Enfant Sauvage), a modern-day feral child, known as 'werewolf boy ' "who snarls and bites [has] escaped from a Moscow clinic just a day after being rescued from the wild." "The boy, who looks about ten, moves around with his legs half bent and 'was running with wolves and searching for food with them.' Police, who named him Lyokha, said villagers found him in a lair made of leaves and sticks in freezing temperatures." ^* [Feral Children previously on MeFi - 1, 2]

MetroDream

parudox — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:45:01 -0800

Russos takes photos of Moscow Metro construction. Also of a half-abandoned river port, a cool bridge being put together, and an old underground nuclear submarine base. But mostly of the Metro, behind the scenes. (Don't ask me how he gets access.) The Balaklava submarine base photos were actually the fodder for previous posts. And if you want conventional views of the (beautiful) Moscow Metro, go look elsewhere. A few of his photos. One blogger's sampling; another's. An index of old posts. Posts by tags: abandoned, industrial, aviation, devices, "other" metro, megadevices, metro, metro build, escalator. Elsewhere around Balaklava. The Neglinka (river under Moscow): 1 2 3 Tunnel vision. Tunnels: 906, 938, 940. Point D. Point S. TBMs: Taking delivery, plant that makes parts for them, lowering Julia down, taking apart Claudia, more. Borovitskaya: in the station, on the tracks, into the tunnel. Dostoevskaya station tunnels got a bit rusty: 1 2 Sretenskij bul'var is amazing. Trubnaya is pretty good too. Test rides and checking dimensions: 1 2 (Bonus: Victory Day train: 1 2 3 4. Photo chronicle of Sergei Kirov. Cats.)

Colorizing the gray area

found missing — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 11:19:17 -0800

Urban as art in suburban Moscow.

Buying power using Big Mac Index

PetBoogaloo — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 09:24:11 -0800

The UBS Bank calculated how long it takes an average worker around the world to earn enough to buy a Big Mac. Workers in Tokyo were the fastest: Tokyo 10 minutes, New York 13 minutes, London 16 minutes, Hong Kong 17 minutes, Paris 21 minutes, Moscow 25 minutes, Rome 39 minutes, Beijing 44 minutes, Manila 81 minutes, Jakarta 86 minutes. Is this a fair comparison? Is it something that will change people's perspective about the rest of the world?

Midnight in Moscow

fet — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:44:33 -0800

Moscow's decadent post-Communism nightclub scene. Stalin's yacht pushes up the Moscow River at eight a.m., and nobody cares if you missed it. The world's longest-running after-party just keeps going. In a shipboard ballroom, Russia's lucky few tend to their good time. Music like a lot of loud nothing pounds through the girls lathered in Valentino, Gaultier, and Bulgari. Defying you with their eyes, they throw off a kind of heat that has never burned you before. The men with money and new style hang around the edges with satisfied smiles, their low-vibrating calm punching through thousand-dollar sunglasses. They'll kiss you, they'll kill you, you'll know where you stand.

The hidden super university

tellurian — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 22:04:27 -0800

Vlad gives his views on the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. As the anthem of Phystech promises, "we will disperse, when the time comes, in all the world, from Dolgoprudny"

But Where the Hell Are the Singing Cats?

Dr. Zira — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 21:45:56 -0800

Taking NYC by Storm: The Moscow Cats Theatre. Also with dogs and clowns, apparently.

a nice counterpiece to abandoned Russian buildings

iconomy — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:07:26 -0800

Buildings that never were: Unrealized Moscow - grand scale architectural projects from the mid 1930s to the early 1950s.

stem cell immortality russia godless

stbalbach — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 16:51:25 -0800

"Russian Oligarachs Want Immortality". Vladimir Bryntsalov has had a course of stem cell injections and feels no older than 20, though his biological age is about 60. Treatment will cost you $10,000-20,000 in Moscow. In many Western countries, such clinics would not even get the opportunity to open their doors. During a recent speech, President Bush denounced stem cell therapy as "godless."

the People's Palaces - a beautiful ride

taz — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:37:38 -0800

Fabulous images of the Moscow Metro underground, also known as "the people's palaces". Click "M"s on the entry map to view gorgeous (often architecturally surreal) panoramic images, and visit the picture gallery for sweet details. Via Jorgen at Viewropa.

A Caravan of Camels in the Eye of a Needle

By The Grace of God — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 05:58:11 -0800

Vladimir Aniskin, by day a farm equipment researcher (pdf), makes gorgeous Faberge-like creations, haunting and whimsical metaphors of war and peace, and more in extreme miniature. Moscow reporters have entered him in a competition (Russian-language page) for the strangest hobby practiced in Russia. Via the ever-brilliant aldaily.com.

whew, makes me tired

edgeways — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 13:37:10 -0800

Going to visit Moscow, the long way around. This past June Tim Harvey and Colin Angus set off on an entirely human-powered expedition from Vancouver to Moscow. The CBC has a page with running audio reports from the field. Who says the age of adventure is over?

One of the world's greatest unsung heroes?

ramakrishna — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 08:39:34 -0800

You may owe your life to this man If it weren't for Stanislav Petrov, many or even most of us reading this might be dead now - or never born, for the teens among us. At least according to this article, and the other links above.

Moscow Life

plep — Tue, 18 Mar 2003 10:45:47 -0800

Moscow Life. 49 stories with images of life in and around Moscow, posted between 1995 and 2002. There's an introduction here.

HeadSessions — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 09:38:37 -0800

Russian Theatre Debacle : BZ Gas? BZ Gas.. your friendly 'non lethal' incapacitator. Originally designed for military use, (" Just blow their minds, move in, and take over") they gave it to 2800 soldiers at Edgewood before the CIA got hold of it. Due to shifting wind patterns, BZ's tendency to trigger maniacal behavior, and the difficulties of controlling the amount of BZ absorbed during combat undermined its usefulness as a nonlethal incapacitant. An overdose of BZ could be fatal - and those tests had been concluded on physically fit army troops. This little puppy is simple to produce , and shows up in films, the Bosnian Serbian Army and also South Africa. Oh yeah - some people call it a warfare agent , others call it a Calmative agent... ( tell that to the relatives of 115+ russians). People disagree whether its short term effects are anything from 6 hrs or 2 weeks and long-term damage is still unknown.. Lovely stuff.

falameufilho — Wed, 23 Oct 2002 12:58:08 -0800

Gunmen hold about 700 hostage in Moscow theater Gunfire has been heard from a Moscow theatre where about 20 armed gunmen are reported to be holding the audience, believed to be about 700 people, hostage. More: Muslim members of the audience ... were also allowed to leave, Interfax said.

GriffX — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 13:54:02 -0800

Matt Taibbi, co-founder of the eXile, Moscow's most caustic and painfully funny newspaper, has relocated to Buffalo, NY (?) to work his journalistic mojo there. That is, if he's not arrested over this editorial.

Irontom — Thu, 13 Jun 2002 08:09:13 -0800

Diggers of the Underground Planet We've had similar links posted before, but this one about the subterranean geography of Moscow really caught my attention. Discoveries include a 3,000 seat bunker under a cathedral, deserted chemical warfare labs, ancient stashes of the skulls, a second ring of metro stations that were never used and possibly a mass grave from the Stalin era.