If Yuri Luzhkov needed an anthem for his trips to Crimea, Joseph Brodsky's 1991 poem on Ukraine's independence (RUS) would, unfortunately, be a good fit.

(The poem is posted on the blog of Soviet dissident Natalya Gorbanevskaya.)

A quick note:

I'm really excited to have discovered this blog about Crimea and Crimean Tatars:

My Simferopol Home

Marusia, the blogger, also has a page at MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tsarinamaria

Lots of good stuff.

***

The 64th anniversary of the 1944 deportations is on Sunday.

No photos from this year's Victory Day, as we were returning from Istanbul on May 9. Instead, here's the stuff that our building's concierges posted on the walls by the entrance and inside the two elevators (as they say here, one elevator's for the wife, the other's for the mistress, to keep them from running into each other :))



This is the official poster that must have been distributed by the city authorities. What caught my eye first was the non-Slavic look of the soldier - most likely because I've had such an exposure to all the xenophobia of the Russian blogosphere, including a few ugly recent posts about Central Asian war vets here in Moscow... What's also interesting about this greeting is that it's signed by "President of the Russian Federation V. Putin" - who, on May 9, was no longer the president. Sort of.





These two were made by the concierges (who are the sweetest elderly women, by the way). They are wishing WWII vets "health, happiness, financial well-being and peaceful skies above [their] heads." The second one must be from last year; it reminds of the stuff we had to make at the kindergarten.



This one is from Feb. 23, the Defender of the Motherland Day or whatever it's called here now - but it was put up in the elevator again on May 9: a somewhat poetic greeting to "all the dear men, regardless of your military rank."

(We also had some concierge art on March 8, the International Women's Day, but I never took a picture.)

We've finally watched Emir Kusturica's Zavet tonight. Although I prefer those of his films that make me both laugh and cry - Time of the Gypsies, Underground, Life Is a Miracle - I really enjoyed this one as well. It's funny in a silly way, perhaps somewhat sillier than his previous "funny" films. But what's really pleasing to realize is that Kusturica has managed to remain a prankster and a jester despite his involvement in the all-too-serious Serbian politics.

I keep thinking of Kusturica's friendship with Nikita Mikhalkov and keep comparing them: Kusturica shows up at the Moscow International Film Festival dressed like a bum, forcing Mikhalkov to run and get him a more presentable suit; judging by Kusturica's films (and his son's role in Zavet), he's not suffering from Mikahlkov's superiority complex; Kusturica has created what looks like a wonderful ethnic village, Küstendorf, while Mikhalkov has gotten himself a heavily guarded mansion with a budget-funded road leading up to it. All in all, I like Kusturica better. I wish we had someone like him in Ukraine.

Two Russia-related episodes in Zavet that I've found amusing and perplexing, considering the stance of the political force that Kusturica supports in Serbia:

In the first episode, the old man is watching an awards ceremony of some sports event, during which the Russian/Soviet anthem is playing. The old man is moved to tears - while his grandson is shown spying on the gorgeous tits of his teacher who is bathing outside. Multiple close-ups of the tits - and the anthem (to which Mikhalkov's father has composed the words, by the way, and not just once, but twice) as the accompaniment. Weird.

In the second episode, there's a brief sighting of a Lukoil gas station, followed by a mildly Tarantinoesque scene, in which one of the evil guys gets his balls chopped off by the old man's grandson. Too wild to be a product placement type of thing, I guess.

Still in Istanbul...

Küçük Marta at Küçük Ayasofya (Little Marta at the Little Hagia Sophia):

I've just added pictures that I took around Istanbul's Taksim Square in the evening of May 1 - here.

I, of course, wanted to post them right away, and write about how surreal it all seemed even after it was long over (I missed the bedlam that took place in the afternoon - read this post by Carpetblogger to learn more), but I'm really good at creating backlogs and staying faithful to this blog's title.



It's too late now and I'm too exhausted to be coherent, so here's just one tiny and meaningless observation:

Turkish riot cops are, for some reason, transported in totally civilian-looking buses, many of which carry ads for kids' stuff:

It's really awesome to be around people who love kids and aren't afraid to show it. In Istanbul, Marta receives dozens of smiles and hugs daily; she's heard the Turkish phrase "çok güzel, maşaallah" ("very beautiful, mashaallah") so many times, she knows how to say it herself by now; and today three people have given her sweets (which isn't that great, considering that she's almost missing four of her upper teeth already). She acts somewhat shy when confronted with all this affection and even tries to get away, announcing in Russian that she's "scared of them all" - but she doesn't really mean it. As far as I'm concerned, this alone could be the reason to keep coming back here - but there are plenty more, of course. Maşaallah!

Photos from Eyüp:

Mehmet Öztekin, a gramophone repairman and collector, in his shop at Grand Bazaar. He played an Edith Piaf song for us, very moving.



A little bit more about him is here.

***

There's another store at Grand Bazaar that I love - Deli Kızın Yeri/The Crazy Lady's Place. I keep buying toys for Marta there.

My husband, at Grand Bazaar today:



:)

Our third time in Istanbul this year - feels as if we never left. Feels wonderful.

Saw this barge at Ortaköy today:



"Знамя Октября" - "The Banner of October" - passing through the Bosporus under the Turkish flag (two of them, actually)... :)

Uploaded a bunch of Kyiv photos, the backlog.

From the Parking set:







From the Construction set:





From the Mayor 2008 set:

I've spent the past week in Moscow, with a nearly total kindergarten in and around my head:



***

What little I've had of the adult stuff this week all had to do with my Global Voices reading, linking and translating.

***

Oh, and I've also managed to read Olga Allenova's text (RUS) on the current mess in Chechnya, in Kommersant-Vlast.

Ramzan Kadyrov vs. Sulim Yamadayev: the Chechen boys of the "Kremlin-backed" president vs. the Chechen boys from one of the battalions of the Russian Federation's Ministry of Defense.

***

And, on the way home today, I've spotted this mini-poster announcing yet another Dissenters March - planned for May 6. The slogan this year is as plain as it gets: "We hate the government."



Pasted on a drugstore's door, the note is actually much tinier than it appears on this picture.