Fragments of a blog
Fragments of a blog
Two extracts from 20th-century Russian classics in lieu of commentary to Thursday’s State of the Federation address. “What the hell are you trying to get out of me?” “The same thing that my childhood friend, Kolya Osten-Baken, wanted to get…
The trial of eight people charged with attacking police during the mass protest on May 6, 2011, has been going on for months in Moscow. The prosecution’s version of the events was largely discredited during the hearing. For the most…
On the subject of the Sochi opening ceremony, I’d like to quote from one of Nabokov’s brilliant short stories, Tyrants Destroyed: The festivities were spreading outside my window, the sun transformed the blue snowdrifts into sparkling down, and one could…
Congrats to Sage Kotsenburg of Park City, Utah, for winning the first gold of the Sochi Olympics. It was the first Olympic competition in slopestyle – a most spectacular sport. Young sportspeople in North America and Scandinavia are as creative as…
The Sochi Olympics officially opened yesterday in a ceremony The New York Times appropriately called an extravaganza. Parts of it – the ballroom dance, for one – were surprisingly good, much better than I expected. In another context, I would even…