Exploring Derelict Space Ship

From: trekfancvg

Here's an amazing scene from an ultra-rare, kitschy, trippy, Soviet-style SF film, Ikarie XB 1 (aka Ikaria XB1, Icarus XB1 and Voyage to the End of the Universe). Czechoslovakia's first science fiction film, this remarkable 1963 movie tells the story of Starship Ikaria XB 1's 2163 trek to Alpha Centari. ("Voyage" was the savagely cut, English dubbed version released by American International Pictures.)

The film is generally apolitical, except for this remarkable scene, in which the explorers enter a derelict 20th Century space craft, littered with evidence of capitalist immorality. The visuals are striking. Corpses of tuxedo-clad, gambling westerners, their bodies preserved by open vacuum. The crew killed by their own chemical hand-weapons as they fought over dwindling oxygen. The ship laden with nuclear weapons -- still active after centuries.

Ikarie XB 1 is an ambitious, thoughtful, intelligent film that was decades ahead of its time. It's an ultra-rare "must-see" for any serious SF fan, with high-concept elements galore: a trip to proxima centaura; time dilation; future foods, fashion, music and dance; first-contact protocols; increased longevity; artificial intelligence; bulky socialist robots.

It's said the screenplay was inspired by the work of Stanislaw Lem, including "The Magellanic Cloud" from 1955.

Available as a PAL Region 2 DVD from European retailers, and in the US from www.xploitedcinema.com. Please buy the DVD to help encourage future DVD releases of other Eastern-bloc SF gems.

Roads to Moscow

It's cold outside today, which makes me think of Al Stewart's Roads to Moscow.



And while searching for that song, I found Roads of Moscow.

Foreign Songs

The Internet is a great place to find new music. At sites like youtube, dailymotion, and accuradio, you can find popular songs in other languages. Some foreign songs I like just because I don't know the words. If I am working, I can listen to them, and not and not lose my concentration by paying attention to the words. Others I like, because the videos are fun to watch.

This one is in Japanese. Some of the words are in English, which helps. It's a happy song, and the video shows the Japanese way to go to the Moon: first, give it an atmosphere we can breathe, then go! I talked about this song in the past.

I AM YOUR SINGER - SOUTHERN ALL STARS
Uploaded by satsukidabesa

The next two are in Russian.

Glukoza Nostra makes good videos for their songs. This one is a take-off of the Matrix and World of Warcraft. I talked about this group before.

Glukoza - Cosa Nostra (Russie)
Uploaded by diorello007

I like to think of Valery Meladze as a Russian Tom Jones. ViaGra is an all-girl group. I talked about them back in 2007.

Meladze / Via Gra Okean
Uploaded by Ksenita

This song (German) was a big hit in the eighties.

Nena - 99 Luft Ballons
Uploaded by hushhush112

Don't what they're singing? No problem! The song was popular enough that they released an English version.

Nena - 99 Red Balloons
Uploaded by jpdc11

Russia’s Current Top 20 Popular Songs

In honor of the Olympics, I’m doing some lists of the top 20 hit songs around the world. Yesterday was China; today is Russia. Here is the Russia Top 20 list for the week ending August 4, 2008. I found the list at: www.top40-charts.com.

I was able to find all of the songs on YouTube, except for one. For that, I used another song by the same artist.

Here are the songs:

1-10
11-20

Russia Top 20: 1 - 10

1. Gde Ti - Infinity & DIP Project




2. Shine On - R.I.O




3. Plohaya Devochka - Vintage & Elena Korikova




4. If Only You - Danny & Therese




5. Nevidimka - Gorod 312




6. Vdoh-vidoh - T9




7. Ya Ne Igrayu - Vera Brezhneva




8. Give Love - Tristan Garner



Alternate video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc0QCIU_ZgA


9. Brave - Jennifer Lopez




10. Down Down Down - No Tone



1-10
11-20

Russia Top 20: 11 - 20

11. Ride It - Jay Sean




12. Pochemu - Potap & Nastya Kamenskih




13. Oblomki Chuvstva - Tanya




14. Tak Ne Bivaet - Irakli




15. Stop, Kuda Je Ya Idu - Victoria Daineko

I can’t find that song. Here is her song "Leila."




16. Killa - Cherish




17. Na Ladonii Liniya - Stas P'eha

I can’t find a video for that song. So here is Stas P’eha & Sofia Rotaru singing “This sky”.




18. 4 Minutes - Madonna & Justin Timberlake




19. Give It 2 Me - Madonna




20. Donya - Arash & Shaggy



1-10
11-20

Glukoza Nostra

Some cool videos, in Russian. I like the animation.

I got the following information from their website, at: www.glukozanostra.com.

“Glukoza Nostra" is a play on the mafia phrase "La Cosa Nostra," meaning "Our thing."

Natasha Ionova, the lead singer, was born in Moscow, and “Finished high school, but with little zeal.” The other band members are Artyom Semyenkovich [Solo-Guitar], Denis Viskunov [Hawaiian Guitar], Kirill Savichyev [Drums], Vladimir "Kitten" Gorovyenko [Keyboard], and Anton Limyerev [stick-bass].

From: fikarcX

Music videos from www.glukozanostra.com, with subtitles made by the group.

Schweine (Pigs)

Great video! The Nazi-like pigs against the good guys.



Nenavizhu (I Hate)

Hmm. I don’t think she likes you.



Nevesta (Bride)

She’s interested in another guy. And, she will get him, no matter what.



Svadba (Wedding)

A typical white wedding. With dancing girls, and tanks.



Oi, Oi (That Is The Love Between Us)

Here’s what the band looks like.



Sneg Idot (It Snows)

This video does not have subtitles. The translation follows the video.

From: invoclass



A taxi, like kittens, purred next to my feet
And on the cellphone I hear a loud dial tone
And I don't know what to say
It's possible that I truly love you

And it snows, and it snows
On my cheeks it beats, it beats
I'm very sick - a temperature
I stand and wait for you like a fool
I caught snowflakes in my mouth, very nicely
A cool evening, nothing to do,
There, where you are not
And it snows

And the entire road up to you isn't explored

The Leningrad Cowboys and The Red Army Choir

Something fun for April Fools Day.

From: lmj22

The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock and roll band famous for its humorous songs and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir.

Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, and performed in English, have themes such as 'vodka', 'tractors', 'rockets', and 'Genghis Khan', as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all with lots of humour.

-----------------------------------

The Red Army Choir (Choir Aleksandrov) is a performing ensemble that served as the official army choir of the former Soviet Union's Red Army. The choir consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble. The songs they perform range from Russian folk tunes to Church hymns, operatic arias and popular music.

In 1991, The Red Army Choir participated in Roger Waters' The Wall concert celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. They performed an anti-war song "Bring the Boys Back Home."

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Red Army Choir has continued performing, entertaining audiences both inside and outside Russia.

Sweet Home Alabama



Stairway To Heaven



Knocking On Heaven's Door



It´s Only Rock ´n Roll



My Way



Kalinka

Fireman Fun

Firemen having fun with water hoses and a car.

From: masun3

136 Cats in a Small Apartment

Now that's a lot of cats!

From: RussiaToday

A resident of Novosibirsk in northern Russia has been adopting unwanted and abandoned cats for the last fifteen years. Now, as a result, she shares a tiny three room apartment with 136 of them.

Theater Cinematograph Moscow

I posted one of their videos in the previous post, and I got be wondering: are all of their videos in sign language? It seems so. Cool! (Not that I know Russian, or sign language, but it’s still kind of cool.)

Signs - Aleksey Znamenskiy

From: malinakalina



Flirt - Alexey Znamenskiy

From: 4001st



"Душка"

From: malinakalina

Russian Music Videos

I found most of these on englishrussia.com. I do not speak Russian; but I find these songs fun to listen to, even if I do not know the words.

“Byl Odyn Paren” by The Singing Guitars

Beat music from the sixties.



Here’s an attempt at a translation, using the google translation, and a little editing.

There was a boy who like me he loved The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
He always toured the world to sing the pretty things of America
He was not beautiful but exactly thus he had a thousand girls
If he sang “Help” and “Ticket to Ride” or “Lady Jane” or “Yesterday”
He sang alive to the freedom, but a letter without waiting
Of his guitar it separated it, he is called in America.
Stop! With Rolling Stones, stop! with Beatles songs.
Errand was to Vietnam, to fight the Vietcongs.

Ta tá ra ta tá…

He was a boy who like me loved the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
He toured the world but it finished, making the war in Vietnam
Long hair do not use more, it does not touch its guitar and yes
An instrument that always gives to the same note ra-tá-tá-tá
It does not have friends, it does not see girls, people deceased only fall to the soil
To its country it will not come back, therefore he is died in Vietnam.
Stop! With Rolling Stones, stop! with Beatles songs
In the chest a heart does not have, but two medals yes.

Ta tá-ra ta tá…
Ra-tá-tá-tá tá-t

“Bez suety” by Valery Meladze

Georgian singer Meladze. He has a myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/vmeladze



“Ocean” by Via Gra & Valeriy Meladze



“Someone Awaits” by Aleksey Vishnya

Russian music video from late 80s early 90s, full of scenes of that time Russia’s everyday life. In the end of this video are some kids playing. If we in the US were shown this video, would we have been so worried about the Russians? After all, their kids are just like ours!



“Osennaja Autumnal” by DDT

A mellow song.



“2 Wars” by Slot

A good alternative rock song. The official website for this band is: http://slot.ru/



Matarebeli

From Georgia. The lyrics are about a train leaving the station and the different characters riding the train.

Chernobyl: Twenty Years Later

Twenty years after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Russia (wikipedia.org), you would expect that it is still a wasteland. But, wildlife has returned to the area, as this article in the Washington Post reports today: washingtonpost.com.

How does the city look today? English Russia has pictures of how the city looks twenty years later. englishrussia.com