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Chekhov and dogs

International writers, when asked to name authors whose books everyone must have in the home library, inevitably include Anton Chekhov in their list. I would recommend his short stories as an excellent introductory point to Russian literature at large. Answers to “life’s persistent questions” are in Chekhov’s oeuvre. I will even use fashionable pedagogical terminology – research-based approach – to show overwhelming response to this author. “Chekhov!” was the first command I taught my dog. Ever since, Bolshaya has never failed to respond.

Большая и Чехов

A bit of history: Bolshaya (Большая) is a two-year old Great Dane (датский дог) and my first pet adopted five months ago. I knew nothing about dogs beyond the childhood story of Каштанка. While looking for a trainer for the official canine education, I relied on my Russian library and was rewarded beyond expectations when I taught my dog to respond to the command “Чехов!” by joining me -and a Russian tome – on the sofa.
The Chekhovian trick proved to be a solid foundation for learning. Yesterday Bolshaya graduated from a training program with Rachel at Petsmart.

The Russian expression “собачья жизнь” (a dog’s life) refers to a life of hardships. None of them seem to apply to Bol’shaya. A closer study of her lifestyle will bring to memory the composition of the portrait of Meyerhold by Konchalovsky.

http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/ru/collection/_show/image/_id/341

You will find Boshaya in the reclining position any time, so that a literary parallel with Oblomov comes to mind. “Обломовщина” is her chosen modus vivendi, and the family gladly join in.

Обломовщина

Two Oblomovs:

Web Resources on Russia

http://www.creeca.wisc.edu/
I rediscovered this site while trying to access a long-forgotten link to lectures on Russian history:
http://www.creeca.wisc.edu/webresources.html#petrovich
“Petrovich Lectures on Russian History
Professor Michael B. Petrovich taught Russian and Balkan history at UW-Madison for 39 years. A series of his lectures on Russian history, which made a lasting impact on generations of students and public radio listeners, were made available online by CREECA in 1997.”
Radio Liberty features 12 video clips “A Discovery of Russia” (in Russian), in which cartoon characters investigate the past via talk -show interviews with historical figures as an attempt to avoid falsification of history:
http://www.svobodanews.ru/content/article/1903732.html

Easter Scene in Tolstoy

Chapter XV in Tolstoy’s Resurrection is set in a church on the Esater Day.
See Mashkov’s library for the Russian text and Project Gutenberg for the English version.

Пасхальный кулич

Onion shells are used as a natural egg dye.

Orthodox Christmas

BBC picture gallery:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8444803.stm

Russian Tongue Twisters

The Russian word for tongue twisters is СKOРОГОВОРКИ (скоро=быстро + говор-ить).
http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/ru.htm#O76
My picks from the word of the year collection are
ВАМПЬЮТЕР – компьютер + вампир
БРЕХЛАМА – брехать – to tell lies, хлам – rubbish, реклама – advertising, commercial
МЕДВЕПУТИЯ – Медведев + Путин, a new name of the country otherwise known as Russia
New Year’s Greetings from Putin and Medvedev
НЕХОТЬ – не хотеть, a noun with a negative connotation indicating the absence of desire to do anything at all
More about Russian neologisms at

http://miresperanto.narod.ru/o_russkom_jazyke/dar_slova.htm

Season’s Greetings!

S-notes

Writing on the snow –

http://nimitz13.wikispaces.com/file/detail/Xmas_Card_2009.wmv

The sound track is my rendering of Маленькой елочке, and I asure you that I treated the material with more respect to the tradition than modernized Youtube versions. This song was performed as a хоровод (a dance performed by a choir moving around the tree in a circle).

Saint Nickolas, Russian dolls, and evergreen branches with callas. Although the Russians call him Father Frost (Дед Мороз), this particular Santa evokes the most beloved Orthodox saint – Николай-Чудотворец. Porcelain-faced dolls in traditional costumes are more elegant than chubby Matreshkas (this vendor has posted a good catalog: http://www.russianfolk.com/ebay/chrismasdolls.html). The white callas are a tribute to my parents. My father always brought a fresh bouquet of calla lilies for my mother for the New Year. Crisp fresh callas were hard to get in the middle of Russian winter. They were a conjunction of hope between compound and complex sentences of winter and spring in the story of seasons.

Seasonal vocabulary:
Snow – снег
Blizzard, snow storm – буран, метель (You may enjoy reading Pushkin’s “Blizzard” from Belkin’s Tales, as well as follow other links related to Russian Lit on this blog: http://lizoksbooks.blogspot.com/2009/06/back-to-classics-pushkins-belkin-tales.html
A clip from the famous film with Sviridov’s score: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baq1DKkDo7Y)
Snowman – снеговик, снежная баба
Snowdrift – сугроб
Frost – мороз
Icicle – сосулька
Christmas ornaments – ёлочные игрушки
Winter – зима
Spring – весна
Fall – осень (which was missed on this blog)

Морозко (Morozko) is a winter tale with a full cast of archetypal characters: magnificent Father Frost – Moroz with an array of snow tricks, evil witch Baba Yaga, cruel stepmother, powerless father, poor female orphan, rich fiance, simple villager.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygnS5njZRak&feature=related
If you like the trailer, you may search for more episodes typing Морозко in the search box.

Goodbye Summer

“До свидания, лето!” is the title of a Russian video course for beginners produced by BBC. Set in the former Soviet Union in the 70s, this series abounds in datail and keen observation. A novice-level student will have language practice, while a nostalgic Homo Post-Sovieticus will delve into the past with the popular theme song performed by Alla Pugacheva. Priceless!

The poem by Marina Tsvetaeva evokes nostalgia of a different nature and can be used by intermediate students of Russia to review plural nouns, refresh rules of noun-adjective agreement in gender, case, and number, practice pronunciation, and analyze diction.

Август – астры,
Август – звёзды,
Август – гроздья
Винограда, и рябины
Ржавой – август!

Полновесным, благосклонным
Яблоком своим имперским,
Как дитя, играешь, август,
Как ладонью гладишь сердце
Именем своим имперским:
Август! – Сердце!

Месяц поздних поцелуев,
Поздних роз и молний поздних!
Ливней звездных -
Август! – месяц
Ливней звездных.

The English translation from Mashkov’s library follows (http://lib.ru/POEZIQ/CWETAEWA/sbornik_engl.txt)

August – asters,
August – stars,
August – bunches
Of grapes and ashberry
Rusty – August!

Like a child, August
You play with your apple
Good-natured and full of weight.
Like with hand, with your imperial
Name you do caress the heart:
August! – Heart!
Month of late kisses,
Of late roses and late lightning!
Of the rain beneath the stars
August! – Month
Of the rain beneath the stars!

More poems: http://home.comcast.net/~kneller/tsvetaeva.html

Николай Рерих: Запад – Восток

Nicholas Roerich exemplifies a global persona, and as such can be related to Russia’s ambivalent Eurasian identity embracing both the east and the west. An artist, writer, thinker, explorer, Roerich left an amazing legacy. His depiction of old Russia as well as tribute to landscapes of India, both physical and spiritual, stand alone as an epic body of work by the master whose intellectual versatility remains unparalleled. His art work and writings can be found on the sites of the Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York ( http://www.roerich.org/wwp.html ), and the Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow (http://www.roerich.ru/).
After a busy week on a holiday weekend, I select a quote from Health in Realm of Light:

Sports and exercise in the open air, which of course, are good for health in a certain measure, could not entirely furnish nutrition for the nervous system of mankind. It is true that humanity is fatigued, but it is not fatigued because of the amount of work it has been doing, for work intelligently regulated can never tire. True rest is found not in inaction, but in a wise distribution and change of the quality of work.

For references to yoga see: http://www.roerich.org/index.html

On Malevich

See my comment about Malevich on this blog dedicated to exploration of interconnectedness between art and mathematics: http://math-art-fun.blogspot.com/2009/08/219m219-said.html