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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Lenin and Stalin replaced by hares, dogs, and processed cheese |
| 2004-10-22 |
| Edited for brevity. Constructing random monuments is all the rage in Russia. After decades of the obligatory statues of Lenin and Stalin on every town's main square, people are acquiring a taste for sculptures that honor everyday things or overlooked characters from Russian culture. Famous poet Alexander Pushkin is an ever popular monument item, and a cultural figure that is a constant source of folklore. However, a new sculpture in Pskov region depicts not the poet, but a hare that supposedly ran across Pushkin's path in 1825, when Pushkin was fleeing exile to St. Petersburg. One new statue in the Moscow metro commemorates the misery of all homeless dogs. Entitled "Empathy", the dog sculpture is situated in a metro passage where two years ago a stray dog was viciously butchered by 22-year-old model Juliana Romanova. Other new projects feature products that are symbolic for a particular city, or beloved Russian foods. One such sculpture will be a tribute to the processed cheese "Druzhba" (friendship). This year the cheese turns 40 years old, and many consider it a true symbol of the Soviet era. In Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Region, the mayor announced a contest for the best design of a tomato sculpture, to be set up on the central square. In Novgorod, pensioner Nikolai Zaryadov has constructed a makeshift potato monument in his home village: a two meter pipe with a large rock, presumably a potato, on top. At the foot of this potato shrine is the inscription "Thank you Columbus, thank you Peter the Great, for our beloved vegetable!" Zaryadov says he constructed the sculpture so that the current generation of Russians can remember that the vegetable saved millions of people from starvation. We can't let the Russians outdo us on this front. I suggest we start collecting funds immediately for a giant bronze statue of Cheez Whiz! |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #9 jackal - Ah, Samoyeds - my absolute favorite breed. I've had 2 and they were, hands down, the smartest dogs I've ever personally dealt with. Just amazingly fast learners and perfect even temperament. If I lived in a colder climate, I'd finagle / rearrange things so I could get one. My last one, King, weighed 80 lbs and was incredibly intimidating, lol! Scared the shit outta everyone, man and beast alike! But he was sweet to everyone I permitted "in" - and he waited for me to invite them, too. Awesome companion. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-10-22 10:41:10 PM |
| #8 I really liked the dog one. I work in rescue and get some dogs that have been really abused, like a beautiful Samoyed (is there any other kind?) that was used as a paintball target. |
| Posted by: jackal 2004-10-22 10:26:21 PM |
| #7 Just wait till the poets get into it. "Ode to a Processed Cheese" How do I love thee, Druzhba? let me count the ways... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-10-22 4:51:13 PM |
| #6 Now a citizen, my wife, about to cast her second vote for "W", grew up there, and remembers all the statues, now asunder. The Stalin ones are gone, some melted for doorstops, others for kitchen utensils. Don't mention Stalin to her though, or you'll get a 30 minute litany about how this "Crazy Georgian cockroach who had everyone scared or duped!" Melt down statues? Excellent. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-22 2:06:01 PM |
| #5 Russian vodka's the best in the world, by far. Next time you're leaving Sheremetyevo stop by duty-free and get some Gzhel'. About $10 per liter and far superior to western junk priced many times higher. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-22 1:56:07 PM |
| #4 Oops - Did this change over time - or was it always the case? I recall reading this factoid in multiple places, mainly the spy novels of my earlier years, when there was this nasty Cold War thingy on. Sorry! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-10-22 1:53:03 PM |
| #3 Russian vodka uses grain, not potatoes. You're thinking of the Polish crap. As to or in the significance of the potato, that persists. Perhaps as many as a third of the population live off of potatoes and other vegetables grown in their backyard or in communal plots. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-22 1:45:25 PM |
| #2 "Zaryadov says he constructed the sculpture so that the current generation of Russians can remember that the vegetable saved millions of people from starvation." And source of vodka, of course, Russia's Breakfast of Champions. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-10-22 12:44:14 PM |
| #1 All the above mentioned is obviously the work of TROTSKYITE DEVIATIONIST WRECKERS! One day these capitalist lapdogs will meet their fate... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2004-10-22 12:37:16 PM |