#Aquarium (Russian rock band)

[russianreader]

Leningrad 4

If you have been to Chronicles Bar [in downtown St. Petersburg], you have definitely seen the photos discussed in this film. In today’s session of “Screening the Real,” we are watching Leningrad 4, a documentary about Sergei Podgorkov and other champions of Leningrad’s unofficial photography scene during perestroika. Yuri Mikhailin spoke to the filmmaker, Dmitry Fetisov, about dramatic structure,…

[cosmere-cat]

Russian rock music! My favorite songs

I'm including a couple songs from a few artists I like (spotify links), with a bit of an explanation of what each song is about.

This is a long post so the rest is below the cut if you're interested :)

Going by band/artist!

Секрет (Sekret) - rock and roll, beatles-ish, mostly upbeat but they do have some range. Lots of song that are just fun to sing along to :)

One of my favorite songs from them that is fairly representative of their general sound:

Привет (Privet - meaning: Hello)

This song is about a chance meeting with an old friend on the subway. So catchy! So fun to sing along to! A little bittersweet :)

Here's a song of theirs that has a bit of different sound:

Ночь (Noch - meaning: Night)

This is just a beautiful poem about city nighttime and its many aspects, personified. Very evocative.

Кино (Kino) - more punk/post punk. Mostly sad/melancholic songs with emphasis on lyrics, but the beats are top notch.

Note: I really love this band so I really recommend checking out more of their songs if you like these, they made such good music.

Звезда по имени Солнце (Zbezda pa imeni Solntza - meaning: A Star named the Sun)

The song talks about the way 2000 years pass for a city, with conflict and wars going and returning through the cyclical passage of time.

Лето (Leto - meaning: Summer)

This song sort of talks about everyday life, but mostly negative aspects - bad weather, a long-closed down restaurant, a broken record player - while evoking a melancholic apathy. Depression but with a killer beat.

Земфира (Zemfira) - very punk rock singer. Her vibe is kinda like P!nk maybe? Amazing vocals, pretty modern lyrics (tbf she's started her career in 1998...)

Хочешь? (Khochesh? - meaning: Do you want?)

Song expressing love/adoration - basically "I would do the craziest things for the smallest improvements in your life". Example: do you want me to blow up the stars so they don't bother your sleep? It's a super fun song :)

спид (spid - meaning: AIDS)

In this song the narrator's partner has just found out they have aids. She's thinking about what little future is left for them. It's a pretty hopeless song but it's also kick ass

Машина Времени (Mashina Vremeni)

Звезды Не Ездят в Метро (Zvezdy ne Yezdyat V Metro - meaning: Starts don't take the subway)

Unrequited love or perhaps a chance meeting that never will be. A dichotomy between the hopeful fan on the subway and the discontent music star in his apartment.

Крематорий (Krematorij)

Родео и Джульетта (Romeo and Juliet)

This song is about a dysfunctional relationship. If we ignore all the bad stuff - we were just like Romeo and Juliet! There's an undercurrent of a tragic "it was doomed to fail".

Мусорный ветер (Musornyj veter - meaning: Wind of garbage/Garbage wind)

This song is about pollution :)

Bonus: not really rock but this song just makes me so emotional and is part of the inspiration for this post

Aquarium

25 к 10 (25 to 10)

This one is kind of a ballad (i think? not very good with music genres). It's about accepting your life and not regretting it. Being unapologetically yourself. Honestly makes me emotional evry tim

And.. I've hit audio limit for this post. I didn't even know that was a thing. Anyway I hope anyone seeing this post enjoys some of these songs and maybe check out other songs by these artists if you like them :)

[tiredfoxtf]

I drew a Russian Rock genre legend Boris Grebenshchikov of Aquarium band.

Currently he is considered "foreign agent" by the government and not welcome in the country. As well as performing most of his and his band's songs is currently illegal.

"Colonel Vasin came to the frontline With his young wife. Colonel Vasin called his regiment And said: "Let's go home. We wage war 70 years already, We were taught that life is a fight But according to new intelligence data We were waging war on ourselves"

Translated by me verse of "This Train Is On Fire" by Aquarium, sang by Boris Grebeshchikov.

[emonaculate]

AOT Freshman v Senior Year headcanons (Eren, Armin, and Mikasa)

❥ AU: Highschool!AU

❥ Genre: Fluff

❥ Rating: Everyone can read

❥ Pairing: hinted at Eren x reader

❥ Warnings Include: Profanity, mentions of violence, manipulation, mention of weed, and slight angst

❥ Author Note: I'm making this an entire series for the main cast or my favorite characters from AOT

Eren Yeager

Freshman year

Extremely fucking loud for no reason

Runs to class and somehow always manages to be late

Tries to pay attention in class but due to his ADHD would always spaces tf out

Despite being loud, only talks to Mikasa and Armin

Smells like nothing but AXE body spray, its not even a bad smell, its just too much

That kid that takes P.E. TOO fucking serious

"Eren you know why you're in trouble right?"

"No."

"...You hit your classmate in the face with a ball."

"He could have dodged."

"Eren it was a basketball, you broke his nose and chipped his tooth."

"He shouldn't have gotten so close to me."

Im sorry but totally dresses like this

Constantly compared to his older brother.

"Yeager... Are you by any chance related to Zeke Yeager?"

"No way, your brother is THE Zeke Yeager?"

Makes a name for himself rather quickly

Listens to heavy rock/metal music

He loves My Chemical Romance and Three Day Grace.

Learned how to play the guitar just so he could play "Teenagers"

Forced Mikasa and Armin to also listen to the bands

They ended up all deciding on making a small little garage band; Miki on vocals and drums, Min on bass, and Eren as lead vocalist and electric guitar.

His style changed randomly but no one questioned it since his personality remained the same.

Senior year

180 personality

Completely mellowed tf out

Either he is in class on time or not showing up at all

Senioritis is strong within him

Works better when he is completely out of it

STONER

This mf always high as shit

Either you love him, hate him, or respect him there is no inbetween

MANBUN

Smart as hell but usually on the low

His music taste has changed a little

LOVES POLITICAL RAP

J.cole and Kendrick stan; it is not up for debate

His favorite songs are Neighbors by J.Cole and Alright by Kendrick

Listens to throwback RnB when high

Still godly at the guitar

Has a couple stick and poke tattoos; He has one behind his ear matching Min and Miki.

He has the sun, Armin has the ocean waves, Mikasa has the moon

PIERCINGS

A total of 8; 4 in his left and 2 in his right + the industrial

Has a tongue piercing

A two slices in his eyebrow but only got them as a dare

Most of them minus the industrial piercing was done at home because he has an abnormally high pain tolerance.

Dresses like this

Doesnt really play sports but is super good at soccer and basketball

He's actually good at most sports just refuses to join because why would he want to support a corrupted system??

Still more of a loner but has a rather nice friend group

Looks mean asf but is actually really nice

Goes the hardest for his friends

You fuck with them = you getting your shit rocked by him

100% the friend that hits you for forgetting to eat

Despite being hot as shit; never really has a girlfriend

Its only because hes oblivious or just not interested

Deathly scary when hes pissed

If you guys got beef; there is no talking

Its on sight bro

Be prepared to get beat the fuck up

A few things that makes him go from 0 to 100 is racism, mocking disabled people, and domestic violence

He's an activist

If you need help organizing a protest; he'll help and somehow manage to get people to come.

Basically a really good guy just hot headed as hell

Armin Arlert

Freshman Year

The kid who looked up those lame videos on how to survive highschool.

Panicked when it came to speaking in class

Stuttered like hell

AP CLASSES

He's way too advanced like could graduate early but refuses to so he can stay with his friends

Super sweet but extremely naive

People definitely took advantage of him.

"Hey Armin, my dog got in a car accident so I wasnt really focused in class, can you give me the homework answers?"

"Yeah sure its no problem."

Sends them a whole ass powerpoint on the entire lesson and teaches them better than the actual teacher.

Band nerd

Can play the Piano, Bass, and Trumpet

Listens to Mother Mother and Queen religiously

Only joined Eren's garage band after he agreed to watch Bohemian Rhapsody

Dresses like this

Moved in with Ren and Miki after he went through some shit with his family; he came out as bisexual after realizing he was attracted to one of his classmates.

Sometimes worries that Eren gets uncomfortable but relaxes after he remembers who Eren really is.

Wouldn't trade his friends for the world

Senior Year

His glow up took awhile because he didnt really feel the need to change

He was always rather cute; just shy and timid

VALEDICTORIAN

Slightly because he manipulated his runner up into become a burnout gifted kid lmao

Everyone has his Snapchat and Instagram so they can get help

Now he knows when people are using him and he still lets them; the only difference is you fuck with him and he can make you end up repeating the same grade.

Lets people copy his test and at the last minute pauses and erases all his answers before putting the correct ones.

No one has realized his plan.

His fashion sense changed a lot

Subconsciously tries to match Eren all the time

The only person that noticed was Mikasa; she thinks its cute

Is in love with Russian foreign exchange student, Annie.

He talks to her from time to time before gathering enough courage to ask her out

Doesnt realize how popular he is.

Oftentimes volunteers at the aquarium to study the ocean life as well as help out.

Helps plenty of organizations clean up the ocean.

A total of four piercings and the tattoo that matches his friends.

Two in his ears and nipple piercings.

It was a dare he sobbed through

Mikasa Ackerman

Freshman year

Basketcase

Follows Eren and Armin around

Super quiet

Doesn't really have much of a personality

She is cute though

Dresses like this

Like I said no real personality at all

Well except she was the girl who thought she was in a romance novel

Especially when Eren would get into a fight.

"Eren look at me... This isnt you."

"Mikasa move."

Most times it wouldnt work.

It was just cringy man...

Can play the violin, flute, piano, and cello

Only learned the drums so she could play with Eren and Armin

A secret pop stan

Loves Ariana Grande and Doja Cat

Thank god she manages to grow out of that yucky phase.

Senior Year

GOTH GF

Track, Gymnast, and female basketball player

She mellowed out as well and became her own person

Still heavily in love with Eren

Confessed to him during a karaoke session to the song Baby I by Ariana Grande; he didnt realize.

Sang her heart out and was a blushing mess but still got no where

Has deep down accepted that she may never be more than just his friend

Is okay with it and NOT toxic when he's crushing on someone else

Just wants him to be happy

Saw how he looked at some girl during a fundraiser to raise money for animal shelters and realized that he may never look at her like that.

Turned a guy down because Armin had a crush on him

The ultimate wing girl

Introduced Eren to her opponent after a track meet after realizing it was the girl from the fundraiser.

Dresses like this

Super sweet despite her look

However pick on her friends and you're fucked

CAN and WILL whoop your ass

The only person who can get Eren to not fight.

Pissed them both off at the same time and you're screwed

Has a total of three piercings

Her ears and nose

Loves her boys more than anything

Stays with Eren while her parents travel to help with natural disasters

Noticed that Armin's ideal type is Eren but never mentioned it because she knows Armin would overract

Very observant

Just wants the best for her friends even if she is the one who ends up happy

Eventually falls for the guy that asked her out junior year.

Still close to her boys because they come before anyone.

[teddybasmanov]

Hi hi hi! Thank you so much for the song recommendations and I really really really like this one

https://open.spotify.com/track/54NjeZb0simhLFopv6KiFl?si=WT4TM_O3SsWF7qLEI2uTSQ&utm_source=copy-link

(I'm sorry I can't find it in the insert audio option)

And I would absolutely love the guide to Russian rock!!! Thank you!!!!!

You're very welcome and I'm glad you liked it! (There's a fun music video for it which further shows that it's actually deeply political.)

Shake me a bit and musical recs start falling out.

Here's the "guide" (don't take it too seriously):

1. Louna - hard rock, alternative, metal, a lot of social and/or political themes.

2. Lumen - alternative metal, grunge, punk - usually sad and depressing.

3. Agatha Christy - gothic, punk, art, glam - psychedelic, dark, sometimes fantasy themed.

4. Aquarium - my absolute beloved - very old and usually like psychedelic chill, uses a lot of different instruments and genres from experimental rock to reggae and blues - in general just absolute classics.

5. Aria - hard rock, classical rock - also old, would probably describe as dad-rock, a lot of fantasy and historically themed songs.

6. Bravo - rock'n'roll and pop - absolutely ancient and very sweet. Inexistent.

7. DDT - rock, hard a bit of folk and indie - also some political topics, pretty old, also experiment with styles.

8. Zoopark - rock'n'roll, blues, hard - old and already inexistent but quite interesting.

9. Kalinov Bridge - folk, art-rock (Christian rock apparently) - folk and historical songs.

10. Kino - rock - classics - usually politically-themed or at least have such undertones. Doesn't exist anymore.

11-12. King and the Jester - fathers of the Russian punk - incredibly cool, fantasy-themed songs with plots (two songs included because for vampire-related reasons). Doesn't exist anymore (two bands heirs are Knyazz and the Northern Fleet).

13. Kukriniksy - punk, gothic - pretty artistic, have an album of singing Esenin's poems.

14. Time Machine - rock, rock'n'roll, author song - absolute dinosaurs, one the first if not THE. Technically do exist but not really.

15. Windmill - folk rock all the way - fantasy-themed very nice.

16. Nautilus Pompilius - rock, alternative, simfo-rock - very artsy for the lack of a better word, super poetic lyrics. Exist in odd ways and combinations.

17. Leg Fell Asleep (yes, it's their name) - punk, alternative, indie - awfully psychedelic, almost never make any sense (cue - have a song which is literally gibberish) but pretty fun.

18. Night Snipers - alternative, pop-rock, indie-rock - a lot of poetic romantic songs with some unexpectedly queer vibes.

19. Picnic - indie, rock, new wave, avant-garde - fairly old, also psychedelic but more fantasy and myth vibe than just a drug trip.

20. Pilot - punk, hard, alternative - usually fairy depressive, but cool.

21. Secret - rock'n'roll, blues, pop - nice, kind of old band, with a lot of love songs and just fun ones.

22. Splean - alternative, pop, indie - usually more dramatic romantic songs with deep poetic lyrics.

23. Cockroaches! - punk, alternative - a bit of trash /pos songs, some political.

24. Chaif - country, blues, rock'n'roll - another old one, a lot of slow sad or just calm songs, but not all of them.

25. Black Obelisk - heavy, trash-metal, hard - they are not actually that good I just have a bit of a soft spot for them. Sometimes good lyrics, but then the leader who was writing them died.

26. Chizh&Co - blues, folk, romance, rock'n'roll - very different genres, some songs with a plot, some romances, some war songs.

[gwendolynlerman]

Langblr culture challenge

Day 21: Music

Until the 18th century, Russian music mainly consisted of church music and folk songs.

The 19th century was defined by the tension between The Mighty Handful, a group of five composers—Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin—who worked together to create a distinct national style of classical music, and the Russian Musical Society led by Anton and Nikolai Rubinstein. Another notable composer was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose Romantic tradition was continued into the 20th century by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Other world-renowned composers of the 20th century include Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky, Georgy Sviridov, and Alfred Schnittke.

In Soviet times, violinists David Oistrakh and Gidon Kremer, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, pianists Vladimir Horowitz and Emil Gilels, and vocalist Galina Vishnevskaya stood out. The most notable popular musicians were balladeers Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava and performer Alla Pugacheva.

The Ganelin Trio has been described as the greatest ensemble of free-jazz in continental Europe. In the 1980s, rock music became popular with bands like Aria (Ария), Aquarium (Аквариум), DDT (ДДТ), and Kino (Кино). Famous Russian pop stars include t.A.T.u. (Тату), Serebro (Серебро), and Neoclubber.

[marhelf]

Royal morning

This watercolour was inpired by the song “Royal Morning” (Королевское утро ) of a Russian rock-band Aquarium

  www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mMezd…   

which in turn was inspired by a poem, written by one of my favorite poets, Arthur Rimbaud: 

Royauté

       Un beau matin, chez un peuple fort doux, un homme et une femme superbes criaient sur la place publique: "Mes amis, je veux qu'elle soit reine!" "Je veux être reine!" Elle riait et tremblait. Il parlait aux amis de révélation, d'épreuve terminée. Ils se pâmaient l'un contre l'autre.

       En effet ils furent rois toute une matinée, où les tentures carminées se relevèrent sur les maisons, et tout l'après-midi, où ils s'avancèrent du côté des jardins de palmes.

Royalty

   One fine day, among a very gentle people, a superb man and woman cried out in the public square: ‘Friends, I want her to be queen!’ ‘I want to be queen!’ She laughed and trembled. He talked to his friends of revelation, of trials undergone. They swooned against each other.

Indeed, they were kings the whole morning, while carmine hangings festooned the houses, and all afternoon, as they advanced towards the gardens of palm-trees. (English version from www.poetryintranslation.com/PI

[findafriend]

Hi everyone, Im Sonya, Im from St. Petersburg (Russia) and Im 15. Im looking for an internet friend ;)

Ive been learning English for 8 years at school, so I think my level of language is not very bad, but Im working on my pronunciation and vocabulary (and sometimes I do stupid grammar mistakes, dont mind me). Learning languages is one of my hobbies, besides English I also used to learn Spanish at school (Ive been leaning it for 2 years) and now Im going to start learning German.

And as about other interests, my main hobby is drawing/painting and art, and also Im really into photography (I mostly shot portraits) and editing photos.

Im keen on books, my favorite one is “Three comrades” by Remarque, now Im reading “Master and Margarita” by Russian author Bulgakov.

Talking about movies, my favs are the “Blade runner” (Ridley Scott) and “Inception” (Christopher Nolan). From shows I like “sherlock”, “the witcher” and “friends” the most.

Im really fond of rock, metal and alternative music. My favorite bands are Muse, Rammstein and Pink Floyd. Also I like Queen (Who doesn’t?). And “Aquarium”, “Kino” from Russian music, but i dont think anyone here knows them.

Im interested in social science and jurisprudence, physics, linguistics and astronomy. And I love math, yeah, I do like really a lot of things.

And one more thing I guess I should mention is that Im an extrovert.

So, text me if you wanna be friends! ☀️ my tumblr is philosofi, my instagram is oblacaponebu

[officialcameronfrye]

tumblr won’t let me share this as an audio post, but i wanted to share this! 

it’s called ‘music of the silver spokes’ and it’s by aquarium off of their album radio africa. it might be one of my favourite albums right now tbh.

aquarium is a russian band, most popular during the late 70s and early 80s. since rock was partially illegal in the soviet union during the time, many rock bands recorded their albums in secret. this album was recorded in a mobile studio owned by the russian government, after boris grebenchikov had bribed the operator.

[allpurposepanda]

1,21, 34, 13, 69, 68, 36, 27 ❤️❤️

21. A song that’s a joke between you and your friendsThe gun the gun the gun the gun

34. Can you give me a 10 song playlist on ____Uhhh I’m super bad at condensing things, but I do have this new playlist i made a couple days ago. It’s 17 songs, not 10, but thats probably good enoughIt’s for the summer.

13. Favourite song to sing in the showerKen Ashcorp - ParalyzedThis cover specifically.

69. A song that reminds you of youMe and somebody elseJacob Lee - I Just Know

68. A song that you remember from your childhoodMy parents (being Russian and fans of punk rock) have always really liked this one Russian rock group called Aquarium, and I spent much of my time as a kid listening to their stuff. Here’s one I just happen to remember.36. A band/artist you’re proud ofWowaka, or the present singer of Hitorie. He started out by making depressing Vocaloid songs and eventually made his own band, and now is popular enough to have his songs show up consistently in anime openings and I’m proud of him for having made it this far.Unfortunately, they don’t exist on youtube anymore, so here’s some buried examples I dug up instead: X X 

27. What band/artist would you get your children addicted to at an early age Maybe Paramore? I have no idea.

1. A song you’re ashamed of likingIt’s catchy, ok?

[tv-boom]

Russian rock legend cancels his musical tour in Ukraine

Russian rock legend cancels his musical tour in Ukraine

[ad_1]

The Russian rock legend and head of the Aquarium, Boris Gribinskikov, canceled the performances of his band in Ukraine, which he planned to hold there in December.

read more

Johnny Depp plays at his friend's wedding! (Video)

"Anyone who wants to attend the Ukrainian concerts of the Akvarium in December may cancel my tour due to the appearance of force…

[russianreader]

Words and Deeds (577 People)

Yesterday, during a dinner conversation, I was asked why I’d been silent, why I hadn’t been writing anything about the war. Was it because I was afraid of going to jail, or was it something else? These questions were posed point blank albeit sympathetically. I’ve been asking myself this question for many months. On the one hand, it’s stupid to deny that watching as my acquaintances are given…

[gunboatbaylodge]

Things to Do in Vancouver This Weekend: Dec. 29, 2017

Roll your post-holiday cheese and cookie-filled self on out to enjoy the last weekend of the year! There are a lot of chill things to do during the day with family, as well as opportunities to wear that glitzy garb and champagne yourself rosy until until the first hours of 2018.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday December 29

Ballet BC Presents The Nutcracker

Ballet BC Presents The Nutcracker Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre What: Alberta Ballet’s production with choreography by Edmund Stripe and sets and costumes designed by Emmy Awardwinning designer Zack Brown, “sparkles like a Fabergé egg…” says the Vancouver Sun.

Vancouver TheatreSports Year in Review

Vancouver TheatreSports Year in Review Where: The Improv Centre What: Vancouver’s lack of affordable housing, hurricanes, false news, Russian hacking, and celebrity scandals are just a few of the stories that grabbed the headlines in 2017. Some were confusing (bike lanes…again), some trivial (almost any celebrity breakup) and others scary (it snowed in Vancouver). Regardless, all will provide fodder for Vancouver TheatreSports (VTSL) quick-witted improvisers as they journey back through the headlines this past year Runs until: Sunday December 31, 2017

Family Sleepover at the Vancouver Aquarium

Family Sleepover at the Vancouver Aquarium Where: Vancouver Aquarium What: Learn more about marine mammals before going to bed with the Steller Sea Lions in the underwater viewing gallery.

Little Women

Little Women Where: Kay Meek Centre What: Set in 1860’s New England, Little Women follows four sisters – hopeless romantic Meg, aspiring novelist Jo, kind-hearted Beth and the self-centered Amy March –  on their journey from childhood to maturity during the American Civil War. Runs until: Saturday December 30, 2017

Community Skate

Community Skate Where: PNE Agrodome What: Bring your own skates and the family to this run around the rink.

Maurice

Maurice Where: VanCity Theatre What: Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, EM Forster’s Maurice is a story of coming to terms with one’s sexuality and identity in the face of disapproval and misunderstanding.

  Saturday December 30

top of page

Vancouver Canucks vs. LA Kings

Vancouver Canucks vs. LA Kings Where: Rogers Arena What: It’s pine trees vs. palm trees, rain vs. shine, dare I say substance vs. style? I have my bias. Anyways, this is hockey, so the players are actually from everywhere, and you just pick a favourite based on whatever you want.

Harlem Globetrotters World Tour

Harlem Globetrotters World Tour Where: Pacific Colosseum What: A star-studded roster for fans to experience the ball handling wizardry, basketball artistry and one-of-a-kind family entertainment that thrills fans of all ages. Prepare to be amazed as the Globetrotters showcase basketball’s first 4-point line, located 30 feet from the basket – 6 feet, 3 inches beyond the top of the NBA’s current 3-point line.

Ballet BC Presents The Nutcracker Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre What: Alberta Ballet’s production with choreography by Edmund Stripe and sets and costumes designed by Emmy Awardwinning designer Zack Brown, “sparkles like a Fabergé egg…” says the Vancouver Sun.

I am Not Your Negro

I am Not Your Negro Where: VanCity Theatre What: A journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

  New Years Eve: Sunday December 31

top of page

Concord’s NYE Vancouver | Image by Jen Chan

Concord’s NYE Vancouver Where: Canada Place What: Ring in the new year with an evening full of live music, entertainment and, of course, a yell-along countdown to 2016 complete with colourful blasts of midnight fireworks that will light up the sky and echo off the mountains. Younger children are invited to take part in a smaller, calmer, earlier countdown that will be celebrated at 9:00pm. (It’s like counting down to the New Year with Saskatchewan, Manitoba, many of USA’s red states, and most of Mexico!)

NYE Waterfront Gala Where: Fairmont Waterfront What: Celebrate in style in this upscale and mature environment with well-prepared appetizer stations and a champagne toast at midnight.

NYE at Science World Where: Science World What: This year’s party will feature 5 fully licensed bars, 1,100 person capacity, 2 rooms of music on 2 floors, 8 of the city’s top DJs & performers  and one of the biggest countdowns to bring in 2018.

NYE at the Pacific Colosseum Where: Pacific Colosseum What: With DJs Axwell Λ Ingrosso, Andrew Rayel, DJ Isaac, DubVision and DAIJO.

Gatsby’s Yacht Where: Magic Spirit Yacht What: This speakeasy prohibition-style party cruise will be the bee’s knees.

NYElectric Where: Mariott Pinnacle What: Two rooms, three DJs.

NYE Traditional Dinner Cruise Where: Spirit Cruises What: Dancing, a dinner buffet, and a countdown, all on the water.

New Years Eve with Queer as Funk and DJ Slade

New Years Eve with Queer as Funk and DJ Slade Where: The Wise Hall What: Two live sets, a DJ, dancing, drinking, counting down, gender-neutral washrooms, and a champagne toast.

Cirque NYE Gala Where: The Imperial What: The event will feature some of the city’s best EDM, top 40, and hip hop DJs, stunning cirque performance artists, 2 rooms of music plus an exclusive VIP mezzanine level.

NYE Carnivale Where: Lux Lounge What: A Latin-American themed celebration.

Man Up + Queers and Beers NYE Where: The Cobalt What: Chill beer hangouts followed by gender blending drag, dancing, and partying in an atmosphere dedicated to inclusivity and safety for all.

NYE Extravaganza Pub Crawl Where: Various locations What: A wild ride hopping to 4 clubs with no added cover charge or line-ups. The dance floors will be packed and party hosts will be stationed on each bus to keep the mobile party going.

Metropolis Noir New Year’s Eve: An Evening of The Tragically Hip Songs

Metropolis Noir New Year’s Eve: An Evening of The Tragically Hip Songs Where: The Rickshaw What: An evening of The Tragically Hip songs performed by members of local bands such as Bison, Sevens Nines and Tens, STREETS and more.

The Roxy Presents Raise ‘Em Up New Years Party Where: The Vogue What: Country rock band Blackjack Billy rings in the new year.

The Snow Ball Where: The Biltmore What: A classic gymnasium prom with snow cones and a photo booth.

New Years Eve Pig Roast Where: Maime Taylor’s What: Eat drink, and be reminded of the fleeting and tragic nature of mortality with the roast of an entire animal.

  Ongoing

top of page

Karaoke Christmas Lights

Karaoke Christmas Lights Where: The Vancouver Trolley Company What: Get on a festive Vancouver Trolley and ready your singing voice – this tour is for the most enthusiastic spirits of the winter holidays! Equipped with a TV and a karaoke machine loaded with Christmas music favorites, you’ll be toured around the city to take in some of Vancouver’s most dazzling light displays. Runs until: Friday December 29, 2017

A Fort Langley Christmas

A Fort Langley Christmas Where: Fort Langley What: Hear Kwantlen stories, taste a chestnut roasted over the fire, make a beautiful cedar ornament and admire the giant outdoor Christmas tree. Runs until: Saturday December 30, 2017

Glow Christmas

Glow Christmas Where: Langley, BC What: Take a stroll through a musical light tunnel, where you’ll feel the warmth and wonder of the Christmas season under the glow of over 500,000 lights. Runs until: Saturday December 30, 2017

City Lights

City Lights Where: The Cinematheque What: Albert Einstein is said to have cried with laughter at the world premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights in Los Angeles in 1931. Described by Chaplin himself as “a comedy romance in pantomime,” this winning mix of slapstick, sentiment, and social criticism has Chaplin’s beloved Little Tramp falling in love with a blind flower girl. Runs until: Saturday December 30, 2017

Little Women

Little Women Where: Kay Meek Centre What: Set in 1860’s New England, Little Women follows four sisters – hopeless romantic Meg, aspiring novelist Jo, kind-hearted Beth and the self-centered Amy March –  on their journey from childhood to maturity during the American Civil War. Runs until: Saturday December 30, 2017

Cirque du Soleil: Kurios Where: Under the tents, Downtown Vancouver What: Step into the curio cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him. Suddenly, the visible becomes invisible, perspectives are transformed, and the world is literally turned upside down. Runs until: Sunday December 31, 2017

Onegin Where: Arts Club Theatre What: When Evgeni Onegin visits the Larin family estate, his romantic charms stir passions long forgotten by its residents. Poet Vladimir Lensky’s romantic ideals are challenged (a duel!) after Onegin flirts with his fiancée Olga Larin, and even the sensible Tatyana Larin falls for the handsome rogue. The hit musical moves, shakes, and wakes audiences with its sweeping score. Runs until: Sunday December 31, 2017

Vancouver TheatreSports Year in Review

Vancouver TheatreSports Year in Review Where: The Improv Centre What: Vancouver’s lack of affordable housing, hurricanes, false news, Russian hacking, and celebrity scandals are just a few of the stories that grabbed the headlines in 2017. Some were confusing (bike lanes…again), some trivial (almost any celebrity breakup) and others scary (it snowed in Vancouver). Regardless, all will provide fodder for Vancouver TheatreSports (VTSL) quick-witted improvisers as they journey back through the headlines this past year Runs until: Sunday December 31, 2017

Site for Still Life

Site for Still Life Where: Contemporary Art Gallery What: Andrew Dadson’s practice engages with the notion of boundaries in relation to space and time, primarily through investigations with materials, process and abstraction. Comprising new, ambitious large-scale paintings, film and installation, this exhibition presents a major statement by this young artist of propositions core to his practice. Runs until: Sunday December 31, 2017

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe | Image by Tim Matheson

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Where: The Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island What: Four siblings step through a wardrobe into an enchanted land filled with mythical creatures, talking animals, quests and dangerous secrets. Featuring Sereana Malani as the White Witch and Ian Butcher as Aslan, with Tim Carlson, Chris Lam, Adele Noronha and Kaitlynn Yott as the Pevensie siblings. The first installment in C. S. Lewis’ epic Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of the best-loved books in children’s literature. Runs until: Sunday December 31, 2017

Entangled: Two Views on Contemporary Canadian Painting | John Kissick burning the houses of cool man, yeah No.5 (hang the DJ), 2016 (cropped)

Entangled: Two Views on Contemporary Canadian Painting Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: An insight into two distinctly different modes of painting that have come to dominate contemporary painting in this country. The origins of both can be effectively traced back to the 1970s, to a moment when the continued existence of painting was hotly debated. Runs until: Monday January 1, 2018

Math Moves

Math Moves Where: Science World What: Visitors will investigate ratios and proportions, using their bodies, gestures, and words to set up, measure, describe and compare ratios and proportions. The exhibition encourages a collaborative approach to problem-solving, with open-ended activities that provide opportunities for visitors to talk about solutions to the challenges presented in the exhibition. Runs until: Monday January 1, 2018

Heritage Christmas

Heritage Christmas Where: Burnaby Village Museum What: Stroll through the streets of the Village to see wreaths, cedar swags and vintage-themed displays will. At the bandstand, visitors can create their own magical holiday show with lights that change colours to sound. Runs until: Friday January 5, 2017

East Van Panto: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

East Van Panto: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Where: York Theatre What: In this East Van tale, our hero flees the Queen of North Vancouver across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and lands straight into the madness of the PNE, where she dances with SuperDogs, hops a ride on the Wooden Roller Coaster, and befriends washed-up 80s rock stars “The Seven Dwarves”. Runs until: Saturday January 6, 2017

Bright Nights at Stanley Park Where: Stanley Park What: Take a train ride along a route filled with lights, displays and live performers with the whole family. Donations and a portion of ticket sales go to the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund. Runs until: Saturday January 6, 2017

VanDusen Festival of Lights

VanDusen Festival of Lights Where: VanDusen Botanical Gardens What: Experience a winter wonderland with over one million lights. Stroll with friends and family through interactive themed areas, enjoy the famous Dancing Lights show on Livingstone Lake, look for roving Scandinavian gnomes and reindeer in the garden, light a candle at the Make-A-Wish candle grotto, take a photo with Santa, enjoy tasty treats and take a carousel ride. Runs until: Sunday January 7, 2017

Peak of Christmas

Peak of Christmas Where: Grouse Mountain What: Sleigh bells ring, choirs sing! Grouse Mountain presents a magical celebration and a multitude of festivities. Bring your family to Santa’s workshop and meet reindeer, or take a sleigh-ride through a mystical alpine forest. You can also experience the tranquil beauty of skating on an 8,000 square foot mountaintop ice skating pond, surrounded by snow-topped trees or wander through an outdoor holiday lights display. Runs until: Sunday January 7, 2017

Christmas at FlyOver Canada

Christmas at FlyOver Canada Where: FlyOver Canada What: Fly with Santa and his elves on a magical flight across Canada and on to the North Pole! Join two elves as they take flight across Canada looking for their friends. You may even get a sneak peek of Santa’s workshop. Runs until: Sunday January 7, 2018

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Where: Arts Club Theatre What: “Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme.” Follow Belle behind the castle walls in this adaptation of the Academy Award–winning animated film. Runs until: January 13, 2018

Chinese Lantern Festival

Chinese Lantern Festival Where: Hastings Park What: As the largest festival of its kind in Canada will feature 35 illuminated displays transforming over 14 acres. Lantern festivals started during the Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago. This festival will be embracing traditions with elaborate new lanterns featuring Dragon, White Pagoda, Kylin, and Huabiao Column, each symbolizing a Chinese sage or legend. There will also be two nightly performances in the PNE Amphitheatre featuring acts such as face changing, acrobatics, and folk dance. Runs until: Sunday January 21, 2018

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology What: MOA will showcase its Amazonian collections in a significant exploration of socially and environmentally-conscious notions intrinsic to indigenous South American cultures, which have recently become innovations in International Law. These are foundational to the notions of Rights of Nature, and they have been consolidating in the nine countries that share responsibilities over the Amazonian basin. Runs until: January 28, 2018

Canyon Lights

Canyon Lights Where: Capilano Suspension Bridge Park What: Re-capture the feeling of wonder and excitement of the holiday season and be amazed by the hundreds of thousands of lights throughout the park. The suspension bridge, Treetops Adventure, Cliffwalk, the rainforest and canyon are transformed into a world of festive lights and visual enchantment. See the world’s tallest living Christmas tree (153 feet !) go on a Snowy Owl Prowl, decorate gingerbread cookies and make your own Christmas card in the Winter Pavilion, and sing-along with the holiday band. Runs until: January 28, 2018

True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada

True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: This ground-breaking exhibition examines the significant influence of Scandinavian craft and industrial design on the development of Canadian culture. Spanning more than seven decades, True Nordic reveals how Scandinavian design was introduced in Canada and how its aesthetics and material forms were adopted, revised and transformed. Runs until: Sunday January 28, 2018

Tin and Gold: A 10 Year Anniversary Show Where: The Fall What: Celebrate 10 years of alternative music, tattoo artistry, and multimedia events. The art show includes artists Megan Majewski, Jenn Brisson, Alison Woodward and more. Runs until: February 1, 2018

Robson Street Outdoor Ice Rink

Robson Street Outdoor Ice Rink Where: Robson Square What: Bring your skates, hold hands for balance, and circle the rink for free right in the heart of Downtown Vancouver. Skate rentals are also available, and for that you’ll need to bring cash. Runs until: February 2018

Portrait of the Artist

Portrait of the Artist Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: This exhibition brings together The Royal Collection’s paintings depicting self-portraits, portraits of artists and artists at work. Encompassing over eighty works, Portrait of the Artist is a rich survey of how artists have seen themselves and the role of the artist within society. Runs until: February 4, 2018

Gordon Smith: The Black Paintings

Gordon Smith: The Black Paintings Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: The exhibition features a body of work described as black paintings that Gordon Smith began producing in 1990. These densely painted, darkly abstracted paintings—punctuated with occasional colour, text and collaged elements—sometimes refer explicitly to this wartime experience. Smith was deployed with the Allied invasion at Pachino Beach, Sicily (code name Husky), in July 1943, when he was twenty-four. Runs until: February 4, 2018

Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive

Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Sawyer’s ongoing project that reconstructs the life and work of the genre-defying, fictional singer and artist Natalie Brettschneider. The works on view will connect Brettschneider to a community of mid-twentieth century artists and musicians in British Columbia. Runs until: February 4, 2018

City on the Edge: A Century of Vancouver Activism Where: Museum of Vancouver What: A photo-based exhibition exploring how protest demonstrations have shaped Vancouver’s identity from the Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers’ photo collection. These photographs are exceptional historical records of intense and transformative moments in the lives of Vancouverites. Runs until: February 18, 2017

N. Vancouver

N. Vancouver Where: The Polygon Gallery What: The show in the newly-opened gallery will pay tribute to the evolution of North Vancouver and will feature commissioned works by more than 10 artists, including Andrew Dadson, Gabrielle Hill, Althea Thauberger, Stephen Waddell and Tracy Williams, paired with existing work by Stan Douglas, Greg Girard, Fred Herzog, Curt Lang, and Jeff Wall, among others. Runs until: Spring 2018

Tasting History: The Traveling Tales of Tea Where: Roedde House Museum What: Tea is one of the most consumed liquids in the world, second only to water. But the beverage that brings much pleasure and calm to our 21st century senses is steeped in a turbulent history of politics and society. The exhibit will also feature stories from Vancouver’s modern-day tea community. Runs until: March 2018

Emily Carr: Into the Forest

Emily Carr: Into the Forest Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Far from feeling that the forests of the West Coast were a difficult subject matter, Carr exulted in the symphonies of greens and browns found in the natural world. With oil on paper as her primary medium, Carr was free to work outdoors in close proximity to the landscape. She went into the forest to paint and saw nature in ways unlike her fellow British Columbians, who perceived it as either untamed wilderness or a plentiful source of lumber. Runs until: March 4, 2018

The Lost Fleet Exhibit Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum What: On December 7, 1941 the world was shocked when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, launching the United States into the war. This action also resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian owned fishing boats by Canadian officials on the British Columbia coast, which were eventually sold off to canneries and other non-Japanese fishermen. The Lost Fleet looks at the world of the Japanese-Canadian fishermen in BC and how deep-seated racism played a major role in the seizure, and sale, of Japanese-Canadian property and the internment of an entire people. Runs until: March 25, 2018

Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist Where: North Vancouver Museum What: An exhibition exploring the life and legacy of Tsleil-Waututh Chief Dan George (1899- 1981) and his influence as an Indigenous rights advocate and his career as an actor. The exhibition was developed in close collaboration with the George family. Runs until: April 2018

空 / Emptiness: Emily Carr and Lui Shou Kwan

空 / Emptiness: Emily Carr and Lui Shou Kwan Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: The exhibition pairs Canadian modernist Emily Carr with the founder of the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong Lui Shou Kwan. Looking across culture, geography and time to explore expressions of the sublime in landscape painting, the exhibition draws connections by exploring how each artist experimented with abstraction and spirituality in their respective depictions of nature. Runs until: April 8, 2018

The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving

The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology What: For generations Salish peoples have been harvesting the resources of their territories, transforming them into robes of rare beauty and power. Symbols of identity, they acted as legal documents and were visible signifiers of the presence of knowledge holders and respected people. Now mostly stored away in museums these masterworks are rarely seen. They have much knowledge to share and many stories to tell. Musqueam asked the Museum to bring these weavings to inspire weavers and share part of this rich legacy with all of us. Runs until: April 15, 2018

Public Artwork by New Delhi-Based Artist Asim Waqif

Public Artwork by New Delhi-Based Artist Asim Waqif Where: Vancouver Art Gallery What: Inspired by environmental concerns and the pace of human consumption, Waqif will construct an immersive architectural experience from materials collected at re-purpose stores, transfer stations and landfills in the metro Vancouver area. Waqif’s architectural structure will also incorporate an interactive acoustic system using microphones, effects pedals and speakers. Visitors are encouraged to move through the installation maze allowing them to actively experience the architecture instead of passively observing it. Runs until: April 15, 2017

Winter Farmers’ Market

Winter Farmers Market Where: Nat Bailey Stadium What: Each week you can look forward to finding locally grown vegetables and fruit, meat and seafood from local ranchers and fishermen, artisan cheese and bread, herbs and seasonal nursery items, baked goods, prepared foods and artisanal craft. Runs until: April 21, 2018 (Saturdays)

In a Different Light

In a Different Light Where: Museum of Anthropology What: More than 110 historical Indigenous artworks and marks the return of many important works to British Columbia. These objects are amazing artistic achievements. Yet they also transcend the idea of ‘art’ or ‘artifact’. Through the voices of contemporary First Nations artists and community members, this exhibition reflects on the roles historical artworks have today. Featuring immersive storytelling and innovative design, it explores what we can learn from these works and how they relate to Indigenous peoples’ relationships to their lands. Runs until: Spring 2019

What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below.

  Inside Vancouver Blog

[arts-culture-honours-programme]

East of Eden: Secret Soviet Rock Life

Mariya Bakhmach 

Рок никогда не был движителем масс. Просто музыка выражала что-то, что и так было в воз��ухе. (Rock was never a mass movement. It was just the music that expressed what was in the air at the time) - Boris Grebenshikov

“Rock ideology is, first and foremost, an ideology of authenticity” was once said by Jack Hamilton (Hamilton, 2016). And it is true since the discourse of rock music within cultural sociology has been rotating a lot around the question of race, cultural appropriation, and its reception. The racial sincerity of this music genre has been widely discussed in a number of ways. Starting from the linking the whitening of rock’n’roll to civil rights movements in 1960’s and arriving at such works as “Media Depictions of Harm in Heavy Metal and Rap Music” by Amy Binder, where the rock is already discussed as a totally white phenomenon per se. A lot has been said and even more has been thought out, but still, in many cases, the study of rock remains predominantly focused on the Western World. In this blog post, I would like to make a shift and “go east” to elaborate on the history of rock movement in the former Soviet Union and more precisely Russia. Can Soviet rock music be perceived as an autonomous authentic experience? And if according to Peterson “authenticity is often artificially constructed”, are there any traces of how Soviet rockers tried to position themselves in the world of music (Peterson, 2005)? An answer to those question will follow up. Stay tuned and let the story begin…

First of all, it might be interesting for you to know, why would I focus on such a narrow topic as Soviet Union Rock. Why would anyone talk about the music genre of the country, which does not even exist anymore? Or, in other words, how is this blog post sociologically relevant nowadays? Let me explain briefly. At the moment of its downfall in 1991, the population of the Soviet Union used to be 293 million people. Two of those people were my parents apparently. They used to be rockers and so were their friends and friends of their friends and so on and so forth. Then they gave birth to me and later on to my music taste. Their friends also had children, who also grew up disposed to the same set of rock songs and artists, the majority of which were from the Soviet Union. Later on, some of us will move on the Beatles and the Rolling Stones or its modern analogs, but the core will remain still, we grew up on Soviet Rock, the genre the majority of the world doesn’t know exist. In the era, when authors like Pamela Perry, raise the question of the whiteness being the synonym to the loosen cultural ties, it might be interesting to take a look at the way, other ethnicities rather than Western European and American, make sense of their own cultural tradition, the part of which has always been music (Perry, 2001).

According to Joane Nagel, “the origin, content, and form of ethnicity reflect the creative choices of individuals and groups as they define themselves and others in ethnic ways” (Nagel, 2014). If we try to apply this to the Soviet and, in some cases, Post-Soviet people, we will see that some of their creative choices when it comes to self-expression and aesthetic taste formation are still pretty much determined by the area and time they were brought up in. Soviet Rock music has been in many cases one of the crucial points of the formation of their identity within the society. No matter whether you belonged to the rock subculture or opposed it, your position was a part of the active social interaction.

Now it is time for a brief introduction into what is this music genre we are talking about, where it came from and how is it different from any other. Soviet Rock has emerged in the 1960s and has quickly broken apart from its western origins. Firstly, it was clearly influenced by the Beatles, who were crazily popular at the time worldwide. Some of the times witnesses would say that: “So it was like a fairytale, thousands of kids grabbing this window from the West to change their image just a little” (Woodhead, 2013). Rock’n’roll music would be associated with freedom of self-expression and speech. Later on, the audience has moved from passive stage of admiration to the reproduction. At this stage in mid-1960’s “listening wasn’t enough – they wanted to do it themselves. They played cover versions of Beatles songs, trying to copy the English words, but most of them had no idea what they were singing about” (Woodhead, 2013). So slowly transitioning, the Soviet independent music scene started to emerge.

Some of the most prominent bands of the movement were Aquarium and Grazhdanskaya Oborona. The first one represented some kind of countercultural intellectual elite scene at the time while another one focused on the ideas of the resistance towards the Soviet politics. A little closer look at their formation might help to see what the genre looked like (and sounded) back at the time.

Aquarium was a rock band established in June 1972 by Boris Grebenshikov and Anatoly Gunitsin. It’s sound and style was heavily influenced by the eastern philosophy and theatre of absurd. The band characterizes the shift of Soviet Rock from the subcultural scene into the formation of a distinct counterculture [8]. The lyrics of the songs are revolutionary, similar to the early 20th-century poetry of Vladimir Mayakovski, and a lot of them express social protest. They use subcultural slang, literary allusions, swear words and raise such taboo themes like sex and liberation from the communist regime. The band brought up the notion about popular among subcultures at the time Buddhism, Hindu, and Rastafari. They also made covers of such popular artists of their time like Jim Morrison of the Doors and Bob Dylan making them accessible to the general non-English speaking public of USSR. Unlike many Western bands at the time, Aquarium did not have much commercial success during the existence of Soviet regime despite their countrywide cultural following.

Grazhdanskaya Oborona (from Russian “Гражданская оборона” Civil Defense) was a psychedelic punk rock band established in 1982 by Yegor Letov and Konstantin Ryabinov [8]. No other way can summarize the biography of the band, then this quote from Letov: “The mother of our (second guitarist) Babenko, she was a sort of a party official, she listened to our records and went to the KGB and said, "Comrades, my son is involved in an anti-Soviet organization" [9]. The lyrics of their songs were quite often anti-authoritarian and politically prominent, reflecting the concerns of the mass audiences and everyday struggles of everyday life. Occasionally, the band would mix in Siberian folklore and pre-Christian beliefs motives due to its situation in Omsk, a city east of the Ural Mountains. Grazhdanskaya Oborona was getting more and more popular among radical Soviet youth until its sudden hiatus in 1990, which band commented as an attempt to avoid the commercialization of their music and countercultural message.

Studying the emergence of the Soviet rock from the cultural sociological perspective, one can argue that the western influences in this music can be easily traced and the whole uniqueness of the phenomenon can be doubted. However, on the other hand, if “authenticity does not inhere in the object, it is said to be authentic and made by someone and either accepted or rejected by relevant others”, then this we can argue for it to be highly distinct (Peterson, 2005). Soviet rockers would construct their own musicscapes and elaborate on the society around them in order to create something relatable and personal for the youth of their time. And the children of that youth, and grandchildren of this youth, because this is how their “unspoken” rock history goes...

  References

1)     Hamilton, J. (2016). Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination. Harvard: Harvard University Press. pp. 17-28.

2)     Nagel, J. (1994). Constructing ethnicity: Creating and recreating ethnic identity and culture. Social Problems 41: 152-176.

3)     Perry, Pamela. 2001. White means never having to say you're ethnic: White youth and the

construction of “cultureless” identities. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 30 (1): 56-91.

4)     Peterson, Richard. (2005). In search for authenticity. Journal of Management Studies 42(5): 1083-1098.

5)     Rock in the USSR: Leningrad's short-lived subculture – in pictures

Retrieved on 27/10/2017 from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2016/sep/06/soviet-union-rock-music-late-1980s-american-culture-perestroika.

6)     Warikoo, Natasha. (2007). Racial authenticity among second generation youth in multiethnic New York and London. Poetics 35: 388-408.

7)     Woodhead, L. (2013). How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin: The Untold Story of a Noisy Revolution. USA: Bloomsbury. pp. 26-29.

8)     Рок музыка в СССР. Энциклопедия групп. (Rock music in USSR. The Encyclopedia of bands.)  

Retrieved on 29/10/2017 from: http://sovr.narod.ru/books/rock_muz_enc/00002.html.

9)     Егор Летов: «Конец наступает тогда, когда уничтожается живая энергия творчества» (Yegor Letov: The end comes, when the force of art gets demolished)

Retrieved on 29/10/2017 from: http://grob-hroniki.org/article/1990/art_1990-10-xxb.html.

[tombaragwanath]

138 Haiku for Ahm-Ree-Kah

Said Whitman one time: “America: that great poem.” The greatest, even.

In this tradition, let me present most humbly a Whitman’s sampler.

Only with fewer Cashew Clusters™ and slightly more facetiousness.

Los Angeles

Who has ever seen such strong light hitting green hills? And highways, highways.

A smiling man in a green and white food truck hands me three tacos.

Golden, delicious, they go well with the soda people keep on hand.

Big Sur

Mountains roll sharply into angry green-white surf. Bridges span chasms.

Where did Kerouac sleep, as a local? Was it in this log cabin?

Likely not. This spot is muddy, expensive, and less than fully Zen.

Cannery Row

Rattlesnakes, dusty- eyed and serene, fill my thoughts of this dream-like place.

In reality, Mac & co have moved on. The hotel looks nice, though.

Steinbeck and Ricketts: dudes sharing their many loves. Got to commend that.

I think I buy this book for people because it is short and punchy.

In that it punches the reader in the heart with warm contemplations.

Look, just go buy a copy for yourself. Hell, send me your damn address.

San Francisco

Orange steel stretches impossibly across churn and wash of green salt.

How could you not love the city of Al Ginsberg? Rain falls in warm streets.

I run up to the big red radio tower. A glorious view.

This one other dude was running close behind me. I felt I knew him.

Amtrak: San Francisco to Chicago

The furnishings may be dated, but the burgers? Salty. Prepared weekly.

Who cares? This train goes through snowy mountains, deserts, and seven (eight?) states.

The viewing car is full of folks taking it in with icy cold drinks.

Everyone wants to talk at lunch. Wrestling, birds, democracy, Trump.

Good thing every one of these passengers is well over sixty.

Plenty of time to gather esoteric facts for polite strangers.

There’s a kindness, a lulling passivity of wheels over tracks.

We share a “roomette”. Lordy, to be paid to come up with product names.

Seventy hours on the train. I could have stayed on no problem at all.

Chicago

Where can we find Jeff Tweedy? I guess I thought he would just be around.

Those cake stand towers are right outside our hotel. Black against blue sky.

The freezing wind lifts from Lake Michigan like a swift kick in the teeth.

The lines in the grey city stay sharp as night falls over the water.

In the donut shop a young kid clutches pastry tight in his fingers.

If we lived here I’d likely revert back to him. They were that damn good.

“Fire Cakes”. Hell of a name for sugar, pastry, cream. Better than DD.

Detroit

I keep a lookout for ambiguous danger, but I need not fret.

Once shrines to commerce, now dusty car garages. I guess it happens.

Some dude is buying up city blocks and hiring his own police force.

How do locals feel? Is the cash grab members-only? Who is invited?

Our Uber driver has a kind face. He tutors math on Monday nights.

He drives us to Grosse Pointe. “Old-school rich Detroiters.” He knows a few souls.

A bored waiter feeds us some gourmet duck fried rice. We talk past closing.

New York City (Vol. 1)

Hello again, dear friend. I see your street vendors are still hustling dosas.

We walk in Central Park under light snow. Who keeps knitting dog sweaters?

Bowling, falafel, Animal Collective, beers. Sleepy subway home.

Montreal

We walk a mastiff cross named Mischa. The sidewalk salt hurts her paw pads.

The temperature? Negative butthole degrees. Still kids play hockey.

Poutine, coffee, sleep. When wearing two coats just isn’t enough.

Boston

A guy selling ham sandwiches knows about home. “Mate! Bro!”, he exclaims.

We walk the brick lane of Paul Revere’s freedom trail to get cannoli.

Can one highway off- ramp cleave itself into four? In Boston, it might.

Brattleboro, Vt.

Sweet land of Bernie! Syrup, pie, cider, pecans. Anarchist bookstores.

We find a brewery serving solely sour brews with faux-Catholic names.

“The Angry Bishop.” “Cardinal’s Peach Party Ale.” You get the idea.

Who knew a maple latte could actually be good? Fuck Starbucks™.

Our dear friends have a small human baby! We read Hairy MacLary.

Boston (again)

So much brotherhood present tonight at the men’s candlestick bowling.

They let Dianny rent shoes, but keep an eye out for any girl stuff.

Philadelphia

City of the Roots! Of Federal Fried Chicken! Of Kurt Vile’s soft drawl!

Isaiah Zagar. His name is colour, movement; a poem in itself.

We visit all the historical stuff. Highlight? Hot cheese steaks. No shame.

Washington D.C.

We stand hemmed in with a million other people. And yet, no ruckus.

Except the ruckus of a giant yarn uterus. That’s dedication.

On the bus homeward passengers doze against each other, smiling, spent.

Baltimore

Four-storey spiral shark tank. Kindly swim clockwise, or you’ll be gnawed at.

Aquarium, then Shake Shack™. Penguins, tortoises, wee sloth family.

They have these fishes that aim spit at bugs, knocking them into the stream.

Our Uber driver is a chicken connoisseur. He suggests Popeye’s.

Our burgers make him peckish. We offer to share. He laughs. He’s all good.

We spend the morning with Bloody Marys and some crab cake Benedict.

And the afternoon sharing cheesecake, fudge blocks, and enjoying Face / Off.

Blue Ridge Parkway

It is my birthday. And our anniversary. Waffle House™ it is.

Two lovely old chaps man the lonely tourism centre. It’s winter.

We’re likely the sole visitors for the day. They seem just fine with that.

The long drive rewards us with thick stands of fir trees dripping with winter.

A recreated length of train tracks shows us where commerce once began.

Are the bears sleeping? Unclear. Better keep any Snyder’s™ in the car.

We come upon an abandoned farm house. Trees grow clear through the iron roof.

Grizzled red cattle stand in the shade of an old leaning wooden barn.

Dianny takes a bunch of photos. I prepare myself for locals.

The parkway sometimes seems to run itself purely into the blue sky.

The precise hue of the blue hills evades capture   in these meagre words.

Suffice to tell you: the breath quickens, the heart swells, and everything stops.

Asheville

We wind up stopping in Asheville. They have a sweet pinball museum.

Murakami would thoroughly lose his shit with the range of machines.

We eat salty fried green tomatoes, cheese grits, and Madras chilli fries.

Nashville

Yo La Tengo are fans of Prince’s Hot Chicken. Take their word for it.

Did you ever eat chicken so hot you had to avoid touching…parts?

Trust me, dearest friends. Do not mess about with these rocks of pure hellspice.

The old Drake Hotel. “Stay where the stars stay!” In the seventies, perhaps.

We meet a couple from Carolina outside the Bluebird Café.

They have one ticket between them. She goes in. He peers through the glass door.

We continue to eat the kind of barbeque one might brag about.

Charleston

A sign outside a bar proclaims the presence of Bill Murray. Cheap trick.

Doesn’t stop us from pulling off the road in a cloud of gravel dust.

What a pair of chumps. We practice our lines in case he needs two more friends.

An anti-climax, but we still enjoy foaming ale (and more pinball).

Our BNB host has framed pictures of Xena, Warrior Princess.

She is thrilled to hear where we’re from. Less thrilled to hear we don’t know Lucy.

Savannah

Tickets for Moonlight. Two other people in the cinema. Both leave.

More great barbeque. Cornbread, sticky ribs, collards. One meal for the day.

St. Augustine

A diamond-shaped stone fortress keeps the harbour safe from the English hordes.

Portly volunteers fire the neutered guns hourly just to scare tourists.

Orlando

Okay, we did it. We went to Universal™. We have few regrets.

Di got to pretend to be a wizard for a time. Wand included.

Turns out Butter Beer is a kind of ginger fizz with marshmallow foam.

My younger stomach was far better at dealing with roller coasters.

Still, I ride them all. Because I am a tightwad. And also, reals tough.

Two days of this stuff is enough for me to crave a quiet darkened room.

Miami

Will Smith was correct. Miami certainly does bring the heat, for real.

We sneak in to some hotel lounge chairs and disguise ourselves as ballers.

No one is convinced, but the waiters humour us. I get lobster burnt.

I get to practice my toddler-grade español with real life toddlers.

Donde es Tomas? El es aqui! El es muy fuerte, y tonto!

Es peligroso para tocar los…raccoons...  (I don’t know “raccoons”).

New Orleans

There is a riot of big band horns lifting through the hot fragrant air.

Carry your open drink anywhere you like, friend. Just be nice, or leave.

We rent bicycles and spend long warm afternoons avoiding pot holes.

A boisterous young dude yells to us through a broken window as we pass.

Stay off Bourbon Street. It’s like Courtenay Place, but somehow even worse.

We stumble upon an impossibly raucous Mardi Gras parade.

One float shows paper mache Putin gleefully rogering Donald.

Another Donald is roped above a sharp-toothed  sarlacc vagina.

Elsewhere, Donalds endure a colourful range of brutal torture.

All of the craft stores must have sold out of his shade of neon orange.

The vile bloat of his maniac features seems a popular float choice.

Just not popular enough for the popular vote. Can’t help myself.

Our cab driver is most delighted to hear us use the term “had beef”.

He tells us he has always wanted to travel to Australia.

New York City (Vol. 2)

NYC round two! It’s so nice to be back in your cathedral streets.

We create habits: Morning run, bagel, coffee, then museums.

A couple of films, a trip to Katz’s deli for pastrami on rye.

An afternoon in Bushwick, fossicking about in the vintage aisles.

Time is running out in a nice way. Three months is likely sufficient.

Last day. JFK. John Mayer sings with great breath in duty-free aisles.

A table of young Russians pick hot pineapple from pizza slices.

Soon I will not speak the language. I think I was alright at charades.

Thank you, Ahm-Ree-Kah. Your people have been a trip. All the best with Trump.

[teddybasmanov]

Thanks for the tag @ejunkiet ! I don't need much to start talking about music and giving random recommendations.

I decided to choose bands which weren't on my "Russian Rock for the Vampire Queen" playlist but then I also can't make a recommendation playlist with no "Aquarium", so they're here too.

Tagging: @cottagecorexboy @1small-frogs @dangergays @teasandcardigans @sealriously-sealrious @cat-arsenal @cryptixmoth no pressure, of course.