#Astana Times

[alphabetsoup-blogposts]

ASTANA – Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov highlighted the significance of combining efforts to ensure food security and develop transport corridors at the 21 meeting of the Heads of Government Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states held online on Nov. 1, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.

[faaun]

she says my heart is yours, from the caspian shores.

[sovamurka]

*manifesting Bubble Comics coming to Serbia someday*

[lowedeus]

10th LoscheDay is here!

Hello, my followers and inspired dawnloaders! I know it’s been a while. The real life kinda got in the way. Thanks for staying with me!

10 years ago I created this blog to share worldwide my projects. My purposes are to integrate elements of european culture into The Sims 2, to enchance the neighborhood decoraing with recognizable city environment, and to explore and improve the game itself. This hobby has now allowed me to start practicing as a 3D artist, and I believe I found my true passion in it.

So, today I want to tell you about life changes I’m going through, share the gifts with you, and also ask you for help - all about it under the cut:

The Life Changes

You know I’m not very active last years, and this simblr stays without any updated for a long time. There were reasons for this. In 2022 I had to leave my home and moved to another country. Don’t worry, I’m fine and well. I starts my new life, at least, in a quiet place.

Here is a photo of me and my friend @ivanautumnfield​​ in Astana, Kazakhstan:

And now it’s time to move forward! 

The Request for help

As someone who has always valued creativity and the arts, I’m reaching out to you with a sincere request. Over the years, I have been dedicated to creating and sharing TS2 content, providing advice, and fostering a supportive community. I have never sought donations or payment for my work; it has always been driven by a genuine desire to help others.

Now, as I face new challenges, I am seeking your assistance. If you meet all of the following criterias, I kindly ask for your support:

Residing in France (or any other state of the European Union): If you live in these regions, your recommendation would be appropriate.

An Active Artist: Whether you specialize in 3D graphics, animation, game development, or any other artistic field, your endorsement would mean a great deal. It doesn’t matter if you are affiliated with an official art institution; I think having a public portfolio/site/artist’s page is matters.

Writing a Letter of Support: If you are willing and able to write a Letter of Support (recommendation letter) for me  — that would be invaluable. The letter can be written in a pretty free form, should expressing that you know me and my creations, and you look forward to future cooperation. Rest assured that this won’t burden you or compromise confidentiality in any way. These letters are essential for my relocation preparations.

Please feel free to reach out to me via private messages here. If I haven’t responded to your message, it might have been caught in a filter — simply tag me in a broader context. If you know anyone who can help me or have connection to the proper art organization and\or institutions, I would be immensely grateful for networking.

Your assistance, as well as any reposts or shares, would greatly help me.

If you want to help me the other way, you can support me at Patreon or Ko-fi ☕ 

The LoscheDay Gifts

I want to thank everyone for the help and attention to my work, it really spurs me on to keep going. As a gift, I want to share with you some content that are ready to be used in the game, but haven't been published yet for one reason or another. All of the links and info avalible in my new Patreon page.

Not all of my (un)published projects are described at that page at this moment, new posts will be publishing time to time in Patreon’s feed, also a brand new cc files will be appearing in SFS folder. Please, subscribe and stay tuned!

I emphasize that everything I create for The Sims 2 will still be available for free, I am not planning on hiding behind a paywall, this is just if you would like to support me through this challenging time.

Thank you!

Enjoy!

[jackieuniversecosplay]

Still working on Cazador's staff for my Astarion cosplay. Comic Con Astana is soon so I'm a bit nervous. I need to paint it with all the red gemstones. So I'm short on time, but I almost got that nice red color. Still needs a lot of work but look how awesome it is already.

[blueiscoool]

Bronze Age Girl Buried With More Than 150 Sheep Ankle Bones Found in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists in eastern Kazakhstan have unearthed a Bronze Age burial mound of a girl surrounded by various grave goods in the Ainabulak-Temirsu Necropolis.

The young girl was laid to rest with a number of peculiar grave goods, including 180 animal ankle bones and a small, exquisite silver accessory depicting a frog on a disc.

The excavations are carried out together with experts from the University of Cambridge and under the direction of Rinat Zhumatayev, Head of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) Archaeology, Ethnology, and Muzology Department. The ongoing excavations have gained momentum since 2016 when the journey to explore the region’s historical treasures commenced in the Zaisan district, spearheaded by Abdesh Toleubaev.

According to The Astana Times, an English-language news outlet in Kazakhstan, the girl’s grave is located near Ainabulak village in the east of the country and dates from Central Asia’s Bronze Age, which lasted from roughly 3200 B.C.E. until 1000 B.C.E.

Rinat Zhumatayev, an archaeologist who led the excavation and heads the Department of Archaeology, Ethnology and Museology at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstan, said: “She was buried on her left side, bent over. Small wire earrings were in both ears and beads around her neck.”

The frog-adorned artifact carries immense significance. Scholars associate the frog motif with water-related rituals found in China and Egypt, adding an intriguing layer to the ongoing research. According to the researchers, this is the first example discovered in Kazakhstan and may be associated with the image of a woman in labour and the cult of water.

The sheer volume of animal bone fragments buried in the burial mound also piqued researchers’ interest. The number of bones buried with this person was extravagant compared to other graves on the Eurasian steppe that contained animal remains, frequently in child and adolescent burials.

Some scientists think that the burial of astragalus bones was part of a “cult practice” and that the bones were used during meditation. However, other researchers view the bones as “symbols of well-being” and “good luck” that served as a “wish for a successful transition from [one] world to others,” Zhumatayev said.

“Our exploration is far from over. By the year’s end, we anticipate unveiling our findings and publishing a comprehensive scientific article,” shared Rinat Zhumatayev.

By Leman Altuntaş.

[random-kazakh-stuff]

Another interesting thing about how Russian Empire/USSR operated is in names. Both for people and places.

Exhibit A: The apparent Russification of all names. Names that are Kazakh, but you need to write the official documents in Russian so they don't come out quite right. One of the already mentioned examples is with patronymics: Russian -ev and -eva and etc. added to Kazakh names. There is also the matter of pronunciation, the "special"* letters of Kazakh cyrillic being omitted which lead to butchered names.

Exhibit B: The names of towns and regions. They were all either named from Russian language, or had their names bent in a strange way. Example for the first one is Tselinograd(modern Astana) which means "Town of virgin lands"*. The second one is Alma-ata(current Almaty) which written in this way means "Apple grandfather" while the modern one just means...appley(?). There is no adjective for apple in English so bear with me. There also examples of this where the meaning doesn't change, and the spelling is strange for no apparent reason. Example: Kzyl-Orda(nowadays Qyzylorda) which omitted a vowel and added a dash just because.

Both examples are interesting in a way that they don't really seem significant, but deny an ability to control a small part of life for the natives. Think of it. It's the names you give your own children, the name of a place where you live, being not completely yours, looking not right.

Edit: I am sorry, I forget to mention that this applies to all empires. In general, when I talk about some phenomenas or culture things, I am aware that they are not exclusive to Kazakh and Kazakhstan's history, but this is what I know. The additions are welcome though!

*the development of virgin lands(Tselina) is a time in 50s and 60s of XX century when USSR decided that actually, the steppes of Northern Kazakhstan are actually very good for agriculture, the natives were just stupid. The soil there deteriorated by 15-20%. The immediate results were quite nice though.

the natives are just stupid part is meant to be ironic btw

Also a reminder! Ask me questions. I am more motivated by them.

[itstokkii]

aph kazakhstan hcs

kazakhstan!!! my starboy

- kazakhstan is the baby of the gang 👶 he looks like he's in his early 20s, a charming young man! he and his older sister uzbekistan were initially together under the uzbek khanate before breaking off and forming the kazakh khanate. to some extent, uzbekistan's still salty about it to this day...

- he may be the baby but he's the breadwinner of the family!! he has the highest gdp among all of central asia, and his other siblings are floored whenever they visit astana and almaty. he's a hustler!

- he tries to get his siblings to be cooperative and stop fighting all the time(specifically uzbekistan tajikistan and kyrgyzstan) through ~regional unity.~ the results? there certainly were some...

- kyrgyzstan and uzbekistan dote on him a lot while also being jealous of his massive economic gains lol

- kazakhstan is asexual. I see him immensely valuing his small group of friends and family, but I don't see him pursuing any relationships in an intimate manner. he may still have fleeting crushes from time to time, and so may be alloromantic to some extent.

- he gets along well with kyrgyzstan, his older brother, in terms of language! they both belong to the qipchak language family, and having both been nomadic for longer have restored a lot of nomadic tradition than the couch potato over there(uzbekistan).

- the qipchak languages have less persian influence than qarluk, so this means kazakhstan and kyrgyzstan(as well as karakalpakstan) don't have many issues speaking in their language towards turkey. they both know turkish fluently anyway.

- when they speak to tajikistan they revert to russian or have uzbekistan translate.

- he's also very close with uzbekistan, as mentioned before with them both being under the same roof once. kazakhs are quick to support uzbeks in times of need or celebration, like diyora keldiyorova's gold medal winning in judo(the first uzbek woman to win in judo)! kazakhstan admires how hard working, mannered and thoughtful she is towards the people she loves and cares about, and even towards strangers as well! he also loves her cooking, and in the meantime uzbeks admire how outspoken kazakhs are, and how quick they are to fight against injustice. uzbekistan wishes she could be as outspoken as her brothers too, to forcefully enact change instead of waiting in fear...

- also she loves her lil bro's chocolate and candy!! bayan sulu my beloved...

- @ any kazakhs who see this...I KNOW there was a chocolate with lemon filling I just don't remember the brand name...PLEASE DM me if you know 😭😭

- uzbekistan also has the 2nd biggest gdp of central asia. the 2 hustle together to be the faces of central asia!

- whenever he tries taking her out to skate she clings onto him for dear life while screaming. he tries taking her on hikes too because "the mountain air is good for your health" but she INSISTS a lady shouldn't exert herself too much...once you become sedentary it's over for you ig 💀

- mongolia is closest to kazakhstan out of all the central asians! they're neighbors, and in bayan ulgii, there's a sizeable community of kazakhs that have lived there since fleeing the russian occupation. they've kept all their traditions intact, and kazakhstan pays them a visit from time to time! he's grateful to mongolia for letting them seek refuge and keep their culture intact after all these years.

- kazakhstan was a successor to the golden horde, and a lot of kazakhs can trace their ancestry to then! hence, mongolia is something like.. a grandpa...?

- mongolia takes the time to tease kazakhstan like "hey isn't it past your bedtime little man?" just to see kazakhstan go all red in the face. mongolia also checks on him from time to time to see if he's doing alright. it's kind of sweet tbh 🥺

- this one time in a horseback archery competition france came in FIRST??? while mongolia and kazakhstan came in 2nd and 3rd. they probably sobbed abt it and drank together 😭

- now all the central asians use some russian words when speaking, but kazakhstan does this the most. he's trying(successfully) to phase russian out when he could use a kazakh word in place of it.

- kazakhstan has kept the tradition of falcon taming and hunting! he handles falcons really well, and will sometimes be on the tv as he walks the audience through handling a falcon. kazakhstan also rides horses the best! there's a lot of mountainous regions an hour or two's drive away from almaty where you can ride horses and admire the freshwater streams and the vibrant green grass...what a dream..

- kyrgyzstan and kazakhstan were also one of the founding members of the turkic union! for the first few years it must have been hard to listen to turkey yap about turan...

- kazakhstan is also the coldest central asian country. the weather can hit as low -30 to -35 degrees! before washing machines, he'd hang his laundry outside and check on them the next morning to try and fit a stiff scarf through the doorway. when roads freeze over, he pulls out his skates and simply skates to work. he'd open his door in the morning after a snowy night only for the snow to have taken the shape of the door.

- uzbekistan may be the best cook as declared by her siblings, but kazakhstan is a close second and this is because of his beshbarmaq and baursak. it is such a banger and hits EVERY TIME. uzbekistan loves his cooking ❤️

- also makes a mean kazy! bro is NOT lazy with it. he doesn't buy from the store! not when he could make his own.

- he also makes qurut as well. qurut is like dried yogurt in the shape of a ball, and you suck on it because mm salty. thing is, uzbekistan's qurut is much harder and therefore takes a longer time to go through compared to kazakhstan's! his is softer and more creamy, less salty, and it gets my vote <3

- he loves playing hockey, skating, riding horses, hiking in his mountainous ranges...he's very active! he also likes going to concerts and raves, and coming home late lol

- his interest in space was kickstarted by uzbekistan, who took him to see ulughbek's observatory. then years later a major space operations hub was placed in baikonur during the ussr period, and since then he's developed his own space program and he loves keeping up to date with space related news! just say the word and he'll explain it to you!

- due to constantly being tormented by russia, and for a while having to bend to his needs(a long while...) he does have unhealthy coping mechanisms. he picked up drinking and smoking during the ussr and still does it, though his siblings are trying to get him to cut down on it.

- he, like all the central asians, absolutely DESPISES russia. he can just conceal his feelings better than his siblings when he makes economic deals. this was especially so in the early aughts to 2010s as he insisted it was "all for my economy's sake..."

- when he's working on something late at night, he likes going to CU to grab a bite to eat! korea's been to his CU a few times when he's showed her around and she noticed how there were some products that weren't in korea themselves! CU regularly sells binggrae vanilla flavored milk, though in korea it's not on the shelves at all!

- this one time in 2022 the power shut off in uzbekistan kazakhstan and kyrgyzstan, and all the governments blamed each other lol. talk about the spiderman meme

- also in my opinion...kazakhstan has the best drip lol. both in terms of tradition and modern fits I see people wear in the streets of astana

[warcrimesimulator]

Extremely based things happening in Qazaqstan

[cozybearz]

I feel like this isn’t something I’ve seen mentioned much (aside from a few posts I’ve seen on insta that aren’t in english), but the Kazakh government have been reviewing a petition against “LGBT Propaganda” and apparently a public discussion of it was held today in Astana.

I don’t know many details but it’s just a queer rights issue I want more people to know of. Hopefully the petition is shut down as I believe similar ones have been in the past.

[alphabetsoup-blogposts]

Oh that’s interesting... I have a (tangential) connection.

[magnetictapedatastorage]

strong contender for worst hotel publicity photo. looks like the security camera footage of right before that big earthquake hit japan.

(Botakoz, Astana)

this image from the same hotel slays pussy though:

like it has the vibe of all time. and yet the next image is even worse than the first!

this looks like something Awful is going to happen. silent hill ass bed. i will leave you with a relaxing painting of a yurt:

[paganimagevault]

The Issyk kurgan of the 'Golden Man' 6th-3rd C. BCE

"The Issyk kurgan, in south-eastern Kazakhstan, less than 20 km east from the Talgar alluvial fan, near Issyk, is a burial mound discovered in 1969. It has a height of six meters and a circumference of sixty meters. It is dated to the 4th or 3rd century BC. A notable item is a silver cup bearing an inscription. The finds are on display in Nur-Sultan. It is associated with the Saka peoples.

The burial complex located on the left bank of the Issyk Mountain River, 50 kilometers to the East to the Almaty city. The unique archaeological complex found by a small group of Soviet scientists led by archaeologist Kemal Akishevich Akishev in 1969. The burial ground consists of 45 large Royal mounds with a diameter of 30 to 90 and a height of 4 to 15 meters. The Issyk barrow is located in the Western half of the burial ground. Its diameter is 60 meters and its height is 6 meters.

Situated in eastern Scythia just north of Sogdiana, the kurgan contained a skeleton, warrior's equipment, and assorted funerary goods, including 4,000 gold ornaments. Although the sex of the skeleton is uncertain, it may have been an 18-year-old Saka (Scythian) prince or princess.

The richness of the burial items led the skeleton to be dubbed the "golden man" or "golden princess", with the "golden man" subsequently being adopted as one of the symbols of modern Kazakhstan. A likeness crowns the Independence Monument on the central square of Almaty. Its depiction may also be found on the Presidential Standard of Nursultan Nazarbayev.

There were two burials in the grave complex: the Central one and the Southern one (to one side). Unfortunately the Central burial site had been robbed but the side grave was undisturbed. The burial chamber in the side grave was constructed from spruce logs. The tomb and its contents remained intact and buried. The skeletal remains were found in the Northern half of the chamber. More than 4,000 gold items were found in the chamber, as well as iron sword and dagger, a bronze mirror, vessels made of clay, metal and wood, shoes, headdresses, gold rings, statuettes, bronze and gold weapons, and an inscribed silver bowl dating from the 6th to 5th century BCE. Many clothing ornaments made of gold, a headdress and shoes were found on and under the remains. Next to the remains were an arrow with a gold tip, a whip (the handle of which was wrapped with a wide ribbon of gold in a spiral pattern) and a bag containing a bronze mirror and red paint. Scientific research, particular that of the anthropologist O. I. Ismagulov, shows that the remains belong to a member of the Saka peoples of Semirecheye, who have a European appearance with an admixture of Mongoloid features. The age of the body at death is estimated at 16–18 years, and its sex is indeterminate. The form of clothing and method of burial suggest that "The Golden Man" was a descendant of a prominent Saks tribe leader, or a member of the Royal family.

A text was found on a silver bowl in Issyk kurgan, dated approximately VI BC. The context of the burial gifts indicates that it may belong to Saka tribes.

The Issyk inscription is not yet certainly deciphered, and is probably in a Scythian dialect, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language. János Harmatta, using the Kharoṣṭhī script, identified the language as a Khotanese Saka dialect spoken by the Kushans.

The Wikipedia page has a possible (partial?) deciphering of the Issyk inscription as: "The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal, then added cooked fresh butter on".

...

Kazakhstan will rebury an iconic ancient warrior in a time capsule this year (2019), in the hope that future generations will be able to establish who he really was, Kazakh TV reports.

Since independence in 1991, he has become a symbol of Kazakhstan's national heritage. His armour takes pride of place in the national museum in Astana, and tours the world as a calling card of Kazakh culture.

The bones were only rediscovered recently at a forensic institute, stored in a cardboard box with a scribbled note reading "The Golden Man, May He Rest in Peace".

"We know his age and social status, while DNA tests could provide us with exhaustive data," researcher Dosym Zikiriya told Kazakh TV.

But Yermek Zhasybayev of the Issyk Museum held out little hope of this. "The bones are in a bad state. They have been kept in a cardboard box for 50 years and been exposed to all sorts of bacteria and viruses, including modern ones. It is now impossible to get a full DNA transcription - if only we had the skull, or just one tooth," he told the TV channel.

Scientists say their only hope is to seal the remains in a special time capsule to prevent any further decomposition, so that technological advances might allow future generations to glean more information about the long-dead warrior.

In recognition of the Golden Man's status, the capsule will be "ceremonially buried in keeping with ancient royal traditions", Kazakh TV said.

Archaeologists are confident that the remains date back to at least the 2nd-3rd century BCE, when south-eastern Kazakhstan was home to the Saka people, who are believed to have been part of the broader Scythian nomadic confederation.

They were gradually displaced by the arrival of the Kipchak Turk ancestors of the Kazakhs, but modern Kazakhstan has taken the Golden Man to its heart."

-taken from wikipedia and bbc

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

the other day i was thinking about how i would want to travel the world when i have money of my own but that long flights sound like a nightmare (my longest flight ever was like 3 hours i think) so i came up with this fun game in which i looked up how much it would take me to circumnavigate the world using exlusively short flights.

so, that's what i did. first of all, rules and disclaimers:

-all flights have to be around 3 hours long (so no longer than 4 hours).

-they also have to be direct flights

-i more or less counted travel time between connections to make it as realistic as possible, tho with the final schedule i would barely get some rest and it would be cool to visit some of the cities i'd fly to so in an ideal world where this would be feasable, i'd make it longer and with more time to sleep and do tourism i think.

-despite trying to follow everything, unfortunately i didn't take into account how freaking large oceans are, so the flights in the pacific and the atlantic will unfortunately be over 4 hours long. i tried looking for the shortest flights tho, so they're not ridiculously long either.

anyways, the schedule i would follow is below the cut:

in total, i would have to take 18 planes in 10 days:

madrid (MAD) - athens (ATH): 3 hours 25 minutes, Aegean Airlines, 12:40-17:05.

athens (ATH) - tbilisi (TBS): 2 hours 40 minutes, Aegean Airlines, 00:10-03:50.

tbilisi (TBS) - almaty (ALA): 3 hours 35 minutes, Air Astana, 22:20-02:55.

almaty (ALA) - delhi (DEL): 3 hours 25 minutes, Air Astana, 10:05-14:00.

delhi (DEL) - dhaka (DAC): 2 hours 25 minutes, Air India, 17:05-20:00.

dhaka (DAC) - kuala lumpur (KUL): 3 hours 55 minutes, Batik Air Malaysia, 23:00-04:55

kuala lumpur (KUL) - brunei (BWN): 2 hours 30 minutes, Royal Brunei, 12:10-14:35

brunei (BWN) - manila (MNL): 2 hours 15 minutes, Royal Brunei, 11:55 - 14:10

manila (MNL) - guam (GUM): 3 hours 55 minutes, United Airlines, 22:25-04:20

guam (GUM) - pohnpei (PNI): 2 hours 30 minutes, United Airlines, 20:25-23:55

pohnpei (PNI) - majuro (MAJ): 2 hours 10 minutes, United Airlines, 15:20-18:30

majuro (MAJ) - honolulu (HNL): 4 hours 40 minutes, United Airlines, 19:30-02:10

honolulu (HNL) - san francisco (SFO): 5 hours 01 minutes, United Airlines, 07:00-15:01

san francisco (SFO) - dallas (DFW): 3 hours 35 minutes, American Airlines, 17:00-22:35

dallas (DFW) - new york city (LGA): 3 hours 35 minutes, Spirit Airlines, 05:33-10:08

new york city (JFK) - reykjavik (KEF): 5 hours 35 minutes, Iceland Air, 13:00-22:35

reykjavik (KEF) - paris (CDG): 3 hours 25 minutes, Iceland Air, 00:45-06:10

paris (CDG) - madrid (MAD): 2 hours 10 minutes, Iberia, 12:40-14:50

[random-kazakh-stuff]

There is a common play on words in Russian about a town in Kazakhstan. It goes like this:

A: Где ты шлялся, пес? ("Where were you, dog?")

B: Где, где? В Караганде!("Where, where? In Karaganda!")

The play here is that Where and Karaganda(declenised, it's when you change the ending of a word, because grammar) have the same ending -de.

There is however many interesting things happening at the same time with this saying.

First of all, it's origin.

It can't be said when or where exactly this phrase appeared, but some argue that it could have been a common answer from people who had been released from Karlag(Karaganda Corrective Labour Camp) which around a million people went through from 1930 to 1959. It is suggested that people wouldn't want to say that they went to Karlag so they just dismissively answered that they were in Karaganda.

Secondly, there is the way the phrase traveled through the years.

Russian is spoken less and less in most countries that were once part of USSR. At the same time, there are young people today who have never learned the geography of other countries(in comparison to times in USSR when they would apparently learn about the entire USSR).

So there is an group of young people who might learn Russian and hear the phrase but never find out that Karaganda is a real plase, in Kazakhstan, and not a imaginary or a funny word.

There is also a monument for the phrase! where? guess.

The animal is marmot btw which is the symbol animal of Karaganda.

[ID: A photo of the monument on a sunny day. All of the figures are of a dirty coppery orange colour. From left to right: a man standing with a suitcase at his feet looking confused, and holding a hand close to his face as if looking out for the horizon; a signpost with arrows pointing to different directions, top to down: "Karaganda 0km", "Astana", "Moscow"; a sizeable marmot with a smug face leaning on the sign; a man in a cap spreading his arms, as if trying to explain something]