Ali's Dream

This is a short documentary clip by the Swedish national television. Ali is a teenage boy from an unmentioned country - he could be anyone from anywhere, but circumstances made him a refugee in a small town in Sweden. He has to endure teasing from the very first day - other kids call him Chinese, Afghan, Turk, but always with curses. In the beginning, Ali says, he used to fight, but he realized that it's useless.
It's not easy for Ali to adapt to a situation where nobody speaks his language and nobody knows his past. But Ali finds a way that helps him release the accumulated stress and makes him dream of greater things - boxing. His host mother supports him.

In the end, Ali says that he has an even bigger dream. When he dies, he wants people to miss him. He wants do do something good. Like so many other kids who deserve that chance to explore their abilities, regardless of war and persecution... Good luck, Ali, and keep on fighting!

Central Asia's Finest

For chirayliq fans, the FIFA world cup offers a lot of dark and stocky men with powerful cheekbones or well-defined noses, but where are all the Central Asians? Look closer - at the moment, I'm watching the Greece-Argentina match because of this guy:



Ravshan Irmatov, Asia's referee of the year 2008 & 2009.

Graham Poll at the Daily Mail described him in these ominous terms before the England-Algeria match last week:

Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov is a young man at 32, but [...] there will be no playing around for Asia’s finest referee.

Irmatov is a correct referee — by saying that, I mean he is firm, strong and robotic in his reactions.

Reputations mean nothing to him; any technical offence will lead to a card.

The star referee is the first Uzbek to be selected to the world cup. Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan) and Bahadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan) were selected as assistant referees. Irmatov's international career since 2003 is quite impressive. On the website of the Uzbekistan football league, he recalls some memorable events during his career. Irmatov has already officiated at two world cups before, which makes him stand out among the referees this year.

For some cute reason, the FIFA website does not only tell us his height (183 cm) and occupation (school football instructor), but also his mother tongue (Uzbek) and his hobbies (football, swimming, tennis). It is quite interesting to see what many of the referees do in their regular life. There are engineers, postmen, accountants, car mechanics, policemen...

Alan Dzagoev

Before anyone calls us people behind Chirayliq "obsessive" or "maniac", they should check out the fan videos that football fans create for their heroes... Here, a clip dedicated to Alan Elizbarovich Dzagoev, CSKA Moscow midfielder. Dzagoev was born in Beslan, of Ossetian heritage. According to the magazine Sovetsky Sport, Dzagoev is known to be "a modest and hard-working person who is very passionate about the game and is always seen encouraging other players from his team to work harder in order to win" - a real jigit, in other words. (Unfortunately, CSKA recently lost against Inter Milan in Moscow, but we won't let that spoil this sunny day, right?)





Dzagoev head mods for Fifa 10 (found here)



Some photos from his career in Russia and abroad

Wladimir Klitschko fights to save dolphins in Japan

As we have reported before, heavywight boxer Vitali Klitschko has made efforts to help stray animals in Kiev. His younger brother Wladimir recently joined his girlfriend, American actress Hayden Panettiere, who is a committed marine activist, in an action to save dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Panettiere has been involved in actions in Taiji with the organisation Sea Shepherd for a few years now.

In an annual hunt that lasts from October to April, dolphins are caught for meat and to be sold to delphinariums. The official number of dolphins caught in 2007 was 1,623, but unofficial estimates say it could be as many as 23,000.
Besides humans and other great apes, whales, pigs, octopi, elephants and crows, dolphins are one of the most intelligent animal species in the world, and probably the most intelligent aquatic animals.



In a silent protest, Hayden and Wladimir laid out a giant silhouette of a dolphin on the beach outside Taiji. Then they attempted to meet the mayor, but were met by outraged locals outside. The Ukrainian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reports that "Klitschko did not use his fists to protect his girlfriend against the offenders. Apparently the tiny but courageous actress was fully capable of standing up for herself."

One could question why an American animal rights activist doesn't look at "her own backyard" and focus on, for example, factory farming or animal testing in the USA, where slavery, torture and mass murder is carried out in an even more gruesome scale. But other animals than humans arguably don't care about human-made national boundaries. And if you have a special affection for dolphins, it makes sense to fight for dolphins anywhere in the world.

Anyway, this story is a perfect excuse to post some nice photos of Wladimir Klitschko (found in the extensive collection of sunshinetrue):





The following vintage-style photos are from the cute book Unser Fitnessbuch ("Our Fitness Book") by Vitali and Wladimir, where they present simple exercises for everybody to keep in shape.


















Above: young Wladimir. Below are some childhood photos:



Vitali, their grandma(?) and Wladimir



Vitali and Wladimir



Wladimir's school photo

Real Bears Don't Wear Somebody Else's Fur

Mum gave us a tip on this one:

After activists and supporters of the Croatian animal rights organization Animal Friends gave their support to the ice hockey club Medvescak Zagreb (Zagreb Bears) during many games in the regional league EBEL against Slovenian, Hungarian and Austrian teams by unfolding a huge banner that said "ANIMAL FRIENDS ADORE THE BEARS", the Bears paid them back for their support and in turn gave their support to the "For Croatia without Fur" campaign – by undressing their handsome 26 year old defender Luka Novosel!



Luka said: "I joined this campain because I love animals, and if there is anything I can do for them, the least I can do is to get my picture taken and help animal protection. Fur should be where it belongs. On animals!"



January 1st 2007, the new Animal Protection Act that bans fur farming in Croatia came into force. But this regulation will not be effective until January 1st 2017. In this long period, hundreds and thousands of animals will continue being killed for fashion and human vanity. And in any case, an end to fur farming does not mean an end to selling fur in Croatia and importing it from other countries. Thus, Animal Friends launched a national campaign in January 2007 called "For Croatia without Fur" - the aim of which is to completely stop the cruel treatment of animals by the fashion industry as soon as possible.
Croatian fashion models and designers have already joined the campaign, and now they also have a real Bear defender on their side!

Read more on the official Animal Friends website!

Buzkashi the movie!

Buzkashi 1-minute trailer
Uploaded by Buzkashi. - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.

"Not everything about Buzkashi is action and danger." September 2010 an exciting docudrama about three Tajik Buzkashi (Ulak-Tartysh/Kökbörü) sportsmen is coming from Oxus Apertura Films. I can't wait to see it. Read more on the official site!

Vitali Klitschko will help Ukrainian stray animals survive the 2012 European Football Championship

Mum is a great fan of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, the famous handsome heavyweight boxer brothers, so it's really about time that we write something about them.

Vitali was born in Belovodsk, Kyrgyz SSR, and Wladimir in Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR. Their father is an Air Force General. Later on, the Klitschko family moved to Germany, where the brothers began their boxing careers. On the side, they both studied in Kiev and got Ph.D's in Sports science. After presenting his dissertation in 1996, Vitali was apparently the first boxer to hold a Ph.D. Wladimir followed in 2001.

Wladimir currently holds the IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine world heavyweight titles. Vitali is the current WBC world heavyweight champion, and he is the fourth boxer to ever win a heavyweight belt three times, after Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis.

The brothers are active in several charitable causes helping children around the world. Now Vitali has also stepped up to help furry children in need in his home town Kiev.



In his free time, Vitali is involved in local politics in Kiev. He is right now a member of the city parliament, and sits in the organisational committee for the 2012 European football championship.



The Football championship is something that deeply worries friends of animals in Kiev. The authorities have already organized mass killings of stray animals to "clean up" the streets for their international visitors, and animal rights activists are working hard to stop them from further mass killings.



Mass killing is not a sustainable solution, since it doesn't do anything about the root causes for strays, not to mention that it of course causes immense suffering. Neutering stray animals to prevent them from reproducing uncontrollably, and, most importantly, enforcing an Animal Protection Bill that would prevent most animals from getting to the point of being abandoned in the streets in the first place, are a much more sustainable solution.



The local animal rights organization Society for the Protection of Animals (SOS) has been in contact with members of the city parliament, among them Vitali Klitschko, to convince them of a humane and long-term solution to the problem with stray animals. Klitschko is now convinced that a humane solution to the stray problem is the right thing to do.



Recently he visited SOS's animal shelter with TV cameras in tow, in order to raise awareness about the work the organization is doing for animals in need. He was full of admiration for the people at the shelter, who work hard to improve the lives of stray animals in Kiev.





Find out more about the Society for the Protection of Animals (SOS), and what you, too, can do to help them.

Photos from Streuner in Kiew.

Uzbekistan in the 1930's

The professional photographer Max Penson documented life and ideals in Soviet Turkistan (today's Uzbekistan) that was going through enormous social and economic upheavals in the early 20th century. Penson was born to a poor Jewish family in Belarus, 1893, and escaped pogroms and persecution to Central Asia during the First World War. He worked as an art teacher in Kokand, but his life changed when he managed to obtain a camera in the early 1920's. Between 1920 and 1940 he produced 30,000 photographs of innumerable subjects including education, industrialization, military training, farming, leisure and portraiture. At the Paris World Exhibition in 1937, Penson was awarded the Grand Prix for his portrait of "The Uzbek Madonna", a young woman nursing her child. Sergei Eisenstein praised him for his dedication to his chosen homeland: "There cannot be many masters left who choose a specific terrain for their work, dedicate themselves completely to and make it an intergrated part of their personal destiny." (quoted in Enter)



Penson worked for Central Asia's largest newspaper, Pravda Vostoka, in Tashkent, until Stalin's purges of Jews in the late 1940's pushed him out of his position and into a decade of depression. Penson died in 1959, but his work lives on as a priceless document of a dynamic but also tragic chapter in Central Asian history. All these photographs were selected from the official Max Penson website. I sincerely recommend a visit to the website for much more information and photographs. There is also an interesting topical selection at the Nailya Alexander Gallery.



Students in class.



The sculptor Khaidarov at work on a Lenin bust.

Although I have selected images chiefly of Chirayliq interest, I hope that something of the wide range of Penson's techniques is conveyed to the casual reader. He created images for propagandistic purposes, but he was conscious of the importance of the human element - you may call it imperfection or an element of chance.



A cotton farmer resting.



Russians and Uzbeks celebrating a holiday - with a dombura, or is it a dutar?

While the propagandistic elements may come off as blatant - a bust of Lenin, a militant pose, a brand-new tractor - the human element is much more subtle, yet crucial: a wrinkled eyebrow, a shy smile that does not quite reach the mouth, a bemused gaze, a gesture of tenderness. Penson told his photographer son's editor: “My son is using a flash in his photos very often. Tell him to use his heart instead...” (Quote: Enter)



Portrait of an Uzbek man.



A soldier with field radio equipment.



An Uzbek boy with puppies.



Max Penson himself.

Do NOT miss the gallery section at the official Max Penson site. This is just a tiny selection! It's a must for anyone who is interested in Soviet and Central Asian history, and the art of photography.

Horseback Wrestling!

Part of the traditional Vernal Equinox (Nauryz) celebrations in Kazakhstan. Comment from a random YouTube user: "these are the REAL Turks!!!!!!!!"

Marat & Behrang

Marat Nailevich Izmailov is a Russian Tatar football player, currently playing for Sporting Clube de Portugal.



Marat is praised for his speed and technique, especially in "duels" for the ball. He is (judging by the amount of fan blogs I found while googling for pictures) very popular among Portuguese fans.
Another odd factoid found while googling: if you type "marat izmailov" in the Google search window, one of the suggestions that pop up is "marat izmailov muslim". The idea of a blond and blue-eyed Russian Muslim footballer is probably very exotic to some fans, prompting the searches. The top result while picture googling was this hilarious thread at the hockey forum HFBoards, debating whether Tatars are Mongols, whether Abkhaz are Muslims, and whether there can possibly exist such a thing as an European Muslim at all. One moderator then goes on to present one of the best summaries of the Tatar phenomenon I've ever seen (on a hockey forum, at any rate), complete with illustrations. Nice work!



Marat began his pro career at Lokomotiv Moskva in 2001. In this older photo we see him sport the classic Russian hairstyle for men :0)



Marat battling Behrang Safari (FC Basel) for the ball. Behrang is an Iranian-Swedish player, also highly regarded, not only in his homeland Skåne.



This shot of Behrang was shamelessly copied from the Sydsvenska Dagbladet, the main newspaper for southern Sweden. The accompanying article is noteworthy for non-soccer fans, too. Behrang was detained by US authorities last year while changing international flights at Houston airport in Texas. Although he was travelling with the Swedish national team, he was isolated and interrogated until he missed the connecting flight to Costa Rica. Eventually he was released and could catch another flight - 24 hours later. The reason cited: Behrang was born in Tehran.
Meanwhile, three of his teammates missed the connection for a completely different reason - they attempted to board a flight to San José, California, instead of San José, Costa Rica. Swedes abroad...



Here is Behrang in his hometown, the sleepy academic village Lund, which makes me, a grudging Lundensare, feel unusually blessed. (Photo from Expressen.se)

Ramazan "The Punisher" Ramazanov

(Photo from songchaithaigyms.com)

Ramazan Ramazanov is the current Muay Thai (Thai boxing) world champion in Heavyweight. He was born in Makhachkala, Dagestan, on June 22 1984. He started boxing when he was 13, and fell in love with Muay Thai when he was 15. In 2005 he moved to Thailand to pursue his career in the sport, and settled in Bangkok at the Rompo gym. Within a few years he moved up from the Super Middleweight to Super Cruiserweight division. After a lot of training and some spectacular achievements, he is currently ranked as the No. 1 Muay Thai Heavyweight in the world.


(Photo by Tytus Iskhandar)

Ramazan's official website (with his blog, bio and some videos - partly under construction)
His profile at songchaithaigyms.com (with some photos)
The gallery at muaythaisa.com has some photos with Ramazan, and he also has a profile in the "fighters" section.

Finally, here is a little interview and a sparring session with Ramazan for TheWebShow in Australia:

Krasnoyarsk freestyle street football player

I don't know who this guy is, but in any case he is cute.



The photos are made by Kirill Tryaskin, a freelance photographer in Krasnoyarsk. See more of his nice photos.