Dzagoev head mods for Fifa 10 (found here)
Some photos from his career in Russia and abroad
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
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
Dzagoev head mods for Fifa 10 (found here)
Some photos from his career in Russia and abroad
Sunday, 4 April 2010
A Simple Guy
Here's a cute little video by Kyrgyz pop singer Sultan Sadyraliev: "Jonokoi jigit" (Simple Guy).
"Jigit" has a special meaning in many Turkic languages. In Kyrgyz language today, it means young man or boyfriend. (I'm not quite sure about the nuance, so I translated the name of the song simply as "Simple Guy".)
In Tatar, jigit and batyr have had similar meanings - brave young man, valorous knight. The jigit is the young hero who sets out on a journey in life, ready to learn what it means to be a man.
The Tatar poet Gabderrahim Utyz Imyani (1754-1836) was born in Chistopol, the second-largest city in the province of Kazan before 1917. He travelled throughout Central Asia for many years before returning to his hometown and becoming a teacher. He wrote a poem about the deeper meaning of the word jigit. I found this translation in Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar verse: voices of eternity, by Ravilʹ Bukharaev and D. J. Matthews (Routledge 2000). It is a richly illustrated book with numerous translations of poetry and detailed historical commentary.
The moral of these verses is not very different from the theme of Sultan's modern music video. The simple guy is rewarded in the end...
"Jigit" has a special meaning in many Turkic languages. In Kyrgyz language today, it means young man or boyfriend. (I'm not quite sure about the nuance, so I translated the name of the song simply as "Simple Guy".)
In Tatar, jigit and batyr have had similar meanings - brave young man, valorous knight. The jigit is the young hero who sets out on a journey in life, ready to learn what it means to be a man.
The Tatar poet Gabderrahim Utyz Imyani (1754-1836) was born in Chistopol, the second-largest city in the province of Kazan before 1917. He travelled throughout Central Asia for many years before returning to his hometown and becoming a teacher. He wrote a poem about the deeper meaning of the word jigit. I found this translation in Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar verse: voices of eternity, by Ravilʹ Bukharaev and D. J. Matthews (Routledge 2000). It is a richly illustrated book with numerous translations of poetry and detailed historical commentary.
What it means to be a Jigit
O proud and valiant horseman, sitting high upon your steed!
Display your virtues to your land and let it pay them heed.
If neighbours are in penury, then help them in their plight.
Your duty is unselfishness and doing what is right.
Make a promise and fulfill it; Faith you must obey.
Offending others for the slightest thing is not your way.
Let evil words not cross your lips; for liars have no use.
A simple smile conveys a perfect answer to abuse.
And do not boast that you are better than your fellow-men.
For beauty will not linger; it soon passes. And what then?
The most that you can hope for is a day or two, not more.
And then you'll rot and feed the worms. And that's the final score!
For in this world are rich men and the poor whom they despise;
And fools as well dwell in our midst, and those whom we call wise;
If someone isn't master then he's but a servant's brat.
But common sense will tell us that it isn't quite like that.
One is crowned by fortune, and another's blessed by wit.
Whichever gift he's served by, he will be no worse for it.
The moral of these verses is not very different from the theme of Sultan's modern music video. The simple guy is rewarded in the end...
Friday, 2 April 2010
Loup (2009)
Voilà, some photos from French adventurer Nicolas Vanier's latest drama-documentary, Loup. The story centers on Sergei, a young reindeer herder in Siberia, who is forced to re-evaluate his clan's traditionally hostile view of wolves as both animal and man struggle for survival in the wilderness. Watch the trailer!
I can't judge how realistic it is, but it's full of eye-candy, that's for sure...
(However, it should be mentioned - it is so obvious - that a large part of the leading cast are francophone Southeast Asians. There are plenty of Siberians in supporting roles, and at least in my eyes, Nicolas Brioudes in the role of Sergei does a good job. But one wishes that the Evenk language could get a chance to be heard, even though this is a movie for the general public...)
Action...
... and romance...
Man (and reindeer) vs. nature...
Frostbite...
... and an unexpected rescue.
Humans have always been fascinated by seemingly selfless altruism among animals.
But it is, after all, that different from the mystery of human emotions?
Well, what do you expect, this is a French film after all.
Aww, they are really cute together...
Awww....!!!! Cute overload.
Teh cuteness - it WON'T STOP
Monsieur Vanier has a cute nose, too. Visit his homepage or see more photos.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
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
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
Saturday, 13 March 2010
We are the champions!
The Russian TV channel «Россия 24» had a brilliant idea to show support to the Russian sportsmen at the olympics in Beijing and Vancouver: they made video clips with folklore groups from various Russian republics performing covers of Queen's We Are the Champions ...
Here are my favourites:
Tatarstan:
Sakha:
Bashkortostan:
Altai:
Here are my favourites:
Tatarstan:
Sakha:
Bashkortostan:
Altai:
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Umida Akhmedova
At the end of last year, Uzbek documentary photographer and filmmaker Umida Akhmedova had criminal charges filed against her, and was accused of defamation and of "insult and slander of the Uzbek nation."
She was one of several people who were charged due to having participated in a project sponsored by the Swiss Embassy Gender Program. Akhmedova's contribution was the photo book Women and men: from dawn till dusk from 2007 - 110 photographs documenting aspects of life in rural Uzbekistan. In court, an expert panel of 'specialists in the fields of religious affairs, spirituality, and psychology' found that her images portrayed Uzbekistan in a negative light to Western audiences: "a foreigner who has never been to Uzbekistan, but who is familiar with this album, would reach the conclusion that [Uzbekistan] is a country where people live in the Middle Ages".
On February 10th Akhmedova was found guilty of slandering and insulting the Uzbek people, but could walk away free, as the judge granted her an amnesty in honor of the 18th anniversary of Uzbek independence.
However, many fear that this case is "exemplary" - paving the way for many more cases like it against artists and journalists who are too critical or "unflattering".
Here are a few photos from Women and men: from dawn till dusk that are relevant to Chirayliq (click to enlarge!). See many more at fergana.info and datablog.info.
She was one of several people who were charged due to having participated in a project sponsored by the Swiss Embassy Gender Program. Akhmedova's contribution was the photo book Women and men: from dawn till dusk from 2007 - 110 photographs documenting aspects of life in rural Uzbekistan. In court, an expert panel of 'specialists in the fields of religious affairs, spirituality, and psychology' found that her images portrayed Uzbekistan in a negative light to Western audiences: "a foreigner who has never been to Uzbekistan, but who is familiar with this album, would reach the conclusion that [Uzbekistan] is a country where people live in the Middle Ages".
On February 10th Akhmedova was found guilty of slandering and insulting the Uzbek people, but could walk away free, as the judge granted her an amnesty in honor of the 18th anniversary of Uzbek independence.
However, many fear that this case is "exemplary" - paving the way for many more cases like it against artists and journalists who are too critical or "unflattering".
Here are a few photos from Women and men: from dawn till dusk that are relevant to Chirayliq (click to enlarge!). See many more at fergana.info and datablog.info.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Comrades, 1950
Probably taken soon after the treaty of friendship between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China on 14 February 1950, and just a few years before the Sino-Soviet split... An unusual image of youthful international friendship from the Borodulin collection of Soviet era photography. Other interesting images include a visit by workers from the Caucasus in Moscow 1925, muscular Komsomol youths, and this nice 20's photo of Eisenstein, Mayakovsky, Pasternak and other cultural personalities welcoming Japanese visitors.
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