I do realize that your social media news feeds are overwhelmed with the year results and still I wrote this. The photos of pre-HNY St Petersburg and Moscow are included to ease the pain. In… Read More
Photos from the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg. I spent almost 4 hours there because I was carried away. See for yourself! *** If you like the content on this blog, you can thank… Read More
Yesterday I visited the 2018 PicsArt AI Hackathon. It was quite an experience for me because I’ve heard of such events but never actually visited any. The hackathon took place in Trekh… Read More
At first, I wanted to post several sketches dehumanizing Russians made in the mainstream genre of propaganda passing for comedy. Then I’ve decided not to promote such content here beca… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. XII: The Yin-Yang of Russian/American Post-propaganda. The difference between the Russian and American media is as follows: the legacy media in Russia is base… Read More
I’ve mentioned previously that I like inventing new words. As the 5th anniversary of Russian Universe is in just two months, I’ve decided to publish all the important RUneol… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. XI: Cargo Culture. As you probably know, I’ve created a blog in Russian titled Armeyskov’s Squatterly Review. I will translate/adapt the most important… Read More
It’s time to have a break from social media and/or probably abandon the most vicious ones. Of course, autoposting will continue – and that’s it for now. I’ve never be… Read More
Today is the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution. Regardless of your political predilections, there’s no arguing about the significance of this event for Russian and world hist… Read More
I want to introduce to you Boris Indrikov – contemporary Russian artist, who I was fortunate to meet in person. I was completely blown away by his Velikie Veliki project (in… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. X: Normalizing Russophobia The Russian conspiracy theory in the US and the corresponding wave of Russomania in the West resulted in the normalization of the g… Read More
https://t.co/d1NEQyB6HX — Sergey 🎮 Armeyskov (@armeyskov) June 30, 2017 Global warming? Looks like global cooling to me. Mayember was also rather telling. Filed under: Photos o… Read More
The Russian Colonial Office approves of mental colonization of America. We come in peace! We just want your democracy! According to Captain Obviov, Russians colonize America mentally with th… Read More
The longing for acceptance in the West was crucial in the decision-making of the late Soviet / post-Soviet nomenklatura. The jeans & bubblegum … Read More
The tale is a lie but there’s a hint in it, a lesson for fine lads. Alexander Pushkin, “The Tale of Golden Cockerel” (1835). The Path of Inlavan (Introduction) Welcome to t… Read More
‘Diafilm’ (filmstrip) from 1960. Sorry, Yuri! P.S. Also compare to this 1910 depiction of 2000.Filed under: Films & Actors, History, Popular culture, Russian Mythology T… Read More
Paul Robinson wrote a post titled ‘Alexei Two Percent‘: As for Navalny, an opinion poll published by the Levada Centre today gives him almost imperc&sh&hell…Read More
The Roadmap of Linguistic Cargo Cult: 1. Use non-Russian substitutes for words as often as possible, just transliterate them even when it’s not necessary (reverse Occam… Read More
Trump's done as an independent figure imo. He'll do dumb shit to prove he's not a Russkie agent. It's a downward spiral for him from now on. pic.twitter.com/PPoEGOkJxN — Sergey A. Arme… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. X: Weaponization of Conspiracy Theories. Putin’s Cunning Plan is still making the rounds in the US and the West in general. Of course, it is used as a p… Read More
Some thoughts after the Saint Petersburg terrorist attack. I have a cold, so my voice sounds rather odd. Filed under: Captain Obviov, News, Politics, Russian Propaganda, The Russian Question… Read More
I like listening to musicians in the Moscow metro after work. This time it was two guys playing the balalaika and guitar.Filed under: Russian Fridays, Russian Music Tagged: balalaika, Metro… Read More
This blog is 4 years old. It’s time to reflect on some of the main ideas, which I’ve come up with over the years. I like neologisms and inventing new words because they… Read More
The phenomenon of Soviet nostalgia is effectively used in Western media and popular culture to position the Russians in a certain manner. This nostalgia mixed with … Read More
A joke is circulating in the Russosphere: As Sergey Kislyak walks through the streets of Washington after work they get empty. He calls: “People! People, where are you?&rdquo&hell…Read More
The second day of the Great Lent. Feels good! When modern art meets meatless borscht… 😎 Filed under: Russian Traditions Tagged: Borsch, Borschism, Borscht, Borshch, Bors… Read More
I’ve come across the best translation of this Brodsky’s poem by Artem Serebrennikov. *** On Ukrainian Independence Dear Charles XII, the Poltava battle [1] Has been fortunat… Read More
Today is the last day of Maslenitsa – the Forgiveness Sunday. The Great Fast starts tomorrow. Please forgive me, my fellow Internet dwellers, if I made a harsh joke somewhere or t… Read More
I’ve passed two tests: the first one on The Political Compass, and the second one – on ‘Who Would You Have Been in 1917?‘ on arzamas.academy (English translation… Read More
The New Yorker: Real post-truth for real comrades!Filed under: Multiple Sarcasms, Politics, Russia & the West Tagged: Fake news, Post-truth, Schizogate, The New Yorker Read More
In the world where art turned into advertising, ads became art Captain Obviov I remember I used to watch the ‘Imperial’ bank (1990-1999) ads on Russian TV in the 90s. The ba… Read More
Gusli is one of the oldest musical instruments that have played an important role in the Russian music culture. The Greek historians Theophylact Simocatta and Theophan were the first to ment… Read More
Speaking of predictions, or rather visions of the future, I like reading those of the past. There is something essentially human in the act of trying to break from the banality of one’… Read More
The term ‘Russophobia’ is overused nowadays. What we see in the media is induced – and contagious! – Russomania. Do you find the present #Rus… Read More
Here’s my new logo! *** P.S. If you enjoyed my blog in 2016, please support it by buying the merch: teespring.com/stores/russianuniverse teespring.com/stores/bilibin or simply donate:… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. IX: Russian Regression Roulette Stephen King in his 1984 novella titled “The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet” presents a scary story… Read More
A Rascal-Monkey Donkey Billy Goat And klunky Bear Set out to play a string Quartet. They found some scores, viola, bass, two violins And sat down in a lea beneath a linden tree To charm the… Read More
What actually surprises me in the Russian invasion meddling in the US elections conspiracy is that instead of aborting this intellectually lazy, gross and harmful ar… Read More
This Thursday I’ve finally visited the exhibition of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) in the Tretyakov Gallery devoted to the 200th anniversary of his birth. P.S. Feel free to check out the… Read More
The Telegraph: Mr Ulyukayev, 60, is the highest-ranking Russian official to be arrested while in office since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the only serving min… Read More
Captain Obviov: Operation TRUMP proved itself to be a YUGE success. Russia’s meddling in the American presidential elections is too obvious to deny. The Russians started a secret opera… Read More
Russian inventor Lev Termen (Léon Theremin) of French/German descent who in 1920 created termenvox (aka theremin) among other things, plays the instrument: Filed u… Read More
To paraphrase contemporary Russian writer Viktor Pelevin, the International Russian Conspiracy does exist – the problem is that the majority of adult population of Western liberal… Read More
The interesting thing about contemporary popular culture is that a copy is pretty often better than the original. That’s the case of the memetic rap/electronic hit… Read More
In the latest edition of monuwars (monument wars): the monument to Ivan IV aka Ivan the Deplorable Terrible in Oryol. Here’s a few quick thoughts on the subjec… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. IX: Some Parallels Between the US 2016 Presidential Election & Russian 1996 One I’ve stumbled on a decent article summing up the way Hillary an… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. VIII: Problems with Contemporary Russian Westernizers However, the mystery of the failure of all revolutions in Russia is a topic of a separate study. Today we wil… Read More
The Russian bear never dies: It hibernates, it even flies, It sings hypnotic old songs, It drinks and dances all night long. The Russian bear can’t be taught, For it says ‘… Read More
‘Eternal return’ to Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk-Simbirsk… yet again. This time in autumn. Filed under: Photos of Russia Tagged: Eternal return, Russia, Simbirsk, Ulyanovsk, Volga Read More
Me among other Russians before the State Duma elections tomorrow: P.S. This Zhirik impersonation is impeccable! It never gets old. Filed under: Captain Obviov, Memes Tagged: Basket of Unbear… Read More
LOL – The geniuses at DNC realized their emails were hacked, then EMAILED new passwords to everyone… #dncleak pic.twitter.com/NB3YbZc2CE — Brent Teichman (@BrentTeichman)… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. VII: The Retrospective Foresight Saga (The Eternal Return of Russia Analysis) A simple study of names and dates will prove that between the policy of Ivan III… Read More
How to make a snowman argument: Find a historical figure or event in Russian history who/which is generally seen in a negative light: Ivan IV aka Ivan the Terrible, Joseph Stalin… Read More
Some thoughts after reading another analytical piece on Russia: there are some repetitive motives which I’ve noticed in the Western Russia discourse. I’m on my tourist trip to Ve… Read More
A short propaganda poem on propaganda. “If you are rooting for Trump,You are a toxic waste dump”.“It’s as if you are rooting for Putin”,&ldq&hell…Read More
Nyet! When your ego is as big as that of Bono, You can’t hide it in a jacket or kimono. Everybody’s hooked on your persona So rebellious, you say: ‘Pokemon no!’.Filed… Read More
Photos from my Moscow river boat trip. Filed under: Architecture, Photos of Russia Tagged: Boat trip, Moscow, Moscow river, Moscow river cruise, Moscow river trip, Photos of Moscow, Pho… Read More
To be honest, I was surprised by the results of the referendum. I thought the overall vote would be slightly in favour of staying in the EU. So how do you feel about these results? I’v… Read More
Ivan Turgenev, The Russian Language (prose poem). In days of doubt, in days of sad brooding on my country’s fate, thou alone art my rod and my staff — oh great, mighty… Read More
Russia & the West. Pt. V: ‘No True Russian’ Feeds the Penguin. Person A: "No Russian feeds the Penguin." Person B: "But my uncle Andrey feeds the Penguin all the time." Perso… Read More
Of all the possible quotes from Russian literature they’ve chosen this one from Ivan Turgenev’s novel (and without actually mentioning his name). I see what you did there! Pretty… Read More