Just a sad story to share: Stalin and birds

A Soviet poster saying "Beloved Stalin - the happiness of the people"  (photo from the Daily Mail)

This is a not a myth, it is a true story. I took it from Radzinsky’s biography of Stalin, which I have purchased recently, but have only looked through it.

There was one huge statue of Stalin at the Volga-Don Channel – somewhere on its banks and it was erected in honor of the author of this great project – Stalin himself.

One day a bureaucrat responsible for that statue noticed that huge flocks of birds liked to sit on it. He got alarmed - birds would crap on the statue and spoil it. Therefore, he decided to direct high voltage electricity through it.

And every morning, workers-prisoners would gather many corpses of dead birds around the clean statue of Stalin and bury them nearby.

Just a sad story I wanted to share with you. And it was an anniversary of Stalin's death these days. Tyrants shouldn't be forgotten. Nevermore!

Lamenting a gone brothel in Baku

I have to admit, there is one good side of our government - it creates for us such ultimate moral justifications that we can not only praise hooligans, but also lament a gone brothel as well. With all of our consciousness.

So, you can ask - what happened now?

Photo by me

By the time all our attention was fixed on Fuzuli and Badalbayli streets, where whole historic neighborhood is leveled to make a way for a winter boulevard and "House with Atlases" which hinders one promising construction site to become a whole rectangular, authorities have just stepped in unexpectedly in other part of the city and demolished a not less important another landmark - pre-1917 "Madrid" hotel, which was also city's top elite brothel in that era, frequented by the high society gentlemen.

Of course, you couldn't keep a brothel in Soviet times in a central street - but history has kept names of two prominent beauties of that brothel for us - Lame Tamara and Naevused Rosa. Anyway, tastes differ, or de gustibus non est disputandum, as Latins would say ;)

Literally yesterday, I was there and took a photo of the building - or what remained of it. I was thinking it was being renovated. But alas, I am not always right - today, it was actually demolished.

Here are some photos of the building, followed by a footage of demolition. - [UPDATE: I'll upload a new footage as soon as possible.]

Two more photos about demolition in Baku

Today, I have already written about recent demolitions in Baku, thus will be concise now - here are two more photos about the ongoing vandalism in downtown where some historical landmarks are becoming history.

Workers at Fuzuli street clear the debris from to-be-demolished houses:

Forget this building as well - "the House with Atlases" is currently being demolished in historical Molokan Garden (photo from Disput.az):

In old Baku, modern Herostrati, and at work

But history will remember them, for sure.

Exactly a year ago I wrote a piece about authorities' plans to demolish a whole historic neighborhood in downtown Baku to make a way for a winter boulevard. I hastily visited the site, (was almost attacked by one resident) and took pictures by a 1.3 megapixel camera. The plan got some sorrowful reactions but came into standstill for unknown reasons. Some were saying "crisis."

These days authorities recalled the plan so quickly that they started to evict the people by force from their houses and demolish the quarters as soon as possible.

Residents on Fuzuli street where houses have mostly an anthropological value started to resist fiercely. To be honest, they are offered a ridiculous compensation and sometime in the future. The residents even tried to stage a protest outside the Presidential Administration. Six got detained.

Unfortunately, residents of Badalbayli street, another one demolished, are silent. But their street in contrast is an architectural treasury, really.

Yesterday, I visited the same area again, though couldn't take my flip camera out - demolishers were everywhere. And the situation is really dire - Fuzuli street lies in ruins as if after a bombardment. The only building of architectural significance - House 58 still survives, but it is already mutilated and fenced (look at photo that I could manage to take by the same 1.3 megapixel).

However, the situation in Badalbayli street is much worse - though the street and as well as famous Melikoff mansion are still intact, they have started to demolish the buildings selectively, and started from most significant ones. They have even demolished my favorite one!

Soon or later, they will start to demolish all remaining buildings in the area and no matter some are in the preservation list of national landmarks. The same list couldn't save a Taghiyev mansion near the Maiden Tower (watch how it was demolished here), nor it can save the "House with Atlases" which is currently being demolished near the historic Molokan Garden (did I tell you that they've demolished another 4-storey mansion there already?).

I have no words, really.

Von Trapp children pants (c)

The New York Times writes: For a country that has never won a gold during the winter Games and is fielding only two athletes, the fashion statement made by the team was disproportionately bold. When the tiny entourage emerged, led by Fuad Guliyev, the party of five sported paisley pants — a print no doubt making its Olympic debut — in, blue, red and green, which mirrored the national flag — a nice, if not particularly subtle touch. It makes one wonder what thrilling, trippy theater an Azerbaijani opening ceremony might be if the country were ever to host the Games.

Photo by Charlie Riedel/AP

Thoughts on our deprived freedoms and why we shouldn’t be afraid of religion

How Azeri government scares liberals at home and foreigners abroad to gather support among them

Recently, a small group of religious Muslims assembled near the statue of Liberated Woman in Baku on the occasion of the death of Prophet Muhammad and martyrdom of his grandson Hassan, and anniversary of the Khojali massacre. They were planning to make a small march toward the Martyrs’ Alley and put flowers on the graves of people fallen for the independence of Azerbaijan.

However, after first “Allah Akbar” and “Every Place is Karbala,” police brutally intervened and dispersed the rally. Four detained are still awaiting court. Apparently, the government in a secular Muslim republic of Azerbaijan doesn’t like to be reminded that it is Allah who is the greatest.

Look what I have discovered!

In Azerbaijan, owing to a great Soviet cultural and organizational tradition, every craftsmen are united in unions - such as Writers' Union, Journalists' Union, Architects' Union, Artists' Union...

And look what I have discovered recently - Azerbaijan Cartoonists Union and their upcoming book - Oil and Cartoon.

When a tweet meets dishonesty

Unmasking one deliberate hoax

Recently, one tweet of mine was "deconstructed" by one blog written by a person who positions himself as "a journalist and photojournalist of Armenian and English descent who has been resident in the Republic of Armenia since 1998," based on multiple Azeri language sources and some speculations of what had happened in Baku.

The piece is called When Twitter Can Be Misleading, and aforementioned tweet of mine is cited as a possible case study. Anyway, I wouldn't ever bother myself of answering his post, if the method by which I am declared "misleading" is itself a blatant falsification of a primary source and dishonesty.

Let's start from the beginning.

New 4D cinema in Baku to allow people to smell films - UPDATED

According to Azerbaijan Telegraph Agency (Azertag), a new 4D cinema is to be built in National Park in Baku.

No joking - Azertag does not like jokes.

Besides that this cinema has no analogues in the whole Commonwealth of Independent States, it will allow feeling even the smell of what is screened. Moreover,

The audience involuntarily become heroes of the film by wearing special spectacles. The main role is played by mobile seats. The spectators will be able to fell wind, different smells, heat and cold and everything on the screen.

Wow! Really?! Doubly WOW! The pity is that the cinema will have only 12 seats! Hmmm...

Update: After I published this post, News.az, where the news was first posted has edited the text - therefore, in order to enjoy the news fully, you can see a snapshot of its original version here.

Update 2: It seems 4D cinema is not a product of ill fantasy of some AzerTAg reporter, an anonymous user alerted me that this phenomenon already exists (also q.v. here), but not in the form written in above report ;)

MUST READ: Tending the embers: #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Caucasus

Below is not a blog post, it is a long tweet. And I am not an author of it, rather I would love to be its author. Frankly, I am even jealous that I am not the author. In fact, it is written by an anonymous user in Twitter, who calls himself/herself Ani and has an account named "GoldenTent."  S/he is one of the best micro-bloggers in/from the South Caucasus and below is one of the best pieces ever written about our region - enjoy the reading!

Pro-gov't MP: Designate birthday of President's mother as Mothers' Day in Azerbaijan

For 70 years, Soviet Azerbaijan celebrated 28 April as a national holiday – it was conceived as the victory of revolution in the country, the date of its Sovetization and liberation of workers. After the demise of Soviets, the public holiday was abolished. But now a pro-government Member of the Parliament wants this date back as a holiday again – this time as the Mother’s Day.

According to Mediaforum, Elmira Akhundova, the author of the proposal told the Parliament on 1 February:

28 April is the birthday of prominent academician Zarifa Aliyeva. Azerbaijani people celebrate the birthday of Zarifa Aliyeva, who is the wife of Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev, with great respect. To designate her birthday as the Mothers' Day would reflect people's love towards Zarifa khanim as well as add a new public holiday to our calendar. This Mothers' Day should be established and designated as a non-working day.

Academician Zarifa Aliyeva (1923-1985) was the wife of Azerbaijan’s third president Heydar Aliyev and the mother of the fourth, incumbent president, Ilham Aliyev.

Spasibo Zeynalabdin - Merci Beacoup Azerbaijan

There was one millionaire in Baku at the turn of XIX and XX centuries. His name was Zeynalabdin (not that famous Taghiyev, but another guy) and he was obsessed with one strange desire - to get decorated by the Czar himself. Every time when he read or heard that the Czar had decorated someone with imperial orders, he could have a heart attack. No joking.

Seeking a cure, he consulted some sages and was told that the imperial garrison in Baku is quartered in miserable conditions and it would be good idea to take care of soldiers - the Czar's sons. Thus, Mr Zeynalabdin took the best of his properties, renovated it and donated to the government for this purpose. The new premises were received with great pomp and ceremony and gratitude and soldiers happily moved in.

After some time, Zeynalabdin went to visit the Governor of Baku and asked with great caution - "did the Czar have something for me?"

Ali and Nino now in 33 languages

From Ədəbiyyat Qəzeti (Literature Gazette), January 15, 2010, page 2, anonymous translation

A new translation of Kurban Said's ageless love story Ali and Nino has just been published in Albanian, according to the latest news received by Betty Blair, Editor of Azerbaijan International Magazine, in Los Angeles.

Ali and Nino is now published in 33 languages: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Catalan, Cantonese (Chinese), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Braille, Talking Books for Blind and Dyslexic, and a Large Print Edition), Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish (also Swedish Talking Books for the Blind), Turkish, and Urdu.

The Albanian translation was made from English by Guri Shyti, edited by Loredan Bubani, and published by OMCA-1 (Luan Pengili) in Tirana, Albania. The release date was 2009.