89:Russian inventiveness

Russians, when they visit UK, are flummoxed and bamboozled by our system of individual taps for hot and cold water. Here is an inventive way around it. (With thanks to Alex Jude, from whom I stole this photo). (Now there's some old-fashioned English from the days when grammarians and pedants considered it bad form to end a sentence with a preposition). Nowadays I guess we'd say "thanks to Alex, who I stole this photo from. I bow (but only so far, and no further) to our constantly evolving language. 
I'd like to write more but, as so often happens, I've been beaten by the clock.

88:I'm a mole in the SIS!!

What a confession this morning! I am a mole in the SIS and have been for almost a year! 
All is not what you think (because if I really were a mole in the Special Intelligence Service, which I'm not, then this would not be an appropriate platform to "come out").
I sometimes refer to myself as a mole (крот) because I spend so much time on the underground system here in Moscow. I have also visited the once-secret underground nuclear bunker at Taganskaya but that's another story for another day. 
And SIS? A society I have just formed called "Schoolteachers in their Sixties"!


The metro system, as I've mentioned before, is fast and efficient. Which is nice because I often spend a couple of hours a day whizzing from place to place. At the front end of every platform there are two electronic indicators: one of which tells the time of day and the other the time since the last train passed under it. During the rush hour(s) this second indicator often shows times of less than a minute. In fact you can often see a train pulling out of one end of the platform as another one is pulling in at the other. 
The other photo today shows that many of the underpasses that pass under (!) the city are thriving trading areas. You can buy almost anything - except alcohol - from these tiny little booths. In none of them is there room to swing a cat and if I ever had to work in one for any longer than 5 minutes I would lose what little sanity I've got left.

87:Exercise is good for you

I mentioned recently that I was suffering from a re-occurrence of an old back condition. (i.e. I've got an old back and it's not in good condition! :))
Well, it's mostly better now - I hope. 
I attribute part of the reason for my recovery on an exercise regime devised by The British Chiropractic Association called "Straighten Up UK". 

In the UK, we are becoming a nation of slouch potatoes and poor posture is a common trigger of back pain, along with other normal day to day activities such as housework, DIY, sleeping, sitting at a computer and playing computer games for extended periods of time.

Straighten Up was developed to be a simple, three minute exercise programme for all ages, designed to help strengthen the spine and improve posture.  It is now a popular worldwide programme and, since being launched in the UK, thousands of people have got involved and are already finding that Straighten Up is providing them with some real help.

http://www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk/straightenup/default.aspx?m=1&mi=41&ms=0

I've belatedly decided to adopt this exercise regime as my New Year's Resolution. Any bets as to how long it will last?


Today's photo, of me sitting on a bike, was taken in St Petersburg last year when I met up with an old friend who had decided to cycle, with a friend, the entire length of the old iron curtain (железный занавес). He is back in the UK now, considerably enriched by his experience. In the photo, I'm sitting on his bike. 

86:Putin or Put out

There are quite a few sanctioned election campaign meetings taking place today with many thousands of people taking part. Some are anti-Putin and some are pro-Putin. There are those who might say that the pro-Putin demonstrators are being paid to attend, or otherwise encouraged. Whether they are being paid or not all the demonstrators have my admiration for being out in this weather (-15 to -20). I must have spent an hour in total on the street today and I was more than glad to get back into my warm(ish) flat.

85:That nice Mr Putin

Just when I was wondering what to write about in today's blog, along comes a nice political joke on facebook - thanks Mikhail, you know who you are.

на утро после выборов приходит к Путину секретарь:
- ВВ, у меня две новости, хорошая и плохая. с какой начать?
- Ну, давай с хорошей!
- Вы теперь президент РФ!
- Отлично, а плохая?
- за вас никто не проголосовал..


For those of you who don't speak Russian it reads:
On the morning after the election Putin's secretary comes up to him:
- Mr Putin, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?
- let's start with the good news.
- You are now the President of the Russian Federation!
- Excellent, and the bad news?
- Nobody voted for you...

And to follow that with a photo, and knowing how much Mr Putin likes hunting and displaying his macho image, I give you a picture of a (polar) tiger that I took during a visit to the zoo last weekend. The tiger, of course, was behind glass so the buildings you see, basking in the Winter sun, are reflections and are actually behind me. The poor old tiger was just walking round and round as if he had nothing else to do in the world - which he hasn't.

84:It ain't 'alf cold mum

Yesterday, as I was "doing my rounds", I glanced up at the thermometer on Rechnoy Vokzal metro station. The temperature was -22. The coldest day of the year here in Moscow. I know that further to the East, in Siberia, it gets much colder, and to the West and South there was unseasonal weather. But I'm in Moscow and writing about what I see and hear and feel here. I didn't feel too cold as I was well wrapped up, although my cheeks were tingling a bit. The trouble is that if I pull a scarf up to cover my face then my breath forms icicles on my moustache. I would consider shaving it off but it's been there more than 40 years! 


Today's photo is of the frost on the inside of a bus I was travelling in yesterday. You will see one window is covered in frost while the window in front of it is comparatively frost free. There are several reasons for this. Firstly there are heaters under some seats but not all. These really chuck out some heat and sitting on these seats often cause your nether regions to be hotter than you might want. Secondly at every bus stop the middle and rear double doors are opened, usually whether passengers are disembarking or not. This quickly brings down the inside temperature of the bus. In the photo you will see some people are still wearing their hats/hoods. Many buses have electronic displays to indicate the next stop and also to indicate the outside and inside temperatures. There is often quite a difference between these two temperatures, despite the doors being opened so often.


The video clip underneath is a play on words (игра слов) of today's blog title. It is a clip from the '70s sitcom "It ain't alf hot mum" about some National Servicemen (from the days, long ago, when we had призывники) somewhere in India or the Far East (from the days, long long ago, when we had an Empire).

83:The Red Arrow (красная стрела)

The Red Arrow was a famous train that plied between Moscow and St Petersburg. I say was even though it still runs because the name itself conjures up images from the past - much like our Flying Scotsman. They epitomised comfort and reliability and that little something extra. Relics from a bygone past - I feel that way myself sometimes!


There is at least one metro train decked out in the livery of the Red Arrow to commemorate it's glorious past. I had the good fortune to travel on it yesterday. Like the famous train it is named after it seems to have an extra aura of comfort and respectability.