New Blog!

I have started a new music blog! The idea is that each week I will update it with a new playlist of songs I've been listening to and think the rest of the world needs to hear. Check it out and download the first playlist here.

Final Preparatory 2!!!! Canada Commences...

We leave for Canada in about an hour! It still doesn't really feel like its real. Russia has just become so much of who I am right now that to leave it all behind seems impossible. You can read my first post about leaving for Russia here where I mostly just talked about how crazy it sounded to go to Russia. Now it seems crazy to leave.  The last day here went really well, the weather warmed, souvenirs were purchased, and blini's were scarfed. It has been kinda sad saying goodbye to all our Russian friends, my roomate already left for work about 4 hours ago. Anyhow, time to say goodbye to internet here, I will never forget the good times we had YOTA. That being said, I can't wait to be home for Christmas and see all my friends again. See yeah soon Canada. "EH" (can't wait to use that in regular conversation)!!

Russia Update 4 - The End is Nigh!!

Last Thursday was the very last class of my semester in Russia. Since then it has been non-stop busy trying to it in all those last minute trips we've wanted to do all semester long but never did for song reason. If I had a real camera I would put up some photo's on this blog once in in a while to show you what I mean, but I only have a film camera and can't work scanners. Somehow, in the past three days, I visited a museum of city horrors, bought some pirated films, visited Vyborg near Finland border, chilled in a legit medieval castle, checked out Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck at the Hermitage (and a giant ancient Roman statue of Jupiter), toured Yusipov Palace, had a Russian walk around Nevsky with all the Christmas and New Years decorations up, visited Church on the Spilt Blood, visited St. Isaacs Cathedral, and seen a modern take on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. I have been busy to say the least. It has been a good busy though. In less then a week I will be in Canada, relaxing with my family enjoying the frosty Saskatchewan air (Saskatchewan is colder then Petersburg BTW) Though I cannot wait to be home for the holiday's, I am going to miss this city dearly.

St. Vincent's "Marrow": Imagination or Reality??

This song has been stuck in my head for at least a week. It's obviously a cry for help, but from what is the question. The video is really well done and adds to the mystery of the song when people from different scenes simply forget what they were doing and follow her. One article suggests that they are all dead people, or maybe she herself is dead. Maybe the whole thing is her imagination, and therefore a cry for help in such situation's is outside of reality. Its up for speculation, and the video rules.

The Christmas Planet

Getting into the Christmas spirit I looked at a couple studies done that try to show the date of Christ's birth. What's really interesting is trying to define what exactly is the Star of Bethlehem. There is a good chance that it wasn't just a star, but rather a conjunction of stars a planets. If we assume that Christ was born in 3 BC, this starts to make sense as there were nine of these types of conjunctions from 3 BC - 2BC. When trying to solidify Herod and Augustus' ruling dates, there are many difficulties. Let's assume that this helpful study, which looks at the works of Josephus, Tertullian, and others, is at least close. This means that the census Joseph and Mary had to get to took place at the end of August, and then Jesus was born a few weeks later probably at the start of September 3 BC. You may be asking, "Then what is all this December 25th snickerbappin' all abouts?!" Well, aside from pagan calendar connotations, its most likely the night when Jupiter shone particularly bright over Jerusalem in 2 BC and when the Magi arrived with their gifts. Of course, giving any actual dates is risky, its easier just to say it happened within this or that six month time frame. But at least we are close.

What's more is all the cool implication's this has for the historicity of Christ's life, that he would have started teaching in 29 AD and been crucified a couple years later. This Christmas I asseverate we include the coolness of Jupiter into our celebration, that way at least we could be more confused about the already ambiguous holiday!

Russia Update 3: A Moscow Tale

Alright, so the title is a little misleading as this is more of an account of real-life events than it is an actual tale. This past weekend I had the privilege to visit the largest city in Russia - also largest city by metropolitan area and arguably population in Europe - with my fellow international students. After living in Petersburg for three months now, the difference in the two cities was extremely obvious to me the moment I stepped out of the train station. For one, Petersburg has restrictions on how high buildings can be built in order to better preserve the original feeling and city aesthetic. In Moscow, this restriction does not exist, and the skyscrapers and massive Soviet architecture overlooks the whole city.

We spent the night on a train from Petersburg to Moscow that ended up taking about 9 hours, luckily I slept soundly for most of it to awake in a new city. As we walked out of the train station to meet our driver, we were surrounded by stations going to all the major Russian cities (Kazan, Volgorad, etc.) After dropping our stuff off at the hostel - which was so delightfully called the Chocolate Hostel, where we received real hot chocolate for breakfast - we headed for the Red Square! It was a lot less red then I had imagined, and there was a bit of construction for some event happening at the time, nevertheless, the sight was one of elegance. As you walk through the main gate with the Kremlin wall, an old Russian styled building, and St. Basil's in the distance, your jaw is bound to drop if even in the slightest. The square is so visually pleasing, as if you were standing in a garden of brick and concrete, all four directions have something beautiful and unique to offer the foreign onlooker. St. Basils Cathedral, Kremlin Wall and Clocktower, Lenin's Mausoleum (as well as the graves of many 20th century Russian hero's), numerous old buildings that have since been turned into museums and the like, a second Cathedral, and the largest shopping center in Russia (which looks amazing at night when it's all lit up). There is so much to see even on the outskirts of this square that I will not go into detail in the hopes of someday posting my pictures.

That afternoon, we ventured to the Kremlin where Russia's main government presides. There are three Cathedrals located within the Kremlin walls where many historical icons and Tsarist tombs are located. Having visited these churches, the mausoleum, and the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Petersburg, I completed by quest in visiting all of Russia's leaders since the 10th century, save Yeltsin, who was off by himself somewhere and kinda out of the way.

We also visited Tretyakov Gallery which is home to some of the most famous Russian art in the world, such as the great 'Black Square' by Malevich. The only regret I have of my visit to Moscow is spending only 2 days there, when I very easily could have filled up 4 or 5 days enjoying the historical sights that overwhelms one who tries to do it in a mere two days. I suppose I could have gone into a lot more detail on what exactly I did from hour to hour, but I have to save something for real-life conversation.

(I was surprised at how literally it was a square which is black, like seriously black and seriously square, who'da'thunkit.)

(Edit: head over to Kevin's blog where he just put up some pictures that show some of what I tried to describe)

Caught in Another Lie

If I had a nickel for every time Fox News has deliberately said something not true, I could probably pay for school. It seems like people are becoming more aware to how untrustworthy certain American News programs can be. This is not the first time. Jon Stewart is great for doing this bit on his show.

Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage

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