Tag Archives: entertainment

Western songs of the ’90s that codified the youth of the USSR – Pet Shop Boys and Scorpions

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Back in the early 90s I, just as lots of other youths in Russia and the post-Soviet space listened to a multitude of Western pop groups, like Scorpions, Pet shop boys, A-Ha. With my command of the English language becoming more solid, I was also starting to understand the lyrics – remember, there was no Internet to check the texts, so you got by with what you understood on your own.

And the understanding was that of a warm and fuzzy welcoming feeling – the West invitingly offering to become the best friend of Russia. Or so it seemed. Later, in the naughts, came other musical preferences, and Scorpions with PSB faded into the background.

Now, many decades later I re-listened to some of my favourites from that time. And, what is more important, re-watched the clips. It’s important to keep in mind that not all music of that time had a political undercurrent or agenda, in fact, the majority of the clips were perfectly innocent in this regard. And then there were occasional musical items that failed the smell test of time.

“Wind of Change” by Scorpions seemed like a nice peace-building work of musical art, a hand of friendship outstretch to the new Russia… until 2023, when they changed the lyrics to suite the new political agenda of pandering to Ukraine, with Ukraine becoming the new target for this song.

Pet Shop Boys has two clips that drew my attention with the modern knowledge of the past events. Watch closely “Go West”. I always thought of it as addressing the wider Soviet audience, luring people into the sweet embrace of the West (that with the hindsight turned out to be a sweet honey trap). Yet, watch closely the clip.

Pay attention to the blue-and-yellow “Ukrainian” colour scheme…

…the gesture of the OUN-UPA Bandera Nazi collaborators nonchalantly thrown at three places in the clip…

…leading the former Pioneers as a flock of sheep away from the ideals of the USSR…

…all of it having a message within a message!

Another song of Pet Shop boys is “Oppotunities”. Here it is materialism that reins supreme. One can view it as a parody, a satire of sorts, and that is what PSB stated the intent was, yet I am not so sure (especially taken their recent political works into account). Back then, in the post-Soviet space, the song “Opportunities” was perceived as a call to action, an ideal Western lifestyle to strive towards. The song basically underpinned and glorified a typical Ukrainian mindset, which during the Wild ’90s also engulfed Russia… The Ukrainian colour scheme and the national animal is just a touch to this 1991 concert rendition (which I happened to watch on TV back then) that leaves a certain subconscious trace…

“Fainting Piglet”, aka. “Unconscious Piggy” Satirical Cartoons Explain the Core of Ukraine and Why SMO Was Unavoidable (with future updates)

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In the August of 2022 the CGI animator Evgenia from Krasnodar Krai started creating something that grew into an in-depth satirical reviews of all what was failing Ukraine, and explaining the Special Military Operation’s goals.

The character personifying Ukraine became a little wayward, Nazi-tainted piglet. The Russian title of the series is “Свинка в обмороке” (Svinka v obmoroke), which is a play on the shortened name of the Special Military Operation (SMO) – SVO in Russian. In English the series have got several varying names, trying to convey the essence: “Unconscious Piggy”, “Fainting Piglet”, “Piglet in a Swoon”, “Swooning Pig”.

All episodes are released at the official Telegram channel of the Fainting Piglet. Evgenia writes in the description: “The Piglet is not the whole of Ukraine, but only her demented part!” I have additionally uploaded them to Yandex Disk for easy download.

While the later episodes were released bilingually, earlier episodes require translation (and most of them also require some context for the Western audience, who have been subjected to the heavy Mains Stream Media censorship). This honourable task was undertaken by the admin of The Putinger’s Cat Telegram channel.

As more and more episodes get release and translated, they are becoming increasingly more difficult to trace. And, additionally, not everyone has Telegram. That is why I decided to upload them to Odysee and create this collated post that will get updates as new episodes see the light of day.

But first, a very short clip that cuts to the chase, and shows the very essence of the conflict and the role Ukraine plays in it!

The very first Unconscious Pig episode – “What is Russia Punishing Ukraine For?” or “Why do Russians support the SMO?” – is finally translated! (Translation at Putinger’s Cat)

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J.K.Rowling did not live up to the words of her Dumbledore

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“It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated. . . .”
-Albus Dumbledore

“Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.”
-Albus Dumbledore

Alas, J.K.Rowling could not live up to the words she put into the mouth of Professor Dumbledore. She chose the easy path of following with the flow of the Western support of the Nazi battalions in Ukraine and distancing herself from the fight against the resurgence of the Brown Plague that Russia is performing now.

I used to be a fan of Harry Potter in my late teens/early twenties, and the main allure of the books is in the concept of standing up to the evil, even when facing seemingly insurmountable odds, which appeals to the Russian soul. This is also the reason for why J.K.Rowling’s works had such a large following in Russia. However, the stance of the author in these hard and trying times sets a lager question mark regarding her honesty. As honesty is another trait dear to any true Russian. Russians also have a close affinity to the image of the Phoenix – or Fenist, The Pure Falcon, as it is known in the Russian folklore – which resonates with Russia’s constant rebuilding after every wave of aggression from the Western shores.

It so happens, that literary works sometimes take a life of their own, regardless of what the author originally intended or how the author later changed in their lives. The Harry Potter book series is one such work.

In fact, I wrote about the resonance of the unfolding events in my June 2014 post Ukraine events resonating with Half-Life2, Harry Potter and Star Wars, and the similarities have just become stronger since then!

So, onwards to Victory, Z Order of Z Phoenix, vanquish the modern-day Voldemort-Zelensky and his band of Death Eaters-UkroNazis (battalions “Azov”, “Aidar” and their ilk.) Maybe, once the Battle of Hogwarts-Donbass is won, J.K.Rowling will say that she was “Imperiused”-brainwashed by the Western MSM. But then, again, many a Death Eater reverted to that tactics to avoid the just punishment…

May The Truth prevail!

PS: Even the Greek Parliament was outraged when Zelensky brought an “Azov” neo-Nazi to the video address to the Parliament, yet they did not condemn Zelensky’s regime itself. Apparently they do not know how Zelensky was performing in front of “Azov” in May 2014 in Mariupol, thanking them and calling them the true brave heroes of Ukraine…

Don’t poke the bear – a lesson yet to be learned by the West

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In 2014 we saw this:

They continued poking….

Now the sanctions knock on the door, yet:


(Text: “Are you sure he’ll get scared and start begging for mercy?”)

Poking continues…

I know a hundred ways to pull the Russian bear from its den, but none to pull him back. Do not tease the Russian bear!

–Otto von Bismarck

Do not expect that once taking advantage of Russia’s weakness, you will receive dividends forever. Russian has always come for their money. And when they come – do not rely on an agreement signed by you, you are supposed to justify. They are not worth the paper it is written. Therefore, with the Russian is to play fair, or do not play.

–Otto von Bismarck

And one for dessert:

Showing the role of the Western MSM in this Information World War.

Post Scriptum

And a little bit more about bears and sanctions…

“- Is he asking for help?”
“- You won’t believe it: he’s threatening with reprisals”
The burning boat in the background is labelled “Libya”.


Title of the book: “Import replacement”

SCS Software makes a politically biased and uninformed statement, censors and bans commentors with descenting views

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I happen to like playing driving games to wind down and just relax for a few minutes after a busy day. Trucking games, and especially those from SCS Software were among my favourites.

Yesterday SCS Software made a biased political statement, containing inaccuracies on their Steam Community Hub forum of their game Euro Truck simulator 2.

Coming to the forum, which was not locked for comments, I naïvely thought that SCS Software was open to discussion and posted the following comment:

[quote=jxnnxk GER;3185738591084346113]This game is about trucking not qbout politics… [/quote]
Exactly. I am saddened to see this statement by SCS, where I hoped they would keep away from politics.

Especially with a such badly-educated statement as “We deeply condemn this act of aggression for which there is no reason, nor excuse.” Forgetting the people of Donbass – children, women, elderly – their livelihood and homes being shelled by the Ukrainian army for the last 8 years, a topic which is not spoken about in the MSM.

I go to games to avoid politics, to find respite from it, not to find another political statement on the game’s newsfeed!

I was looking forward to the Heart of Russia DLC, and I have bought most of all of your map DLCs, enjoying all the routes, including those to what little of Ukraine you have there. But no, after this statement, I wonder if it is time to find another game to play…

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Russian FM Lavrov’s speech at UNGA is akin to Cat Leopold teaching mice good manners

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There is an iconic Soviet children’s cartoon series “The Adventures of Cat Leopold”, where a kind, friendly cat is attempting to teach two misbehaving and downright evil mice to behave and to live in peace. “Guys, let’s live in friendship” is the cue of Cat Leopold. Whatever he tries to do to teach those mice – good example, showing them the errors of their ways, nothing helps. They are soon back to their old ways of making Leopold’s life a living hell. More often than not the mice fall victim of their own traps and provocations, thus illustrating the Russian proverb: “Don’t dig a hole for someone – you’ll end up falling into it yourself”.

In one episode, the ever-kind and balanced Leopold gets prescribed a medicine, “Wilderine”, to make him act more like a raging leopard. That seems to get the mice’s attention for awhile. Yet, at the end of the episode Leopold is back to his kind ways, enticing the mice to “live in friendship”.

Here is the episode in question: “The Revenge of Cat Leopold”

And here is a collection of several other Cat Leopold cartoons:

Why am I writing this? Because Soviet and now Russian actions, trying to make the West behave in a peaceful and well-mannered way are akin to Leopold’s attempts to make the mice behave.

And I am afraid that today’s excellent speech by the Russian FM Lavrov at UNGA is yet another such attempt, falling on deaf ears.

Drop the diktats, try diplomacy: Major takeaways from Lavrov’s UN speech

“But history didn’t teach us anything,” Lavrov said, adding that allegations “based on the notorious ‘highly likely’ thing are sufficient for some Western counterparts to pin the blame on anyone.”

“We do remember how often these unfounded claims were used to justify interventions and ignite wars, such the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, 2003 invasion of Iraq and 2011 intervention in Libya.”

“Colonial-era diktat and coercion should be sent into the archive or the dustbin of history.”

Moscow believes constructive dialogue can meet any challenges that arise in world affairs, according to Lavrov.

“If you have any questions or claims to anyone, then sit down and talk, show facts, listen to your counterpart’s arguments, try to balance your interests.”

Yaroslava Degtyariova and her amazing performance of “The Ballad of the Three Sons”

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A few days ago Lada Ray posted an article A Tiny Russian Girl with Huge Mystical Talent: My Collection of Songs by 9-year-old Yaroslava Degtyariova, where she literally discovered for me an amazing, pure singer, a 9-year old Russian girl, Yaroslava Degtyariova.

One song especially touched me – “The Ballad of the Three Sons”. It is an allegoric song in which one can see echoes of the classic Russian folk fairy tales, as passed through the generations. It also holds a key.

On many occasions I saw the term of the “mysterious Russian soul”, which the Westerners bemoan having trouble deciphering and understanding. This song can unlock this mystery, as the key to the Rus soul is hidden in the actions and aspirations of the third son, while the first and the second sons depict the typical traits of the Western civilisations.

And so, here is the song by Tatyana Shilova, performed in the pure voice of Yaroslava Degtyariova, with my attempt at a poetic translation below.


Yaroslava Degtyariova at the Day of Love & Family concert, July 8, 2017, Murom: THE BALLAD OF THE THREE SONS.

В краю средь гор и цветущих долин
Текла река, исчезая вдали.
Прекрасней не было страны,
Где рождались баллады и сны.

В дорогу звал глас таинственных гор.
Три сына там покидали свой дом.
Один был горд, другой – упрям,
А третий был сердцем смирён.

Слова Отца были грусти полны:
“В любви моей вы росли, как цветы.
Что ждёт вас там, в чужих краях?
Да хранит вас молитва моя”.

И звучало в ответ эхо горных вершин
“Сохраните богатство души
И любви нескончаемый свет”.

Прошли года, затерялись вдали.
В краю средь гор и цветущих долин,
Встречал отец своих детей,
После долгих разлук и скорбей.

И первый сын возвратился домой:
“Гордись, отец, – я великий герой.
Вся власть моя, и в этом суть
На крови я построил свой путь”.

Второй принёс золотые дары:
“Смотри, отец, я могу все миры
Купить, продать и слёзы всех
Превратить в серебро и успех.

И звучало в ответ эхо горных вершин.
Разменяли богатство души
Ради славы и блеска монет.

А третий сын на коленях стоял:
“Прости, отец, я великим не стал.
Смиренным был, врагов прощал”,
А отец с теплотой отвечал:

“Душа твоя и добра и чиста.
И пусть богат ты и знатен не стал,
Но ты хранил любовь мою.
Я тебе свой престол отдаю!

Но ты хранил любовь мою.
Я тебе свой престол отдаю!

И звучало в ответ эхо горных вершин:
“Кроток сердцем и духом смирён,
Верный сын унаследовал трон!”.

Amidst the mountains and blooming dales,
Where river flowed out of sight,
There was no land more fair,
Where the ballads and dreams were born.

Three sons were setting off,
To the call of the mysterious peaks.
One was full of pride, the other was stubborn,
While the third was pure at heart.

The Father’s words were with sorrow filled:
“As flowers you grew up surrounded by my love.
What awaits you in the far away lands?
Let my payer keep you safe.”

And the mountain peaks echoed back:
“Preserve the richness of your soul
and the never-ending light of love”.

The years passed, lost in sight.
In the land amidst mountains and the blooming dales,
The Father was welcoming back his sons,
After long tribulations and partings.

And so the first son returned home:
“Be proud of me, father – great hero I am.
All power is mine, and that’s the crux,
On the blood I paved my path.

The second one brought home the gifts of gold:
“Look, father, I can buy and sell
All the worlds, and turn the tears,
Into silver and luck.

And the mountain peaks echoed back:
You exchanged the riches of your soul
For fame and the shimmering gold.

While the third son sank down to his knees:
“Forgive me father, I did not become great.
I was filled with humility and forgave my foes”,
And the Father replied with warmth:

“Your soul is both kind and pure,
And even though you didn’t become rich and famed,
You kept my love true.
So my throne I shall give to you!”

You kept my love true.
So my throne I shall give to you!”

And the mountain peaks echoed back:
“Kind in heart and humble in soul,
The faithful son has inherited the throne!”

Tolkien’s Beorn as a Personification of Russia

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There are times when an article or an idea would sit as a draft for some time before seeing the light of publication, as if waiting for something. This article is of that kind, and it seemed to have been waiting for Lada Ray’s Forbidden History and Forgotten Origins webinars to catalyse me into putting some finishing touches and publishing it.

I first had an inkling of there being a connection between Tolkien’s depiction of Beorn and Rus when I was reading his books. Much later, that feeling returned as I was watching Peter Jackson’s dramatisation of The Hobbit. And the final pieces fell into place, while watching the behind the scenes documentaries on construction of Beorn’s house set and the visualisation of his character. I have created the shortened versions of the two documentaries to showcase the fragments that are especially interesting and telling for the topic at hand:



Before I proceed, let me reference my reader to another article of Lada Ray – Forbidden History: Are Scandinavians Slavs?. Many of the prerequisites are discussed there, so I would be repeating much of that article otherwise.

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The Olymp-sized disgrace of IOC and WADA – Political Attack on Russia #noRussiaNoGames

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#noRussiaNoGames

The spirit of the Olympics is dead. It was dying for several years, but with each of the recent games, the politics took over the Olympics more and more. The final culmination is now a blanket ban of Russia with an attack on its symbols and language, based on thinly veiled lies coming from an American-sponsored doping criminal who was heading RUSADA and made a runner to the US as soon as his activities started being investigated.

This Rodchenkov character is but the last of the similar attacks on Russia, where the West uses criminals as poster boys. One of the previous ones was the blown out of proportion death of an accountant specialising in tax evasion – Magnitsky – and the con artist Browder, who made illicit billions in the Wild 90s Russia. But I digress.

The Olympic games were used for the past years as attacks on Russia: 08 August 2008 – Georgian invasion into South Ossetia and killing there of the Russian peacekeepers – right after Rice visited Georgia with instructions, and on the opening ceremony day in Bejing. In 2014 Nuland and co was visiting Ukraine, managing to start an armed coup d’etat just as Olympics were underway in Russia. In 2016 in Rio, the athletes were openly humiliated and their lives and training were made impossible. And now, for the games in Korea, the Dark State in the face of IOC and WADA have imposed a blanket ban.

No evidence is presented. The supposed “evidence” (the tempering with the bottles) was debunked by several independent labs, as well as the Swizz manufacturer of the tubes. Incidentally, earlier Russian samples were destroyed by Rodchenkov before he made a runner to the US, so it is now impossible to the earlier years’ tests. More on the game-by-game analysis read Lada Ray’s REPORT: Dirty Geopolitics of Olympics and Globalism – Will Russia Say NO and Start Alternative Games?.

This is a pure attack on Russia in general and one of the attacks before the presidential campaign to interfere in the Russian internal politics. Sample this from McFaul:

In the wake of the Russian Olympic ban, a couple of days ago McFaul wrote that Russians should know that the Russian team, flag and anthem ban are all because of bad Putin. It is Putin who is to blame for the Russian athletes’ predicament, he proclaimed. In doing so, he: 1. confirmed that Russian athletes’ ban is politically motivated, 2. revealed fully who he is working for. It is clear that the whole ‘Russian Olympic ban’ psyop has been designed to divide Russian society and to try to damage Putin’s reputation before the upcoming Russian elections 2018.

The whole “neutral” IOC thing is a pure aggression against Russian symbolism, Russian language, Russian people and Russian sports. It is well-summed in the following caricature:


The red signs read: “Neutral flag”, “Neutral surname”, “Neutral form”. The speech bubble in the German-accented of Bach “This fantastic Vanja. Das uniform is gut for you”.

Here are the details, as reported by RT:

IOC releases Olympic kit requirements for Russian athletes

  • Abbreviation “RUS” is forbidden – only a nondescript “OAR”. (Attack on the country name)
  • Cyrillic lettering is forbidden – only English. (The ever-present urge to latinise Russia)
  • Monochrome or dual-coloured uiforms, but not with the colours that could be combined into the Russian flag (Attack on the state symbol). Russian forums circulate a few jokes that Russia should just design a pure red uniform with buttons formed as hammers…
  • The anthem will not be sounding. And the athletes are strictly forbidden to associate themselves with Russia. As an experience from Rio showed – humming the Russian anthem can disqualify you.
  • In addition on prohibition on humming or singing of the anthem a’capella, the athletes are forbidden to mention Russia in their conversations or in social media and to refer to themselves as Russians.

So what we have, are the Gestapo-level measures to eradicate all things Russian. Something like this was outlined in Hitler’s operation Barbarossa, by the way.

So, why stop now, IOC – just take the extra step and make the athletes wear the yellow star of David!

Shocking as it is, the Paralympics are even more rotten than the Olympic platform. Time to create our own.

#noRussiaNoGames

The process of deciding which Russian athletes will be allowed to participate under the “neutral” guise is arbitrary. The athletes are sentenced by a one-man jury at IOC without being given any evidence. Here is how the process is described by the Russian skiing champion Nikita Kryukov (who, incidentally, stated that he’ll boycott the games regardless of the verdict):

On the 20th of December the IOC Commission will consider the case of Nikita Kryukov and two other representatives of the national team of Russia in ski racing — Alexander Bessmertnyh and Natalia Matveeva.

The information that appeared newly, indicated that their cases will be reviewed by the Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under the leadership of Denis Oswald. We offer a commentary by Nikita Kryukov, that we got just received:

— Yesterday the President of Federation of ski racing E. V. Vyalbe said that the hearing by Oswald will be held on the 20th. What I expect from this hearing? The same resolution that was delivered the rest of our guys. We are no longer hoping for a miracle. Those, who went to Oswald, told how it all happens – you are only given the final word and then they read out the verdict.

This topic has now become quite boring and no one is surprised that they call out new names all the time.

When I was told that they were waiting for me at the meeting I was, of course, a little shocked. But I’m not the first and probably not the last one to take such a hit. I hope the lawyers will help and we will quickly send an appeal to a civil court.

They will make sure that only the least experienced, weakest athletes are allowed to compete…

In addition, the support teams of the athletes will not be allowed to follow them. It’s like sending a car to Formula 1, but saying that all the mechanics and pit-stop technicians are barred. Only driver is allowed to go. Oh, and the driver will have to do with a car provided by the race organisers.

A follow-up from Nikita Kryukov on the “tribunal” at IOC, where 11 athletes were “processed:

“I was asked only one question: how tightly did I close my doping sample in Sochi? To which I replied: as tight as possible. I always do so, at all doping tests.
Then I was allowed to speak.
— I, personally, was not familiar with Gregory Rodchenkov. I had never heard of any state-support system of doping in Russia, and was not familiar with it, I said.
— I’m for clean and honest sport. I am a clean athlete. I am ready to confirm my words on the polygraph or under oath.
After they listened to all the athletes, the hearing continued.
The day before the hearing we were informed that our samples were tested by the Lausanne laboratory for the presence of the T-shaped scratch marks and salt. Personally, I was told that they checked 3 of the Sochi samples and they all tested negative for the presence of scratches and salt.
But back to the point. The prosecution argued at the end of their speech, that we should not pay attention to the fact that the samples have not yielded positive results. It’s all part of the state system. I will not go in depth here, as I was not able to listen to in in full, but one thing I remember exactly is that when we go to CAS, Rodchenkov himself will already be present there.”

In other words: IOC said – who cares about the evidence. We said Russians are guilty therefore they are guilty!

Ukraine events resonating with Half-Life2, Harry Potter and Star Wars

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I first posted these musings in a Bitcointalk thread.

With each passing week of Ukrainian events, I get a feeling that I have seen some elements of those events before, in popular culture. Namely, in two titles, that I quite like: in Harry Potter and in Half-Life2. Now before you call me mad… 🙂

The way Irina Farion of the Svoboda party has been going on about the Russian-speaking population of the South-Eastern regions calling them for cattle and creatures that need to be exterminated, along with any Ukrainian who supports them, resonates strongly with Death Eater propaganda on Muggleborns, “Mudbloods”, who need to be exterminated and registered as creatures, along with any those supporting their rights, “Muggle-lovers”.

Farion’s own behaviour is best depicted in Helena Bonham Carter’s depiction of the psychotic female Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange.

And the whole Right Sector movement finds clear parallels with the Death Eaters in general.

So:

Irina Farion = Bellatrix Lestrange
The simpering Dolores Umbridge (aka, the toad) = Victoria Nudelman (aka Nuland)
Fernier Greyback = Yarosh
Snatchers = National Guard
Death Eaters = Right Sector

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The International Towel Day

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Today is the International Towel Day and I am celebrating it in the proper manner, by carrying with me a towel.
The towel, as expected, turns out to be a handy thing to have about you. So far today, I’ve used it to hail the bus, as a sitting cushion and a shade on my head (the weather in Oslo is really hot these past few days).

And if the towel is still clean enough towards the end of the day, I may even use it for drying myself after a swim in Oslo fjord…