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Almaty's Birthday Celebration this Sunday

kazaknomad — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:18:20 +0000

Whatever possessed me to answer a plea to join an ad hoc choir to sing a Kazakh folk song in English this Sunday is beyond me. Though it has cost me some time away from grading my students' papers, I'm actually glad I did go to the rehearsal last Sunday. We each individually took turns by singing in a little sound booth in a studio rigged up with the latest in soundboards and sound equipment. With a window to view the guy who knows what each gadget and gizmo means, I was signalled to sing into the mike while I listened to the real Kazakh singer in my earphones.

Once done with singing the second verse, I zoomed out to join my next engagement atop Kok Tobe, the very place I had been singing about. This upcoming Sunday, we will be singing at the Old Square with three different groups up on the stage, promenading down the steps and swaying and waltzing around as we sing. The following song is in 3/4 time and is very beautiful in its original Kazakh version. The English translation cost $50, or so I'm told, I think they should have tweaked a few more words before we were taped. We are to memorize our words to go along with our voices that were recorded last Sunday. I'll show photos of the extravaganza on Monday's post.

I will sing song about you

I will wait letters from you

Always remember your views

Beautiful my Almaty

Fresh white like bred new snow

Your mountains heights bright

And I will never forget

Happiest moments I had

Leaves rustling of KokTobe

Will heat my missing heard [will warm my longing heart]

I reminisce every day

Spent with you my Almaty

My heart is pressing to you

My song is full of delight

Here I met my true real friends

Beautiful my Almaty

I will drown in your skies

Will fall asleep in your clouds

Your pure fresh mountains air

Gives me the life to live

Springly rain of Almaty

Will slake my thirsty soul

I wish to be part of you

I love you my Almaty

Kazakh Students Thoughts on Stalin (Part III)

kazaknomad — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:57:36 +0000

A. I. Actually, I don’t think I’m the person who can judge Stalin, but if to pretend to be a judge, I would say that Stalin had both good and bad sides, which effect on the lifes of Kazakh people. Of course I’m against his violent actions that he did in the past. That kind of people, I suppose, never can do “good” things but from one side I agree that he did some sort of “useful” things on Kazakh land.

He was the first who made Kazakh nomadic nation to step, and to learn agricultural things, Vavilov said that it’s not right, I agree that many millions of people died in those years, but we just need to mention that 1930s were the years of war, years of pain, and the whole world began to increase their industrial power, while our Kazakhs were only around sheep. So that I think, probably, Stalin made a first step to civilization on Kazakh land, from this side I can say that Stalin was “useful” person, but as in whole he was “cruel.”

V. K. Stalin is one of the most recognized leaders but not only from a good point of view but from the bad as well. I think he was bad for KZ because of sending people here as enemy’s of the Soviet Union, the hero from the story, Vavilov, who was a really important person to USSR, was sent to KZ.

AA – I think that Stalin’s regime was as good as well as bad for the citizens of KZ, because of some reasons. Firstly, Stalin was the authority in the whole Soviet Union, some people, even the majority of people loved him and adored him because they thought that he is a great person. But people who knew about Stalin something wrong, they didn’t stay alive for long, because Stalin didn’t want to know all people, so he did all possible things in order to do that person – the enemy of the country. Also people didn’t see any bad things about Stalin because he controlled everything, and even magazines and newspapers were directed by special people who controlled the text, etc. The best Stalin’s regime’s advantage that in his times Soviet Union In spite of not good enough guns and other equipments, he did that. For this I appreciate him. But I still cannot understand why he thought that most people are enemies, and did he think that he is God, who can take the people’s lives? Of course, after the death of the person we cannot say bad things about him, also we don’t know what there was exactly, so I think that it is unfair to destroy people’s lives like he and his government did. They sent lots of people to the prison and the camps or shot them.

Maybe if he had not been ruler for the 30 years, my grandparents view on something would be differently, but I think that nothing would be changed, because Stalin was only in Russia, but my family lived in Kyrgyzstan and they didn’t know at all how Stalin had ruled.

D. K. – To be honest I do not know what to say about life of my family if there wasn’t be a Stalin, maybe my grandmother would be killed, maybe won’t, I don’t know what would be if Borbachev or Chernenko were the leaders of USSR in that time period. I think it is a prerogative of scientists and writers to think about this. But I can say that for Kazakhstan it was a terrible time during Stalin’s leadership. He wanted to ruin an ancient Kazakh style of life. To move Kazakhs to Syberia it is the same to move native Africans to North Pole. Kazakhs cannot survive without their animals, horses, sheeps, camels, etc. And these animals cannot live in arctic climate. So they would all die. It was a madness, real madness; not to do this but even only think about it.

M. K. Overall, I believe that Stalin wasn’t a good leader for Soviet Union. Everybody knows how many crimes he had committed; because of him millions of people either died or just were lost, especially the intelligence of the USSR – the scientists, writers, teachers were killed or under repression.

But there were some good things about him as well, because there should have been something that makes our grandparents good about those days. Also, who knows what would have been the result of WWII without Stalin, because during war time a nation needs a strong leader. But what amazes me most is that our relatives who lived at that period in USSR remember those days with smiles despite everything they went through.

B.Y – I think that Joseph Stalin wasn’t so generally good for all countries, which were in USSR, not only for the citizens of KZ. Even as we know his attitude to his mother was bad. He was strict and strong. But these qualities of him helped to win Germany, with the help of other countries won the war against Hitler’s army in WWII. For our generation he seems to be so good. But for people who lived at that time he was the best. Even they cried when he was died. They thought that, everything would be destroyed. Nobody would be like Stalin. But as we see, we can live without Stalin’s regime and we are developing countries.

Two Very Different Lives, Arman's Grandparents

kazaknomad — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:10:32 +0000

I only know the parents of my mother because my father left us when I was six month. I know just a little about him and his parents that’s why I’m regarding my mom’s parents like my grandparents! They are very strong people! Morally and physically too. They had never used to drink an alcohol or smoke a cigarette.

My grandfather – Baizhan ata (means “Rich Soul”) was born in 1917 in a big and rich family. He had more than ten brothers and sisters. Almost all boys in the family except my grandfather were educated in medrese (Islamic school). My great-grandfather did not let him study in medrese because they had a farm with a huge amount of animals like horses, sheep and even camels. They were shot of workforce, so my grandfather worked in farm while his brothers were studying in medrese. But he was telling me that he wanted to study too. Once, he wanted to escape his family and he did so! He came to the medrese to be educated person but his father returned him back by biting [?] and telling him that there is no need to go to medrese while his brothers doing so. Also he said that there is enough people in medrese from their family and someone should work in farm. That is why my grandfather can not read and write. He can only write first 3 letters of his surname when he need to sign a document. But it is another story of my grandfather related to his surname because he does not belong to “Zhanpeissov” family!

My grandmother’s past was quite a bit better than her husband’s. Her name is Kunbope (means “Sun baby”) and she was born in 1926 in a big and well known family. Her mother died when she was a child, so she had stepmother. Her father Tursyn ata was well known and respected person in the Ulytau of Saryarka region. He was very wise person! He was counted as a “peacekeeper” within the region. My grandmother’s past life is the opposite of my grandfather’s past life. In contrast to my grandfather, she studied in school five years and can read and write. They did not meet and did not know each other before their wedding. Their parents decided to marry them.

There were many terrible things in our land in the XX century! “Rulers” started to industrialize the vast area of the Russian Empire. It led to the death of millions of its inhabitants! In the 1930s my grandfather was sold or exchanged for two sacks of wheat. Causes of this kind of action was collectivization that was started in the end of 1920s. Many Kazakh families became poor and lack of food caused an unusual action like my great-grandparents did. This is the only story that he told me about his past but it is good enough to understand that he lived in very dark times. It was so hard to live in that time and almost impossible to survive in famine when you are poor and do not have a family that could support you! He survived only because of his strength of mind!

"My Granny's Story" by Serik

kazaknomad — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:38:19 +0000

Early twentieth century was a harsh time for everyone. I never thought about those years. How it was for our grandparents? What were they doing to survive? Other many questions which I ask myself never came to me before the story I heard from my grandmother. She told us stories from her childhood right before her peaceful soul left this world. Even that time I did not pay big attention. But now after discovering some further information on my grandmother’s family, I realized how interesting her life was, even if she had a hard time.

My mother’s mother almost whole her life spent in Bayin Olgey. The city where mostly live only Kazakh people, but the city itself is in Mongolia. Do not miss this point: how amazing it is that several pure Kazakh people are still alive and live in the heart of Mongolia. The country, which always threatened Kazakhstan, and used to be their most dangerous enemy. Of course my granny died there. She left this significant historical account of her father and uncle.

The story begins from rich graph of a big tribe Sukirbay, who had two children. Dorvodhan (my grand – grand father) and Dallelhan became graphs in their early ages, when on one occasion their father Sukirbay died. But time was against them. Just after a while getting those important posts, USSR expansions got to their territory. The USSR blamed them that they helped the “Reds” so called group which was against the “Whites”. Not thinking long my grandmother’s father and his brother left everything, including their family and all the gold they had. They ran towards China hoping to find help there. Nevertheless in short distance from the borders government army caught them. The only dungan agent tried to help them. But knowing that he could not let both of them leave alive, he offered a deal. So the deal was that he would shoot one of them while everyone would be looking at this action, so that the other could run away. Not letting the dungan officer wait long my grand – grand father told these words to his younger brother: “My brother you are too young to die. Let me die, because I lived half of my life and I am older. Just promise me to survive this war, take care of my family, especially my daughter, grow to be a man, whom everyone will respect and do not let down our family name. I believe in you, now run as fast you can.”

So after these words young Dallelhan left to China. As he promised after studying at Moscow University and finishing his KGB courses in Tashkent he finally became a general of specific area in China. He helped his family, relatives and his brother’s family to emigrate from Mongolia. Settling them in Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang) he lived his life trying to separate this are from China. His dream was to break out from China with territory of Eastern Turkistan and for his goal he even became a spy for USSR. The region was strategically important and rich in minerals (oil, gold etc.), then if the territory was successful in independence admission and admitted by the world coalition, USSR was planning to make it as one of the Soviet Republics (as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan etc.). That was the reason why the Russian government was helping him. But Chinese were cool hearted and more smart, so when the Soviets plan gone down China occupied and crashed the so called Autonomy of Eastern Turkistan. USSR had no choice, but did a secret deal with Chinese and those leaders (who were used by Soviets, as my grandmother’s uncle).

Though after some time, those leaders died on airplane crash including Sir Dallelhan. The reason of the crash is still not discovered, but there is some gossip that actually the Soviets planned this operation. So that they would not let leak the information, which the leaders obtained while working for Soviets.

Translations Of The Meanings Of The Holy Quran

noorslist — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:12:03 +0000

High quality colored pages of the translations of the meaning of the Holy Quran. Choose your preferred language

Burmese	Zulu (Selected Verses)	Persian

English	Spanish	French

Malayalam	Portuguese	Urdu

Sindhi	Othmany	Hausa

Filipino(Iranon)	Thai	Turkish

Chinese	Greek	German

Tamil	Indonesian	Korean

Dory	Warsh	Kaloon

Kazakh	Brahui	Chichewa

Kashmiri	Yoruba	Anko

Macedonian	Somali	Bosnian

Albanian

Geopolitics of Energy - Russia rising & E.U.’s fall out - Moscow’s renewed vigor!

globalgeopolitics — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:20:48 +0000

In the politics of the Black Gold in specific and energy in general, the state of equilibrium between countries and distribution of these resources according to demand, though difficult to keep up with, provide much sought after sense of peace and security and may even serve to establish prestige as a hallmark of the region. Quite naturally, this places energy rich countries diplomatically at a very difficult position and pushes energy-deficient countries to the worst case scenario leaving them at the mercy of circumstances created by power barons of energy. Some such is the case with Kazakhstan. The announcement of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on May 12^th 2007 that Astana would continue to export all of its gas through Russia has jeopardized European vision to diversify energy sources by building an alternate Kazakh pipeline. The statement was delivered in conjunction with Russian President Vladimir Putin's tour through Kazakhstan indicates that the Central Asian republic is all towards continuing to nurture its relationship with Moscow and is positioning itself to become a major player in the region by the virtue of Russia considering it as the most dependable partner. On a geopolitical note, this shows Russia's increased leverage face-to-face with Europe through its former Soviet satellites and a sign of renewed vigor and confidence in Putin's international relations. It seems quite apparent that Central Asian countries feel Moscow traditionally closer and also keep reservation that they will be able to enjoy power in better form with Russia than with Europe. Kazakhstan, due to lack of infrastructure for extraction and refining gas reserves and due to its very geographical location (that it is surrounded by Russia, Iran China and Caspian Sea) lacks the direct land route to European market looks toward Russia for these politically important concerns of which no alternative seems to be available at hand. Since Moscow makes a near 150 percent profit on gas it buys from Kazakhstan and distributes to Europe. Europe is keen to obtain substantial savings in any possible way including removal Russia from such an equation by any means. Hence stemming from Kazakhstan's necessity and an objective of savings, Europe eagerly saw an opportunity to develop an alternative gas route through the Caspian Sea and either Turkey or Iran removing Russia from the equation would likely bring substantial savings. Europe also hoped to be freed from what it perceives to be a seesaw of reprisals by Russia; in the past several years, prices have been raised and fuel supplies have been cut following political spats between Russia and its former Eastern territories, the effects of which have rippled across the continent. These volatile responses promote Europe's perception that energy supplies by way of Russia are fundamentally insecure, and they have encouraged the continent's efforts to secure natural gas independent from Moscow. Rather than be cut out of the process, Russia made a deal with Kazakhstan -- in tandem with trilateral energy agreements with Turkmenistan -- to increase capacity of its refining and pipeline capabilities. According to the New York Times, the agreement, which includes construction of a new pipeline around the Caspian Sea, will increase Russia's control over Central Asian gas reserves substantially. Kazakhstan was not aggressively pursuing the development of an alternate pipeline before this agreement and will now be without a face-saving reason to step away from Russian involvement should it want to do so. Kazakhstan achieved what it required -- updated infrastructure to keep pace with its export demand -- and Russia maintained its influence in its former outpost. Nazarbayev's announcement makes it less likely that an alternate route will be constructed in the near future, and thus seems to more tightly bind Europe's energy needs to Russia. Russia is not motivated solely by practical concerns, but also political ones. The two primary political issues are security and prestige, combined with a related need to feel in control of what it perceives to be its sphere of influence. The West, particularly the United States, often fails to appreciate how deeply the need for security drives Russian foreign policy. With a long historical memory, Russians point to events as distant as the Mongol invasion and Tatar yoke and as recent as the siege of Leningrad and post-September 11 ring of U.S. military bases in Central Asia as proof that they must always be on the offensive. This mentality spills over into trade and energy concerns as well; safeguarding its role in Central Asia's gas production will contribute to a sense of security in Moscow. The second motivating factor is Russia's need to appear prestigious in the eyes of the world. The country mourns its loss of status following the Soviet Union's implosion, and therefore clings to the areas where its influence still effects change. Russia does not see a contradiction between being respected and being feared; from its perspective, fear may beget respect and may even be the necessary ingredient. If Europe fears loss of control over its energy imports, it is a sign of increased stature to Russia. Putin, well aware of the role that security and prestige play in Russian politics, will benefit from his handling of this new agreement; indeed, his soaring popularity indicates that Russians appreciate his proactive policies. Finally, Kazakhstan occupies an important place in the heart of Russians, much as the ideal of the Wild West continues to do for Americans. Although they are now separate countries, Russia feels attached to the fate of Kazakhstan. Touring Kazakhstan and its neighbors as part of energy talks signals that President Putin believes Kazakhstan to be relevant to both defense and status, and enduringly part of Russia's rightful realm of influence. The feeling of affection may not be mutual, but Kazakhstan has its own political motivations for maintaining and even solidifying ties with Russia.
Reaffirming and enhancing its relationship with Moscow is in step with Astana's desire to become a stronger regional power. While continuing to nurture its warm relationship with the United States, which has brought it steady economic gains and international stature, it realizes that it needs to be active within its own neighborhood if it wants to be taken seriously as a regional player. Putin courting Nazarbayev on his home turf signals to the region that Russia sees the former frontier outpost as a serious partner. Negotiating regional energy policy from a position of strength and equal footing imbues Nazarbayev with a new aura of dignity from which he can further polish his image; the agreement will be expected to boost esteem accorded him as an interlocutor between Russia and the other Central Asian republics. Astana knows that it can never compete with Moscow on the world political stage, and it does not desire to do so. Instead, it strives to cultivate a perception of Central Asia as a region in its own right, with Kazakhstan at the helm, the porte-parole for its neighbors amidst the intersection of East, West and Russia. Russia, frustrated with a lack of progress thus far in securing its interests in its sphere of influence, is only too happy to have a reliable partner with credibility in the eyes of its neighbors. Enhancing ties with Russia not only promotes Nazarbayev's regional aspirations, but also supports his domestic position. Kazakh President Nazarbayev has pursued an administration very similar in tone to that of Putin: while opening the country to foreign investment and liberalizing the economic sector, he continues to have a firm grip in the political arena. Having recently been given the unique constitutional right to serve as president for life, Nazarbayev has been criticized by Amnesty International and other organizations for human rights violations and political corruption. Putin is a more valuable ally to have in this regard; while the Russian president intends to step down from his own post when his term expires, he is less likely to publicly cause trouble for Nazarbayev on these issues than an American or European leader. That is, Kazakh and Russian presidents see eye-to-eye on a number of issues -- as long as Kazakhstan does not push too hard for total independence (which would be spurious due to the geographical proximity to Russia's and Kazakhstan's continued economic inter-dependence on its northern neighbor), and as long as Russia does not interfere excessively in the internal affairs of Kazakhstan, the two countries may be seen to have found a mutually beneficial equilibrium. Europe's desire to diversify its energy resources by rerouting Kazakh gas has, at least for the immediate future, hit a dead end. The agreement between Kazakhstan and Russia does not explicitly prohibit the development of alternate routes, but Nazarbayev's statement that, "Kazakhstan is absolutely in favor of exporting the majority of its oil, if not all of it, via Russian territory" makes such a development appear unlikely. Europe's response is likely to be two fold. First, it will need to reassess its energy supply. There may be areas in which the continent can further reduce usage, and more importantly, there may be other energy partners with which it can develop a relationship. While convenient, such a large percentage of their fuel does not have to come from Kazakhstan. This effort may provide stopgaps in the event of another shortage; long-term, Europe needs to reevaluate its relationship with Russia itself. The second task will be to lay the groundwork for a multi-dimensional relationship with Moscow, one with enough layers and points of mutual concern to provide a buffer when the latter decides to give out punishment to its former Eastern satellites. Right now, Moscow perceives that it can punish the entire continent for the sins of one country -- this past year, it was Ukraine. The European Union should find enough common ground with Russia so that the latter will risk too much by alienating Brussels.The European Union should also decide how it is going to handle the inevitable fluctuations in gas prices and supply due to political retribution from Russia. Moscow benefits from the awkward position in which it deliberately places Western Europe; it knows that Western Europe cannot be seen to abandon its Eastern neighbors -- especially new members of N.A.T.O. and the E.U., but that Western European citizens will not tolerate being sacrificed to a moral standard of defending Eastern Europe if it means paying more for gas, or going without. Improving its relationship with Russia may not in itself lend results, but it is a necessary step to take in conjunction with efforts with Kazakhstan. It is important so that Russia does not perceive that it is being sidelined; instead, it should feel that it is a partner and that its stake in the network be protected. Kazakhstan, while having made a commitment to Russia, cannot afford to lose its European market, and therefore will also be expected to have some wiggling room in future discussions. Therefore, Europe, while exploring alternative markets and improving its relationship with Russia to lessen the effects of retribution, should delicately continue its discussions with Kazakhstan. Although renewal of Kazakh prestige may seem tied quite significantly with Russia’s efforts to renew its vigor but such a strategy will hold only an intermediate term benefit for Astana. The Russia where palpable tendency of using fear as an important ingredient to regain the regional prestige and respect, still thrives as a tradition in foreign policy, seems not very much letting go of haste desire to regain its stature as it used to enjoy during its Soviet era. It is not perhaps secure for Kazakhstan to virtually depend upon Russia. Moscow, to ensure that Astana remains tilted towards Russia (especially sooner as President Putin steps down) will leave no chance to get more involved in domestic politics of Kazakh as to make Astana’s dependence domestically-politically maneuverable such that dependency of Kazakhstan on Russia remains for significant time period if not life long. Another important thing is that stemming from the socialist past, and with the standing need for further revitalization of economy, Russia is not completely relieved from its unwelcoming type of market branding in the region in the global eyes as yet; and moreover, Russia, as a reliable and dependable partner is still largely viewed with skepticism. On one side, the very geography of Kazakhstan renders the country to remain under the influence of Moscow and on the other side the same Kazakhstan with its better policies can serve as a pivot point or as a bridge between Europe, Russia and China. Such a development of policy would ensure greatly better economical outcome with greater security over multilateral aspects. Kazakhstan should ideally best utilize its geo-strategic situation in its favor rather than to rely upon any single power. It’s not that only Kazakhstan needs to deal with delicacy the complex picture of oil politics in the region but also Europe needs to be more strategic. Because after when Mr. Putin steps down and Nazarbeyev’s life long presidency support in Eastern and Central Asian sphere would undergo analysis and will possibly come under debate sooner as being uniquely non-democratic, the EU will, as a common method of foreign policy for non-democratic regimes, may resume to exert some sort of economic and diplomatic pressure on Nazerbayev’s regime to decentralize the political system. Anytime in future, such an act would only shift the oil favor graph more skewed towards Russia and even a small room left for Europe in Kazakhstan’s oil politics will be shut down. It seems that the best policy for Europe in this case scenario would be to lure Kazakhstan and help her to rise to the act of a diplomatic, political and oil fulcrum between Europe and Russia. The Kazakhstan can avail a better leverage in economic and power brokerage of the region by keeping both the parties in the show rather than unilaterally looking for Russia for any quantum development and this would also entail the fact of making the best use of its geo-strategic position. Therefore, some such fundamentally important incentives should be offered to Kazakhstan to win for Europe as a constant space at the table of discussion such that Europe should also be officially consulted for any such oil deals that can cause effects at continental level. Quite automatically, when we talk about the continental effects we are talking about not a single country but a group of countries being affected providing a common notion to create number of blocs based upon interests. Another way the Europe as E.U. can overcome this emerging issue is that to bring about strategically placed investments in both Kazakhstan and Russia alike. This will help these countries to grow stronger economically and taper down the growing gaps between Europe, Russia and Kazakhstan and create a space in the heart of people from the both the countries. This can largely lead to emergence of such an anatomy of domestic politics with in both the countries such that any elected government in both the countries would contain people that have equal room for Europe. Europe needs to work on the people of these countries rather than just governments such that it would bring about the domestically favored politics towards balancing paradigm shift between East and the West. Such a long term strategy holds a better and stronger promise but require significant patience on the part of Europe to bear its fruits. The very heart of regional (and thereon global) security lies with equilibrium, decentralization of energy supplies, lower dependence on any single power and creating balance to relieve the world from monopolization of commodity. Kazakhstan's announcement that all of its gas will continue to be processed and shipped via pipelines through Russia is a severe blow and a shock to Europe's pocketbook and pride. In negotiations with Russia, the E.U. is not accustomed to holding the losing hand; in this instance, the body was not even consulted or invited to the table. Kazakhstan looks to benefit from the agreement -- not only by solving its immediate problem of insufficient infrastructure to process its natural gas reserves, but from the increased esteem the visit from Putin accords it regionally. Russia was the big winner in the agreement: Putin demonstrated his ability to outmaneuver Europe, sending another signal of Russia's renewed ascendance; he reminded the world of Central Asia's place under Moscow's sphere of influence; and he ensured, at least for the foreseeable future, that Moscow will continue to benefit from Kazakhstan's lucrative gas trade. This single event and/or any such series of events alike in near future can prove to be detrimental to the very integrity of European Union. The effects of energy politics have a tendency to change the very anatomy of politics at global level and potentially dangerous enough to harbor the new reality of European Union’s fallout.

'Wanted' = Super Lame.

greenidesign — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:59:48 +0000

Below is a testament on how to 'literally waste' 110 minutes of your life and never regret it more.

.....................

Watched 'Wanted' last night.

'Wanted' is directed by Timur Bekmambet, the 47 yr old Russian-Kazakh film director of such classics like, Nightwatch and Daywatch. It was released in the UK on the 25th June. Hmmmm, sounds promising...

Nope.

Somehow as if by black freakin' magic, Bekmambet managed to convince the usually flawless Morgan Freeman, a cardboard cut out of Angelina, the 'up and coming/far too eager' James McAvoy, Terence Stamp 'of every boys film ever' and, if your still with me, hip-hop rapper/Hollywood whore Common(??!?!), to star in this film.

It must be pixie dust 'cos God only knows how he pitched this one to them, but I reckon it went exactly like this:

TB - "I've got a good film wanna be in it?"

MF/Cb c o o A/JM/TS/C - "What's it about?"

TB - "Assassins, a magic 'Loom of Fate', a faculty and mud baths and I wish this was really the Da Vinci Code and adaptation from a comic and his dad lived next door all along and the tapestry and angelina can bend over on top of trains and action film and shoot round corners and Common's role is utterly pointless and Castles and flying people and totally gash and blowing up assassins with rats and killing your dad and shooting through trains and Terence Stamp is a bullet guru (??) and wasting my life and donuts and angelina is a messed up kid who goes nuts - nothing new there and windows smashing all trendy like and waaaay too long and pillars and angelina gets naked (obviously) and 4 miles away and completely rubbish"

MF/Cb c o o A/JM/TS/C - "Yes, yes, yes. This sounds like the best career move since Lindsay Lohan decided that mutilated hooker film was a good'un. We're in".

And that's pretty much it.

............

Don't waste your time watching this, unless you're under 20, male and a bit retarded. Excessive, ridiculous, tedious, predictable, badly written and acted worse, the only good thing about this film is James McAvoy's American accent and the fact Morgan Freeman says "Mother F**ker" - Has he ever sworn before? I bet he hasn't...

Gutted if you paid to see this...

Around the World with Music (1)

paleika — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:03:09 +0000

I love music and am a very eclectic listener. I especially like music from foreign countries, so I thought that once in a while I'd highlight a band that I like.

-All Information about the band can be found on their website, so please go there to learn more!

Urker

"I wish other countries knew about our music and culture as well because music is a universal means of communication. Good song is understandable for everyone even if it is in a foreign language." -Aidos Sagat

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="420" caption="Urker 2008"][/caption]

Urker was formed by Aidos Sagat in 1993. They are from Kazakhstan and their music combines traditional Kazakh music with pop music. The original band consisted of Aidos Sagat, Rustam Musin, Dauren Syzdykov, and Nurlan Seilov, but some of the members have changed since then. The name Urker refers to the Pleiades Constellation.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Kazakhstan is bordered by Russia and China"][/caption]

Here's the first song that I heard of theirs and I really love it! I tried to find the lyrics but didn't have much luck. I did find some under the youtube video in the comments, but who knows if they are correct, but I'll post them anyway for fun.

lyrics posted by aiska84 (note: if anyone knows of a better translation please let me know)

Ahau tugan elim, tugan elim ertengi ( my motherland of the future)
Ahau kokke samga, koshten kalma orkende(Sour in the sky, don't )
???
Ai kaharman haliksin (You are brave nation)
Ahau keldi kezim, kordi kozim (My time has come, i've seen a lot)
Ahau tolga/jolga(?) endi bolashagim arayli (...My shining future)
Hau kazaksin(?) erkinsin (You are kazakh, you are free)
Hau antimsin, sertimsin (you are my allegiance?)

refrain
Jailauin ai, taldarin ai, baldarin ai (oh your fields, your trees, your honeys ?)
Aidarim ai aidarim ai mening (my ....)
Ahau kazak atin azamatin aktaidi (You kazakh name will protect/define your citizen/means kazakh nation)
Ahau dana halkim baba saltin saktaidi(my wise nation saves the traditions of ancestors)
Hai ejelgi turansin (you are civilization/place of the past)
Hai bugingi kiransin (You are the eagle of the present)

"A Taste of Warmth" by Irina

kazaknomad — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:35:11 +0000

The following is another narrative story written by one of my students named Irina. Nothing has been editted and she gave a short vocabulary list at the end if you don't know some of the words.

A Taste of Warmth

This story happened to a little Korean boy at the end of 1930s. His family like many others just arrived and began the fight with harsh Kazakhstan conditions. The boy helped a kolkhoz shepherd but unfortunately had lost a calf.

He was going through the desert for a long time; cold winter played everything around. All his clothes were a big jacket with a lasher as a belt. He was barefooted, but the boy didn’t feel either rocks or barbs, just hunger. As much as he remembered himself he wanted to eat, but those day the feeling was stronger than usual.

He had eaten a handful of rice two days ago! He was plodding along without the purpose, but was going forward stubbornly, not knowing what would wait for him. He was alone in this world. One kept silent about his father, he didn’t know anything about his mother, too. There was an elder sister, but she lived in another family in a distant village. He lived in the relative’s family, who had a lot of own children. The boy was treated well, but without particular warmth. He didn’t already remember his mom’s affection or father’s warm hand, their images had erased.

The wind fell. Smog smelled. The boy felt how much he was frozen. He began to look for a warm place. His eyes saw a yurta in a distance with a fire nearby. The boy was so hungry! He thought of the breakfast and a taste of unfamiliar Russian bread brought by the uncle from the rayoncenter. The little boy hadn’t liked its unusual taste and color, but now he was ready to eat anything. Dogs began to bark feeling a stranger but the poor boy was going forward. He had never seen such big dogs. The boy was frightened; he dropped on the earth and began to cry. He cried for a long time not seeing the dogs were driven away, he didn’t remember one had lifted him. The kid was crying without sound. His soul seemed to cry, his childish soul, met so much troubles.

Finally the boy stopped to cry. The man touched his face; the little boy raised his head and saw ten pairs of eyes, as black and slanting as his own, gazed at him. He was calm down. Suddenly the man went out and said something loudly in a foreign language to a woman.

The woman entered the yurta with a samovar. The children began to make noise, trying to take a convenient pose around a small table. They pushed each other and giggled, glancing at the boy. On entering the man shouted slightly at the children and they were calm down. The man went to the little boy but he didn’t understand the host obviously. The man said something to the wife. The kid, heard incorrectly pronounced “karis”, raised his eyes at the man. The host called the child by gesture. The little hungry boy was eating unfamiliar food. Its taste was extraordinary. It was not like either the aunt’s food or the taste of Russian bread. There were no meat and sweets, but it was the richest meal he could imagine. There was no heavy silent like at the uncle’s home, here the children could push each other, give a pinch, sip hot slightly sweet water that smelled smog. The man just smiled at him. He didn’t notice him to asleep, holding a piece of bread in the hand.

Next morning the woman put something into the pocket of the child’s jacket, smiled at him and touched his hand. The man, taking the boy behind himself on the hoarse, went to the Korean village.

The boy smiled in his dream. He awaked near to the village. The man stopped the hoarse, came up to an old Korean and pointed out the boy. The old man nodded.

Seating inside the mud hut, the boy tool out two round pieces: one, white and with an acid taste, was rocky like cracker, the other one was brown, oil, looked like bread but had another taste.

Time has erased names, faces, but he still can’t remember the taste of that baursak, made of dark flower. The taste of warmth, home-fire and large kindness.

I used some Russian and Kazakh word in the essay, such as
- yurta (traditional nomad's house that is easy to put together)
- samovar (a russian invention to boil water for tea)
- baursak (kazakh fried piece of dough)

- kolkhoz - collective farm
- "karis" (an incorrect word "korean" in Russian and Kazakh)

Kazakh beauty Ruslana Korshunova jumps to death in financial district

nurgeldy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:25:20 +0000

Reuter сообщает: NEW YORK — A European Vogue cover model fell to her death from her Manhattan apartment building Saturday in an apparent suicide, published reports said.

Ruslana Korshunova, 20, died around 2:30 p.m. in a fall from a building on Water Street, in Manhattan's Financial District, The New York Post, the Daily News and Newsday reported. The newspapers cited unnamed officials and police.

Originally from the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, the almond-eyed, flowing-haired Korshunova appeared in advertisements and on runways for such designers as Marc Jacobs, Nina Ricci and DKNY. British Vogue hailed her as "a face to be excited about" in 2005.

Her break came when modeling booker Debbie Jones noticed her while perusing an in-flight magazine article about Korushnova's hometown of Almaty, according to the Vogue report.

"She looked like something out of a fairytale!" Jones told the magazine. "We had to find her and we searched high and low until we did!"

Руслана родилась в Алма-Ате, 2 июля 1987 года. В модельном бизнесе начала работатьв 2003 году. В 2005 ее назвали одним из главных открытий Нью-йоркской недели моды. К 2008 году Коршунова приняла участие в рекламных компаниях DKNY, Christian Dior и Nina Ricci, а также появилась на обложках французского выпуска журнала Elle и российского Vogue.

Biography на Википедии уже обновлена: 1.Early life and career. 2.Death

Sheep Shearing and 6,000 Tenge Haircuts

kazaknomad — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:51:05 +0000

My morning turned out differently than I thought it would. I went to the health club later than usual and once finished with my workout routine on the equipment, skipped the Turkish sauna and swim. I NEEDED a haircut! After a 6,000 tenge haircut, I was home by 12 noon. That translates to $50 which I've never paid before, back in the U.S. I usually pay half of that amount counting tip. The cost damage could have been 11,000 tenge which is over $85 but I only had the six and I was having trouble adjusting to that figure. I wanted my hair washed and cut 2 inches (about 4 centimeters). I was committed to doing the blow-drying and curling myself once I got home.

Once I made myself understood to the person behind the counter at the beauty salon, a girl led me to the sink where she expertly washed my hair. I was asked by the receptionist if I wanted coffee or tea. I have never been offered that kind of hospitality at a beauty salon before so I promptly said, “Coffee with milk.” It arrived in a cup with sugar cubes to the side. I thought to myself, "For 6,000 tenge, I SHOULD get a nice cup of coffee." I was plopped into another chair once the shampooing was done and saw a young, muscular man with spiked hair in the mirror behind me. You could tell this Kazakh guy worked out, his arms and back muscles rippled under his green, Calvin Klein shirt. The only way he seemed to fit in with all the girls who swarmed in this salon was his greased out, spiky hair. Little did I know that he was going to me my haircutter and the girl who washed my hair would be like the dental hygienist, assisting him all along the way.

Yes, the young man had an air of a competent dentist as he washed his hands in the basin first and then began to comb out my tangles and pile my excess hair on top. Round One - Instead of using clips, his assistant held it in place as he snipped away. Round Two – he sliced and diced with a different kind of scissors then Round Three he trimmed the front bangs. I was ready to eject but I suppose any good barber worth his salt likes to see the final results. His long suffering assistant was surprised that he wanted to blow-dry my hair and style it when I had made it clear I could only afford the wash and cut. Away he went with a big brush and aggressively but gently he curled my tresses under.

The result felt wonderful and looked great. Except for that ONE little gray hair that popped up in the back. Even though he didn't know English and his assistant did somewhat, he KNEW I wanted it cut out. He asked for a scissors, she gave him a comb. He repeated with hand motions that he wanted a scissors. I suppose at barber schools they are taught to never pull out gray hairs. That is always my first reaction when I see a stray, gray hair.

I wondered if this Kazakh barber's skill at cutting hair had something to do with maybe having ancestors from the distant, nomadic past who were experts at cutting sheep's wool. Sheep shearing HAD to be done with speed, accuracy and confidence. He had a flair with wrist movements and twirled his combs and scissors like a seasoned Japanese chef flings his knives up in the air. Finally done, I gave him a big thank you and a tip knowing he had just gifted me with 5,000 extra tenge worth of grooming. He returned a happy smile and I was out the door feeling ready for the presentation I have to give on Saturday morning about being an American English teacher here in Central Asia.

"English as She is Spoke" and Written

kazaknomad — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:23:48 +0000

English as She is Spoke is an old classic book over 150 years recently republished which rivals anything Mr. Barot scripted in his recent movie about cultural leanings of America for make benefit glorious nation. (I purposely misspelled his name and don’t want to draw any attention with search engines to Barot’s gross errors depicting this wonderful country where I presently teach English.)

Of course, I’ve read some tortured writing of English done by my Kazakh students that leaves much to be desired, but at least they are trying to get their message across. I understand they come from minimal learning experiences where writing was not encouraged in Russian, much less English. Ironically, I’ve also seen some fairly horrific examples of writing from natives speakers of English too. Let’s have Hollywood produce a movie which graphically shows how American students get away with playing video games for hours on end and how they have no time to do their writing assignments or read the material to show what is expected of them in a composition class. Now THAT would be a sleeper movie!!!

Apparently Mark Twain loved this little book written by Pedro Carolino who was a hack just like Barot and used Jose Da Fonseca’s name as co-author of this comprehensive phrasebook of the English language. Da Fonseca was a upstanding scholar who happened to have a phrasebook for Portuguese that was worked over by Carolino to make it purposefully absurd. It came out as a “masterpiece” in 1869 and had many reprints and other spinoffs such as English as She is Taught or English as She is Wrote which shows funny exam-answer humor that only a teacher can fully appreciate.

Reading through this little book made me squirm simply because it is so obviously hacked. For Twain to give it the thumbs up brings my estimation of him a bit lower even though I loved reading his Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer stories as I was growing up. Twain lived later into life and died an unhappy man. Reading English as She is Spoke would not improve one’s mood. However, it makes me more determined than ever as a writing teacher to have my students improve their English skills so they don’t get laughed at by quacks similar to Carolino or Barot.

In Part One of this book are vocabulary words supposedly translated from Portuguese to English titled “Index of the Matters:” The Mankind, Ages, Defects of the Body, Servants, diseases, remedies, parties a town, of the bed, eatings, quadruped’s beasts, fishes and shell-fishes, colours, games, of the altar, chastisements, familiar phrases. You get the idea that articles and prepositions are put in where they don’t belong, taken out where they DO belong. On page 22 is a phrase “stop a little” or “Let us go to respire the air.” Page 24 “At what o’clock is to get up?” p. 26 “dress your hairs” or p. 30 “This girl have a beauty edge.”

My sister lived in Brazil at the tender age of 16 on an AFS student exchange. She got to know her host family and quickly picked up the language of Portuguese. I’ll have to give her this book to see if she recollects any of these supposed “familiar phrases.” Several years later, one of the daughters of her Brazilian host family came to the U.S. on a similar exchange to live with a typical middle class American family. Somehow I got caught in the middle a family squabble because the rich, young Brazilian girl did NOT know any English. She kept saying over and over, “I no happy, I no happy.” That was one thing she made everyone painfully aware of. I think she was eventually moved to a different family and that resolved her happiness issue. It didn’t help for her to come off the plane to a cold Minnesota winter with only sandals and a light dress and coat. Obviously, no one had fully prepared her for the stark weather conditions or the language barrier once she arrived in the U.S.

One phrase that caught my attention was under the section titled “Idiotisms and Proverbs.” I had asked my ESL students when I taught in Virginia years ago to give me three idioms or proverbs from their country. One guy from a South American country, I don’t remember which one, gave me “The robe don’t make the monk.” That’s a good proverb. However, Carolino was up to his tricks with changing “robe” to “dress” so it reads on page 128: “the dress don’t make the monk.” Funny huh? The actual saying in Portuguese is: “O habito nao faz o monge.”

Why is “the robe don’t make the monk” a good proverb? Even though it is not proper English, the point comes across loud and clear. Supposedly there are people in places of authority who may have the title in their respective job but do NOT embrace the work ethic or are NOT skillful enough to fill that particular job and its job description. Consequently, people under them suffer. I might add there are perhaps many teachers who are teaching writing who don’t know how to write. May the land of Kazakhstan have fully educated and talented teachers who know how to write in English. Thus, they can teach their Kazakh students to write well, especially in a western style university where that is the expectation and the norm. That is, if Kazakh students should ever leave Kazakhstan on some exchange program to the U.S. or U.K. to find out how miserable they can be if not fully prepared.

To be or not to be?

Bakytgul Salykhova — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:36:41 +0000

Қағаздарымның арасына бір кездері жазып қойыппын, аударманы кім жасағанын, өкінішке орай білмейді екенмін.

Болу яки бордай тозу -

Бар сауалдың түйіні.

Сұм тағдырдың соққысына

Үнсіз төзу иә бұлқыну.

Бес қаруға қол созу,

От құшуға, оққа ұшуға

Басты тігіп ұмтылу ...

Broker snap: Higher iron ore prices to boost ENRC

ironeer — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:37:56 +0000

June 16th (ShareCast) - Higher price estimates for ferrochrome and iron ore pellets prompted ABN Amro to upgrade its rating on Kazakh miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and increase its price target to 1,650p from 1,300p.

The broker raised estimates for the price of high carbon ferrochrome by 5% for the second half of 2008, by 30% for 2009 and by 25% for 2010.

Its 2008 iron ore pellet price estimate is now 85% higher than that for the previous year.

Балалар әдебиеті интернетте

Bakytgul Salykhova — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:51:52 +0000

Гуглге балалар әдебиеті деп сұраныс берсең ағылшын тілінде 2,620,000, орыс тілінде 4,090,000, қазақ тілінде 4,680 деген нәтиже береді.

Бұл жерде қанша нәтиже көрсетіп тұрағаны маңызды емес әрине, басқа тілдер де балалар әдебиетіне қатысы жоқ нәрселерді көрсетеді. Айтқым келгені басқа тілдердегі сияқты қазақ тілінде балалар әдебиетіне арналған портал, немесе виртуалды кітапхананың жоқтығы.

Мысалы, орыс тілінде іздеу барысында нәтиженің алғашқыларының қатарында ақысыз балалар әдебиетінің электрондық кітапханасы KIDSBOOK, Балалар кітапханасы , толып жатқан басқа да виртуалды электрондық кітапханалар, тіпті балалар әдебиеті қауымдастықтары да т.б. бар екен.

Сонымен, кімнің құлағына алтын сырға дейін, ең бірінші баласының қандай кітап оқитынына алаңдайтын ата-ананың болар.

Madame Guyon's Musings on Design

kazaknomad — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:38:36 +0000

I'd like to know the meaning of this mosiac design that is in a prominent place close to our university in Almaty. Probably each inset mosiac piece was laid by melancholy artists in the 1960s with significance to Kazakh nationals but also done according to Soviet specifications from Moscow. I'm beginning to understand why plagiarism was encouraged during the Soviet period, you had to be very careful to write just what the party officials deemed as appropriate. If you veered off the party message, then you were in trouble with the authorities of the communist party elite in Moscow. So, "copy and paste mentality" goes a long way back before computers ever arrived on the scene. I need to learn more about the Soviet art which used cubism and portrayed happy proletariat workers doing their job with a smile. Underneath there was no doubt despondency and melancholy. That is probably why I appreciate the Christian mystic, Madame Guyon's musings on design, God's design:

"I entreat you, give no place to despondency. This is a dangerous temptation--a refined, not a gross temptation of the adversary. Melancholy contracts and withers the heart, and renders it unfit to receive the impressions of grace. It magnifies and gives a false coloring to objects, and thus renders your burdens too heavy to bear. God's designs regarding you, and His methods of bringing about these designs are infinitely wise."

Бір сөзбен

Bakytgul Salykhova — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:03:46 +0000

Шыңғыс Айтматовқа - Нобель сыйлығы ?!
Әлем мұражайлары интернетте

Алматыдағы екі мұражайдың сайты бар екен:

Drupal, Joomla және WordPress

Bakytgul Salykhova — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:08:05 +0000

Drupal, Joomla және WordPress – ті салыстырған мақаланы оқысаңыздар болады.

Осы мақаланы талқылаудан кейін Typo3 -пен салыстырған мақала да шықты.

New Day, New Way, New Tray

kazaknomad — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:08:15 +0000

Today I took a different route for my sunny morning walk and discovered a new way with lots of wildflowers. The fresh, new day invited a cheery "Dobra utra" to the other 6:00 a.m. morning walkers and they responded in kind. One imposing, Kazakh gentleman in athletic garb was walking very slowly said something else and laughed. I must have fooled him with my very fluent greeting. Or maybe he saw that I had picked up the pink rosebud from the path and made a joke about it. Another older woman walking on the newly lad path looked like she could have been a sportswoman from many years back but now she walked with a limp. The third disciplined early riser had a swifter gait and she responded "Good Morning" in Russian to me too. But the trick thereafter was to pick paths that I wouldn't have to say "hello" again to these same three walkers. My vocabulary doesn't extend beyond saying, "Yes, I know these are NOT flowers, just weeds." "Oh, you say it is illegal to pick them anyway?" "That's fine, because I think I'm allergic to one of them."

What I gathered in my little bouquet was some pink clover, a mum that looked at first glance like common fleabane, some kind of hot pink lupine or sweet pea looking vine and a blue kind of aster. The one that is probably allergy ridden is the one I've never seen before, it is a tall stalk with both purple and blue little flowers and spikey kind of pods. Painful to pick so I won't do THAT again. I had to show off my new tray that I just bought from some friends who are leaving Almaty. I can't wait to get my new little Casio electronic piano once they depart in mid-June. Such is the start of my new day!

Берлин, 75 жыл бұрын

Bakytgul Salykhova — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:30:40 +0000

1933 жылы 10 мамырда Берлинде 20 мыңнан астам кітап өртелген болатын. Бекітілген қара тізімде 94 неміс және 37 шетел авторлары болған. Бұл әрекет бірнешге айға созылып, 22 университет қатысыпты.

Қазір бұл жерде ескерткіш тұр: алаңда шынының артында ақ түсті бос кітап сөрелері бар үлкен бөлме, қасында металдан жасалған тақтайшада Генрих Гейненің 1821 жылы жазған пьесасынан алынған мына жолдар басылған: «Бұл басы ғана. Кітап өртеген жерде, ақыр аяғында адамдарды да өртей бастайды».

«Кафка-Борхес»

Bakytgul Salykhova — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:14:01 +0000

Прагада өткен ғасырдың екі классигі: Франц Кафка мен Хорхе Луис Борхеске арналған «Кафка-Борхес» бьенналесі өтіп жатыр. Бұл іс-шара бір айға созылады.

Ұйымдастырушылары: Франц Кафка атындағы Чех қоғамы мен Борхес атындағы аргентиналық қор.

Ендігі жылы бьеннале Борхестің 110 жылдығына байланысты Аргентинада өтеді.

Ұсынысты қолдаушылар

Bakytgul Salykhova — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:59:22 +0000

17 мамыр күні (16:00-17:00) уордпресті бірлесіп аударайық деген ұсынысты қолдағандарды атап өтейін:

Бақытнұр, Қуаныш, Асхат, Есенгүл, baurdotnet, Karakyz, Мақпал .

Барлықтарыңа рахмет, ұялып пікір қалдырмай жатқандар да бар екен :) , сіздерге де рахмет !

Біразы офистің мекен-жайын біледі, сонда да жеке телефон мен офисті қалай табуды е-пошталарыңа жазып жіберемін.

Төртеуіміз офисте (Асхат, Мақпал, Karakyz және мен), қалғандары он-лайн шығады деп күтілуде. Жоспарларыңыз өзгеріп жатса айтыңыздар.

Мақпал мен Karakyz - офиске келу мүмкіншілігі болмай жатса еш реніш болмайды :)

Әй, ананы қараңдар, ананы! - "Қазақ спайдер-мән!"

bakytnur — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:03:17 +0000

Қазақ Спайдер-Мән көрген бе едіңіз? Көрмеген болсаңыз мына видеоларды қызықтаңыз:

-Әй ананы қараңдар, ана жігітті!
-Қайсы, қайсы?
-Әнеу әне...
-Көріп тұрған жоқпын ғой, қай жерде?
-Анау әне!
-Құлайды ғой...
-Өледі ғой мынау...

-Не дейт?
-Сәлем...
-Қызық болсын ертең көрсетеміз

Тағы біреуі: