Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with russian

Why is my Russian Dwarf Hamster so irritable lately?

Jimmie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:52:30 -0800

Why is my Russian Dwarf Hamster so irritable lately? I own a male, Russian Dwarf Hamster. He is nearly 2 1/2 years old. He has been a happy, healthy hamster for most of his life. Recently (the past few months), he has been noticeably more irritable. He constantly nips at human skin. It does not seem like he is just looking for food - he's nipping and not letting go. He will grab onto my skin and hang there as I attempt to pull him off. It doesn't seem like he's trying to pierce my skin though (as he's done when I've frightened or annoyed him in the past).

He does not use his exercise wheel much anymore, and he doesn't show much energy when I put him in his hamster ball.

I have not changed his diet in a while. He has always been happy with the brand/mix I buy him.

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Possible reasons might be:

We recently moved across country, by car, with him in it. Could this have traumatized him?

Winter is coming and in San Francisco it is getting cold. Perhaps he is eating more and exercising less to prepare for hibernation? Maybe this makes him cranky?

Maybe he's just getting old?

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Additionally:

He's got a bit of brown fluid in his left eye. I was told that this is common for hamsters, particularly older ones, and nothing to worry about. What do you think?

His stool, eating, and drinking habits all appear fine. He is not exhibiting any signs of wet tail. His weight seems fine. His hair seems like it might be thinning, but it could just be my imagination. His ears have been down more than usual, they are not as perky.

I haven't heard him crying, in fact, I have heard him softly 'clicking' for the first time in his life. Perhaps I just wasn't listening close enough before. I read that this means he is happy/content.

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So why is he so angry?

Who created this catchy, possibly Russian piece of music?

Captain Cardanthian! — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:10:15 -0800

What is the (possibly Russian?) piece of music in this video about a Moscow performance artist who shares his home with a llama? I think it includes an accordion and a mandolin. Shazam was no help, and I don't really know where to go from there. There are some vocals starting around 0:40, although I'm unsure if they're lyrics in a foreign tongue or simply time-keeping nonsense sounds. I've found the video a few other places on the web (youtube, metacafe), but neither offers any credit as to the source of the clip or music credits. The footage itself seems to lifted directly from this clip, credited to ITN, but that's all I've got. Can you help me, hivemind?

Name This Russian Novel

thegreatfleecircus — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:44:35 -0800

Trying to remember the title of a tragicomic Russian novel I had just begun reading 5 years ago, before it somehow disappeared. From what I remember, the main character was an older woman who refused to adapt to the post-communist societal changes in Russia. It followed her story as she faced the changing landscape, and persecution in the face of her commitment to the old ideals.

Let's say I'm a Russian student in my mid-twenties.

klue — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:58:36 -0800

Let's say I'm a Russian student in my mid-twenties. What Russian music am I likely to carry around on my mp3-player? Which Russian movies am I likely to have seen and discussed over the last few years, and which Russian books am I likely to have enjoyed?

I'm sure Russians are as exposed to foreign culture as anyone else, but that's not what I'm looking for here. Apologies in advance for my general ignorance.

Please help me read The Master and Margarita.

cranberrymonger — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:26:00 -0800

Please help me read The Master and Margarita. I started The Master and Margarita a couple months ago and really enjoyed the writing but struggled with the names, the plot and the biblical references (everything, basically.) I put it down for a while and now I can't remember what happened. I don't want to start over again (I'm on chapter 18) so I need to find a decent summary to remind me what's happened so far.

Unfortunately all the plot summaries I find are overly (for my purposes) concerned with the context and the important bits of Russian history, the allusions or they contain spoilers because they summarize each of the three stories as a whole.

My ideal format would be chapter-by-chapter, explaining what important happened in each. It would be great if it's an online guide but I would like to hear about hard copy guides too.

Another thing is that I'm completely unfamiliar with the Bible. I would love a link to an online summary (not original text) of the sections that would help me understand The Master and Margarita. I'm sorry I can't be any more specific as I don't know what parts those are.

(I realize that the beauty of both books is probably in the nuances and I don't mean to discount how important that is but my priority is comprehension.)

How to say "accuracy" and "precision" in Russian?

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:00:48 -0800

How to translate the scientific/statistical English words "accuracy" and "precision" into scientific/statistical Russian? Google translate is no good here. These words have a very specific meaning in scientific/statistical English. How do I translate them into Russian?

Jalapeno-Vodka Induced Hallucination?

The Whelk — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:10:15 -0800

Name That Show Used In That Russian Music Video-Filter: I was at a Russian restaurant in L.A yesterday and saw the strangest music video. I got the name of the artist (Something and Federov?) but the video was chopped up clips from what looked like a British TV show. What TV show or movie was being cut up? Details inside. The video contained a man in a broad-stripped Zoot Suit and a man dressed as a Lady Bracknell /Pepperpot type (Think Monty Python) and what seemed to be WW1-era soldiers and generals. There was lots of broad comedy and falling down drunk and the sets where very white and minimal. There was a lot of green smoke. From the video quality I'd say late 70s-early 80s? What the hell did I just watch?

Grammatical Case Headspace....

mary8nne — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:15:21 -0800

LanguageFilter: How can a native English speaker develop a better sense of grammatical cases? So I'm learning some Russian and have just started getting into the noun & adjective case distinctions. But as a native English speaker it is quite difficult to think in terms of what noun cases are used in a particular sentence (ie is this the nominative, accusative, dative, ablative, locative, instrumental, vocative or genitive case of the noun/adjective that I need to use).

I've been reading some of the wikipedia entries on declension, grammatical case, noun cases, gender cases etc but it very quickly goes completely over my head.

So I was just wondeing if anyone here had say some tips, advice or resources on getting into the grammatical case headspace?

I imagine its just a matter of doing 'exercises' or something? (but is this really possible with English examples when we don't distinguish linguistically between most of them?)

Where should I learn Russian and travel to in Russia/Central Asia, etc

saraindc — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:47:58 -0800

studying russian abroad/traveling in russia and central asia/general planning help/etc Hi everyone! I have just finished a very introductory level course in Russian, and am leaving in the beginning of August to go to Russia for four weeks. The first three weeks are open-ended, I was thinking I would study Russian in classes for 2 weeks, travel with a Russian friend of mine for a week (maybe to Uzbekistan?) and then finish with a fourth week at work (my company has an office in moscow, so I'm working there to extend my stay a bit longer).

But my original plan- to study at MGU for 2 weeks- is falling through because apparently I can only start classes on the 10th. Maybe this can change if I take private one-on-one classes, which are still relatively affordable. So I could try to pull this off- or I could travel with my friend for two weeks, do God knows what the third week (none of the programs I know about do shorter courses than two weeks so I don't think a one week course here would be an option), and then work the fourth week.

lodging concern in moscow is money. I can't afford a hotel in Moscow for a whole month, probably even a week would be painful. If I do a two-week course then a host family would be fun and affordable. If I travel for two weeks, it'll be affordable probably because I want to go to more remote areas so hotels will be cheaper.

So I'd like to know what you think of what I should do. Do you know any other Russian programs I should consider? I'm mostly interested in Moscow, although i have fantasies of being somewhere in Central Asia. if I just travel for two weeks, then i will still be learning because the friend I'm traveling with is a Russian teacher and so he will be helpful I'm sure. I don't know if traveling with him for two weeks is a bad idea because I don't want any awkwardness between us considering he's a guy and I'm a girl- I want to respect any potential feelings he may have for me- and I also don't want to put myself in an overly compromising situation.

And where do you think we should travel? We thought about Daghestan because that's where he's from but I'm not so sure given it might give him the wrong idea if I meet his family, and also Daghestan is the neighbor of Chechnya and I don't know how safe that makes it. Also I'd like to go to Uzbekistan.

Please give any and all advice on any of these matters. Thank you thank you thank you!

How can I watch the discontinued Russian car chase game show "Perexvat/Intercept"?

pravit — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:44:45 -0800

How can I watch the discontinued Russian car chase game show "Perexvat/Intercept"? Перехват/Intercept was a Russian game show broadcast from 97-98. Its premise was that contestants, or "thieves" would be given a brand new car installed with a tracking device. If the thief managed to evade police for a full 35 minutes, he would win a brand new car. Few ever managed to win, but apparently they did come up with quite ingenious ways of evading the police (like driving onto trains or boats).

So far I've only found one Time article from 1998 and everything else on the web has been referencing it. I haven't had much luck on the Russian web; there's a Wikipedia article that doesn't contain much more info than the Time article.

What I'm really looking for is some video of this show. Does anyone know where I could stream or download some episodes?

What's wrong with my Russian tortoise?

semp — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:27:50 -0800

What's wrong with my Russian tortoise? I picked up Bowser, my new Russian tortoise, this weekend. He was the most active of the lot, and his caretaker said he had quite the appetite as well. Since he got home he's been rather inactive, except when taken outside, and hasn't eaten or drank at all. I've noticed that this is semi-normal while they're still stressed out, but I'm wondering if this might not be more.

I also noticed skin peeling not just around the neck/legs near the shell, but on the face as well. In fact, it looks as if a whole scale (between the eye and the nose) on his face is about to peel off. I know that a tortoise is money and time, much like every other animal, and I already have a vet appointment scheduled for him upon our return home (keeping him in his cage at a friends this weekend, as the closest dealer is several hours away). I also know that I very much want this turtle to survive, and if he's going to require extensive care I would like to return him to his caretaker and point out the problem, as I am sure she would be more than happy (and have better resources) to get any problems he has taken care of.

Any tortoise owners have similar experiences?

What is the name of this small-town priest submarine movie?

excitementMD — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:00:39 -0800

There is a movie about a Russian sub that shows up in a small town in maybe Canada? One of the Russians has a problem with spontaneous combustion and has a fire extinguisher with him, and there's a priest from the small town that's handing the situation. What is the name of this movie!? These are all the details I remember, but I know it exists. IMDB/google has been fruitless so far. Thanks mefi!

An optimistic novel for an indoctrinated nihilist?

zaebiz — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:46:18 -0800

What is a classic, perhaps philosophical, novel about individual freedom to choose? So that no matter how desperate the situation you find yourself in, you always have choices about what to do, how to feel and how to think about your situation. The book is for a Russian lady who grew up mostly in the Soviet era but finds herself in Western civilisation somewhat isolated. When things get very difficult, she tends to react in a nihilistic fashion, rather than a hopeful optimistic fashion. I was thinking some thing in the Jean-Paul Satre mold, but then my knowledge of novels is very limited so very open to suggestions. Ideally it would be so widely available that its pretty likely I could find it written in Russian.

What's the book?

notned — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:24:22 -0800

Book filter -- Back in 1978, in grade school, our history teacher wanted to know that history could be personal and he read to us the autobiography of a Russian in an orphanage or juvenile detention when he was 12 years old. I thought that it was Solzhenitsyn but I may be wrong because I can't find that anywhere. Help

Best online Russian translator?

macfly — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:14:32 -0800

Best online Russian translator? My step-father has made contact with a member of the former Soviet Navy that he had some interaction with during the cold war. He's interested in swapping stories and perspectives of certain events (submarine related). He doesn't speak Russian and the Admiral doesn't speak English so for right now they're both using machine translations (Google translate / Word 2007). I know any machine translation is going to be sketchy but is one better than another, particularly for the Russian language? Or are they all driven by basically the same software in the background? My step-dad's got a Russian speaking friend who can help out if things get too dicey but they'll be a time lag for that and he (and the Admiral) are both eager to start comparing notes.

Russian brides via the internet - do they work?

vizsla — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:32:47 -0800

I have a friend whose friends are Russian brides who got married via an internet site. I'm wondering how long these types of marriages tend to last and what they are like. Are there any blogs or research about experiences of these kinds of relationships?

The Manul Song

notquitemaryann — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:01:18 -0800

Russian-speaking mefites, could you please help me with the lyrics to this Manul (aka Pallas Cat) Song? I can figure out some of the written words (though, much love if you are willing to translate those too), but the lyrics are far beyond my ability.

Will email the channel owner if no one feels like translating, but I figured I'd give it a shot here too.

propaganda says what?

streetdreams — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:28:26 -0800

Russian Translation Filter: what does this say?

Help with Movie

CollectiveMind — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:36:47 -0800

I'm looking for a 1950-ish science fiction movie. In the scene I most clearly remember, a man and a woman are on the bridge of an alien spaceship. She is a Russian mathematician and he is a pilot. The ship is being remotely controlled and is automatically flying through the solar system. It becomes clear that it is on a collision course with Saturn. In the climactic scene, the woman is doing calculations on a pad and paper, and calling them out to the pilot who enters them into a keypad in an attempt to free a joystick control so they can manually return the spaceship to Earth. What is the name of this movie?

Looking for quotes

Student of Man — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:26:36 -0800

Anyone speak Russian? I'm looking for any inspiring Russian (English too) quotes that will make my crush feel good. A friend of mine is leaving for good at work. She is a 22 year old Russian student. There was definitely a quiet crush with timid glances and botched conversations, flirting and hugs. I was going to write an off-the-cuff poem-love note since Im usually better at those than in conversation. But it was not gelling so I bought her some uniquley New York souvernirs (novelty stationary, converse minipurse). I still want to write something though. I'm looking for some inspirational quotes or Russian proverbs, slogans for women empowerment suitable for a female economics student. I'll also take anything you can come up with in russian that may sound sweet (I realize this is cheating) or offers a vote of confidence or is inspiring to a young traveller.

learn russian or learn bengali?

pipti — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:11:18 -0800

Which do you think would be harder to learn, Bengali or Russian? and how long does it take to become conversant in either? Immersion is probably not in the cards. I speak French and Italian and found those pretty easy and fun to learn. But I was in an immersion situation. I'm in Brooklyn, if it matters.

What does the word "стахоўскі" mean?

hoverboards don't work on water — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:33:00 -0800

What does the word "стахоўскі" mean? I think it's Russian or Belarusian and it appears in the "Remarks" section of my fiancée's visa for her trip to Belarus. Is it a name? I have attempted to transcribe it using cyrillic letters copy & pasted from Wikipedia, but I may have chosen the wrong form of "i"...

Thanks.

Rockin' in the Eastern Hemisphere, or would be if I wasn't in the US

curagea — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:35:47 -0800

Calling all Germanic (and Slavic) rockers, ravers and, uh, *insert classical term that starts with "r"*! Help me expand my music collection with European melodies! A similar question was asked before, but I'd like to narrow the scope down a bit.

I'm a big-time metal/hard rock/electronica/classical/ambient fan. I like non-American music more than American, and have heard that Europe has a big music scene for those genres. Sure, I could spend countless hours listening to samples from each of them, but I'm VERY picky about the music I listen to. Main reason? Getting inspirations for making my own music.

So, fellow MeFites, help me discover more European music that adhere to one or more of the following criteria. I'll be listing American and non-American examples that I feel exemplifies the qualities I want so you can have a few starters. Oh, and I use the term "electronica" broadly, just to point out:

- Good/great sense of melody - This one is top priority. The more complex, the better, whether by vocal and/or instrument. And if screaming/growling is involved, it better be done not just for show (see below). Examples: Disturbed, Poisonblack, Paradise Lost, A Perfect Circle (Mer de Noms), Orgy, Schiller, Lunar, Hybrid, BT, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Liszt, Squaremeter

- Heavyweight/Workout/Emotional - Oh yeah. I love to bang my head and blow my eardrums out (not literally, of course). Or really rave and dance like a maniac. Or... shake my head in internal pain over the piano. Examples: Disturbed, Judas Priest (pre-Nostradamus), Testament, Oomph!, Rammstein (pre-Reise Reise), The Prodigy (pre-Fat of the Land), The Crystal Method's "Stir Fry - Breakin On The Street", Infected Mushroom, Rachmaninov, Lizst

- Quirkiness - I also don't mind something that "sounds" fun and manages to be unpredictable. Examples: Mars Volta, Spacehog, Van Halen, Infected Mushroom, Dead Can Dance, 70's Scorpions, System of a Down, Prokofiev

- Angst with authenticity - There's screaming and growling and wailing, then there's the good mature kind, done in the right places so they don't like they're just... there. Examples: Disturbed (yeah I know, I'm a fan), Oomph! (pre-Ego), 30 Seconds to Mars (debut album), Breaking Benjamin, Trapt, Paradise Lost, Alice in Chains, Sevendust, Zeromancer

- Good drumwork - I'm not a drummer, but since getting Rock Band, I've been paying more attention to drums because they're so underestimated. Speed is not an issue; complexity is. Examples: Disturbed post-Believe (alright, I'll stop), Mars Volta, Testament, Queens of the Stone Age, Kagerou (NO Dragonforce. After listening to the stupid lyrics and the mind-numbing drums and guitars, that kind of music now just exhausts my brain).

- Mysterious/Twisted - Crawl-under-your-skin or whoa... gnarly... Examples: Panacea/Squaremeter, SunnO))), Infected Mushroom, late 80's/early 90's Delerium, the soundtrack from Quake, some Prokofiev

- Germanic lyrics, Slavic lyrics, or none - This includes German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, English, Czech, Russian. Please no French; I heard French rock once and it made me cringe. Chinese rock made me laugh out loud, not in a good way. I don't really care whether the lyrics make sense or not.

Whew! I know that's a lot to cover, but these criteria were listed in order of descending importance to me, so don't worry if your searches don't match all of them. Metal, electronica, classical, ambient - heck, even New Age (think Enya) - , whether from the mainstream or indie, gimme gimme gimme! I really love to see what new great music is out there. Who do you recommend/what are your favorites?

Note: Middle Eastern-style music is acceptable too, comme Squaremeter's "Aswad".

Conditional search engine selection in Firefox?

qvtqht — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:35:13 -0800

Conditional search engine selection in Firefox search box based on contents (in particular, character set) of the search query? I would like Firefox to use a different search engine depending on the type of string I enter into the search box. I think that regex matching, if possible, would do the trick.

I like using the search box in Firefox.

I like Google for most searches, but I want to use Yandex by default for any search that contains Cyrillic (Russian) characters.

For example, if I'm searching for "keys wallet phone", Firefox should use Google, but if I'm searching for "ключи бумажник телефон", it should switch to Yandex. (Yandex should be used even if Latin characters are present, as long as at least one Cyrillic character is there.)

How do I make Firefox switch search engines depending on the charset of the text I enter?

"Sayonara, sucker" in Russian?

phunniemee — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:24:54 -0800

Need to "sayonara, sucker!" in Russian. OK, so not quite sayonara, sucker, but it's equivalent. An "hasta la vista, baby" for the Eastern European set. Is there a culturally relevant way to say "good bye, but I don't necessarily like you a whole lot" in Russian?

It's for a cake, so fewer words is better.