Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with soviet

Help me find the name of this 1980/90s Soviet film

leybman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:54:22 -0800

Back when I was growing up in the Soviet Union (1986-1993), I remember seeing a Russian film that I haven't been able to identify. I think it was called "Spiralka" (meaning "spiral" in the native Russian). It was about a criminal who has a motorcycle accident that permanently damages his brain. He receives a brain transplant from some sort of an intellectual (a writer, a professor, not sure which). Unsurprisingly, the transplant leads to various complications, not the least of which is a profound personality change on the part of the criminal. He begins to read more, immerses himself in philosophy, and begins to feel genuine remorse for the crimes he's committed. In the end (and this is a scene I clearly remember) the criminal dies but not before seeing the brain donor standing before him immersed in a white light. Did I imagine this movie or does it really exist?

Do you remember the Glasnost Bowl?

srs — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:32:52 -0800

Did they really get the bright idea to host a college football game in Soviet Russia, and then have to cancel it because they couldn't sell enough vacation packages? The Wikipedia entry about the Glasnost Bowl has a bunch of outdated angelfire pages as its sources. The 1989 New York Times article that mentions it doesn't treat it as very interesting. I think it would make a publishable journal article if it's real and am looking for more info.

Where's my Soviet jetpack?

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:42:53 -0800

Soviet science: Besides the obvious topic of space exploration, name some examples of post World War II Soviet science that were so good, they entered global, widespread use without much modification and are perhaps still in use today. Example No. 1: Stephen Hawking, British.

Example No. 2: Watson (American) and Crick (British) describe DNA.

Example No. 3: Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier discover HIV.

It doesn't even have to be original work, but how about breakthrough work with others' tech? An example of this would be Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founding Sony and doing remarkable things with American-designed transistors.

Bad example: Dmitri Mendeleev's creation of the periodic table happened long before World War II.

So, where are my mad Soviet scientists and what did they do?

Help me find examples of Soviet-bloc nostalgia art.

matkline — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:00:17 -0800

Frederic Jameson's Fear and Loathing in Globalization talks about Eastern European/Soviet nostalgia art, "in which a complete set of mass-produced industrial products, from toilet seats to window panes, from shower heads to automobiles, had been invented from scratch, altogether different from the actually existing Western inventory." Are there any examples of this type of art on the web?

Help me remember this movie...

smoothvirus — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:45:54 -0800

I'm trying to remember what the title of this movie was. I think it was made in the 1960's or 1970's in the U.S. I remember watching it on TV on the Sunday Matinee show in the 1980's. The plot involved this millionaire who wanted to attack the Soviet Union, he had a small force which was to attack Russia by driving trucks across the polar ice cap. All I can remember was that in the end of the film his plan is thwarted by the Soviets, who send planes to bomb the ice, and the trucks sink to the bottom of the ocean. Any ideas?

Russian politics primer?

ellenaim — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:48:32 -0800

Help me teach myself about the current political and social climate in Russia. In the vein of other teach yourself threads, I'd like to develop a deep understanding of current politics in Russia. I expect this to be part history, part current events, part commentary, and other parts I haven't thought of (that's why I'm asking). I suspect that in order to truly understand the present I will need to dig into the past -- Imperial Russia, Russian Revolution, early USSR, WW II, late USSR, post-USSR -- yet each of these is a massive study in itself. I'm at a loss for where to begin (I realize this is a huge undertaking) ...

What resources, online and otherwise, would you suggest, and in what order to approach this?

Russian language resources are acceptable -- I have a pretty good understanding of spoken Russian and am simultaneously working on improving my reading skills. I don't have any background in Russian history. My current knowledge of Russian politics is completely based on mainstream American media coverage.

Is it possible to buy .su email address?

damn dirty ape — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:04:38 -0800

Is it possible to buy .su email address? Ideally, this would be an xmas present for someone who could just have his mail forwarded from that alias to his real email account. I'm also concerned that a provider for this may not be very reliable, but that's ok as this would mostly be a vanity address.

If not, can an American buy an .su domain name without getting into some kind of trouble with ICANN (or whomever)?

Getting Russians to Listen

PoopyDoop — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:11:29 -0800

In the context of advertising and marketing in Russia, who are the opinion leaders and influencers for the 18 to 35 year old demographic? Who do Russians admire? Who is the cool of the cool? Specific reference to effective marketing campaigns in Russia would be awesome.

does this soviet poster exist?

Mayor Curley — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:17:19 -0800

I have heard several reference to a Soviet propaganda poster that I can't find. Maybe it's a hoax, perhaps you've seen it. You might even know where I can view it. The poster advertises the availability of abortion in the case of unwanted pregnancy. Under that is Jesus's mother Mary, with a word balloon or caption saying something to the effect of "If only I had known!"

A professor in the mid 90's asserted that it existed, but I don't think she said that she had seen it personally. I once met a man who claimed to have seen a copy for sale in a book stall in Eastern Germany c.1993, but the conversation took place in a bar and we all know how credible bar talk is.

I can't find any discussion of it on the Internet in english, and it would be more effort than it warrants for me to try to do it in my very limited Russian. Have you seen this poster? Do you know where I can see it? Perhaps you have read about it and concluded it's a myth. Any info is appreciated.

Need help figuring out symbols on a pocketwatch.

Cataline — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:55:27 -0800

My brother gave me a Soviet-era pocketwatch for my 40th birthday. On the obverse of the watch are two wolves in a forest. Within the forest, there is a circle of rope with little pennants tied it. These pennants appear to be hemming the wolves into a circle so that hunters can capture them. Can anyone explain this?

Who were these masked kids?

zamboni — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:17:28 -0800

Can you provide context for a gas masked army of children? I'd like to know the who, where and when of this photo, a piece of internet flotsam that washed up via fffound₁. It's both creepy and intriguing. I've cursorily tried to identify the uniforms, and gas masks - probably Soviet WWII, but I'm quite open to being wrong. A flickr copy of it suggests that it was originally posted to vintagephoto.
1. possibly nsfw.

"Soviet" looking fonts?

sharksandwich — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:09:29 -0800

Can anyone name this "Soviet" looking font? Or point me to some other Eastern European fonts in the same vein (preferably free)? The small gif example is here:

http://www.qksrv.net/image-779027-5516802.gif

Soviet scholars: What's this unexplained footnote in my book?

bukharin — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:19:44 -0800

Any Soviet scholars out there? In my copy of Nadezda Mandelstam's incredible and beautiful memoir, Hope Against Hope, the 1999 paperback edition by Harvill Press, there is an unexplained footnote: "H.A.H.-" followed by a capital letter. Does this occur in other editions? Does anyone know what it's about? At first I imagined it was a coded message, but when I realized that they occurred regularly and that the letters ascended (though some letters seem to be skipped, like from H.A.H.-I to H.A.H.-K) that maybe it was a way of demarcing sections of smuggled samizdat. Or maybe it's something more mundane?

Is it common for US Americans to incorrectly assume that Russian is only spoken in Russia

gregb1007 — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 02:37:32 -0800

Is it common for Americans to incorrectly assume that Russian is only spoken in Russia but forget that it is also a common language in the former Soviet states? My question is prompted by a recent conversation with a friend from Latin America. He told me that he didn't trust in a Kirgizi young woman's ability to speak correct Russian because she was not from Russia. He thought she must have learned Russian as a second language, although she has spoken it as a first language.

I was kind of shocked by lack of my friend's awareness of how many people from post-Soviet states spoke Russian as a first language.

My question is: Do US Americans often tend to mistake this mistake as well? My friend was from Latin America, but I wonder whether a person from the US is also likely to be unaware that Russian is commonly spoken in the former Soviet Republics outside of Russia, (especially Central Asia)

P.S (I am only concerned about US-Americans knowledge in this question, even though this question was prompted by a conversation with someone from Latin America.)

Where did all the propagandists go?

brundlefly — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:45:57 -0800

Are any of the old Soviet poster designers still working? This FPP made me wonder if any of these ridiculously talented artists did significant work after the fall of the USSR. Or did they just vanish after the whole propaganda market dried up? Are there any names I should look for?

How can I communicate better with my post-Soviet girlfriend?

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 08:28:31 -0800

I am 23 years old and have been with my girlfriend, who is from the former Soviet Union, for almost four years now. We often have drastic and painful arguments that result from socio-cultural and religious differences. Is this a common problem or experience for those in similar relationships? My girlfriend is Eastern Orthodox and was raised by a single mother in a large capital in one of the former European Soviet republics. I was raised by a single mother in a large mid-western city in the USA. We met at our university.

I believe that we are having more and more difficulty communicating on many levels.

My girlfriend explains a lot of our disagreements as “typically American” and places the blame squarely on my shoulders. She holds grudges for nearly everything and is highly suspicious of American doctors, all of my friends and my family. She believes that colds come from drafts and not closed windows.

She teaches English and speaks five other languages, so our communication issues do not hinge upon her mastery of the English language. I speak her language fluently (not Russian), as well as two of the other languages she has mastered. I have visited her country twice with her and know her friends and family there well. We know how to talk, in other words.

I have talked to (male) friends from the former Soviet Union and other post-Communist countries about this--from Turkmenistan to Ukraine and even to a few Romanians. Their consensus was that "Soviet" women are stubborn and controlling.

I am completely lost as to what I can do to save our relationship. These behaviors only began to manifest themselves when we began living together, a little over a year ago.

My financial situation is quite a bit more stable than her own, although she pays her share of the bills and I never ask her for a penny more. Her mother visited us once for a few months, during which I largely paid for most of our trips and outings. We had a lovely time--our relationship was great then.

As I began to take on more work and I started my thesis, I spent less time at home during the semesters and found myself at work or in class more and more. She also teaches most of the day and is home in the evenings, which is when I usually set about to write and do research. This was our first point of disagreement.

In her opinion, "men" should spend time with their significant others in the evening and if they can't do this, then they should "work on their organizational skills." I made some changes so that I would spend several hours in the evening with her before returning to my work after she had gone to bed. This didn't work for me in the long run and it showed in the quality of my work and in my health.

At the same time of this schedule change, to which she responded positively, I observed a sharp decline in my libido, which I attributed to my lack of sleep. (Less than five hours a night). She blames this problem on a lack of parsley and meat in my diet, not on a lack of sleep, which she dismisses as a “typically lazy American perspective” and points to her tough years as an undergraduate in her home country.
I am a vegetarian. Her rejection of this as a viable lifestyle didn’t manifest itself until after her mother visited and she often points to its rarity in her country as evidence of its supposed uselessness.

I apologize if this was too wordy, but I am at a complete loss and feel as if I am missing the larger picture.

Soviet circus propaganda

tellurian — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 18:19:23 -0800

In the book I'm currently reading about Bobby Fischer and his match with Boris Spassky, the author's write, "the Soviets would construct their propaganda edifice on three main pillars, 'chess, the circus and ballet. In all three the Soviet Union could be shown to be far ahead of the West.'" 1) Is this true (the three main pillars bit)? and if so; 2) I can understand chess and ballet, but circuses? Can anyone explain or point me to sources that tell the story of how this nation would attempt to demonstrate their superiority by showing that their clowns were better than yours?

Source of "Soviet-style" posters on DC Metro?

ubernostrum — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 10:29:10 -0800

Jason Kottke, BoingBoing and a couple other places have picked up the story of a Soviet-style poster that's been spotted on the DC-area Metro. Looking at it carefully, I just can't believe that this is genuine; for one thing, the poster's artwork just doesn't fit (take a glance at the hand just behind the head of the man in the foreground -- this is obviously a hand holding a flag, not someone grasping a pole in a Metro car). I've been looking through galleries of old Soviet propaganda posters all morning to see if I can find a source it could have been Photoshopped from, but without luck. Does anyone know more about this poster and whether it is genuine? Or if it isn't, what the actual source is?