Cafés: Arkhangelskoe, Russian Federation

Olga and Pavel, Arkhangelskoe, Russian Federation, 2008

Outdoor cafés are wonderful places. In itself, an outdoor café requires only some tables, chairs, and perhaps an umbrella to block the sun and rain, but nothing more is necessary. What makes an outdoor café so special is that it takes on the culture and characteristics of it’s location, whether it is on a street, in a park, on a city square, or along a seacoast. There is no need to create an atmosphere because the atmosphere is already authentic. When food is a cultural experience, there can be no better place to enjoy it than amongst the culture and geography from which it was created.

The Russian Forest

Forest, Near the Bay of Finland, Russian Federation, 2008

European Russian is a geographically divided country. In the south stretches the grassy steppe, the territory of ancient Rus and the birthplace of the Russian state. In the north stretches great forests, the place of refuge for the Slavs from the invasion into the steppe by the Golden Horde in the 13th century. In these forests later arose the princedoms of the Golden Ring, Muscovy, and finally modern Russia.

Jazmin

Jazmin

My wife correctly criticizes me in that I will listen to a lot of pop music from other countries that I would never listen to if the music was American and sung in English. My defense is that what is pop in the United States is more mainstream in other parts of the world and to not listen to it is to not listen to much of what much of the world has to offer.

Jazmin is example number one. My first experience with this singer was her video for the title song to this album (watch and listen). I like the rhythm guitar, the video and it’s locales in Helsinki and Stockholm, and I freely admit that I think the singer is attractive to watch. Her music may be pop, but it is still much better than the cheesy covers on her CDs might suggest.

Jazmin was born in Dagestan. You can find her web fan site (in Russian) here.