Hello from Russia!

[Sergo]

Sergo:

privet, i dobro pojalyvat' v etot forym!! ya iz Bellorysii, i toje govory po ryski. kak dela?

Hi Hermione, nice to hear from a fellow Russian-speaker!
Hope you will like it here.
I must admit that the list of the books you have read looks quite convincing, and it seems you manage well that HP site of yours...
Too bad my daughter is way lazyer than you, being older by several months, HP fan and all...
You seem to be a very purposeful person, eh?
I imagine you will have a lot of opportunities open before you with your knowledge and language skill.

How do you like it in Bielorussia?
As to me, I see to it that no goods of mine were delivered through Bielorussia, as Mr. Lukashenko is one skilled requisitioner, and it is easy to loose a truck or two there with no reason at all.

 

[Sergo]

Just found this newspaper review of last weeks Russian Godfathers:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,3604,1663196,00.html

The next episode is on Thursday and is about the Khodorkovski trial:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tvandfilm/t...&headline=russian-godfathers--name_page.htmll

Thanks. I think there will be more on Khodorkovsky, after the program was released.

As to Berezovsky... I heard this thing many times about him giving power to Mr. Putin, encluding coming from Berezovsky's own lips:

"and when Yeltsin collapsed, usually after lunch, Berezovsky choose Putin as his successor. Or, perhaps, as a pun. This was a catastrophic misjudgement."

I somehow cannot believe it. It just doesn't click in place. I can imagine that BB believes he has done it, but I think there were other people behind Mr. Putin.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

As to Berezovsky... I heard this thing many times about him giving power to Mr. Putin, encluding coming from Berezovsky's own lips:

"and when Yeltsin collapsed, usually after lunch, Berezovsky choose Putin as his successor. Or, perhaps, as a pun. This was a catastrophic misjudgement."

I somehow cannot believe it. It just doesn't click in place. I can imagine that BB believes he has done it, but I think there were other people behind Mr. Putin.

Quite possibly; but presenting Berezovsky as the former puppet master trying to get revenge was too tempting a tag line for the programme makers. However, there were hints in the programme that what Berezovsky believes and what is actually happening are not always the same. For example in a large part of the programme Berezovsky is funding the Orange Revelution with the expectancy that the new Ukrainian government will be so grateful they will run the risk of letting him use Kiev as his new base. But to the outside observer it seems obvious that they will not be in a position to do any such thing.
As I said before, the star of the film for me, and the person who seems to understand the chaos more than anyone, is the editor of his newspaper ‘Kommersant’, Andrei Vasiliev. You could make an excellent series just by following him.

So I do not think they will issue such a program on DVD, and even if they do - I would not have known how to obtain one... OK, I could order it and arrange payment and delivery, say, by UPS...

If you wanted to buy a BBC series I suggest this one first perhaps, I think you would find it interesting:

http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/sprcebun&bklist=icat,5,,11,science,83

Actually, the series was a co-production between the BBC, NDR in Germany, Russia's Channel One TV, and National Geographic Channel-US. So you may get to see it over there.

 

[Sergo]

Quite possibly; but presenting Berezovsky as the former puppet master trying to get revenge was too tempting a tag line for the programme makers. However, there were hints in the programme that what Berezovsky believes and what is actually happening are not always the same. For example in a large part of the programme Berezovsky is funding the Orange Revelution with the expectancy that the new Ukrainian government will be so grateful they will run the risk of letting him use Kiev as his new base. But to the outside observer it seems obvious that they will not be in a position to do any such thing.
As I said before, the star of the film for me, and the person who seems to understand the chaos more than anyone, is the editor of his newspaper ‘Kommersant’, Andrei Vasiliev. You could make an excellent series just by following him.

OK.
BTW, are many people in the UK interested in these programs, or your attitude is kind of unique, because of your interest in Russian literature and Russian/Ukrainian friends?
I wouldn't say that an average Russian knows much about UK really.
(Have I told you of my talks with some people in SPb, who thought that the ministers in UK, USA etc. collect money from their subordinates, and part of the collected money hand over to their prime minister, or president etc., same as they think it works in Russia?)

If you wanted to buy a BBC series I suggest this one first perhaps, I think you would find it interesting:

http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/sprcebun&bklist=icat,5,,11,science,83

Actually, the series was a co-production between the BBC, NDR in Germany, Russia's Channel One TV, and National Geographic Channel-US. So you may get to see it over there.

Thanks, it seems to be about space.
You know, we, Russians, live in a society impregnated with tons of information about space: how our scientists worked on space travel problems starting two hundred years ago or so until it became a reality, how we were rivals with USA, how they won in the end, how it came to a point where it is no longer clear if it were USA who really won, etc.
BTW, I even was a senior site manager in Zvyozdny Gorodok, and several well-known cosmonauts came to me to ask for some "bluish WC" or better veneered door, or additional cloak-room shelves... After I turned some of them away, they tried to steal something from my warehouse.
And I've really touched the Buran space shattle with my own hand. They had it lying between other rubbish in the inside yard of a former top-secret factory in Moscow, which was later turned in the customs warehouse...

 

[Kenny Shovel]

BTW, are many people in the UK interested in these programs, or your attitude is kind of unique, because of your interest in Russian literature and Russian/Ukrainian friends?

According to the official figures the first show was watched by 1.2 million people, about 5% of the audience watching TV at that time. Not much, but not too bad considering it was on at the same time as ‘Little Britain’ currently the most watched comedy show and ‘Doc Martin’ a popular comedy/drama series.

I wouldn't say that an average Russian knows much about UK really.

Most people, from whatever country, are just happy to live their lives and accept easy stereotypes rather than make an effort to learn. Me included a lot of the time.

Have I told you of my talks with some people in SPb, who thought that the ministers in UK, USA etc. collect money from their subordinates, and part of the collected money hand over to their prime minister, or president etc., same as they think it works in Russia?

One of the few times that Berezovsky laughs in the ‘Russian Godfathers’ film is when he explains that Putin can’t understand how he has got political sanctuary in Britain and Putin can’t use Blair to get at him. The separation between State and Legal system is beyond his understanding.

You know, we, Russians, live in a society impregnated with tons of information about space: how our scientists worked on space travel problems starting two hundred years ago or so until it became a reality, how we were rivals with USA, how they won in the end, how it came to a point where it is no longer clear if it were USA who really won, etc.

Yes, of course, silly of me. Anyway the series is excellent.

BTW, I even was a senior site manager in Zvyozdny Gorodok, and several well-known cosmonauts came to me to ask for some "bluish WC" or better veneered door, or additional cloak-room shelves... After I turned some of them away, they tried to steal something from my warehouse.

There aren’t many people who can say ‘Yuri Gagarin stole my urinal cake’.

This is a urinal cake btw:



and this is... welll you probably know who this is:

 

[Sergo]

According to the official figures the first show was watched by 1.2 million people, about 5% of the audience watching TV at that time. Not much, but not too bad considering it was on at the same time as ‘Little Britain’ currently the most watched comedy show and ‘Doc Martin’ a popular comedy/drama series.

Wow, that's great. I do not think we would have much bigger figure here in Russia. That means people are interested in Russia.
(Or that they got too bored with everything else already.)

Most people, from whatever country, are just happy to live their lives and accept easy stereotypes rather than make an effort to learn. Me included a lot of the time.

Oh, that's natural, of course. I, on the other hand, am quite curious about other countries. But in the end it seems I learned almost nothing. So it is all the same for all of us, excluding some lucky (?) ones like Thur Heyerdal or our Yury Senkevich.

One of the few times that Berezovsky laughs in the ‘Russian Godfathers’ film is when he explains that Putin can’t understand how he has got political sanctuary in Britain and Putin can’t use Blair to get at him. The separation between State and Legal system is beyond his understanding.

Yep. It beats me how those people just cannot learn that life in other places could be organized slightly different from what they are accustomed to in Russia.

Yes, of course, silly of me. Anyway the series is excellent.

Not at all: thanks for your advice.
Yes, I understand it: I frequently watch such programs on our TV, when I have time. We have at least four international channels specialised on science/technology/space plus our own programmes... But I somehow cannot see myself going too far to obtain such a program, as I have seen quite a lot of them (including very good) in my life.

There aren’t many people who can say ‘Yuri Gagarin stole my urinal cake’.

Oh, no, not Gagarin - he was already dead by then (have you known he had crushed with his plane?), but some others VERY well known people - I do not remember their names now, but can easily find them, if shown a photograph...

This is a urinal cake btw:

Oh, I see, though I still cannot recognize it for what it is.

and this is... welll you probably know who this is:

Yep, yep, it is our Yura. I'll be damned, if more than 100 Russians older than 20 y.o. would not recognise him, being asked in the middle of the night.

 

[spiralsky]

Russia

Wow I can imagine well no i can't imagine how different things would be there.... Then here in the USA. Welcome I am a new person and love the site.. Hope to read many posts from you
Claire

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Wow, that's great. I do not think we would have much bigger figure here in Russia. That means people are interested in Russia.

Perhaps, although documentaries are reasonably popular on British TV as they have a tradition of being high quality. Whenever people moan about television not being good I always remember a quote by the Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski

“What is the difference between films made for television and those made for cinema? First, I don’t think the television viewer is less intelligent than the cinema audience. The reason why television is the way it is, isn’t because the viewers are slow-witted but because editors think they are. I think that’s the problem with television. This doesn’t apply so much to British television which isn’t as stupid as German, French or Polish television. British television is a little more predisposed to education, on the one hand, and, on the other, to presenting opinions and matters connected with culture. These things are treated far more broadly and seriously by British television, especially the BBC or Channel 4, and this is done through their precise, broad and exact documentary films and films about individuals. Whereas television in most countries – including America – is as idiotic as it is because the editors think people are idiots. I don’t think people are idiots and that’s why I treat both audiences equally seriously.”

I’m not in a position to know if his comparisons are correct but I do agree that the documentaries you get on British TV tend to be good, and are probably more frequent than elsewhere. For example the first ‘Russian Godfathers’ programme would have probably got more viewers if their wasn’t a documentary on another channel at the same time about air crash investigators being watch by 1.3 million people. There’s still a hell of a lot of crap on British TV btw!

Oh, that's natural, of course. I, on the other hand, am quite curious about other countries. But in the end it seems I learned almost nothing.

Sure, I’m curious too. It always strikes me as odd that a site like this has people from many different countries and cultures, and yet members, some of whom seem to think that they are intelligent just because they read more than average, don’t take the opportunity to learn from each other more. To me that’s just a lack of intellectual curiosity.

So it is all the same for all of us, excluding some lucky (?) ones like Thur Heyerdal

I’ve got Heyerdahl’s autobiography on one my shelves here, and interesting read. I need to track down the book he wrote about the Kon-Tiki expedition.

or our Yury Senkevich.

I’d not heard of him before, he seems a bit like our David Attenborough.

Yep. It beats me how those people just cannot learn that life in other places could be organized slightly different from what they are accustomed to in Russia.

In Putins case I suspect it is down to his background in the KGB, I could imagine that being a very contained little world of its own; in a strange way almost like being in a monastery.

Oh, no, not Gagarin - he was already dead by then (have you known he had crushed with his plane?),

I knew he was dead. He’s someone I should get a biography about.

Oh, I see, though I still cannot recognize it for what it is.

For the sake of cross-cultural education…

Regards,

K-S

 

[Sergo]

Perhaps, although documentaries are reasonably popular on British TV as they have a tradition of being high quality. Whenever people moan about television not being good I always remember a quote by the Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski

“What is the difference between films made for television and those made for cinema? First, I don’t think the television viewer is less intelligent than the cinema audience. The reason why television is the way it is, isn’t because the viewers are slow-witted but because editors think they are. I think that’s the problem with television. This doesn’t apply so much to British television which isn’t as stupid as German, French or Polish television. British television is a little more predisposed to education, on the one hand, and, on the other, to presenting opinions and matters connected with culture. These things are treated far more broadly and seriously by British television, especially the BBC or Channel 4, and this is done through their precise, broad and exact documentary films and films about individuals. Whereas television in most countries – including America – is as idiotic as it is because the editors think people are idiots. I don’t think people are idiots and that’s why I treat both audiences equally seriously.”

I’m not in a position to know if his comparisons are correct but I do agree that the documentaries you get on British TV tend to be good, and are probably more frequent than elsewhere. For example the first ‘Russian Godfathers’ programme would have probably got more viewers if their wasn’t a documentary on another channel at the same time about air crash investigators being watch by 1.3 million people. There’s still a hell of a lot of crap on British TV btw!

I see. We have a possibility to watch many BBC programs - I like them very much. But really I do not watch TV too often, and when I do - it is mostly news, programs on gardening and interior design, talk-shows on political and social problems, music clips, films about nature, travel, science etc. And films - it is very often that it turns out that they show on TV some film that everybody except me have already seen...

Sure, I’m curious too. It always strikes me as odd that a site like this has people from many different countries and cultures, and yet members, some of whom seem to think that they are intelligent just because they read more than average, don’t take the opportunity to learn from each other more. To me that’s just a lack of intellectual curiosity.

I think that could be explained by one thing very usual for people: laziness. If not for it - our life would have been very different, I am sure.
And... You know, it is my personal opinion, that could be very wrong, of course, but I think that in many cases people go to chat places for the same reason they read - to kill free time, to keep their brains busy in the easy way.

I’ve got Heyerdahl’s autobiography on one my shelves here, and interesting read. I need to track down the book he wrote about the Kon-Tiki expedition.

Yep. When I was younger, many friends of mine admired Tuhr and his travels. It is not exactly the same now (I will ask my daughter about him after I finish this message - she has already went to the second floor), as it is no longer a problem for many Russians to go to exotic places... Though not many of us choose life of Fyodor Khonyuhov, who travels alone in his small yacht...

I’d not heard of him before, he seems a bit like our David Attenborough.

Yes, it seems they are very much alike, though I cannot remember our Senkevich collecting animals... He was a doctor, and Heyerdahl invited him to many of his travels. He was for many years the author of "The Club of TV-travellers" - our most loved TV program in the last century... He died several years ago, and his program died with him.

In Putins case I suspect it is down to his background in the KGB, I could imagine that being a very contained little world of its own; in a strange way almost like being in a monastery.

You know, usually KGB recruited the best material they could put their hands on (in my case they obviously made a big mistake to approach me ), and some former KGB people whom I personally know are very intelligent and able people. So that looks like a phenomena usual for the totalitarian countries, where the chief of state could be for years mistaken about life of his own citizens, as he never lived near them, never got any truthful information about them, and could get very wrong impressions from his personal aids and advisers.
And it could be his own inability to apprehend that he was wrong in anything. We, ordinary people, find ourselves wrong almost every day, but a President has too many subordinates around him whose only work is to make him believe he is never wrong.

I knew he was dead. He’s someone I should get a biography about.

Oh, sorry.
His death was another mistery not totally cleared until now, it would seem.

For the sake of cross-cultural education…

Oh, I understand it now, of course!

Regards,

K-S

Take care - hope it doesn't rain where you are...

S.

 

[Sergo]

Wow I can imagine well no i can't imagine how different things would be there.... Then here in the USA. Welcome I am a new person and love the site.. Hope to read many posts from you
Claire

Hi Spiralsky! Welcome, feel yourself comfortable here, it is a great place to know more about people in other countries as well as about books...
That's funny: life here and in the States is very much the same in very many aspects: it is cold in Winter where I live but not too much, same as somewhere near Boston, so I use to clear snow away the same equipment made in Canada as you or your neighbor may use, I read the same books of American writers, as you may read, and you may read something by our Russian writers, and both of us wear things made in China. And - we had our Afganistan in about the same way as you had Vietnam, and we have our Chechnya in the sense like you have Iraq and Afganistan now. We even had our own houses destroyed by terrorists.

And I somehow think that we have many exactly the same personal problems as Americans do - excessive eating, for example, or school crime...

Until I came here I was sure Americans were more God-believers than Russians. But now I am not so sure of that.

And... Russian stereotype for an American is: an active, rich person, not reading too much, arrogant, self-centered and not too cultured. Somehow I do not think that is right, same as American stereotype for a Russian.
How do you think?

 

[cshigh]

Sergo,

I live in America, and I am always looking to try out new authors. If you could recommend a Russian author, who would you recommend in the mystery/crime/thriller genre?

Thanks.

 

[Sergo]

Sergo,

I live in America, and I am always looking to try out new authors. If you could recommend a Russian author, who would you recommend in the mystery/crime/thriller genre?

Thanks.

Hi cshigh,

As to Fantasy, I can mention Sergey Lukyanenko, who is very popular here because of two films made after his stories. I hadn't read anything by him, but you can learn about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lukyanenko
or on his official site:
http://fiction.ru/lukian/english/.

Another Fantasy author is Yuri Nikitin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Nikitin

Speaking of fiction... We have a lot of good fiction authors, maybe you should start with Strugatsky brothers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strugatsky_brothers

Our contemporary crime writers are Alexandra Marinina
http://www.marinina.ru/english/
and Daria Dontsova: http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1449516,00.html (she is mentioned there - I couldn't have found anything better).
Really, I do not like them much, but they are very popular here.

As to thrillers, you may try Boris Akunin
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Akunin

and Julia Latynina:
http://lib.ru/RUFANT/LATYNINA/insajder_engl.txt. There should be a lot of her books free on the net, I like her stories.

OK, that's it for now.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

I see. We have a possibility to watch many BBC programs - I like them very much.

You get things like Top Gear in Russia don’t you? Is this on a BBC Worldwide channel or subtitled on normal Russian channels?

But really I do not watch TV too often, and when I do - it is mostly news, programs on gardening and interior design, talk-shows on political and social problems, music clips, films about nature, travel, science etc. And films - it is very often that it turns out that they show on TV some film that everybody except me have already seen...

I like documentaries, political discussion and sport myself.

I think that could be explained by one thing very usual for people: laziness. If not for it - our life would have been very different, I am sure.

Yeah, I can see that, and I’m as guilty of laziness as the next person. But to talk to someone from a different country and not try and discover what different experiences they have had with life is beyond lazy; as I said it’s a lack of intellectual curiosity.

…I think that in many cases people go to chat places for the same reason they read - to kill free time, to keep their brains busy in the easy way.

Yeah, I can see that too…

Yep. When I was younger, many friends of mine admired Tuhr and his travels. It is not exactly the same now (I will ask my daughter about him after I finish this message - she has already went to the second floor), as it is no longer a problem for many Russians to go to exotic places... Though not many of us choose life of Fyodor Khonyuhov, who travels alone in his small yacht...

But how old was your daughter? Fourteen? I don’t think such things were that far up my list of interesting things at that age.

Yes, it seems they are very much alike, though I cannot remember our Senkevich collecting animals... He was a doctor, and Heyerdahl invited him to many of his travels. He was for many years the author of "The Club of TV-travellers" - our most loved TV program in the last century... He died several years ago, and his program died with him.

So his programmes would have been popular as he got to travel to countries that ordinary Russians at that time could only dream of I guess. We had shows like that too, Whicker's World being the best known. Attenbourgh was famous for the wildlife documentaries he made; his brother is also a famous actor and director.

…that looks like a phenomena usual for the totalitarian countries, where the chief of state could be for years mistaken about life of his own citizens, as he never lived near them, never got any truthful information about them, and could get very wrong impressions from his personal aids and advisers.
And it could be his own inability to apprehend that he was wrong in anything. We, ordinary people, find ourselves wrong almost every day, but a President has too many subordinates around him whose only work is to make him believe he is never wrong…

Well again I can see parallels with any large organisation in what you describe. I have worked for large companies where this is also true, the man at the top is not told what is really happening because he is fed an incorrect impression rather than finding out for himself. To use an old English saying ‘If you want to know what the weather is like ask the haymaker’.
The situation is similar with politicians, but the consequences are even more far reaching.

 

[Sergo]

Sorry, the previous one was in German, the English one for Boris Akunin is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Akunin

and Julia Latynina is author of very different things, and "The Insider" is some cross-breed between "Economy-Fiction" and "Reality Thriller", if there are such things... The Insider is really a part of a serie.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

As to thrillers, you may try Boris Akunin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Akunin (linked redirected to english version!)

Of Sergos recommendations, Akunin is the easyiest to find in an English Language bookshop as his Erast Fandorin series of books are in the process of being published in English. They're being marketed as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, with perhaps more of the former than the later being the case. The ones published so far are:

The Winter Queen
Turkish Gambit
Murder on the Leviathan
The Death of Achilles

Of those I'd say that Turkish Gambit is probably the best. The series itself isn't exactly Shakespere but an example of good, honest, enjoyable crime-thriller writing.

Regards,


K-S

 

[Sergo]

You get things like Top Gear in Russia don’t you? Is this on a BBC Worldwide channel or subtitled on normal Russian channels?

I just finished watching a Russian gardening program on our NTV channel, and before that went the Top Gear. It is not subtitled, it goes as all the other international programs on our TV - exactly the same as Russian programs, with a different Russian actor for every different actor in the program. I imagine this is expensive, but they somehow manage it.

I like documentaries, political discussion and sport myself.

I am there with you except on sports - I watch sport programs rarely.

Yeah, I can see that, and I’m as guilty of laziness as the next person. But to talk to someone from a different country and not try and discover what different experiences they have had with life is beyond lazy; as I said it’s a lack of intellectual curiosity.

Yes, it would seem so.

But how old was your daughter? Fourteen? I don’t think such things were that far up my list of interesting things at that age.

She will be fifteen in next month, and she knows nothing about Tuhr Heyerdahl, Kon Tiki or Ra... And as far as I remember, I was very interested in such things from twelve years or so...

So his programmes would have been popular as he got to travel to countries that ordinary Russians at that time could only dream of I guess. We had shows like that too, Whicker's World being the best known. Attenbourgh was famous for the wildlife documentaries he made; his brother is also a famous actor and director.

Yep, imagine about every Russian having a TV waiting for the next program, and turning TV on each Sunday evening (if I remember correctly, it started at 18.00)... We had another program "In the world of animals" which was also very popular then. And the third most popular thing was figure skating tournaments, which we all watched in the last century...

Well again I can see parallels with any large organisation in what you describe. I have worked for large companies where this is also true, the man at the top is not told what is really happening because he is fed an incorrect impression rather than finding out for himself. To use an old English saying ‘If you want to know what the weather is like ask the haymaker’.
The situation is similar with politicians, but the consequences are even more far reaching.

I see. So, maybe it was good for me I never worked in a really large company... It would be difficult for me to work for bosses whom it would be hard to feel sympathy for...

 

[Sergo]

Of Sergos recommendations, Akunin is the easyiest to find in an English Language bookshop as his Erast Fandorin series of books are in the process of being published in English. They're being marketed as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, with perhaps more of the former than the later being the case. The ones published so far are:

Of those I'd say that Turkish Gambit is probably the best. The series itself isn't exactly Shakespere but an example of good, honest, enjoyable crime-thriller writing.

Regards,


K-S

It is amazing how we made these messages in exactly the same time, to the minute...

 

[Kenny Shovel]

I just finished watching a Russian gardening program on our NTV channel, and before that went the Top Gear. It is not subtitled, it goes as all the other international programs on our TV - exactly the same as Russian programs, with a different Russian actor for every different actor in the program. I imagine this is expensive, but they somehow manage it.

Do you mean the programme is dubbed?

She will be fifteen in next month, and she knows nothing about Tuhr Heyerdahl, Kon Tiki or Ra... And as far as I remember, I was very interested in such things from twelve years or so...

Ok, but people taste changes a lot between fifteen and say twenty one.

Yep, imagine about every Russian having a TV waiting for the next program, and turning TV on each Sunday evening (if I remember correctly, it started at 18.00)... We had another program "In the world of animals" which was also very popular then. And the third most popular thing was figure skating tournaments, which we all watched in the last century...

The big natural history programme from when I was a child was Life on Earth, which took several years to make. The shows that tended to get the largest audiences then, and now too I suppose, are comedies and soap-operas.

I see. So, maybe it was good for me I never worked in a really large company...

But sometimes there is safety in numbers…

 

[cshigh]

Sergo and K-S,

Thank you for the recommendations. I will take a look online to see what I can find. Boris Akunin seems to be an author that interests me.

 

[Sergo]

Do you mean the programme is dubbed?

Yes, that's what I meant, thanks.

Ok, but people taste changes a lot between fifteen and say twenty one.

Sure. I hope to be able to see this change in her taste when she is twenty one...

The big natural history programme from when I was a child was Life on Earth, which took several years to make. The shows that tended to get the largest audiences then, and now too I suppose, are comedies and soap-operas.

You know, the major difference between our cultures is that we learned first about soap-operas only fifteen years ago or so. Because of that nearly 100% of population have experience of watching "Santa-Barbara", "Izaura the slave woman", "My second mother". I got fed up with it in the middle of "Santa-Barbara"...