So I’m a few days behind – on account of being too busy living and working to blog – but I wanted to point out that the flat I am staying in here in Moscow belonged to the wonderful woman to whom this essay was dedicated. She loved me very much, and she loved my mother, and that love still goes on, somewhere. She was also kind of gangsta. In ways I couldn’t begin to describe.
Since I also can’t begin to describe what I’ve been up to, especially since I am exhausted to the point of glassy-eyed giggling, here is some music. Starting with Ian Brown, at whose concert I was waving my beer around the other night like a damn fool, thanks, once again, to the undeserved kindness of wonderful people.
F.E.A.R. – Ian Brown
Don’t Let Me Down – The Beatles
Find Me Somebody to Love – Queen
Dirty Mind – the Pipettes
Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta – Geto Boys
Kuinya – Ivan Kupala
Agora – Rovo
Black Sunday Afternoon – Anna Ternheim
Thorn-torn Lips – Robert Berkman
Since I haven’t forgotten where I’m from (in case you’re wondering), I thought it would be cool to include a video by Perkalaba, shot in Western Ukraine, with the participation of my cousin Solomia and my friend Rusya (they are the beautiful women running around/covered in food):
And yes, I realize, the following is kind of a cliche for those in the know, but I couldn’t care less right now:
Oh, Moscow. Oh. 😉
Natalia A. 
The photos of the vysotka v tumane and the snowy bulvar weren’t enough? You had to go and post Ya Shagayu po Moskve, complete with the Universitet station, too? So glad you’re having a great time in Moscow. Wish I was there.
What’s with the occasional multicoloured fish in the sky in that video?
It’s been fun. 😉 I have to come back soon.
The fish are just there, I guess.
1. All Day Music by War 2. Watch That Man by David Bowie 3. Sabotage by Desmond Dekker 4. We’ll Get Ahead Someday by Porter Waggoner and Dolly Parton 5. Lesson Learned by Alice in Chains. That new guy they got sounds disturbingly like the dearly departed Layne Staley. 6. Heaven by Men Without Hats 7. Hey Girl by The Small Faces 8. Long Black Veil by The Band 9. Love Ain’t For Keeping by The Who 10. I Can’t Believe by Jimmy Rogers.
And now the Pinocchio strings remix.