“Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” You know what pisses me off the most about the courts? It’s the denial that surrounds them. President PM Medvedev can do a serious interview with a serious UK publication, and wave off all concerns about Pussy Riot by pointing out that the court should decide. This is coming from a lawyer!!! Every Russian lawyer knows what these courts are actually like. Come on. Of course, these are not the arbitration courts we are talking about here. Those function pretty decently, actually. And that’s an important distinction to make. See, you can have normal courts in Russia – if the will is there.
I go and have breakfast with a beautiful woman, and we talk masochism. In a horror movie context. I think it’s true that Russian audiences are more sophisticated when it comes to horror/thrillers. Remember “Hostel”? Every single Russian person I’ve spoken to about it since moving here will say something like, “That movie. It is so immature.” Teenage boys included.
Also, because of my birthday I wrote about what it’s like to be a woman zeroing in on her 30s in Russia. It’s not bad, actually. Especially after you have a kid. You’ve fulfilled your duty, you can just dick around (if you manage to get past the gendered terminology).
Natalia A. 
That joke is tasteless and awesome. С днем рождения! Желаю тебе творческих успехов, интересных путешествий, и много сомнительных (но смешных) анекдотов!
Have you seen the documentary Until the Light Takes Us? It is about the Norwegian black metal scene in the 1990’s. There are some very interesting interviews with the men who were in the movement, and how they described their music and it’s darkness as a direct reaction to the comforts of modern Norwegian life.