I first heard this song this past winter, and have been thinking about it for a while: Instead of the fantasy world of boutiques and Porsche Cayennes and lip implants, I get the reality of my own neighbourhood in Ukraine: colloquial pronunciations, walls covered in graffiti and guys named Vasya, along with gossiping grandmas inContinue reading “Anyone who’s ever lived in a run-down neighbourhood in Kiev or Moscow or…”
Author Archives: Natalia Antonova
Monday Music: the Chestnuts of Kiev Edition
It’s good to be da king. And it’s good to be back in the city of blooming chestnuts, for a bit. Everyone’s talking politics and, despite the crisis, the bars in the center appear packed. One of my grandmothers has fallen in love with Susan Boyle, the other one is drawing upon her extensive experienceContinue reading “Monday Music: the Chestnuts of Kiev Edition”
Eurovision, Poetry and Sangria
A big congratulations to Norway’s Alexander Rybak and his lovely, playful “Fairytale” – a huge Eurovision win. Sasha was born in Belarus and speaks Russian as well as Norwegian. I still think that Sweden should have done much better, but “Fairytale” works on so many levels that it’s hard to fault anyone for voting forContinue reading “Eurovision, Poetry and Sangria”
I was going to numb myself with Eurovision
But Eurovision is not particularly numbing this year. It’s fun and glossy and ridiculous (Ukraine’s Loboda was particularly entertaining just now, I thought) and the technological aspects of the production look neat. This is a terrific little confection. Cheers to Moskva 2009.
Today, Yaroslava would have been 31
Since I am in Kiev (yay!), I got to participate in the rituals: the graveside wine drinking and remembrance, and the wine drinking and remembrance at her family’s home. Yaroslava was as pretty as the month of her birth; she was flowery and clean like the rain. My mother told Yaroslava’s mother that she hadContinue reading “Today, Yaroslava would have been 31”
Natalia A. 