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November 2014 | № 11 (134) Save the Date:

1 november – Birthday of Korchma on Profsoyuzna Street

28 november – Birthday of Korchma on Makhova Street

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Roman Viktyuk: Happiness is a Break between Two Misfortunes

Music Has Connected Us Margarita Sukhankina: The Voice of the Decade

Conquering a Mountain An Account of Climbing the Legendary Ararat Mount

Morning Coffee Curious Facts about Your Favorite Drink

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2 | guest

Roman Viktyuk: Happiness is a Break between Two Misfortunes On October 28, famous theater director Roman Viktyuk, who was born in Lviv and who for over twenty years has been living and working in Moscow, celebrates his birthday. This year the merited master turns 78 years old. You don’t believe this number? No one believes it! Looking at the forever young and surprisingly vibrant Roman, no one would say he is that age! Or maybe the secret is that the director never tires of repeating that he is forever 19? It is with questions about age that we started our philosophical, creative, and lively conversation with Roman Viktyuk.

– Roman, you don’t like to talk about age, and even more so, to come to some conclusions...

– A person who spends time making conclusions stops forever. There is space age that is eternal. And there is earth age that is short. A director must know that he is always 19! To see a red ribbon and a person who holds a pistol and shouts: “Ready! Go!” A shot sounds and you run. All my life I need to run and look. Until my last breath.

– What did you dream about as a child? Did those dreams come true?

– They came true, all of them! Once a gypsy, looking at my hand, said: “He will be a conductor.”

My mother was surprised: “He is tone-deaf. He does not know a single note and does not play any instrument.” The gypsy again looked at my hand and repeated: “He will be a conductor.” A conductor and director are related professions. So my main dream came true!

– An enormous number of actors have been led by your conducting, sorry, directing hands. Do you have a formula for talent?

– Talent is a gift from God. If a person is the vitamin of love, testosterone, he is talented. He is a child. A child will never say to the world “no,” but only “yes.” Once the vitamin of love disappears, the person says goodbye to his childhood. He no longer has passion.

Never show off your talent. It’s not worth making a career, fighting for talent, joining a party... We must begin from childhood, and always come back, always start from the beginning. Not lose a child’s worldview – when you experience everything for the first time. Another formula of talent does not exist.

– What is the first lesson you give your pupils?

– The first thing you do is enlighten them about love. The same I expect from them. The first impression from someone concerns love.

Every person is a small sun. The sun can neither be stopped nor extinguished. When little suns unite together in a large, global sun, then trouble retreats.

All is coded, even before our appearance in this world. Human life is given more than once. We think that we are the most intelligent, that we can explain everything. But no! All of this has happened before, millions of years ago... I have a Roman Viktyuk star in the sky. It was given to me as a gift. It has a number,

and is listed in atlases. I of often think about when I will reach that star and find out what was on earth before I arrived... Now I know that in the past I lived in Rome, was a military leader, won many battles...

– And how do you know that?

– I am friends with people who know such things.

But I never ask them about my past or my future.

They give me their books and write about it on the first page. For some reason, people really want to know when they will be happy... And I do not want to know this! Life, its course, is most important. And we should be glad that we feel this flow. That life is

guest | 3

not passing by us or through us. So I will go out on the street, look at the sky, breathe the air, and say to myself: “What height! What depth!”

Tolstoy said that you will have as much happiness as you need. But you will have the same amount of misfortune. They must be equal. So when you’re asking for happiness, you must immediately say to yourself, “I already have so much misfortune.”

– Do you have your own formula for happiness?

– Yes. Happiness is a break between two misfortunes, one ahead and behind. When you struggle for happiness, you can sell friends, family, climbing upward, not considering anything or anyone else. Misery, meanwhile, is waiting to stop you. And people wonder why children get sick... And because you didn’t feel unhappiness.

Misfortunate can be passed to your relatives.

Happiness is not immediately given to a person who seeks it. But misfortune constantly looms.

People do not understand this. Everything is written in the Bible.

– You lived and worked in various cities, you visited more than fifty countries while on your tours...

– Civilization made each city on earth similar to one another. But I have a cradle, a home. It is Lviv, the city where I was born. And the cradle is the most important place in the world for a person. Your whole life you remember the rhythm your mother rocked you to sleep to, the song she sang to you, and the peace that you felt as a child. And then there is destiny – the boards of the stage on which your life takes place. And it does not matter what country you live and work in.

– In what other city do you experience similar feelings to the ones you experience in Lviv?

– In New York. I am just as free there as I am in Lviv! By the way, I am currently recording a conversation with the famous American actress Meryl Streep. I am telling her about my system of teaching actors, and she is telling me hers. She looks at me as if I know something ... I look at her and think, “God, what a wise creature! She is a natural!”

It will be a movie. And a book about theater in twentieth-century Russia will come out in America.

On the cover is written three names – Stanislavski, Meyerhold, Viktyuk.

– Many of your productions are about an artist’s relationship with the government. If an artist lives in fear, what does it lead to?

– He will cease to be an artist. An artist above all is a child. And a child is a wheel that turns on its own, without outside help. The worst thing is when an artist says a false “yes.” You have to know who to say “yes” against...

– At one time you had а production against Stalin – “Lessons from a Master”…

– When working on this production, I immersed myself in the subject from the point of view of metaphysics and even mysticism. As a director I wondered why such a person could exist in the world and for decades rule people. There is some mystery in this. In the play about Stalin, I tried to show the character of the existence of such people.

The play was written by a playwright from England.

The heroes were Prokofyev, Shostakovich, and Zhdanov. And they find themselves at a meeting with Stalin. Shostakovich is a brilliant and timid man.

Prokofyev is a very decent, closed man, as, indeed, is Shostakovich.

Zhdanov and Stalin wanted the composers to like them. They did everything they could to so that the artists didn’t fear them. Stalin poorly sang the Georgian melody “Suliko,” then accused Shostakovich and Prokofyev that they did not understand music and that they were tone-deaf!

That the composers could not play the melody properly. It was fear because of the dictator’s power.

And they sang the music that was offered to them

by Stalin and Zhdanov. This was the absurdity of life then. I’m waiting for a playwright who would write such a strong play about Lenin. Such a play doesn’t exist yet.

– You devoted another play to the figure of Stalin – “Gaft’s Dream Retold by Viktyuk”...

– There was a time when in dreams Stalin spoke with Gaft. It was a few nights. Stalin asked Gaft to write down what happened. And then for someone to recreate them on stage. Then Gaft called me, read what he had recorded. And I immediately said, “Tomorrow we begin.” The content of these nightly

stories is that Stalin wanted to convey to people today the words that he didn’t have a chance to say.

– He repented?

– Yes. In the final scene he says: “I’m always in the Kremlin.” And repeats it several times. I had heard from people who have worked and are working in the Kremlin that they have sensed Stalin walking in the rooms, down the hallways ...

– Have you met people who did not wear masks?

– There are almost no such people. Except for me... (smiles). People wear masks in self-defense.

They have no children’s worldview. They are cunning, think too much, construct something. They wear a mask and think it is not them. All this is not from God. People know when somebody is wearing a mask, when someone is lying.

Text: Halyna Huzio Photos: Yuriy Helytovych

4 | interview

Margarita Sukhankina – the Voice of the Decade “Music Has Connected Us,” “Night Is Falling,” and “Sunny Summer” are the hits which people of the postSoviet area have literally been humming till now. These songs were once so popular that they sounded non-stop in nightclubs and on the radio. However, the person who performed them lived in a shadow. This is Margarita Sukhankina, a soloist of the legendary band Mirage, whose soundtracks were used by other singers in order to gain popularity. Today, in an exclusive interview for the Bulba NEWS newspaper, she tells us about her childhood, creative work, and why sometimes there’s no point in being afraid to step into the same river twice.

– Margarita, decades have passed since your songs played in the country’s nightclubs. It seems that after such a long period of time, as it often happens, fans can forget about a singer and her creative work can decline. But not in your case. What is your secret: your voice, songs, texts which are indeed full of some magic?

– This is also a secret to me. I think that it is necessary to be human.

It is necessary to know how to speak with the audience that comes to your concerts. People appreciate us not only for our songs as it turns out. When fans come up to me after concerts or even at cafes, stores, they say that they are interested in my life, read interviews, watch TV shows. It appears that not only my music attracts them, but also my personality. And I like it.

Each performer is a personification of the whole life which we live, not only a voice. I realize that people keep an eye on what I do and how I behave. Some people even make role models out of us. And I understand that I don’t have any right to do something bad.

One’s personality is very important. And plus popular songs which people listen and dance to even today. All generations like them, because we adapt our songs according to modern musical trends. It brings results, lets us be in demand and keep our heads above water. It feels wonderful when I think that Mirage will turn 30 soon!

– Rumor has it that you started singing in early childhood and as you said it went to your head. Tell us something about yourself: what sort of family do you come from, who influenced you most of all? When did you understand that music would be such a big part of your life?

– I grew up in an ordinary family of workers: my father worked at a plant, my mother graduated from college and was a photographer. I was 4 when at kindergarten my music teacher said that I had talent and should pursue a musical career. Then I studied at a music school, took piano lessons, later went college, where I joined the Choir Department. Then I studied at the conservatory where I got my diploma with honors. I enrolled without anybody’s help, because my parents had neither connections nor money. I was lucky to meet people who noticed my potential and understood that they could work with me. I am so grateful to my teachers and the people who supported me. The Popov’s Choir, where I was a soloist, was a milestone!

Viktor Sergeevych Popov, God rest his soul, taught me a lot. He was a unique person and teacher. Thanks to him I

established myself as a musician. Then I worked at the Bolshoi Theater, and then Mirage started. The songs that I recorded for Mirage I performed by the rules I was taught by my great teachers. Maybe, this is also the secret that keeps my songs popular till present.

Andrey Lityagin, my friend and irreplaceable composer of Mirage’s songs, says: “Rita, you always understood what you were singing. You can sing even a telephone book in such a way that people will listen to you.”

–Do you remember the moment when you went to bed an ordinary person and woke up a star?

– I remember the year of 1986, during the World Festival of Youth and Students, where I sang the song “Festival Fire” by Yevgeniy Shyryaev. I was lifted high under the roof, where a torch was burning. The next day Ogoniok magazine wrote about an unknown girl who fantastically sang that song. At that time I thought: this is it, this is my fame. It was very pleasant for me to see my name and picture on the pages of such issue. However, I did not let it get to my head. It happened to me at the Great Children’s Choir, where I was a soloist. I remember we toured in Holland. I sang there a song and after the concert people were saying: “Prima, prima.”

After that I was when I decided that I was a star. I was cut down to size quite quickly.

Children don’t forgive such behavior!

I lived that through there and it has never happened to me before. And in childhood I understood that every person is a star and somebody appears on the TV set and somebody doesn’t. Each of us is a personality.

– The first songs for Mirage were recorded in early 1986.

At that time some of you were around 20. How was it to get used to fame at such an age?

The attention from the fans must have been huge!

– Mirage was famous, and I was behind the scenes.

I knew the founder of Mirage and composer Andrey Lityagin from my youth. Once, he asked me to record several songs at the studio. Later on the whole album appeared.

Everyone was surprised how fast the songs were spreading around the country. Andrey was called and asked

interview | 5

about the group’s tour. At that time I studied at the conservatory where such activity wasn’t welcomed and I was afraid that it would come out and I would be expelled. All concerts were out of the question. The songs performed by me were already popular and Andrey decided not to rerecord them in other voices: he found singers who started touring with my songs.

It was unfavorable for Andrey to show all the colors. So it went on: the girls were performing and I recorded songs at the studio, but not came on the stage despite all his persuasions.

Many years passed and I left the Bolshoi Theater Company. Interest in the music of the 1980s has risen again. And I decided to step into the same river for the second time. Now, I perform my own songs and sing live only!

– Who visits your concerts: the people who feel some nostalgia hearing your voice or new fans come too?

– I notice that whole families come to our concerts. It’s those who grew together with us on this music, their children and even their grandchildren.

Recently, a 12-year-old boy came up to me and said: “Won’t you give me your phone number?” It was very funny. Probably, they are charged with love to our music from their parents. This summer, we were performing at a school graduation party to which we were invited by the very pupils. I was looking at them and recollecting that our first songs were written when we were their age, and, indeed, these songs are relevant for teenagers of all times. We sang that all dreams come true, that our whole lives are before us, and that we should hope for the best.

– Apart from the creative work, what about your everyday life? It’s well known that you’ve adopted two children recently. How much has it changed your life? They started to call you “mother” right away, didn’t they?

– My schedule became busier, and now I have to plan everything more thoroughly. My children are the most important thing in my life, and everything revolves around them. They give me strength to go ahead. Sergey is very proud that his mother is a singer. He also got into music: he likes to sing, play the piano, and perform folk dances. Lera is engaged in dancing.

I spend all my free time with the children: I devote myself to them at home, we go to classes together. Yet, for sure, my parents help a lot: they stay with the children when I’m absent.

– Few women aren’t interested in cooking. Honestly, do you often treat your family to pastry and tasty borsch?

– To tell the truth, I don’t like to cook very much, but it’s necessary. My mom helps me cook, though I also do this. Sometimes we cook together.

Nowadays, there are many tasty ready-to-eat products to buy, which makes it possible to set the table quickly and have no problems.

– What are your favorite dishes and what cuisine do you prefer?

– I prefer Italian, Russian, and Eastern cuisines. I enjoy an arugula salad with olive oil and spices. I also can treat myself to pilaf and eastern sweeties. I like borsch very much. My timeless problem is that I’m a gourmand.

– What is your attitude toward diets?

– It’s distinctly negative. But as life shows, it’s necessary. There are very rational diets, and I’m for them to be right. Just not eating and only drinking water is unnecessary and even harmful. Yes, fasting days are necessary, but only if they are done wisely. I think we should eat all products, since each one contains essential elements. Portions should be small. Not overeating and leaving the table with slight hunger is the formula for a nice figure. Eat carefully and don’t overeat, and then everything will be okay.

– Have you visited the Korchma Taras Bulba restaurant chain? If yes, then what dishes did you like most of all? How do you like the restaurant atmosphere?

– I’ve visited this restaurant chain many times to taste the delicious Ukrainian cuisine. There it’s always delicious and substantial. However, the Ukrainian cuisine is rather caloric and greasy, that’s why I can’t allow myself to eat it very often. When I go out, I order borsch (without cream) and potatoes.

– Do you leave tips at restaurants? What amount?

– Usually, I keep to the rule: 10% of an order. But if the bill’s amount is small, I feel at ease to leave 20-30 rubles. That’s why I leave more, at my discretion.

Text: Gleb KOURKOV

6 | Travelling

A Trip to the Ararat

The Founder’s Diary Before the Ararat (this mount is 5,130 m high) I hadn’t been to the mountains for some time. After the Everest, I couldn’t make myself suffer and freeze for the sake of other peaks. Kailash was an exception.

Kora is more of a pilgrimage, not a climbing trip, really.

The years pass you by, you become indecisive and lose form. And now, like an old soldier, I take my sword off the wall, but I don’t feel like slaying anyone.

But then my employees start behaving like these village children: “Grandpa, will you please take us to the mountains?” And so I agree. Unfortunately, those who were asking most ardently, eventually didn’t end up in our group. But Noah didn’t know where his Arc would moor. As we know, the man only proposes…

All members of the expedition work together. But I am their boss, and they are my employees. I tried to abandon all ranks and suggested we relax but it didn’t happen; otherwise, we were a perfect team. There were six of us: myself, Andrey from Moldova, Ihor, Liuda, Nastia (Ukraine) and Lena (Russia). First we flew to Istanbul, and then to Agri. It is very close to the Ararat, the Arc, and it borders with Armenia and Iran.

Domestic Turkish airlines are surprisingly good.

They offer fresh sandwiches and hot tea. Agri and the mountains are boiling hot (95⁰F) and dusty from the sand. There is a special type of sand here: a mixture of

sand and stones. It gets everywhere, the glass on both my iPhones was scratched by the end of the trip – as if polished with a sand file. We spent the night in Ararat Hotel. We woke up at 5 a.m. to the muezzin’s call from the neighboring minaret.

We find ourselves at the foot of the legendary mountain. All the bulky things will be carried by horses: the tents, the sleeping bags. I often get criticized by anonymous users on different forums for using carrier horses, airplanes, and cars wherever I can. I’m sure, it must feel good to carry all the baggage to the top of Everest. But it amounts up to 150 kg. I am happy with carrying my own 15 kg .

We climb our first 3,000 m. It was a long and hot climb. Our feet sink up to the ankle into the hot dust, the wind pours sand into our teeth, fills our eyes, dries our noses and throats. The only plants we see are thorns – they are as sharp as Jay Leno’s tongue. If at least one of our comedians had such a sharp tongue, I would have died from laughter long ago.

Our first camp. We pitch our tents. We have lunch.

With us are three huge local dogs. They look like Caucasian Shepherds. Only later, when we saw a horse torn to pieces and a bloody dog’s paw, did we realize that there are many wolves in the vicinity. I was naïve enough to have thought that the footprints we saw belonged to dogs. After a standard acclimatization period we climbed to 4,200 m.

It’s the end of the season. There are few tourists.

We met a group from Iran and several Estonians. They told us it’s very cold on the top. But our -9°C sleeping bags are a bit too warm for the season. At two in the morning we start our ascent. Fortunately, I’ve been training for this. I fly as if I’ve grown wings. I carry Nastia’s backpack. I film something, I tell stories, I help them. The trip turned out very memorable. Our team was young and energetic, they laughed all the time, they were happy. Even though the climb was very difficult. It was our first time, after all. I can’t read their thoughts, but they said they liked it.

We watched the sunrise at the summit. We planted a Korchma banner, Ukrainian, Russian, and Moldavian flags. Why can we, the people from these countries, go together to the summit and then stand happy on the top? Why can’t those who govern us do the same? Or maybe they don’t want to?

Then there was a long descent down to 2,000 m. It seemed even more difficult to me than the climb. The lower we got, the more dust and heat gathered around us. Excuse me for the details, but my snot was black as coals.

Our guide Mamed decided to make a shortcut to get home earlier. For him, we went around Ararat and had to walk for two extra hours. But we were prepared to do it for the kind person. And how he sang! And how he smiled showing his teeth which were darkened from smoking! He said he is 42, but he looked 57 at least. He smoked like a chimney. Always and everywhere. When we asked him not to smoke in the car he responded by just clicking his tongue.

Finally we made our way down. After the first night, the rush of adrenaline prevents us from sleeping.

And at 5 in the morning we are woken up by the morning prayer again, and we can’t sleep any more.

We have two more days ahead of us. Pasha’s palace is like a Noah’s Arc. We try local barbecue meat, sweets, and breads. It’s all very fresh and tasty. No one got infected from the street food, nor from the lack hand sanitizers. Now we are flying back to Istanbul. In the lounge, I stand next to a stall where people check in their weapons. I counted 12 guns on our flight. The most popular were Walters and Berettas, but then I saw them from a distance of 4 meters so I can’t guarantee that I recognized them accurately.

We planned two nights in Istanbul to finish our trip. My young friends hadn’t been there before, neither had I. When we arrived, our transfer car didn’t show up. He kept lying to us on the phone that he couldn’t find us in the crowd.

The hotel was small, it belonged to one family.

It was weird, the smallest noise could be heard by all the guests. I didn’t eat my breakfast. We lived in the city center, and it’s better and cheaper to eat out. For six people 640 euros is an exorbitant price for Turkey. We are a 10-15 min walk away from

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Travelling | 7

Hippodrome Square, but it’s upward all the way. The city enchanted us, captivated us, delighted us. Even its notorious oriental hypocrisy and high tourist prices. Street food, tea, and sweets in small Istanbul cafes are an entirely different story. The hookah is too heavy and too dense after what I got used to in Moscow. One per two, one per three people is quite enough, don’t get too greedy.

I met our guide in the hotel lobby. His price of 640 euros, tickets included, made me feel uneasy. His broken Russian and his Turkish humor completed the picture. And when he demanded that we pay in advance, I decided no way! And declined his services.

You need to know when to say no. I don’t know about my friends, but my day was wonderful. We didn’t have to stand in lines, we saw almost all the sights, and I recited the entire guidebook to them. This is not my first time doing this, so I think I did well, you can ask them.

Hippodrome is just a square, you don’t need tickets there. Aja Sophia, Sultan’s Palace, the ferry

across the Bosporus, and cafés situated in Asia with a view onto Europe, the Natural Science museum, the Blue Mosque. Something else (what was it?) And lots of laughter. Lots of fun for just 150-200 euros or dollars. Incidentally, the guide kept appearing and disappearing, begging for something, threatening with something and trying to persuade us. He threatened arrests at the passport control in the airport. Like a child, frankly! So much humiliation for just 500 euros!

The restaurant where we went in the evening was chosen by my younger friends, a fashionable place. I didn’t like it. When I come to Istanbul again, I’ll go to the kebab place.

And one more thing. I went to a hammam, a Turkish bath. It was opened 300 years ago, the oldest one in Istanbul. A sultan opened it with two purposes: to wash people and to store Sophia’s library.

I recalled that baths are for washing, not for steaming. I recalled how in childhood my mother scrubbed me with soap and a sponge. After two massages and a shaved beard, I was virgin clean and

happy. I asked the barber to shave my neck with a real razor. I was sweating under my two towels from the foreign steel close to my neck, or from the hot bath.

Next morning, my friends left early. I still had some time to see the Blue Mosque and the Cistern (an old water supply receptacle). I saw a crowd of tourists inside, so I decided to look through the window. But I was lucky to arrive first to the Cistern, I was 20 minutes earlier. I went into the underground vault first. The tourist group which followed me got stuck somewhere and I had an entire 10 minutes to myself to admire the huge cave with Greek columns and upsidedown Medusa heads at the base. I put my finger into a hole which makes dreams come true. I watched big killer fish swim by in the dark. That moment I realized that my trip is over and my next journey is to the airport and from there on.

Text and photo: Yury Beloyvan To read the entire text of the article and other stories about traveling go to: www.beloyvan.ru

8 | history

November 1 Birthday of Korchma on Profsoyuzna Street Men’s Day

November 4 Day of Railway Workers in Ukraine National Unity Day

November 5

Cruiser Varyag: The Legend of the Russian Fleet

On November 1, 1899, the legendary cruiser Varyag was launched.

Day of the Russian Military Intelligence

November 9 Guinness World Records Day Day of Ukrainian Literature and Language International Day against Fascism, Racism and Anti-Semitism

November 10 International Youth Day World Science Day Police Day

November 13 World Quality Day World Sight Day

November 16 Day of Radio, TV and Communication Workers of Ukraine

November 17 Day of the Russian District Police Officer International Students’ Day

November 20 Universal Children’s Day International No Smoking Day

November 21 World Television Day Day of the Russian Tax Authority Workers Day of the Russian Accountant

November 22 Freedom Day in Ukraine

November 27 Thanksgiving Day

November 28 Birthday of Korchma on Makhova Street

November 30 Mother’s Day in Russia

There is perhaps not a single person in Russia who has never heard of the cruiser Varyag. It became famous during the Russo-Japanese War, when it entered into an unequal battle with enemy ships. The fierce battle lasted several hours, the ship was severely damaged, but the Russian team refused to give up.

The ship was sunk... Later it was raised from the ocean floor. After its death, the cruiser received a second life: during the First World War, when Russia and Japan were allies, Varyagwas returned to the Russian Navy...

The history of the cruiser begins in 1899. It is back then that one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the US – William Cramp & Sons – releases it into the water. Almost immediately Varyag joins the ranks of the Navy of the Russian Empire and is based in Port Arthur, the main base in the Yellow Sea. Sailors greeted the new cruiser with enthusiastic applause and cheers. It is no wonder for its looked grand: a white body, powerful cannon, torpedoes, and speed up to 23 knots. The ship was 6,500 tons, and the number of crew over half a thousand people.

It turned out, however, that its appearance was misleading. In fact, technically the cruiser was far from perfect. First of all, the boilers constantly went out of order and required repair. As a result, the combat ship spent much of its time idle in port, and when it went into open water,only for a short distance.

So little by little, day by day, the Russian-Japanese war of 1904approached. At the time Varyag and

another ship with cannonKorean were in the Korean port of Chemulpo. Besides them, there were shipsfrom other countries: England, Germany, France, the United States, and Japan. On the night of January 26 one of the Japanese ships quietly leaves the harbor.

Sailors are very well aware of what was happening, because they knew that before the outbreak of hostilities remained only a matter of days if not hours...

On the morning of January 27 the commander of Varyag, Captain of the First Rank Rudnev, receives through the Russian Consul a request from the Japanese Admiral Uryu to leave port by noon.

Otherwise, Uryuwill destroy the ship. It was clear that the war had already begun. The Russians were in a trap, because there were no warships nearby.

Nevertheless Rudnev makes an announcement to his crew: “There can be no talk about surrendering – we will surrender neither the cruiser nor ourselves, and we will take all chances and fight to the last drop of blood.”

Immediately after this, following mariner tradition, all who were on the ship change into clean clothes, because they understand that there is little chance of surviving. The priest says a prayer and both ships set out to sea, where they were waiting for the Japanese fleet. The Russians again are asked to surrender, which they ignore. Then the unequal battle begins. Historical sources record that itstarted to the sounds of military bands and the anthem of the Russian Empire. In this way, the ships of countries that did not participate in the war showed their respect to the soldiers who went to certain death.

Varyag and Korean are brutally shot from cannon.

Many crew members die in this short fight. The commander of the French cruiser wrote:“… I’llne verforgetthatterrificscene. The deck was covered with blood, corpses and body parts were lying all around. Nothing escaped destruction: where the missiles detonated, the paint became charred, all the metal parts were pierced, the ventilators were shot down, the sides and bunks were burnt. Where so much heroism had been shown everything became worthless, broken to pieces, riddled; the remnants of the bridge were hanginglamentably. The smoke was

history | 9

Ptichye Moloko: Candies from Childhood

Fragment of painting “Cruiser Varyag” by Peter Maltsev. running through all the holes on the stern, and the ship heeled menacingly over to the left.”

During the battle, Varyag also destroys one destroyer and damages four Japanese cruisers.

The captain decides to return to port to repair the ship and continue the fight. But later it becomes clear that it is impossible to do so:the cruiser had five underwater holes and lost almost all of its cannon. Thus injured seamen are sent to other ships and Varyag is drowned and Korean is blown up so that no weapons can get into the hands of the enemy.

After lengthy negotiations with Japan commanders, both sides reach an agreement that the Russian sailors will not be taken as prisoners on the condition that they will no longer take part in hostilities. Despite losing the battle, the men were met at home as heroes. Participants of

the battlereceived awards.

The Japanese raised Varyagfrom the seabed.

They renamed it and included it inits fleet. In the archives are preserved photographs with it sailing under the flag of Japan. It was only in 1916 that Russia bought the legendary ship and returned to its army.

To commemorate this event, an Austrian poet wrote a poem “Der Warjag.”It has beentranslated and set to music. Very quickly the song became popular in Russia, especially among the navy.

However, during the First World War the third verse where“yellow-skinned devils” are mentioned isremoved. At that time, Japan was an ally of Russia and so it wasn’t a good idea include the insult...

Врагу не сдаётся наш гордый «Варяг» Наверх, вы, товарищи, все по местам! Последний парад наступает! Врагу не сдаётся наш гордый «Варяг», Пощады никто не желает! Все вымпелы вьются, и цепи гремят, Наверх якоря поднимают. Готовые к бою орудия в ряд На солнце зловеще сверкают. От пристани верной мы в битву уйдем, Навстречу грозящей нам смерти, За Родину в море открытом умрём, Где ждут желтолицые черти!

Text: Stepan HRYTSIUK

“In childhood Ptichye Moloko seemed like a magical sweet from a fairy tale to us. The very story of its creation is incredibly interesting. It started half a century ago, when the Minister of the Food Industry issued a special decree on the production of this dessert…” These lines are printed on the box of Ptichye Moloko candies which we know from our early childhood.

The production of these candies started in Poland in late 1936. Its special puffed filling was created by food scientists of the Warsaw E. Wedel Confectionery Plant, who also came up with the exotic name “Ptasie Mleczko” (bird’s milk).

In 1967 the Minister of Food Industry of the USSR went on a business trip to Czechoslovakia. There he tried these tasty candies for the first time. He said it was something incredible! It was better than anything else he had tasted before. It’s no wonder that after his return, the minister gathered all the local confectioners at the Moscow Rot-Front Plant and instructed them to develop their own technology to produce the candies as soon as possible. The Soviet scientists had to make using only a sample of the candy, without the recipe. It meant that they had to focus on taste. The first person who coped with the complicated task was Anna Chulkova, who was at that time a leading specialist at the Vladivistok Confectionery Plant. It was this plant (the only one in the USSR) that surpassed the production plan of the new product. The yearly production rate for every manufacturer was about 6 tons, but the Vladivistok Plant produced 12 tons! With the technological development and minimization of manual labor, its confectioners brought the production of Ptichye Moloko to 36 tons a year.

It’s worth noting that the expiration date of the traditional candies was just fifteen days. Although eventually the manufacturers started to add preservatives, so now they can be stored for several months. However, this shouldn’t surprise anyone, because time dictates its own rules.

10 | Cult in the Kitchen

Morning Coffee

(Little-known facts about your favorite drink) “Coffee should be hot like hell, black like a devil, pure like an angel and sweet like love.”

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord People cannot imagine their mornings without coffee, cannot do without it at lunch, and even savor this drink in the afternoon to get an additional energy boost and finish their day with renewed vigor. This is His Majesty Coffee, the favorite drink of millions around the globe.

Coffee Varieties The world’s most famous coffee varieties are Arabica and Robusta. However, even these varieties which are cultivated in different countries have different tastes.

Arabica coffee contains an excellent taste – it is even impossible to imagine a genuine coffee without it. However, it is necessary to add at least 20% of Robusta to Arabica to make it rich. Arabica has strong taste properties and an amazing flavor, but it has low extraction so adding Robusta makes the coffee stronger.

Coffee Roasting

The History of Coffee in Dates 850 – Coffee berries were first discovered.

1100 – The first coffee trees were cultivated on the Arabian Peninsula. Arabs started roasting beans and brewing the beverage.

1475 – The world’s first coffeehouse was opened in Constantinople.

1600 – Coffee was imported to Europe through Venice. In 1645 the first coffeehouse started working in Italy.

1652 – Public places offering the aromatic beverage appeared in England too. They were called “penny universities” (people were charged a penny to enter and for a cup of coffee).

1686 – The first coffee shop was opened in Vienna. The reason behind this was simple: the Turks, beaten in the war, left behind sacks of coffee beans. The legend about Yuriy Kulchytskyi (an imperial interpreter) who saved Vienna from the Turkish siege and took 300 sacks of coffee as a war trophy dates back to that time. It was he who opened the first coffee shop and called it Under the Blue Bottle.

1750 – One of the major coffeehouses in Europe opened in Rome – Café Greco. By 1763, more than 2,000 of such places are open in Venice.

1822 –The first experimental espresso machine was designed in France.

1938 – The company Nestle invented the first instant coffee Nescafe. It helped the Brazilian government to solve the problem of a surplus of raw material.

1995 – Coffee became the world’s most popular drink.

Every year people consume more than 400 billion cups.

This beverage is the most exported commodity after oil (52 southern countries export it.)

To choose coffee properly, customers follow different criteria. But it is necessary to know its main properties. Among the common terms describing the degrees of coffee roasting, the most popular are light, medium, and dark roasting. Of course, genuine coffee lovers are able to distinguish much more than these three criteria.

Light Roast

Light roasting allows the delicate taste and flavor to fully appear. It is ideal for breakfast coffee because it mixes well with milk.

Medium Roast

The taste is rich and a bit sweet. You can drink such coffee at any time of the day, either with or without milk. This type of roasting is popular in Germany, Holland, Austria, as well as in Ukraine and Russia.

Dark Roast

Good for espresso preparation. Such roasting opens all taste and flavor properties of coffee.

Coffee Therapy Scientists continue to debate the health benefits and risks of drinking coffee.

However, it is well known that a cup of this beverage in the morning ensures a good mood and quick awakening, but after 2-3 cups one can become irritable. That’s why coffee has a double effect: in moderate doses it refreshes, and in excessive doses it depresses.

However, it has been proved that: • Coffee increases the content of good cholesterol in the blood, preventing the induration of vascular walls, and, correspondingly, atherosclerosis.

• Coffee stimulates the activity of the central nervous system, improves cerebration and helps one to concentrate, analyze, and process information faster, improves longtime memory.

• It’s better not to drink coffee on an empty stomach. This beverage needs a certain food bedding, but not too thick either. It’s also not recommended to drink coffee after a hearty meal.

• Numerous studies showed that coffee cannot be taken with alcohol or while smoking. It will have an extremely negative influence on the cardiovascular system.

Cult in the Kitchen | 11

The Golden Mean Rule Coffee cannot be called a totally harmless beverage. Doctors do not recommend it for people suffering from ischemic heart disease and atherosclerosis. It is also not recommended for those with kidney diseases, anxiety disorder, insomnia, hypertension and glaucoma. In addition, it’s not advised for children and the elderly. Two cups of coffee per day may take off the weariness, improve attention, increase reaction speed and physical endurance, but large doses (they differ for each person), on the contrary, will provoke hyperirritability and nervousness.

Coffee and Calories A cup of coffee without milk and sugar does not contain calories. It is better to drink it after meals – it contains acids that stimulate stomach activity and digestion.

And a large portion of sweet coffee with cream equals almost 500 calories – 25 percent of the daily norm for those who stay on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet.

The Most Famous Coffee Lovers in the World The famous philosopher Voltaire drank up to 50 cups of coffee per day. The writer Honoré de Balzac, a representative of the French realism, consumed nearly 60 cups of it per day. Other coffee “fans” were the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who brewed it exactly of 64 beans, and another philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who could savor one serving of the beverage for hours in the Café de Flore. Another “coffee star” can be called the empress Catherine II, who brewed one cup of coffee of 81.9 g of ground coffee, which is 4 teaspoons.

The writer Victor Hugo used coffee as a paint for his pictures. The painter-surrealist Salvador Dalí saw aesthetics in spilling the coffee on his shirt. And the writer and feminist George Sand believed that composer Frederic Chopin prepared the best coffee of all.

Best Coffee Recipes French Coffee with Cream Ingredients: For 2 servings: • 200 ml of brewed coffee • 250 ml of milk • 3 tablespoons of sugar • 2 tablespoons of cream ICED COFFEE 150 g – 160 RUR

Preparation: Bring milk with sugar to a boil.

Remove it from fire, pour the cream in and stir/blend it carefully. Add the previously brewed strong hot coffee, mix everything, and pour it into cups.

Italian Coffee Ingredients: 5-7 g of natural coffee, 1 teaspoon of whipped cream, sugar, apricot brandy to taste Preparation: To make Italian coffee it is necessary to use a special espresso machine in which pressurized steam passes through well roasted and ground beans.

Whipped cream, sugar, and apricot brandy are added to the thick and bitter beverage.

AMERICANO / DECAF AMERICANO 100 g – 80 RUR

Coffee Flambé:

CAPPUCCINO 150 g – 120 RUR

Ingredients: 1 teaspoon of instant coffee, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla sugar, vanilla and nut ice cream, 20 ml of cognac, 1-2 sugar cubes Preparation: Pour hot water into instant coffee, add vanilla sugar, chill it. Put ice cream into a glass, pour beverage in. Heat the cognac with cubes of sugar in a small pot. Set fire to it and pour it into the coffee with ice cream.

To celebrate the 15th birthday of the Korchma «Taras Bulba» chain of restaurants we present a CD of Ukrainian classical music in modern arrangements from Bulba Press.

APPLE STRUDEL WITH ICE CREAM AND CARAMEL 130 g – 200 RUR

Text: Lesia KICHURA

The exclusive new disc will be available for sale in our restaurants!

Find time in your life for our music!

12 | Народжені в Україні

Рудольф Вайґль:

боротьба всупереч смерті

Ціле життя цього вченого нагадує велику яскраву пригоду. Він міг бути прототипом персонажа художнього фільму, історичного роману або ж бодай героєм окремої статті у шкільному підручнику. Проте сталося так, що про Рудольфа Вайґля, людину, яка винайшла вакцину від висипного тифу і врятувала десятки, якщо не сотні тисяч людей від смерті, мало відомо не лишень звичайним людям, але й науковцям, які спеціалізуються на цій тематиці. А дарма!

Перенесімося на хвильку до Львова початку двадцятого століття. Тут триває доба польськошляхетської автономії: розкішні будинки нового планування, брук на вулицях, романтичні гасові ліхтарі і фіакри із лайливими візниками. Дорогу з ними ділять перші автомобілі, що з’явилися у місті ще в останні роки дев’ятнадцятого століття. Автовласники бундючно сидять за кермом і зневажливо поглядають на візників. Ті ж у відповідь люто вимахують батогами, бо «бензинове диво цивілізації» забирає у них роботу. Такий собі тихий міський рай. Та усе це студент Рудольф помічає хіба що боковим зором, поспішаючи до Львівського університету, де працює на біологічному факультеті. Кілька місяців юнак разом із старшими наставниками безуспішно намагається знайти панацею від висипного тифу, небезпечної хвороби, яка на той час просто не має ліку. Дарма, що у 1909 році француз Шарль Ніколь уже довів, що тиф переноситься вошами і лишень за це отримав Нобелівську премію, дарма, що через сім років після цього пощастило знайти і збудник недуги... Далі за це вчені просунутися так і не можуть… Невдачі попередників амбітного науковця не зупиняють – підкорити вершину найбільше хочеться тоді, коли там ще ніхто не побував. За дослідницьку роботу Рудольф Вайґль справді береться із завзяттям, що притаманне справжньому відчайдухові. Напевне, з такою самовіддачею працював Нікола Копернік, перш ніж виголосити своє вікопомне: «А вона таки крутиться…». Скажімо, знаючи, що тиф переноситься вошами, Вайґль конструює спеціальні пристрої і… щедро починає годувати паразитів власною кров’ю. На початках до цього залучає свою дружину, яка хоче чи не хоче, а змушена допомагати чоловікові, бо більше нікому.

Разом з тим, аби вволю «напоїти» паразитів, Рудольф самотужки майструє браслети, що мають всередині порожні камери. Туди вкидається кілька десятків вошей, а тоді пристрій одягається на зап’ястя, де найтонша, а отже і найвразливіша шкіра. Інший метод – кровопивць просто вкидають у скляну посудину із гладенькими краями, щоб ті не могли втекти на волю, і руку слід опускати уже безпосередньо туди. Щоразу така неприємна процедура триває близько півгодини. Після того, як воші вдосталь напивалися людської крові науковець йшов ще далі – робив їм клізми із зараженої тифом рідини… Для цього теж власноруч робить надзвичайно мініатюрний інструмент, з яким можна працювати хіба що під потужним мікроскопом. Після того, як вошам вприскувалась необхідна речовина, матеріал для дослідницької роботи був готовий… Цікаво, що шкідливих комах необхідно було годувати двічі – до зараження і після. Отже, кілька разів Вайґль сам захворював на тиф і дивом повертався практично з того світу. Незважаючи на таку наполегливість, усі його спроби знайти вакцину закінчувалися повним фіаско. У 1914 році розпочинається Перша світова війна. Як тільки звістка про це докочується до Львова, Вайґль, якому нещодавно виповнилося тридцять років, спаковує сумку з харчами, бере з собою сякий-такий одяг, мікроскоп, медичний інструмент і вирушає на фронт. Війна, що розпочиналася, як би це цинічно не звучало, була йому на руку. Про це красномовно свідчить статистика тих років – вже у перші дні війни на висипний тиф захворіло 120 тисяч солдатів і офіцерів. З них вдалося вижити лишень половині... Далі цифри були ще більш вражаючими і лік йшов не на тисячі, а на мільйони. Серед окопів, бруду і небезпеки годувати вошей власною кров’ю потреби уже немає. Паразити кусають солдатів, які від цього спочатку хворіють, а потім і помирають. Усвідомлюючи результати страшної недуги не через сухе зведення газет, а бачачи на власні очі, Вайґль працює понаднормово – щодня бере безліч проб, досліджує різноманітні зразки, робить порівняльні характеристики і таки добивається свого – у 1918 році така необхідна вакцина з’являється на світ. Справу зроблено, а отже можна сміливо повертатися до Львова. Місто одразу ж перетворюється на своєрідну наукову Мекку, туди приїжджають науковці із різних куточків світу. Замість того, аби запатентувати вакцину та стати казково багатою людиною, Вайґль щедро ділиться своїм винаходом і рецептами, активно мандрує світом, відкриваючи лабораторії із виготовлення ліків. З початком Другої світової війни багато науковців та польської інтелігенції, відчуваючи небезпеку, покидають Львів. Натомість вчений вперто залишається у місті. Ні самого Вайґля, ні його співробітників ніхто зачепити не наважується. Про важливість роботи медика свідчить хоча б той факт, що у 1940 році його відвідує генеральний секретар ЦК КПРС Микита Хрущов. Він міцно тисне йому руку,

по-батьківськи плескає по плечах і пропонує залишити Галичину та переїхати до більш перспективної Москви, обіцяючи золоті гори. Вайґль ввічливо відповідає йому, мовляв, Москва Москвою, а Львів таки рідніший. Причому уже тоді науковцеві шалено бракувало коштів на закупівлю необхідного обладнання, тож часто на це йшли гроші із домашньої скарбнички. Зрештою, зважаючи на унікальність досліджень, радянське керівництво відкриває у Львові на вулиці Генерала Чупринки, 45 новий великий корпус Інституту висипного тифу. У червні 1941 року у Західну Україну приходять нацисти. Завітати до науковця не забувають і вони. Це зрозуміло, адже у їхній армії тиф був не меншою бідою, ніж у Червоній. На виробництво вакцини німці грошей не шкодують. Закуповується найсучасніше обладнання, зростає кількість робітників, донорів і їхня зарплата. Тоді наукова установа в народі називалася просто «Інститут Вайґля» і була відома як центр порятунку не тільки поляків, яких нещадно нищили німці, але й євреїв та представників інших національностей. Науковець робив просто – усіх, кому загрожувала небезпека, він брав донором у свій університет, мотивуючи це тим, що для збільшення обсягів ліків необхідна і більша кількість заражених паразитів. Після закінчення Другої світової війни Рудольфа Вайґля за боротьбу із тифом удостоюють безлічі престижних нагород по усьому світу. Він стає членом Бельгійської наукової спільноти, Королівської медичної академії, Академії тропічних хвороб тощо. Отримує відзнаки не лишень від світських установ, але й церковних, зокрема орден Святого Георгія від Папи Римського Пія XI. Після війни його номінують на найпрестижнішу премію світу, Нобелівську, яку науковець швидше за все таки б отримав, якби не одне «але»… Польські комуністи надсилають у комітет свої заперечення. Мовляв, людина, яка виготовляла ліки для ненависних нацистів, отримати таку нагороду просто не має морального права. Тоді ж пригадують і його німецьке походження, адже батьки Рудольфа були чеським німцями, а сам він народився у Моравії. Недоброзичливці, які сипали в науковця стрілами, не розуміли, що для людини, яка дала і – головне – дотримувалася клятви Гіппократа, усі люди були рівними і на німецького солдата він дивився так само із співчуттям, як і на маленьку єврейську дівчинку чи близького родича. На такі настрої Рудоль Вайґль уваги не звертав. Після війни він переїжджає жити зі Львова до Кракова, а далі – у Познань. Коли виходить на пенсію, то увесь свій вільний час присвячує не мікроскопу чи паразитам, а улюбленим собакам, стрільбі з лука та риболовлі. Тим, чим не міг займатися впродовж життя. Помирає в 1957 році у містечку Закопане. На його могилі ставлять скромний гробівець, де немає ні пишних слів, ні дорогого каменю, лишень дати життя і смерті. Текст: Степан ГРИЦЮК

Rules of Life | 13

Yin and Yang

Etiquette: What Everyone Must Know PECULIARITIES OF ETIQUETTE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD England Do not kiss a woman’s hand and do not shake a man’s hand. Do not pay compliments in public such as “You have a nice dress.”

It will be considered a great indiscretion.

France The generally accepted form of address to men is monsieur, to unmarried girls mademoiselle, and to married women madame.

At work, it is accepted to address all women without exception as madame. You can address someone by name only when you were allowed to do so. When meeting men usually shake hands.

Germany A married woman is given the title of her husband (Frau Doktor) or she is addressed with the words Gnadige Frau (dear madam).

A form of address to girls is Gnadiges Fraulein, because just Fraulein is used for addressing only servants or shop assistants.

Japan Instead of shaking hands, Japanese people make a low bow.

Here, it isn’t accepted to sit crossed-legged: this indicates that you are not interested in the opinions and views of a companion.

In the epoch when there was no Internet or cell phones and people communicated by sending letters and using messenger-pigeons, the rules of behavior that are commonly known as etiquette were worth their weight in gold. Every gesture, glance, intonation was appraised. Especially when it regarded relationships between a man and a woman, which have always been complicated.

Now those romantic times fell into oblivion and polished manners disappeared in the past.

However, some principles of etiquette were kept.

Therefore, to consider ourselves well-reared people, we shouldn’t ignore them. First of all, they are important for men because as the proverb says: “Gold tests with fire, woman with gold, man with woman.” This means that the true culture of the sterner sex has to be manifested in relation to a woman. Therefore, we offer a selection of the simplest rules.

•When you walk on the street, the man should be on the left side of the woman. Only servicemen can walk on the right, in order to be ready to salute.

This tradition appeared for a reason and there is an explanation for it. Long ago when there were no distinct pavements, men walked on the side of the traffic, in other words, they put themselves in great danger.

•A man shouldn’t smoke in a woman’s company.

If you have a strong nicotine addiction and you can’t imagine your date without a cigarette, at least ask the lady for permission to smoke.

•A man has to help his partner carry her bags whenever it is necessary, although it shouldn’t be her handbag!

•While entering or exiting a room, a man should open the door before a lady and allow her to go first. When

going downstairs, a man walks one or two steps before a woman and when going upstairs several steps behind in order to support her if she missteps or slips.

•If you get in a taxi, a man should open the right back door for a lady and let her sit first and then sit near her in the car. The man gets out of a car first, and then he helps the woman. If a man drives a car, he also helps the woman take her seat in the car first and then occupies the driver’s seat.

•Indoors, a man will never sit down earlier than his partner. In the cloakroom of a theater, cinema, or restaurant, he helps to take her coat off and put it away. When leaving, he does everything in the reverse order: he takes the belongings back and helps the woman put her coat on.

In general, it is not accepted to sit when ladies are standing, especially in public transport.

•If a woman stumbles over or slips, a man should support her by holding her elbow. He also isn’t allowed to take her by the arm first. This right is reserved for women only.

•According to etiquette, a man cannot be late for a date. Quite the contrary – if possible, he should arrive some minutes in advance and wait for the lady.

•A man in love never forgets to arrange the next date and does not say goodbye first. If your friend behaves otherwise, do not cherish vain hopes regarding him.

•When talking with a woman, a man shouldn’t keep his hands in his pockets or cross his arms across his chest. It is also advisable not to fiddle with anything, especially not to glance at the phone. It will be considered disrespectful toward your companion.

On the whole, you should forget about gadgets when you’re with company.

•It is not accepted to shake hands with a woman, but when she extends her hand first, a man should shake it gently. At the same time, a man’s handshake shouldn’t be weaker than a woman’s. By the way, it is also accepted that the first to offer a hand should be the one who is older and of the upper social class: a teacher to a pupil, a boss to a subordinate.

•A good-mannered man will never talk with a woman about her age, except when he is on duty. A priori, here, the rule should be followed: а woman is as old as she looks.

•Be cautious with flowers. Remember that red or pink roses should be given only to the woman you are in love with.

That’s why do not get into hot water by bringing hope to your colleague or neighbor! It is accepted to give flowers to a man only when it is a film or a concert premiere, a book presentation, a publication of some scientific research, a birthday, or an awards ceremony.

Text: Maria KRASNA

14 | Curiosities

How to Marry a Millionaire

Once, on a popular website for traders, there appeared a letter from a 25-year-old girl who wrote the following: “I am 25 years old. I am a young, beautiful, intelligent, cheerful girl. I want to marry a man who makes at least $500,000 per year because I want to take care of our future children in our home. I understand that it may sound strange for many people, but $500,000 per year is a middle class income nowadays.

I was dating a businessman who made nearly $200,000-250,000 per year, but I told myself: ‘Stop! $250,000 won’t allow me to have a nice and spacious house in a prestigious neighborhood. There is a woman in my yoga class who is married to a banker and lives in a gorgeous house.’ She is far from being a genius, and I don’t think that she is as pretty as I am. How can I reach her level? What did she do right? I want to ask you, men, something I am especially interested in:

1. Where do you, single rich men, hang out? Give me the address: bars, restaurants, gyms.

2. I am 25. What age should I focus on?

3. What sort of girlfriend do you look for? Be honest, you won’t hurt my feelings.

4. I’ve seen many ordinary women. They are boring. There is nothing to talk to them about. But they lead a luxurious life and are married to wealthy men. Moreover, there is a lot of very interesting and attractive ladies who spend their time alone in restaurants. What’s going on, what’s the matter here?

5. How much do lawyers, bankers, doctors make? I should look for guys with what occupations? And where do they unwind and hang out?

6. How do you make decisions to marry or to stay lovers? I’m interested in MARRIAGE ONLY! Many beautiful women are very superficial, and I outdo them in this. I have a fair offer for you. I wouldn’t search for such guy if I wasn’t absolutely sure that I could match him in everything: appearance, intellect, culture, grace, running the household and tending the family hearth.”

A financier who makes more than $500,000 answered this letter.

“I’ve read your post with great interest, thought your offer over, and analyzed your problem. Firstly, I don’t waste your time: I comply with your demands and make more than $500,000 per year. And here is how I see the problem.

Your offer for a guy like me is a shady deal. Here’s why. If you cut all the unnecessary things out of your letter, you’re offering a simple deal: your beauty in exchange for my money. Fine. But here’s the point: your beauty will be fading and my capital will be increasing. In fact, it’s very likely that my capital will increase, but you surely won’t become more beautiful!

In economic terms, you are a depreciating asset, and I am an earning assert.

Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation is growing fast! Let me explain: you are 25 now, and you, probably, will attract men for the next 5 years, but each year less. By 35, no one will look at you.

Here, in Wall Street, we would call you ‘a trading position,’ and to marry you ‘buy and hold.’ But to buy you (what you are asking for) is bad business, so, I’d rather lease you. If I seem cruel to you, meditate on the following. If my money vanished, you’d do the same. So, when your beauty fades, I will have to go out of this asset. That’s very simple. Therefore, a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

I’d like to mention that early in my career I learned a lot about market efficiency. And I’m surprised that a girl as ‘beautiful, cheerful, and intelligent’ as you hasn’t found a ‘sugar daddy’ yet. It’s difficult to believe that no $500,000-per-year moneybags has found such an attractive girl as you describe yourself to be. By the way, you can always find a way to make your own money: then we wouldn’t have to have this difficult discussion.

Overall, I’d like to say that you’re on the right way – a classic strategy ‘pump and dump.’ I hope that I helped you.

And yes, if you’re interested in negotiating some kind of lease, let me know!”

Text: Maria KRASNA

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Deft Hands | 15

A Car Made of Oak

A 45-year-old Ukrainian Vasyl Lazarenko created a unique wooden automobile. The craftsman called his car Two-in-One: it looks like a modern car on the left side and like a vintage carriage of the 1930s on the right side. In order to make this masterpiece, the inventor had to sell his two cars. Now he is offered tons of money for this wonder on wheels.

“I made this car on the basis of an old Opel Ascona,” Vasyl says. “I took it apart, cleaned it, rejuvenated and painted it. The most important safety details were colored red – brake pipes, moving parts of the engine, and the brake. Other parts were painted silver, black, and blue. I carved the body panel, bumpers, fenders, and doors out of wood by myself. Then I jointed wooden details with glue and screw nails. Inside the car, there are comfortable leather seats and a radio recorder.”

First, Vasyl made sketches and technical drawings: he graduated from a technical college majoring in Mechanical Technology, that’s why he did it all by himself. All the wooden details were made of solid oak, not of veneer. Vasyl used twoby-two centimeters logs. Some elements were made of stud blocks glued and screwed together. A lot of problems arose when he selected metal parts, because in Chernivtsi there is no possibility to manufacture nickel– or chrome-plated details. That’s why the craftsman had to use furniture fittings.

The automobile has an original Opel Ascona’s two-liter gasoline engine after the overhaul. A lot

of details and nodes were renewed. Under the hood all the details are multicolored: blue, red, etc. The colored nodes and aggregates are also part of the decoration.

To create the masterpiece, the resident of Chernivtsi had to sell two cars and quit his job. As a result, Lazarenko’s garage in Chernivtsi is always crowded.

“People are surprised very much when I drive this beauty on the city streets: everyone films it on their phones,” says the car lover. Once, one driver was so carried away by my car that he bumped into the curb.

Vasyl Lazarenko is confident in his creation – it is a real car that will drive thousands of kilometers.

“I can say with all modesty that I traveled all over Europe on it. In frosty, snowy, haily, rainy weather – it survived all the conditions. It was a kind of testdrive,” says Vasyl.

Everyone wonders whether he is going to sell his unique car.

“There were dozens of offers, if not more. One man offered me USD 150,000. Later I was offered more modest prices. In Tallinn, I was given a Porsche

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Cayenne instead, which has an approximate price of EUR 70,000. But I won’t sell the car for now. Though I don’t want to deceive anyone for I can’t promise that I won’t sell it for all the money in the world.”

The car craftsman was asked many times to create such cars to order. But Vasyl ignored all these offers.

However, he made a similar car for his friend from Chernivtsi.

“It is also a wooden car redone from an old Opel.

Before making a car for my friend, I warned him that wood isn’t the same as metal, it should be kept away from the rain. Now, he often rents out his car to newlyweds.”

At present, Vasyl dreams to create with his own hands a unique wooden ship.

“It should be a 24-meter-long antique 16thcentury ship, 7.5 meters high and 8 meters wide. It will be something between a pirates’ brigantine, a carrack, and a galleon. I don’t know whether I will succeed in implementing this idea. But everyone has their own dreams…”

Text & photos: Mykola Kobylyuk

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Pancakes with Apples

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FLuffy pancakes with fragrant apples sauteed in butter make a very delicious breakfast! You can serve them with yogurt, honey, nuts, or fruit syrup. Don’t be lazy and try it out one of these coming weekends.

Preparation: 1. Core the apples and cut them into thin slices.

Mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

Season the apples with the mixture.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl blend the honey, melted butter, milk, and eggs. Combine both mixtures and stir until smooth. Heat the frying pan well. Melt a few pieces of butter and put the apples into it. When they start to get tender, pour the batter over them so that the dough spreads only to the edges of the apples.

3. Cook the pancakes on both sides until golden brown. Serve warm with fruit syrup, chopped nuts, and sugar powder.

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НЕПАЛ

Ingredients:

composition

mineralization 1-2 g/l chemical composition of water Sodium+potassium (Na+ K+) Chlorides (Cl) Sulphates Hydrogen carbonates Calcium Magnesium

• Flour – 400 g • Baking powder – 2 teaspoons • Honey – 1 tablespoon • Salt – 1 teaspoon • Melted butter – 3 tablespoons • Milk – 300 ml • Eggs – 1 • Apples – 2 • Brown sugar – 2 tablespoons • Flour – 2 tablespoons • Cinnamon – 1/2 teaspoon

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by Buddhism. All this in Yuriy Beloyvan’s book Traveling to an Alternate Reality…

mg/l 4.5 3.5 4.6 95 77.2 20.67

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Ukrainian cuisine – made with love!

Restaurants’ location:

MOSCOW, Aviamotornaya metro station, 6 Krasnokazarmennaya St., (499) 763 5741

Avtozavodskaya metro station,

6 Velozavodskaya St., (499) 764 1532

Akademicheskaya metro station,

16/10 Profsoyuznaya St., (499) 125 0877

Alekseyavskaya metro station, 3 Bochkova St., (495) 616 6754

Airport metro station,

64 Leningradskiy Prospekt St., (499) 151 9011

Baumanskaya metro station,

23/41 Bakuninskaya St., 8 495 956 55 81

ПУТЕШЕСТВИЕ

Borovitskaya metro station,

8 Mokhovaya St., 24-hour, 8 962 918 75 38, 8 985 644 85 44

Krasnye Vorota metro station,

47 Myasnitskaya St., (495) 607 1762

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Leninskiy Prospekt metro station,

37 Leninskiy Prospect St., (495) 954 6466

Novokuznetskaya metro station, 14 Pyatnitskaya St., (495) 953 7153

Novye Cheryomushki metro station, Nametkina St., 13 г, (495) 331 4211

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Smolenskaya metro station,

12 Smolenskiy Avenue. St., 24-hour, (499) 246 6902

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Tsvetnoy Boulevard metro station,

13 Sadovaya-Samotechnaya St., 24-hour, (495) 694 0056

Chekhovskaya metro station,

Soon in bookstores

30/7 Petrovka St., (495) 694 6082

Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station,

6 Borovskoye Road, (495) 980 2051

Vystavochnaya metro station, of 1905 year,

27 Shmitovskiy Passage, 24-hour, (499) 256-4660

ПУТЕШЕСТВИЕ

НЕПАЛ

Odintsovskiy District, Gorki-2

‘Zhyvoi Dom’ Trade Center, 3rd floor +7 (495) 221-03-34

KIEV, “Teatralnaya”, “Zolotye Vorota”,“Kreschatik” metro station, 2-4/7 Pushkinskaya St.,+38 (044) 270-7248

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357 West Broadway, NYork City, NY 10013 phone: (212) 510 75 10

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