A mystical journey If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire. But just before they go on fire … Continue reading In Transit – Part 2
A Sentimental Journey Embarking on a journey means boarding a train. You sit by a window, leaning on a dusty glass (do not lean on glass, it’s dirty!) staring at the trees flying by, the wires going up and down, the thundering noise of a passing train, the tattered stations, towns, and villages, the names that fade from your memory; the well-known routes and the … Continue reading In Transit – Part 1
I am so happy to share an essay written by my dear friend and co-author Anastasia (Nastya) Arkhipova. For many years we have been sharing similar passions and interests – eventually, our lifetime friendship culminated in a book The Era of TV Series OR How the Masterpieces of A Small Screen Changed Our Lives. This is what our manifesto is about – our creative relationship … Continue reading The River of Time
Sheer Heart Attack captivated me many years ago, even though back then I understood very little, both literally and figuratively. I remember being mesmerized by the unusual tone of “In the Lap of the Gods,” loving “Tenement Funster,” being scared by the aggressiveness of “Flick of the Wrist” – again, completely missing out the lyrics but sensing the mood from the harsh riffs, Freddie’s voice, … Continue reading Sheer Heart Attack
One year ago we were told to stay home. We thought it would be like this for several weeks, for a couple of months. We postponed our plans and eventually canceled them entirely. We were clinging to each other, to our small and fragile universe, looking out at the storm that was roaring outside. On March 13, my university was still open but I canceled … Continue reading One Year
For International Women’s Day, I would like to share a couple of the texts I wrote years ago, when studying the history of the survivors and victims of both Nazi and Soviet camps. The first two texts were written as a part of the Virtual Museum of the Holocaust and Resistance: while working in McMaster Archives, I discovered the cookbooks and a diary written by … Continue reading Fighting Darkness
Once upon a time, I came across a live version of “Heroes,” a song co-written by David Bowie and Brian Eno; it blew me away, and stayed with me for the last four years, keeping me going, picking me up, and always, always taking my breath away. In 2019, sometime between January 8th and 10th, I went to a wonderful Choir! Choir! Choir! session, where … Continue reading Heroes
I needed to listen to something fresh and young, something that would alleviate that sickening feeling from not-so-happy news from around the world and from the cold breath of the pandemic winter. While revisiting my “tiny essays” format, I thought of Queen’s first album – again, a memorable item in my cassette collection, often played in my youth, and then somehow left out of my … Continue reading Queen
Have you ever been fascinated by something in advance, even before you see or hear it? I have – and all these occasions date from the pre-streaming times, the early 90s. Once, in my teen years, I saw a short clip from Alice in the Cities by Wim Wenders and fell completely in love with this director. And when I watched this movie, along with … Continue reading Lazarus
I will not be the first to say how prophetically the Queen’s music video “Thank God It’s Christmas” is perceived today, now seen through the veil of lockdowns and hardships, with the world shrinking to the small and intimate space of our houses. Here we are, in December 2020, approaching Christmas, back in lockdown. Our little neighborhood is now all illuminated by festive lights, and … Continue reading It’s Been A Long Hard Year
