Yerevan Diaries: Banned book

My reputation follows me. Even presents I receive in Yerevan are pretty much X-rated. Not complaining :) It's Unzipped, after all.

This book has been reportedly banned from Armenian book stores for using not 'normative' language, that proved to be too shocking for book store owners.

Here it is. Unzipped.



Haven't read it yet, but will do upon my return to London.

Yerevan Diaries: no poster Opera

Have to admit. I missed the view of Opera area surrounded by posters & ads of performances and so on. They were good and bad, tasteful and tasteless. But they were part of the 'deal', and fitted the area perfectly. Without them, the only 'filling' for Opera area (& Liberty sq) is provided by cafes. And it looks empty to me.

Yerevan Diaries: Swan Lake

Glad to see Swan Lake area in downtown Yerevan looking nicer and taken care of, much better than 2 years ago. Bonus: the addition of new art works.

Yerevan Diaries: ...when hall = հոլ :)

Still can't stop laughing whenever I see these examples of using Armenian translit to refer to English words re venue names. Some of them are hilarious.

Here is just one of such examples :)

Yerevan Diaries: PanArmenian games closing ceremony - #Fail

I am so glad that due to personal circumstances could not make it to Liberty sq for a closing ceremony of PanArmenian games (open air event/concert). Instead, watching it on TV. That was the better/safer option, considering what was on the menu.

Throughout the ceremony, it was full with pathetic, pseudo-patriotic speeches. They sounded so fake, with artificial smiles and 'special expressions' on the face of those on stage, that the only appropriate tag to describe the happening was #FunnySad.

[Btw, I didn't know that PanArmenian games is also a beauty pageant with prizes for "Miss Beauty".]

And finally... When you see Armenchik - 'king of rabiz' - chosen as a headlining act for PanArmenian games closing ceremony, no more comments needed, indeed.

This was one of the most boring, pathetic and tasteless ceremonies I have ever seen in Yerevan.

Verdict: #Fail

Yerevan Diaries: newspapers; Google maps

Morning papers
In past, whenever I was in Yerevan, always started my morning with a pile of morning papers. Newspapers of broad range of affiliations or 'independent' ones were part of my daily routine. No longer. Have no desire whatsoever to purchase them. For now, my quick glancing at online outlets seem sufficient enough. Still, downloaded digital versions of The Guardian and The Independent.

Google maps - Yerevan
In past, I was looking at Google maps - Yerevan as something with more of a sentimental value, not for practical purposes. Yesterday, for the first time, I used it to find a particular street in downtown Yerevan. And it worked. And I loved it. From now on, its practical value seem more important to me.

Serj Tankian in Yerevan: Dorians, the audience, messages, and the most bizarre 'weapon of mass destruction'

Yerevan Diaries

Bottle cap as a 'weapon of mass destruction'

The weirdest thing happened before the concert started. Security or stewards demanded bottle caps to be separated from plastic bottles and thrown away before one can enter the concert area. I & friends could not get it: why bottle caps? Someone suggested that they could be thrown at others during the concert, but plastic bottles could be used for the similar purposes too, if one had such a desire. Whose 'genius' idea this was, I wonder?

Dorians - more than an opening act

Absolutely loved Dorians. Always liked them via their YouTube clips, but now that I managed to enjoy their performance live, I am 'officially' their fan. Top class rock performance, in line with best young rock groups elsewhere.

Serj Tankian

Despite criticism re not powerful enough sound and choice of music, Serj Tankian was good too. I expected higher energetics, but he didn't disappoint me. And I loved the stage design, very tasteful, and organic with the outside environment. And symphonic orchestra from the Yerevan Opera House was pretty good too.

Messages & the audience

The audience was very mixed. Not in a good way mixed. Quite a few young people didn't REALLY know why they were there. They probably came in for a free concert and/or to say 'we were at Tankian's concert'. They were minority, perhaps, but a sizeable minority. This group typically had no clue what Tankian was singing about, and was funny to observe how they followed others' to start clapping etc. :)

There were some powerful messages from Serj Tankian about ridiculousness of borders - between people, countries and nations. He made it loud and very clear that "all walls are f*cking empty". But it seemed to me, that for a sizeable proportion of people present at the concert, the only message they got from Tankian was one with the G-word.

Calls for universal recognition of the Armenian Genocide, expectedly, followed by huge applause. But immediately after, Serj Tankian mentioned that we should pay attention to problems within Armenia too, without specifying them. Much weaker applause followed.

(just one of those problems) Environmentalists managed to make their point known during the concert by waving a huge poster "Mining is killing".

And the least applause of the night goes to... Armenia president Serj Sargsyan

People were shouting Serj (meaning Serj Tankian), accompanied by the huge applause for his performance. Then he mentioned that there is another Serj present at the concert - Serj Sargsyan, the president of Armenia, that is. No shouting of his name, and only very weak, hardly noticeable applause followed. This was yet another message of last night, but this time from the audience...

Yerevan diaries: London - Tehran... via Yerevan

Now I know why it became so difficult to impossible to book BMI direct flights from London to Yerevan.

I've heard it before as a speculation that this flight became unofficially a transit route to connect London with Tehran.

However, I can confirm that there is nothing 'unofficial' there. Indeed, London -Yerevan BMI flight turned into "London -Tehran via Yerevan", as featured at the Heathrow airport, and most passengers were Iranian or heading to Tehran. I am actually amazed with the numbers of Iranian passengers to and from London taking into account the relationships between these two countries.

Anyway, here I am, in Yerevan... via London - Tehran :)

Full of contrasts and surprises. 'White Illusions' concert by Karen Grigoryan & co at Royal Festival Hall in London – 1 September 2011

Essential date for your diary, if you are in London that is: Thursday 1 September 2011, Royal Festival Hall.

This will be the most unusual Armenian concert you may have seen in London. Full of contrasts. With the mixture of classical music, experimental beats and pop rock.

Renowned composer and producer Karen Grigoryan presents White Illusions, a concert consisting of 20 of his greatest experimental classical works and performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra. This gala is an opportunity to gain an insight into the work of one of today's foremost Armenian contemporary classical composers, performed by one of London's premiere orchestras.

Grigoryan is joined by Juice, a uniquely versatile Armenian vocalist who released her debut album Kix in 2010. The Philharmonia Orchestra is led by the acclaimed young conductor Marius Stravinsky, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra (KPO).
http://www.karengrigoryan.com/

Karen Grigoryan’s muse – Juice, will perform KIX and Save Our Love. The latter is about emo girl. Btw, liked the latest tribute by Juice to Amy Winehouse.

*picture - by Artashes Martirosyan (EL Style project)

A version of Sirusho’s song for organ will be performed by Artur Bobikyan. More surprises await you during the concert. Don’t miss.

For tickets, follow this link:

South Bank Centre

Karen dedicates this concert to the 20th anniversary of Armenia independence.

Fascism during Vartavar

Armenian Aryans, ultra-nationalists, anti-semitic and homophobic group based in Armenia, apparently hijacked the Vartavar celebrations in Garni again.

Horrific picture.

No wonder that Norwegian right wing terrorist may have found links in Armenia too.

*picture by Onnik Krikorian

Norway terrorist’s alleged diary indicate links to Armenia far right nationalists

The extract below is believed to be from Norway mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik diary or manifesto. It suggests that this guy may have developed links to far right nationalists / neo-nazi in Armenia too.

Quote thanks to Nazarian posting /emphasis mine/:

“March 2010

I have ended my “email acquisition phase” ending up with a grand total of 5700 Facebook contacts (2 accounts) and a total of 8000 high quality email addresses (representing all spheres of cultural conservative thought). I now have a direct way forwarding my compendium to a good portion of the most dedicated nationalist oriented individuals in all Western European countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, South Africa, certain Eastern European countries, Armenia, Israel and even India. This task has taken me several months and it pained me to purge all my FB contacts. I’ve talked and discussed with hundreds of patriotic individuals (many whom are nationalist oriented intellectuals fighting the good fight), many good people, which made the decision to purge the contacts even harder. I have now moderated by FB profile considerably and transformed it to a politically correct profile. I do fear sometimes that my endeavours relating to the research of the book, and acquisitions of these addresses has resulted in me being put on various watch lists. I know that at least a few of the profiles I invited are fake, and used for information gathering for various European and US intelligence agencies. The question is; have they flagged me? I guess I will find out eventually...”
***
This information about possible links of Norwegian murderer to Armenian nationalist groups or individuals is very worrying, indeed. This is what should be considered a matter of national security and swiftly investigated by relevant agencies in Armenia.

I may only hope that the enormous tragedy in Norway will serve as a wake-up call for people and governments in broader Europe, including Armenia, on the rise of neo-nazi and other full-of-hatred groups in the continent.

Amy Winehouse: my London is shrinking

She was part of my London. When I moved here, after the initial ‘introductory’-touristy period, I started creating MY very own London within THE London. “Creating” is probably the wrong choice of word here because I didn’t artificially create it per se. It was evolved in a very organic way. Into a space with people, places, things that come to my mind when I think of London. They are a reflection of my interests. Taste. Preferences. Together they define much smaller, much more intimate and dear London to me.

Now that Amy is gone I feel the sense of (part)emptiness and I do not know how, when or if I will be able to fill it again.

It feels like part of my London is gone, cut off. Part of myself. It's painful.

Good bye, Amy... xxx

Cute Armenian children on the Facebook video call / chat announcement!

So cute!! I love this :))



*thanks to Dave Chapman for the link.

Re: the ‘issue’ of foreign-language schools in Armenia (AM)

Անձամբ ես ռուսական դպրոց եմ գնացել Երևանում: Առանձնապես չեմ բողոքում իմ հայերենի իմացության առումով: Միշտ էլ գրել և կարդացել եմ հայերեն (ռուսերենի և անգլերենի հետ մեկտեղ), և հիմնական խոսակցական լեզուս հայերենն է եղել:

Օբյեկտիվորեն հասկանում և ընդունում եմ օտարալեզու դպրոցներին դեմ պայքարողների որոշ պատճառաբանումները: Բայց համաձայն եմ նաև այս կարծիք արտահայտողի հետ, որ մի տեսակ ֆանատիզմի աստիճանի է հասնում այս ամենը, և անհանդուրժողական մթնոլորտի` այլ կարծիք արտահայտողների նկատմամբ:

Armenia: ...when it's OK that reporters are prohibited from sitting in on the trial

Was thinking about today's decision in Vanadzor to not allow journalists' presence (sitting in) at suspected pedophile trial. I reckon, it's for better, away from sensationalist reporting, and minimises the possibilities of breaching children's privacy.

Important message from Eurovision to Baku: Azerbaijan must guarantee freedom of expression and sufficient visa entry [incl. for Armenians]

“In line with standard requirements that have to be fulfilled to host the Eurovision Song Contest, the government of Azerbaijan has been requested by the EBU to provide guarantees about security during the event, as well as freedom of expression, according to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and in line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, to all participants, fans, accredited journalists and the individual citizens of the country that access official Eurovision Song Contest premises. The EBU also requested that all accredited individuals and ticket holders shall receive sufficient entrance visa for the required duration. Such guarantees are expected to be given in the weeks to come.” - reads statement published on official Eurovision website.

As Escdaily rightly pointed out, “such words are more than likely to refer to the question of Armenia’s participation, VISA entry requirements, and questions about press freedom in the would-be host country.”

[...]

More on Unzipped: Gay Armenia

'Friendly handshake' from Basel... with 'Dita Von Teese'

'Friendly handshake'

Green trams

'SODOM', well, sort of ;)

The only reason I bought this bottle of Perrier... because it was featuring Dita Von Teese :)

London: Random AM 'encounters'

Francis Kurkdjian, Liberty, London

"Family rules"... Of course, Kardashian :)

Dancing under rain - First Armenian Street Festival in London

Poor organisers. ('հայի բախտ' situation) The weather was so miserable today that it spoilt to a great extent what promised to be a fun Armenian day out in the heart of London. The first Armenian Street Festival. But as you could see from these pics, some were making their best effort to have fun with Armenian dancings under rain.It all resembled Yerevan's Vernissage (something like Armenian Camden Market), meaning that for people from Armenia, like me, there was nothing particularly special there although was cute seeing a Yerevan 'institution' transferred to the Armenian church courtyard and beyond in London. I assume, this should have been more interesting and exciting for Diaspora Armenians and occasional British residents and guests. Greetings by Mayor Boris Johnson were passed to the festival participants.As expected with Armenian events, the least organised part was food section :) which despite some efforts made was a bit chaotic (reasonably tasty but chaotic). And different people getting slightly different portions for the same food tickets they purchased.Turnout was pretty good. Imagine that it would have been totally packed if there were more favourable weather conditions. Here is hoping for sunny, or at least more rainbow-ish 2nd street festival.

Keep Yerevan clean of hate garbage - social ad by ArmComedy

This is so good that has to be posted on both of my blogs.
...

FYI mayor of Yerevan and residents. Respects to ArmComedy.



Relevant posts from my archive:

Homophobic posters in Yerevan, Armenia 

Council of Europe issues non inclusive anti-discrimination report on Armenia amid rise in intolerance towards minorities