Pavel Smeyan was born in Moscow, Russia in 1957 and died of cancer in a hospital in Germany on 12 July 2009 . He was  of 52. While unknown in the west, Pavel was enormously popular in Russia.

Pavel graduated from the Gnesins’ State Institute of Music majoring in the saxophone. He played in various philharmonics, and worked in Rosconcert and the Lenkom Theatre. He dubbed and played roles and recorded songs for more than 20 movies and animations including Mary Poppins, Goodbye, There’s Good Weather in Deribasovskaya and It’s Raining Again in Brighton Beach. He sang in the famous rock operas The Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta, Juno and Avos. His first songs first appeared on records of the Rock Atelier band in 1981. Later he released three music albums as a solo artist.

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In contrast to growing disdain for beauty contests in the west, they thrive in Russia.  I’m told that they are even more popular among women than men.

Yulia Obraztsova, 25, was crowned Miss Moscow 2009 on July 15. She is expected to compete in the upcoming Russian Beauty Pageant.

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Yaroslavl is a quiet old town not far from Moscow. All the secrets of Yaroslavl, including the secret of producing traditional Russian shoes — valenki - will be revealed by Martyn Andrews, the Wayfarer.

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Film is set in the future. Humans on spaceship named “Tantra” are exploring the unknown part of the Universe. The spaceship gets trapped by the mysterious Iron Star. The Iron Star’s powerful force of gravity is to hold the spaceship for 20 years. The humans are facing a very tough survival challenge, being surrounded by the invisible predators. The predators can eat human flesh right through heavy spacesuits, and some crew-members disappear. Only the light from “Tantra” can scare the predators away.

The film was originally intended to be the first episode of a series of films however the remaining parts were never made. De facto name - The Andromeda Nebula: Episode I. Prisoners of the Iron Star. Writer Efremov was banned by the KGB. Next episodes were never filmed.

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Here’s a uniquely Russian artist and the instrument he created that is part guitar, sitar and Russian gusli. Vladiswar is not only an accomplished multi instrumentalist, he also does visual art.  There’s more at his English language web site.

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Here’s a look a the Russian winter to cool the hot summer! The Wayfarer discovers the area around Samara - a city on the eastern bank of the Volga river which used to be a closed city during the Cold war due to its aerospace industry. He visits the aircraft design office and Stalin’s underground bunker which was constructed during the World War II in case of invasion of Moscow by the Hitler troops. He also tries out the car which, due to its cheapness, used to be the most popular vehicle during the Soviet times.

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Russia’s ultra rich had their own July 4th celebration at an annual yacht festival.

Those of the Russian rich who haven’t felt the pinch of the global economic crisis just yet are showing off their luxurious boats at the Moscow Yacht Festival, which, in terms of audience appeal, is the biggest event of its kind in Eastern Europe. (Russia Today)

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