Corporate Design

We at Radio Krasnaya are constantly working to develop our professional image. Here is an example of our latest corporate branding development. Expect T-Shirts and coffee mugs in stores soon.

The Hunt Begins

Moscow is a very trendy place. People wear nice clothes, especially women and dirty shoes are a character flaw. So it was very surprising to see a mullet amongst the trendy elite. And it's even more surprising to see it on a woman.

But ladies and gentleman, i'm told that the aptly titled "Euro Mullet" is the epitome of fashion. And that a few privelaged women have been sighted sporting this unique and exclusive style. It is the new aim of this month to capture a photo of one such fashion and share it with you, the valued listeners.

We will attempt to find the secrets of the "Euro Mullet". What makes it so alluring and empowering to the wearer? Why is it so rare and where did it come from? We won't rest until we find out and have shared it with you. Stay tuned.

News, News & More News

Greetings all.

Theres but more news to tell. Today we get our new internet provider set up. We will have 3.5 MBit connection and 60 channels of TV. Nice nice indeed. :) Visit Akado site here (Russian)

Also BKC (my Employer) has announced a payrise and is raising the accommodation allowance too, each by $50 Yank. This amounts to an extra $100 Yank overall. It is also nice nice. :)

And the new statistics system is in, so I can tell how many people are (and aren't) reading this blog, how often they are doing it and where they are when they are reading. So you all have no excuses. :) :) Google Analytics is a super powerful tool for monitoring site traffic and can tell you where your site visitors are coming from and what they are clicking on once they are in your site. And the best part is that it is FREE!! Visit the Google Analytics site here.

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend. I have no plans for mine as yet but i'm sure it will be enjoyable.

Take care radio fans.

Matt.

Radio Krasnaya - 7th Ranking on Google.com

Ladies and Gentlemans,

Running a search for Radio Krasnaya on Google yields a 7th Place Result. This is all well and good, but we need more!!!! Radio Krasnaya needs your help to attain the top spot. Tell your friends. Send them the link. Make our presence known. Every single hit counts so do your part to help Radio Krasnaya to become the top dog in the kennel.

WOOF!!!

To Update you (So that you will be updated)

Ladies and Gentlemans, it's time for Ze Update.

<<---Dorky News Music Plays--->>

Greetings and welcome to the Radio Krasnaya Semi-Often Major Novosti Update. Making news tonight, The First Moscow Light Festival on Chistye Prudy, My general state of health, reshuffles in my timetable, fantastic new opportunities, gifts from people, my progress studying Russian and the weather. We're glad to have you with us. We'll be right back after the break.

<<---Insert Break Here--->>

Welcome back. FIrst in tonight's news, last Sunday, we were lucky enough to attend the first-ever Moscow Light Festival, located on Chistye Prudy (literally Clear Ponds). This is the first event of it's type in Moscow and boasted a good turnout of views. A small section of Chistoprudny Bulvar (Boulevard) was rigged with different lighting displays to create different atmospheres. It's reported that a few people expected a little more than what was presented and hope that next years display surpasses the quality of this one.

In other news, it would appear that my cold is waning and has just about taken off for the hills. It is a good feeling and considering my state of health this time last year, it is certainly an improvement.

Now to Lingua news where a few recent developments have resulted in changes in my timetable and doors being opened to new possibilities. As previously requested, I will recieve the early start timetable that I was chasing last year. Most days I will start between 8:30 and 9:00 and finish in the early afternoon. THis is fantastic as it brings my timetable pretty much in line with that of my girlfriend. (Although not looking forward to the early waking and crowded metro journeys that come with it)

As for the new opportunities, this is actually the reason for the timetable changes. I have a new in-company class with one student. 3 times a week, i will travel to the office of a well regarded Russian state-owned bank to help the Senior Vice President to improve his English skills. I'm not exactly sure of the opportunities that will spring from this, but i'm sure, somewhere along the lines, there will be.

After we return, we'll present gifts from friends, my progress learning Russian and the weather.

<<---Insert yet another annoying break just here--->>

New Years is a fantastic time in Moscow. Fireworks, Alcohol and most importantly, presents. YAY! Presents. I got presents. Nice presents indeed. Let me tell you what presents I got:

• A new pair of leather/cashmere/wool gloves (Thanks Princess)
• A rabbit-ear wine opener (Thanks Rob & Marina)
• A Lolly Tree (Yes lollies grow on trees) (Thanks Olga & Sergei)
• A special glove so i can hold hands with Sveta without our hands getting cold. (as above)
• A set of plates and bowls (Super nice ones) (Thanks Natalia)
• A picture frame with sea artifacts to decorate our flat (Thanks Dima)
• A bottle of "Riga Balzams" from Latvia (Thanks Lena)
• A new cordless phone for apartment (Thanks Irina)

& Many more...(Ok not that many more) Thank you all for the super presents. They are fulli roxxor!!!

Ahem. Now to my progress studying Russian. I have had several lessons with my lovely Russian teacher (who also happens to be my girlfriend) and so far I feel as though I have been progressing well. (Albeit several complicated words which take 20 attempts to pronounce them well enough to be understood.) eg. Разговаривать - To talk - Pronounced- Razgavarivat' We started learning the past tense last night which at this point, appears to be fairly simple. I know though that a lot of frustration is ahead. But I'm ready for it.

Now to the weather. People are still scratching their heads over the peculiar winter weather this year. Rain over the last two days, absolutely unheard of before in January, permanent cloud cover for the last two weeks and temperatures circa 0c to +4c. Compared to last years temperature of the time, circa -20c, the weather seems quite tame and there's not been many complaints. Will the winter come this year? We'll have to wait to find out.

Thats all from us here at the studio. Have a wonderful evening. Goodnight.

<<---Dorky music plays, lights fade--->>

Beware Pre-Intermediates!!

You will be meeting the same fate today as the Elementaries did yesterday.

<<-------Insert Evil Laugh Here-------->>

Look out Elementaries!!

Today you're going to learn about cars!!! Muhahahhahah.

A special Treat!!

Greetings all. Welcome to dessert 101. Because you've been such loyal listeners, I have decided to do something nice for you. I'm going to share a secret recipe with you.

THis simple yet super yummy treat will save your life if you are expecting guests and are in dire need of a dessert to feed them with.

If you dare to attempt this recipe, you'll be needing......

• 1 x Cup of Strawberries


• 3 x Oranges


• Icecream (Recommend Vienetta but any vanilla icecream will suffice)


• Whipped Cream (Make it yourself or from a can)


• 3 Teaspoons of Sugar


• 1 Tablespoon of Honey


• A blender

Once you've got the goodies, you'll need to...

1. Take that cup of strawberries and blend it. Leave not one strawberry unmangled. Blend with 2 teaspoons of sugar and the tablespoon of honey.


2. Peel the oranges and get rid of any stringy bits (Time consuming but will yield a more satisfying result) Then Blend with remaining sugar. (Add more if desired)


3. Chill the strawberry and orange sauces until required.


4. Whip the cream (Or shake the can if you are using the stuff in a can)


5. Put slice of Vienetta (Or 2 scoops of normal icecream) in the centre of the bowl.


6. Put whipped cream on top of icecream.


7. Put strawberry sauce on one side of the icecream/cream and orange sauce on the opposite side. (You can put orange sauce first without sacrificing quality of the dessert)


8. Eat with much enthusiasm and smiles.

Serves 6 people (Or 2 famished people x 3 times)

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know of your successes (or failures) in making this masterpiece. If it is a success, then you will owe that success to me. And if it is a failure, then you probably didn't follow the instructions correctly. :) :)
Cheers.

Matt

Mild update complete

For a few weeks now, Blogger has been offering to upgrade me for the latest version of their blogging software with much enthusiasm. Today, I collected my thoughts on the matter and weighed up the pros and cons of the upgrade. I decided that I could offer my listeners more with the enhanced features of this latest version and pushed the upgrade button.

You will notice that there have been a few subtle changes to the blog. First and most obvious is that a few colours and fonts have been changed. Why? Becuase I feel like it. Secondly a few things have changed names. Comments are now called "you says". Thirdly, there some more items added to the right sidebar. "хорошо" & "плохо". хорошо (kharosho) is Russian for "Good" and плохо (Plokha) is the word for bad. It's my version of what's hot and what's not so hot.

I hope you enjoy the new subtle changes and find it easier to get the latest news from Moscow. Enjoy.

Matt.

THe crazy days that were...

Our stupid internet has been giving us grief. For the last few days, it has been working for 5 minutes per day. The 3 hours it's been working for today has probably come as another internet service provider has phoned us with another great deal which we are thinking of chasing. 3.5 Mbit cable with unlimited traffic and 69 channels of TV for a little over what we are paying now for 1MBit. Do the maths.


In other news, i've caught a nasty cold and it's not very nice. I think its getting better now. At least I can be thankful for not having to work during the worst days and for not having the same terribly cold weather as we had this time last year. The weather is still in positive figures. A student was telling me today (Yes today is Saturday and I worked) something about some gulfstream coming from the Atlantic which was responsible for the peculiar weather.


We have a bear. It's name is Mr White. And Mr White has been long overdue for a wash. So we decided that it was time for him to have a bath as he was starting to look like Mr Brown. He seemed to enjoy it although he was Mr Damp for about 2 days. Now he is Mr White again and seems to be much happier.


My New Years resolution was to learn more Russian. Last year and the year before (WOW that seems scary when you look at it like that...) I made excuses that I was too busy. This time there will be no more excuses. SO today I did the inevitable and bought a Russian Grammar book. No there is no excuse..


Well I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for your messages. I try to respond to as many as I can. (When my internet works of course) Take care of yourselves

Matt.

Great Balls of Fire

New Years Eve and the days after are truly a festive time in Moscow. Forget sleeping early for at least a week after the event.... Why??? The answer is simple. Fireworks. What is illegal in most states in Australia is widely available here in Moscow. By widely, i mean that you can buy them in supermarkets.

So many different types.. Rockets, candles, mortars, sparklers, crackers... you name it, its right near the toilet paper in your friendly local supermarket.

We had the traditional Christmas dinner late this year. Tonight on the 3 January in fact. It was a good opportunity to play the new Nintendo Wii and set off many fireworks which someone else had spent their hard earned on.

I must still have not grown up becuase the sound of explosions is still exciting. :) :) Unfortunately anyone trying to sleep might not have been as excited as i was. THe logical thing to do would be to find a quiet field somewhere and set up a launch pad. In Moscow however, it's not terribly practical. So a small park sandwiched on all sides by blocks of flats is perfect. The sound of fireworks echoes approximately 20 times before it finally dies down. Multiply that by the number of fireworks we launched and you have the collective decibels of the last Soyuz rocket launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan.

Tomorrow night, we have some more to launch. :) Get ready Muscovites.. We haven't got quite enough to blow the ass out of this country, but we do have enough to deprive you of some sleep. I hope my neighbors suffer the most. Teach them to rearrange their furniture at 2am.
:) :) I'm so bad!!