– What recent events have particularly struck you? – First of all, as a legal practitioner, I am following the development of the trial in Qatar, where two of our intelligence officers are accused of the murder of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. The fact is that I already had experience of holding a trial in Qatar, where several years ago a Russian guy was detained on charges of drug smuggling.

This year the XXVI Moscow Film Festival will take place. Among the stars expected are Meryl Streep, Isabelle Adjani, Emir Kusturica and Alan Parker as chairman of the jury. Over its almost half-century history, the festival has undoubtedly had its glorious moments. In 1963, they were not afraid to award the Grand Prix to Fellini for “8 1/2,” although Khrushchev fell asleep while watching it.

The decision to go to Avignon for the theater festival was not spontaneous, but we delayed its implementation. The rental car had already been picked up, the hotel had been booked long ago, and we were all sitting in a sushi place in the center of Paris, looking through the glass at a homeless man who was sleeping comfortably on a bench, with a liter bottle of wine under his head. It was July, and I didn’t want to go out on the highway under the hot French sun.

Only Americans have found practical use for stilts: industrial models for electricians are sold in the States. It’s very convenient when you need to change a lot of light bulbs, you don’t have to drag a stepladder every time. In all its other manifestations, the art of walking on extended legs is as meaningless and beautiful as juggling, tightrope walking and blowing soap bubbles. Which is sweet to my heart.

THE STRANGEEST In the coldest, most aggressive space, a person shrinks internally, tries to accumulate the remnants of internal heat, focus on the positive, and soon he feels good. And even very cozy. Those who created the space in the Japan Mama restaurant were clearly counting on this effect. Climbing up an airplane ladder, b/w photographs of some ammonites in steel frames, an aluminum ceiling, sliding windows, shiny tables.

We traveled around Spain with my friend Yana and were very upset that Spanish shops take a siesta break during the day, and then open from five to half past five and close again. One evening we were wandering through the streets of a town called Jerez, which is famous for the drink of the same name, and Yana accidentally spotted a store like a rocker’s; there were marijuana T-shirts and other similar items.

The Russian State Archive of Literature and Art RGALI is a real Mecca for those who study Russian and Soviet literature, art, music and theater. Of course, not to the same extent as before, when the authors of the archives, having sold them to the state, came here to drink tea, like Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky, but still, the Treasures in RGALI are countless. Some of the most remarkable areas include the local Silver Age and the Russian avant-garde.

The useful thing wedding list was invented by rationally thinking Americans with their cult of weddings. They, smart and practical, have long been no longer afraid that Aunt Sally and Uncle Sam will give the same toasters, and distant relatives will show up with a lawn mower that no one needs; It’s also good if the receipt is not thrown away: you can return it to the store or exchange it for something.

My friend Kolya drinks everything he earns and loses it, but he is always full, as he cooks food for high-society banquets and parties. I come to his workshop, and there is such an abundance: pilaf in cauldrons, salads by the bucketful and mulled wine in huge pots. Seasonings are on the shelves in three-liter jars. “Here,” he says, “my pride, admire: black mustard seeds - but everywhere only light ones are sold!

The artists who will perform in the city in the coming days are located at opposite poles of musical history. Cher and Tony Sheridan are classics of the sixties, their names are written in big bold letters in all rock encyclopedias, and it’s a shame for a music lover not to know them. Placebo and Reamonn are young and trendy modern bands with an unclear future, but already quite a successful past. If you haven’t heard of them, you are elderly, incurious, or have lost interest in life.

Elizabeth of England, resembling an ostrich in her lifted skirts, fumbles in the pants of the puny Earl of Leicester. Malyuta Skuratov tumbled out from under his caftan a giant penis with the head of a dragon. And the cheerful naked woman has three angels singing between her spread legs, and the fourth, looking like a phallus, the woman joyfully pulls the string... These are Sergei Eisenstein’s drawings for the film “Ivan the Terrible”, made, by the way, for purely practical purposes.

The diet of school canteens, apparently, cannot do without genetically modified products. Deputies of the State Duma came to this, albeit not official, conclusion at a round table held in the Health Protection Committee on the topic “Proper nutrition as a factor in strengthening the health of the nation.” It turned out that the situation with both nutrition and health for the majority of Russians is very bad.

Monks at the circus. It sounds crazy. The fact that the monks are from China, and in addition from Shaolin, does not explain much: it is difficult to imagine Buddhist athletes in the sawdust-strewn arena. But there will be no sawdust: the Golden Lion circus troupe from Henan province and the Shaolin monks will perform on the stage of the Variety Theater.

Last week in Moscow, the results of the Third Competition of Russian Innovations, which was established by the Ministry of Atomic Energy and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, were summed up. From the 413 projects sent to the qualifying round, the competition jury selected 12 developments, the authors of which can even receive grants for further scientific activities.

“Last year, when we opened the season, it was monstrously cold, on May 18,” says young lady Anya. “But by eleven in the evening, half of the Moscow party-goers had still gathered at the pier at Rossiya. People are bundled up, hats, blankets... What to do? "Rynda"... For those who don't know yet.