Tag: I-recommend

Book: Alexander Grigoriev “Word on the Slide”

No comments

Many years ago, I absolutely did not know how to make presentations. I won’t say that I’m great at it now either, but at some point, I realized that the fate of your project, team, and even just an idea depends on how you present it. And although my public speaking is still far from ideal, my presentations in the form of files and face-to-face, based on them, have clearly become much better. First, thanks to experienced colleagues who taught me to do it better and always expressed constructive feedback. Second, because work required me to do it more often, both using standard templates and more creative ones to sell a great idea. And third, because I became increasingly interested in what those who do this constantly recommend.

Surprisingly, when talking specifically about presentations as a set of slides, much can be learned from related fields. For example, the ability to structure your speech more competently and simply is also a key to success. And here many tips from the book “Write, Shorten” would be quite suitable (although I have many other issues with it). Guy Kawasaki in his book “Art of the Start 2.0” dedicates a separate section specifically to preparing presentations. Alexander Bogachev in “Charts That Persuade Everyone” shows how to better convey your thoughts through graphical representation. And Kirill Egerev’s book “This Button Needs Text,” although not related to presentations, touches on important aspects of creating short, concise, and clear texts for UI, and these rules are universal, so they work in presentations as well.

Read more

Book: Henry Lion Oldie “The Door into Winter

No comments

I read this book by Henry Lion Oldie exactly one year ago, just a couple of months after their wartime diary, Invasion. This book is a collection of science fiction stories, but all of them revolve around one central theme — the war in Ukraine.

And today, it is impossible to separate them from real events, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that it’s “just fiction.” Because this “fantasy” feels far too real, and all the speculative elements are simply a backdrop for what’s going on in the minds of the authors — and in the minds of many people right now.

Normally, I try to write thoughtful and fairly in-depth reviews of books, but with this one, I couldn’t bring myself to write anything substantial for an entire year. It always felt like whatever clever ideas or interpretations I might come up with, any metaphors or hidden meanings I could find, would all crash into the wall of reality — a reality more fantastical and terrifying than fiction itself.

Even in their stories, the authors include fragments of autobiography. In The Small Circle, there are brief excerpts from their real diary.

And in the story Those Who Follow Me, they describe a magical wall that shuts the world away from the horrors of Mordor. A few years ago, I would have read that as quirky sci-fi. But now I realize — this is a dream many people share. They truly want an impenetrable wall to keep Mordor out. For many, many years to come.

I considered writing nothing about this book at all. But in the end, I decided to limit myself to a short note. Not all of the stories struck me as strong pieces of science fiction — and I did try to evaluate the book as a work of literature — so my overall rating is lower than for other story collections, whether by Oldie or other authors.

However, as a kind of mirror to our era and this war, the book deserves a much higher score. It is a must-read. At the very least, to get a glimpse of how this is being experienced, and how it finds expression in literature, by those who have now lived with this war for three years. Where people are dying who never wanted to fight — and every month brings news of children killed, children who should only have ever learned about war from history books.

P.S. I’m sorry I’m not able to write a proper review right now.

My mark: 3.5/5

TV Series: “The King and the Jester” / “Korol i Shut”

1 comment

I don’t think I’ve written long, thoughtful posts about TV series before. But it’s been months now, and I’m still under the impression of this one—so that must be a sign: I need to speak up.

The story of the band Korol i Shut (The King and the Jester) officially begins in 1988 in the city of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) when three classmates—Mikhail “Gorshok” Gorshenev (“Gorshok” in Russian means “pot”), Alexander “Poruchik” Shchigolev (“Poruchik” means “lieutenant”), and Alexander “Balu” Balunov—decided to form a band, initially naming it Kontora (it can be translated as The Office but mostly refers to KGB, I think). However, in 1989, Gorshok met Andrey “Knyaz” Knyazev (“Knyaz” is “Duke”) at a restoration school where they later interned together. They became friends, and Gorshok was deeply impressed by Knyaz’s drawings and lyrics in the style of dark fairy tales. This led to Knyaz joining the band, which a year later adopted its final name, Korol i Shut (The King and the Jester). Knyaz’s depiction of a jester became the band’s iconic emblem, and over the years, the jester in the logo began to resemble Gorshok more and more.

I’m not an expert in music genres, but the band’s work has been described as horror punk, folk punk, and rock. I discovered them around 1998, when their music video Yeli Myaso Muzhiki (Men Were Eating Meat) started airing on various music TV channels. It was a blend of horror, dark humor, and memorable punk rock riffs:

Read more

Books: A New Edition of the Erast Fandorin Series

No comments

Since Boris Akunin’s books have disappeared from sale in Russia, and new ones are no longer being printed, yet readers still want to buy the books about the legendary Erast Petrovich Fandorin, the author has launched a re-release of the entire series under his new publishing house. However, this time, the books will be slightly different. Here’s what Boris Akunin himself has to say:

This is a reissue with an addition. I have included an appendix in each book—’Deciphering’—where I talk about the origins of the plot, prototypes, and more.

In Azazel, for instance, the deciphering section begins like this: ‘This novel, the first of The Adventures of Erast Fandorin, was formed from four components. Or rather, it has four ancestors: two grandfathers and two grandmothers.

In addition to the supplemental content, this reissue features stunning artistic design. Each book will have a beautifully detailed cover, and the endpapers of all the books combine to form an image of Erast Petrovich’s iconic jade beads.

The first book of the updated edition is available for purchase on the author’s website, both in print and electronic formats: https://babook.org/store/7-ebook.

I’m so torn. It’s such a beautiful edition that I wouldn’t even mind spending the money (though my wife definitely would), but I simply don’t have any more shelf space for physical books.

Songs: Andrius Klimka & Wargaming

No comments

At one point, I was in charge of the audio design service department at Wargaming and even got to participate in a field recording of real tanks in Jordan. Officially, I was in charge of the entire trip, but in reality, I was mostly getting in everyone’s way 😉

A bit later, we decided to restructure the team, but I still maintained (and continue to maintain) good relationships with many of the guys. I remember when a new guy, Andrey, joined the Minsk team—now widely known as Andrius Klimka, the creator of many iconic tracks from the game World of Tanks as well as its promo videos.

Andrey truly crafted some legendary tracks, and a couple of them have found a permanent place in my playlist. Those are the ones I want to share today.

Read more

Book: Alexey Dudarev “Dialog”

No comments

Alexey Dudarev is a Belarusian playwright and screenwriter. My first encounter with his work (or at least what I thought was my first) happened during my final years of school, as his play Riadovyie (“The Rank and File”) was part of the Belarusian literature curriculum. Our school library handed out the book Dialog, which included this play among others. I read a lot during my school years, but I was cautious about unfamiliar authors, especially those who were part of the required reading list. However, the Belarusian literature curriculum often included real gems. Many years later, I couldn’t recall the details of Riadovyie, but I was left with warm feelings about it, as it had been a pleasant surprise.

Later on, I learned that Alexey Dudarev’s plays weren’t only famous in the BSSR; they were also performed in many theaters across the USSR, including the Maxim Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater in Leningrad and the Central Academic Theater of the Soviet Army, among others. These performances featured actors who were well-known throughout the Soviet Union, including from films.

It wasn’t until even later that I found out Dudarev wrote the script for one of my favorite films, which nearly every Belarusian knows—Belye Rosy (“White Dew”). This simple yet profound story about the final days of a village being displaced to make way for the city’s expansion is filled with both humor and the drama of family relationships, as well as reflections on what is truly important in life. And what a cast—Nikolai Karachentsov, Vsevolod Sanaev, Stanislav Sadalsky, Galina Polskikh, Boris Novikov, and many others.

Read more

Songs: Naviband “Mama”

No comments

The Belarusian band Naviband is preparing to release a new album, and in the meantime, they continue to release singles. About a month ago, they released a new song called “Mama”. It’s a very melodic, gentle, and somewhat unconventional lullaby (at least that’s how it seems to me). It immediately grabs your attention. I highly recommend giving it a listen:

Naviband — Mama

Yesterday, I suggested that the song feels so familiar because I can clearly hear musical interweavings with the song “Kalykhanka” (which is Belarusian for “lullaby”). This song was used as the theme music for the show of the same name from my childhood (the Belarusian equivalent of the Soviet “Good Night, Little Ones”). It’s not plagiarism, but there is definitely a connection, whether intentional or not.

Read more

Songs: Mark Bernes – “Where Does the Motherland Begin?”

No comments

Despite all the triumphalism that has been built around Victory Day in recent decades, there are things I continue to love. One of them is the wartime songs by Mark Bernes. One of my favorites is “Where Does the Homeland Begin,” which plays over the credits of the four-part film “The Shield and the Sword” about the Russian intelligence officer Alexander Belov / Johann Weiss.

Incidentally, the film itself is also one of my favorite war movies. Yes, in some ways it can be considered propaganda, and not all episodes made sense to me even as a child, but I still love it madly and rewatch it every few years. The book on which it is based, on the one hand, reveals the characters better, but on the other hand, it’s quite heavy and tedious. The film turned out much better. And it was the first film in which the very young Oleg Yankovsky starred, by the way.

In modern Russia, one of Mark Bernes’ songs, “Do the Russians Want War,” has been banned. This says much more about the memory of real history than all the showy veterans and parades.

And the song “Where Does the Homeland Begin” remains one of the best to this day and is constantly playing on my playlist.

Here is that song in the closing scenes of the first episode of the film:

Book: Boris Akunin “The Destruction and Resurrection of the Empire”

No comments

Originally, when planning his series on the history of the Russian state, Boris Akunin intended to stop at 1917, with the fall of the Romanov dynasty, as he believed that beyond this point, it was no longer the history of the Russian state but of an entirely different country.

However, some time after completing the series, he unexpectedly announced the release of the 10th volume covering the Lenin-Stalin era. Moreover, this volume became the first that was not published in Russia, as when the book was almost ready for print, Boris Akunin was declared a terrorist in Russia, closing off access to publishing in his homeland. So the book was printed abroad.

While the revolution and the last tsar always felt distant to me, despite having lived during the Soviet Union, the events of the Soviet state itself were always closer. I studied this history in school and believed that I lived in the best country in the world. Therefore, I was very eager to see how Boris Akunin would recount this period.

Read more

Book: “White-Red-White. Flag. Nation. Identity”

No comments

The publication in 2024 of a book about the white-red-white flag — or, as it is often called, the BChB (from the Belarusian bel-chyrvona-bely) — is rather symbolic. Once again, numerous myths and layers of dirt are being thrown at it, just as has happened periodically throughout its existence.

As an introduction, it’s worth noting that the white-red-white flag was the official flag of the Republic of Belarus from 1991 to 1995, as was the coat of arms “Pahonia,” rendered in the same colors (since, according to the approved designs, the red of the flag was meant to match the red of the coat of arms). Moreover, to this day these symbols are not formally banned in Belarus. However, in present-day Belarus one can receive a very real prison sentence for displaying them — and even for something as accidental as a white-and-red color combination, whether it’s socks or an LG TV box left on a balcony.

The book “Bel-Chyrvona-Bely” (published in Belarusian) is arguably the first full-fledged scholarly study of the origins of both the flag and the coat of arms, as well as of the color combination itself, released in the form of a substantial volume. I wouldn’t call it popular science — it is genuinely a thoroughly researched work by an entire collective of authors (who, unfortunately or perhaps fortunately for themselves, remain unnamed in the book). It is rich with illustrations, and all conclusions are supported by an extensive array of references, as one would expect from serious academic research.

Read more