#St. Petersburg 2023

[juergenklopp]

BUS BROS [Josef’s engine explodes]

[commiepinkofag]

Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization. Police searched venues across the Russian capital, including a nightclub, a male sauna, and a bar that hosted LGBTQ+ parties, under the pretext of a drug raid, local media reported. Eyewitnesses told journalists that clubgoers’ documents were checked and photographed by the security services. They also said that managers had been able to warn patrons before police arrived. … Several LGBTQ+ venues have already closed following the decision, including St. Petersburg's gay club Central Station. It wrote on social media Friday that the owner would no longer allow the bar to operate with the law in effect.

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 19: St Petersburg

I fucking love everything about this episode. When someone asked me for a top 5 a while back, after a great deal of VERY difficult determination this came up at the top and has been unassailable there ever since.

The only flaw in it, and it's one that JF says was left out for time, is that we never find out what Douglas means by saying that Gordon tricked Carolyn into letting him book the office in her name. But that's so minor that it really doesn't count.

Everything else from here on down (and there will be a LOT) is going to be unmitigated gushing, so get ready:

The thing that makes this episode really great is the stakes. Stakes that have been unspoken until now- or at least, since Douz, to which this episode is a fantastic mirror- are explicit, but they're also bumped up a level.

The stakes, of course, are the continued existence of MJN Air. This is something that was first established in Douz, when Carolyn tells Douglas that she runs the airline on a deficit, they're always one bad day away from folding, and she's basically holding on to preserve her dignity and self-image. At that point, we see Douglas realizing that his job is on the line, and he becomes the "Douglas saves the day" guy. This recurs over the course of the show, with things like needing to pass the training in Ipswich and needing to get the contract from Mr Alyakhin, among many others, implicitly important because without them the airdot will fold. Douglas needs to either a) get over his massive ego or b) come up with a clever plot, as the case may be, to help out.

As I noted in my Douz post, Douglas realizing that he will be unemployed if he can't solve the problem is not just him getting his act together, it's him deciding that saving the day is more important than fucking with Martin. And, in the end, it's also him (even if only incidentally) taking Carolyn's feelings and dignity into account. And while we still definitely see him taking selfish moments to get back at others, especially Martin (see Qik, though he does kind of tone things down when Carolyn asks him to, in his own deeply weird way), the well-being of the airline is more important most of the time, if they're in a real fix.

Martin, interestingly, is getting there also, but in a very different way, and he's not QUITE there yet. He is very crucially NOT privy to the conversation between Carolyn and Douglas in Douz, and he's also not aware that Gordon keeps trying to buy Gerti, even though WE know that from Fitton (and Douglas presumably knows that from years prior). But he doesn't need to know any of this, because his motivation is to be a captain, and he knows that nobody but Carolyn will let him do it. He just tries to make things work each time because it's in his interest. But the way that he's grown over the course of the show, he's mellowing out a bit, trying to reclaim his dignity and control over his finances, etc... he's about to hit the point where it's natural for him to want to leave the nest even if it means he's no longer a captain, as shown in Newcastle, where we see him looking for a job opportunity elsewhere for the first time since Boston. So he's, in theory, going to get less invested in staying with MJN, and that's a good thing... except that like Douglas, he's been learning to value these other people who he works with and the airline that they are holding together "with gaffer tape and string." That way, in S4, when Martin hears about Swiss Airways going international he is concerned about the fate of MJN if he leaves- something that never crossed his mind in Boston or Newcastle.

In other words, Douglas grows because he is forced to care about the well-being of the airline, and Martin grows away from the way that he started off caring about the airline. But they still both grow in the same direction, which is their mutual care for the airline, Carolyn, and Arthur.

Because that's how we get to the genius of this episode, which is Gordon Shappey.

Arthur is someone who has taken a lot of shit from basically everyone else at MJN basically forever; it's why I don't find Ottery St Mary to be too much, and it's why I find the ending of Ottery St Mary to be so satisfying. We know they care about him, but they're not always great about showing it. But faced with Gordon Shappey, saving MJN isn't just about the airline, Douglas's job, or Martin's (still-important to him) captaincy- it's about defeating Gordon. He's a proper mustache-twirling villain, partly because of how he treats Carolyn but mostly because of how he treats Arthur. THEY can be mean to Arthur, but not HIM, not like THAT...

That's another way that this episode is a great mirror to Douz. There are a surprising number, actually- the hot desert vs the freezing Russian winter, a hairy landing with Martin landing rather than Douglas (which has such DELICIOUS parallels of its own)... and of course the existence of an unmitigated bad guy who they must foil. The other episodes actually mostly don't have that- they have situations with people who may be annoying, but ultimately they have to please or mollify or just plain deal with. Yves Jutteau and Gordon Shappey they can just defeat.

The thing is, with Jutteau they defeat him in order to save MJN. Those are the stakes. He's held them hostage and they manage to escape. In St Petersburg, they've already basically confronted the fact that MJN is over, and that they'll have to sell Gerti for parts. It's when Gordon sneers at Arthur, and they see why Arthur is so freaked out about him, that he becomes the enemy. (He also smears Martin and Douglas, and they're clearly none too pleased. But do we really think that's the motivation?) When Douglas saves the day, he does it for Arthur.

And I think that happens in two ways. The first is that when they're in that flight deck with Gordon, the (beautifully, BEAUTIFULLY laid out and Chekhov's-Gunned) plan circles around Arthur- they manage to make their point about how they've seen the way he treats someone they love, and they are taking revenge. But in a more metaphysical way, Douglas has clearly, even after he sees no way forward, put some thought into how he can solve this. He knows that Arthur is relying on him, and thinks that he can do it- and we'll see in Zurich that this will continue to be a motivator for both Arthur and Douglas, that Arthur believes Douglas can do anything and that Douglas (a bit in loco parentis) therefore has to do it and take responsibility.

Martin is along for the ride, but his growth doesn't come from the scheme against Gordon- his is manifested in the landing. He's panicking but he's technically sound, he takes control and Douglas accepts it, and he manages to land competently in dangerous circumstances. He's grown so much! He's been pushing his captain-ness because it makes up for all the ways he's not the pilot he dreamed he'd be (a paid one, a cool one, a skilled one...) but this is proof that he's gotten so much closer than he's been. And I love how at the end he manages to not just get a point in the rhyming journeys game, he rhymes MULTIPLE cities and they're so proud of him- this isn't him being helped out (as in Gdansk) or winning and then being undercut (as in Limerick), it's him just being able to be competent at something, even if it takes a while and he's not as good as Douglas. He's just allowed to be happy about that and that's beautiful. Overall- this episode, he is able to just be GOOD, and not to feel like he needs to be the best (and fail). That's going to be vital next season.

You'll notice that I haven't brought up Carolyn and Arthur here. Arthur, well, the main thing here is that this situates his happiness at MJN- and what he'll lose when it's gone- as a contrast with the way others in his life treat him. Arthur may be teased at work, and his mother works him hard, but we've known since Fitton that this is where he wants to be. His fear of Gordon, and the contempt we see Gordon show him, show us another one of the stakes that we need to bear in mind moving forward.

With Carolyn, though, I think it's a bit of a moment of learning. She knows that Douglas, and to a lesser extent Martin, are there and helping her because they want to be and they're invested, not because she's the alpha dog or because she scares them into it or because she's bribing them (mostly Douglas). They're doing it because they care about her, her son, and her business- and their places in it. She already had to show vulnerability in Douz to Douglas by revealing why she keeps MJN running, but there's another layer of vulnerability in realizing that people care about you and accepting it,. It's the same vulnerability she'll have to learn to express in Zurich to Herc.

By the way, if you notice that a lot of these are similar to- in the sense of being prior versions of- what JF wrote in his magnificent Zurich post as what the characters need for sitcom graduation... you can believe me or not but I promise I didn't realize until I was doing Carolyn's. It's just a sign of how seamless and strong his character work and forward planning are, that's all I can say.

And on that note, actually- I'm really curious to know at what point JF decided on the actual ending of the show, as in what the mechanics would be. There are three years between when S3 came out and when Zurich came out, so presumably about the same amount of time between the writing of each, and I really want to know when he made the decision about the mechanics of the ending. Because I found the moment when Gordon corrects himself about why he wants Gerti back to be FASCINATING, because we know why he does, and that it has nothing to do with getting back at Carolyn, but the dialogue still makes it seem totally natural that he corrects himself. Did JF have in mind the gold-lined airplane, or just some more general plot?

(Incidentally, and I was going to wait for this til Zurich but may as well do it here because it fits... I also want to know because the S5 finale of Community came out in April 2014, about eight months before Zurich, and it also included a plotline with a machine made with gold wiring. I've been dying for years to know whether JF had the idea first or not- he uses it very differently regardless, but still something I've been so curious about. If he HAD already planned this out years in advance, to the extent of planning the mechanism... I can imagine he'd be very annoyed to see it on screen months earlier lol, though I don't know whether Community was really popular in the UK and if he'd have known.)

Anyway... obviously, besides for all of the above, the episode is perfectly written, amazingly plotted, hilariously funny (and the COLD OPEN IS BACK!), and just all around amazing.

[wolfpai999]

Going to be at Sunshine City Scare this weekend! 🦇🩸💜 WEH

[jessajaguar]

I present to you "Living Dead Girl" meets "Bloody Creature Poster Girl" 🩸🧟‍♀️🩸

I was doing two acts with the Ybor City Sirens, so I needed makeup that would fit both since there wouldn't be time for adjustments in between my sets.

This is a post-show & pre-shower makeup selfie, taken roughly ~8 after I completed the look. You want Halloween makeup that's gonna last all-night? Then I'm your makeup artist 💯

[gokairedxxx]

Romain Grosjean

Pole at st Petersburg

Indycar 2023

[viper-motorsports]

Despite starting the 2023 SRO America season with a crash in the opening lap, the St. Petersburg Grand Prix weekend got underway with the CRP Racing N°27 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo winning the first race after starting from pole.

[pacingmusings]

Seen in 2023:

The End of St Petersburg (Vsevolod Pudovkin & Mikhail Doller), 1927

The transaction is completed . . .

[devincollinsofficial]

DEV!N Live Onstage @ St. Petersburg Pride!!! 🏳️‍🌈

[indycar-joyride]

First crash of the season has Indyblr discord like…

[juergenklopp]

Scott McLaughlin has never done anything wrong in his life ever, by the way

[lawrenceleemagnuson]

Sergei Danchev (Kazakhstan b.1981, living St. Petersburg) Тревожный закат - Warning Sunset (2023) oil on canvas 85 x 90 cm

[earlycuntsets]

mcr shows on youtube pt. 1 (2002 - 2005)

-> pt. 2 (2005 - 2007)

-> pt. 3 (2007 - 2011)

-> pt. 4 (2011 - 2023)

02/16/2002 american legion garfield nj – sarah lewitinn

03/01/2002 loop lounge passaic nj – ATØMIC JĒY

06/14/2002 club krome south amboy nj – spaceyrayrun

06/29/2002 harmony grange hall no. 12 wilmington de us – spaceyraygun

07/05/2002 american legion – camp merritt post 21 cresskill nj usa – spaceyraygun

07/19/2002 loop lounge passaic park nj – spaceyraygun

08/03/2002 rexplex elizabeth nj – spaceyraygun

08/16/2002 maxwell’s hoboken nj – george koroneos

08/17/2002 alissas basement kinnelon nj – spaceyraygun

09/14/2002 electric factory philadelphia pa – spaceyraygun

12/02/2002 fireside bowl chicago il – brad nolan video on plentyoflegs

12/18/2002 trocadero theater philadelphia pa – spaceyraygun

12/23/2002 factory 324 roanoake va – panterathrashfan13

1/11/2003 fireside bowl chicago il – brad nolan videography

02/20/2003 mississippi nights st louis mo – brad nolan videography

02/21/2003 beaumont club kansas city mo – brad nolan videography

02/28/2003 boonton elks lodge boonton nj – user: random stuff

03/23/2003 club krome south amboy nj – douglas carl

05/14/2003 north star bar philadelphia pa – deadhoarse

05/23/2003 imusicast oakland ca – skyline studios – oakland

06/08/2003 bloomfield avenue cafe montclair nj – spaceyraygun

06/26/2003 the knitting factory nyc ny – luxlillian

07/26/2003 the chameleon club lancaster pa – spaceyraygun

08/18/2003 9:30 club washington dc – TEPMIHATOP_HvH

08/19/2003 trocadero theater philadelphia pa – spaceyraygun

10/23/2003 downtime nyc ny – spaceyraygun

10/31/2003 south amboy nj halloween show – user: MCR stuff and things

11/14/2003 university of connecticut-stamford stamford ct – user: random stuff

12/14/2003 irving plaza nyc ny – spaceyraygun

05/17/2004 des moines iowa house of bricks – 515 archive

06/02/2004 manchester university manchester uk – TEMIHATOP-HvH

06/08/2004 vintage vinyl fords nj – spaceyraygun

06/09/2004 newbury comics shrewsbury ma us – punkstermann

06/10/2004 north star bar philadelphia pa – spaceyraygun

08/08/2004 summer sonic festival tokyo japan – dusted out on route guano

11/08/2004 hard rock live orlando fl – ryanninja

11/13/2004 unknown venue orange ca – TEPMIHATOP_HvH

12/12/2004 universal amphitheatre universal city ca – andrea amador

01/17/2005 trl nyc ny – patty8239

02/03/2005 la boule noire paris – the academy is my beautiful romance

03/04/2005 arrow hall mississauga ontario ca – the academy is my beautiful romance

03/05/2005 john labatt centre london ontario ca – the academy is my beautiful romance

03/29/2005 arco arena sacramento ca – moranestes

05/21/2005 kroq weenie roast irvine ca – the academy is my beautiful romance

05/27/2005 wxdx summer kick off chevrolet amphitheater pittsburgh pa – neeeeonafterglow

06/06/2005 le trabendo paris france – the academy is my beautiful romance

06/10/2005 download festival donington park castle donington uk (interview) – TEPMIHATOP_HvH

06/25/2005 warped tour reliant park houston tx – ibanez27

06/27/2005 hard rock live orlando fl – ATØMIC JĒY

07/02/2005 32/20 warped tour pier san francisco ca – the academy is my beautiful romance

07/12/2005 warped tour thunderbird stadium vancouver ca – kristi haubrick

07/30/2005 warped tour molson park barrie ontanio ca – loveorsympathy

07/31/2005 warped tour silverdome pontiac mi – nightrain5565

08/01/2005 warped tour post gazette pavilion burgettstown pa – price family homestead

08/05/2005 warped tour vinoy park st. petersburg fl – rogo117

08/10/2005 warped tour nissan pavilion bristol va – the academy is my beautiful romance

08/11/2005 warped tour ford pavilion montage mountain scranton pa – the academy is my beautiful romance

08/12/2005 warped tour tweeter center camden nj – katemcilwaine

08/13/2005 warped tour randall’s island park randalls island nyc ny – the academy is my beautiful romance

08/14/2005 raceway park englishtown nj – readydeady

08/23/2005 the underworld london england – leila vardar

08/31/2005 melkweg the max amsterdam netherlands – user: random stuff

09/01/2005 abart zurich switzerland – mychemrock1

09/03/2005 idroscalo segrate italy – nacho en tour

09/15/2005 promowest pavilion columbus west ohio – andreaflowers

09/17/2005 eastern michigan university convocation center ypsilanti mi – amanda

09/27.2005 mesa amphitheatre mesa arizona – mark zeta

10/02/2005 event center arena san jose ca – jason is lost in japan

10/08/2005 gwinnett center duluth ga – living with ghosts

10/10/2005 revolution live ft lauderdale fl – natnizzle

10/14/2005 tweeter center camden nj – decoemergency

-> pt. 2 (2005 - 2007)

-> pt. 3 (2007 - 2011)

-> pt. 4 (2011 - 2023)

[un-ionizetheradlab]

Russia just freed SIXTEEN political prisoners in a prisoner swap with the West!

Among the released political prisoners are:

Oleg Orlov, a longtime dissident and the co-chair of Memorial, an organization created in 1989 to chronicle the USSR's human rights abuses and educate Russians about the history of political repression;

Sasha Skochilenko, an LGBTQ artist who was imprisoned in April 2022 for replacing price tags at grocery stores with data about Russian destruction in Ukraine, deemed treasonous under Russia's "fake news" law;

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political dissident who was fundamental in bringing about the Magnitsky Act to sanction Russian human rights abusers, and who was poisoned twice by the KGB in attempted assassinations before being sentenced to 25 years in prison for "treason";

Evan Gershkovich, a young American journalist who was arrested in Russia while reporting for the Wall Streeet Journal in March 2023 and sentenced to 16 years in prison for "espionage";

Paul Whelan, American former Marine who was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years of hard labor for "espionage";

Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for spreading "fake news" about the war in Ukraine;

Andrei Pivovarov, an opposition activist who headed the pro-democracy organization Open Russia before being imprisoned in a Siberian penal colony infamous for its torture of prisoners;

Ilya Yashin, a young opposition politician who was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for publishing YouTube videos about the war in Ukraine; when Russian authorities "encouraged" him to leave the country, he chose instead to stay;

Lilia Chanysheva, opposition activist and regional coordinator of Navalny HQ; in her final speech before the Russian court, she tried in vain to appeal to the judge's sense of empathy: "If you put me in jail for 12 years, I will be too old to bear a child. Give me a chance to be a mother!";

Kevin Lik, a dual German-Russian citizen who was arrested as a minor for "photographing military sites" shortly before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine; he was the youngest person ever to be convicted of treason in Russia;

Rico Krieger, a German man sentenced to death in Belarus for supposedly planting explosives on a railroad track to help the Ukrainian army;

Dieter Voronin, a dual German-Russian citizen and political scientist who was arrested in 2021 in connection to a treason case involving Russian journalist Ivan Safronov;

Patrick Schobel, a German man arrested in February 2024 at the Pulkovo International Airport in St Petersburg when customs officers found cannabis gummies in his luggage, in a scenario very similar to that of Brittney Griner;

German Moyzhes, a dual German-Russian citizen and lawyer who was charged with treason for helping Russians obtain European residency permits;

Vadim Ostanin, opposition activist and Navalny associate arrested in 2021 for his work with Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation;

Ksenia Fadeyeva, dissident and Navalny associate sentenced to 9 years in prison.

[mariacallous]

In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court ruled to ban the “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization” — despite the fact that no such formal entity exists. Soon after the decision was passed, Russian security forces began conducting violent searches of private parties. In February alone, the authorities have raided parties, forcing attendees to lie face-down on the floor and asking them if they belong to the LGBTQ community, at least three times. In some cases, party guests were beaten. Journalists from the outlet Mediazona spoke to attendees of these events about what happened. Meduza summarizes their reporting in English.

On February 21, the Russian TV network REN TV aired a segment about how security officials had raided a cottage in the town of Koltushi near St. Petersburg. According to the newscaster, the agents “shut down a provocative party” after finding “several dozen young people who couldn’t immediately name their own gender.” The report also said that items with “symbols of the LGBT movement, which is banned in Russia,” were found on the premises. Footage included in the segment showed about 10 people lying on the floor with their hands behind their heads. It also showed police interrogating people arrested at the party, asking questions such as “Do you consider yourself part of the LGBT movement?” and “Are you a boy or a girl?”

One of the attendees who spoke to Mediazona said that there were 16 people at the party and that they had gathered to celebrate a friend’s birthday. According to the source, the police burst into the cottage early in the morning on February 18 and forced everyone to lie on the floor. The officers lifted attendees up “by the hair and by the neck” before interrogating them on camera, according to the source, and the attendees ultimately spent five hours lying on the floor.

They made disgusting jokes, calling us obscene words, idiots, that kind of thing, and saying they wished we would die. They walked around asking each person, “Are you a boy or a girl?” And if they weren’t sure about somebody’s sex, they would send them to an investigator, where they were forced to show their body parts. They asked one girl to lift her skirt and tighten her leggings. My friend had to show scars from [surgery]. The whole time they were asking questions like, “Oh, where’s your penis? Where did you put it?”

That same day, law enforcement officials also raided a party that was dedicated to “openness and sexuality” at a cultural center in the city of Tula. According to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti, police made some of the attendees go outside, where they proceeded to beat them. A video published by the channel shows a man who is reportedly a plainclothes officer beating a person lying in the snow. “Who are you talking to like that, you piece of shit?” the attacker says.

Another video published by the channel shows security officials bursting into a building and shouting, “Everybody on the floor!” and “Come here, you son of a bitch!”

One attendee described the raid to Mediazona:

They beat them, including people lying on the ground, with fists to their face, and kicked them. They interrogated them, while filming what was happening. They stripped them naked and made them squat, do push-ups, and sing the city anthem of Tula. They threw them face-down in the dirt, tased them, and poured water on them. The officers forced everyone to state their full name and educational institution, if they were studying, on a recording. They searched everyone and took photos of everyone’s passports, and they were constantly shouting about ‘LGBT.’

The person also said the party was “small” and that it “wasn’t positioned as an LGBT gathering.”

According to the local news outlet Tula Press, several people who attended the event were charged with spreading “LGBT propaganda.”

Another party was shut down by the authorities on February 9, but the raid wasn’t reported publicly until February 20, when an article titled “Activity of large LGBT community curbed in Petrozavodsk” appeared on a local news site in Russia’s Republic of Karelia. The report says that a “female resident of Petrozavodsk is suspected of organizing a community united by affiliation with LGBT culture” and that only “known representatives of the LGBT community” were allowed into the party: “The shocking list includes both men and women. It includes both married and divorced people. It also includes mothers, including some with three children.”

Additionally, on February 4, police raided a club in Yekaterinburg that was hosting a BDSM party called Blue Velvet. Only guests who purchased tickets in advance were allowed to attend the event, and a password was required for entry. The authorities said the raid was carried out for the purpose of “stabilizing the operational situation” in the city.