| My life in cigaretts |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|11:44 am] |
Here we go:
First there were "Prima" 
from a little kiosk on the corner of 9th and Izmailovski Av. Disgustingly strong not really cigarettes ,something wrapped in paper without any filter and called “oval cigarettes”. They were really oval in shape and you 'd spit a small pieces of tobacco that would always manage to get into your mouth.
The there were equally strong, but more rare "Kazbek"
Sort of legendary ,since too many movie and literary characters of those days smoked them from time to time.
All these cost nothing a few pennies so we could afford them and what is more interesting we could buy them although we were ion 5th grade:) Some masculine eastern looking babushka who manned those kiosks did not care or cared actually enough to provide a little stress relief to 5th grade underachievers like us: Total South Park is in it?
Then with maturity and abraded bronchial tree came the king of all Russian smokes: Belomor Kanal (White Sea Channel)
We had no idea that millions of gulag prisoners have perished during this canal completion which was one of the Stalin's big industrial projects.
With late 70's early 80's we started smoke filtered cigs mostly from Bulgaria.
In descending order of crappiness they were:
The last one was everyones favorite.
This one was pretty good :
And one for the history sake: Hertsegovina Flore
Favorite non filtered cig of Stalin (possibly dating back to pre USSR times) Made by the old tobacco factory with exotic name Java (after the island where tobaccos use to be sourced) I smoked it only a few times in my life as they were hard to get and only one Moscow factory was making them, but they were delicious
I have to admit that old Georgian knew what is good for him.
Then came 1980s Olympics and everyone started smoking Marlboros -yak, Salem -yak , Pall-Mall, Benson and other guy and all other crap including Bond street.
The only decent tobacco imho was Camel cigs and I preferred them without filter (probably cause that is how Mickey Rourke smoked them in "Angel Heart")
Mickey was not a disfigured drooling freak then
, he was pretty cool duude worth emulatiing
.
My final cigarettes of choice were Kent and then I dsicovered Rothman's 
and never looked back until I quit in early 1990s and now only smoke occasional Cuban cigar. |
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| My new home since July 2008 |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|10:39 am] |
We moved in July. We were planning this for a long time and finally Jonna graduated and we both started to look for jobs in NY/NJ area.
We've found jobs and finally we are here.
I cannot be happier to be across from Manhattan in a small 1 sq/mile town of Hoboken (birthplace of Frank Sinatra).
View Larger Map |
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| So much for AudioFool |
[Jul. 7th, 2008|09:28 pm] |
Well it is time for me to say goodbye to Sonus Faber Speakers as well as Grado Sonata Cart.
They were good but not good enough.
I am going to try Denon 301-304 or Audio-Technica (after Ludwig's suggestion).
BTW I just got YBA Audio Refinement Amp and I am going to see if it is any better than my shitty Music Hall.
It is penultimate France vs Britain battle.
Hopefully that Italian Unison Unico will come my way this week, keeping fingers crossed. I wanted to try good hybrid amplifier for a while now. It is the finicky lamps that always made me stay away from them.
Next order coming ATC SCM35 speakers. Hopefully I 'll be listening to them in my new apartment in Hoboken NJ. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|03:18 pm] |
My new old watch. I like all things curiously weird.
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|02:49 pm] |
I am addicted to YOOX!
And my Rega
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| My lovely skis |
[Feb. 19th, 2008|12:06 pm] |
My First pair:Volkl Custom P60 GS 173cm
My second pair: Fischer RX-8 170cm
My Boots: Lange Comp 100
My Free Ride Boots: Lange Comp 120 Free Ride
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 30th, 2007|04:42 pm] |
Cognac.
The story goes like this:
I decided to buy a Cognac for my dad for his Birthday.
I know he always drinks some cheap Cognac or brandy, so I decided to look for something nicer to treat him to.
As you probably would agree, asking advice from store clerks is a terrible waste of time with guaranteed disappointing results.
So I decided to rely on my intuition and luck.
First I heard from smart people that if you see anything that you saw on TV (Camus. Remy Martin,. Hennessey) or remembered from Soviet childhood; avoid it as a plague. Same goes for Champagne, btw.
So, armed with that bit of wisdom I spotted a bottle for around $50.00 that looked unassuming (kind of like a bottle you'd expect to see moonshine sold in).
Label said "Marquise de Gensac, VSOP" .
I knew that Cognacs go like so: VP, VSOP, XO, AgeD’Smthing and Napoleon (believe it or not Napoleon is actually a nomenclature term for vintage).
So I figured how bad could it be?
When I presented it to my dad he obviously insisted on opening it. I hate Cognac .
From my Soviet days I remember Cognac to be a foul-smelling liquid preferred by those “chernozopie” types. And even those (hardy sons of mountains) could only consume that shit by chasing it with water.
Well not to offend my dad I agreed to try a few drops.
Maaaann, that stuff smelled like Vanilla, dry fruits, honey and a little bit of chocolate, seriously. Very little burning or dryness, phenomenal taste, not a hint of bad alcohol odor.
I tried a first sip and became a convert.
Fuk the single malt whiskey., well for now, anyway.
Since then, I bought a bottle for myself and almost finished it already.
It is Like best freaking drink Evaar man! |
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